Basic Broadcast Quality for Film & TV

If you’re pitching your songs to the fast growing film and TV song market – or thinking about it, which you should be! – there is one challenge that seems to overwhelm a lot of songwriters: Broadcast Quality recordings. It may seem like big a deal but it really isn’t. Read on!

For the film & TV song market, your song (or instrumental track) will be used “as is.” Production schedules don’t allow for time to remix or request changes from you. While they will edit the track to fit a scene, that involves only cutting or repeating sections of the song. So, in terms of recording quality, your track needs to be competitive with other tracks that are being used in this market

Also, to really be successful as a film & TV songwriter, you want to create a constant stream of new material. Does that mean you have to hire a pro studio and session musicians, then spend more $$$ and hours mixing every song you want to pitch? It does if every song has to sound like that fully-produced Electro/Dance/Pop track on the radio! Luckily, you don’t have to do that!

Can You Pitch a Home Recording?

Q: Do you think it’s okay to pitch a home recorded version of a song or should I have the song professionally recorded?

…The answer is: t will depend on how elaborate your demo needs to be. You can record a simple acoustic guitar and vocal or piano and vocal with a minimum of gear. A couple of microphones may be all you need for a Singer-Songwriter demo. If your song is good, your playing is confident and steady, and your vocal performance is emotionally authentic, you’re well on your way to having a song that might work for the Film & Television market or streaming for fans of acoustic music.

SONG PLAYLISTS: A Film & TV Songwriter’s Secret Weapon!

When I asked successful music supervisors how they manage to find the song they’re looking for among the thousands of song links, mp3s, and CDs they collect every year, they all told me they keep “song playlists.”

Music supes have to find songs quickly. When a film director or TV series producer shouts “Get me a quirky, upbeat love song!” the music supe has to scramble to find three to four songs that fit that description ASAP. A playlist of “Quirky, Upbeat Love Songs” will be just what’s needed. If they don’t have that, the chances of uncovering the right song in a few short hours will be next to zero.