A fantastic way to get your music out there and start to gain precious fans is to get your music used in a Soundtrack, whether its for a small independent film or game, or the latest Hollywood blockbuster, huge Xbox release. Featuring on a soundtrack can bring cash, reputation, new fans and even in some cases, stardom.
So how can you go about getting your music used in a Soundtrack? Well, it starts as soon as you begin to produce music.
Make it Fit
Certain types of music will work better in different soundtracks, and if you can angle your tunes towards sounding ‘cinematic' or make them sound like they would fit in with a certain genre of game, you'll be getting off to a good start. It is also worth thinking about whether or not vocals will be fitting in the kind of soundtrack you're angling for. Chances are, a war game or film wont be looking for happy, chirpy vocals over the top of their scenes of degradation and violence, whereas a sports game would probably welcome vocals.
Make it Catchy
Make it catchy. If you listen to the music on a game such as a sports game, or used over a movie trailer, a lot of it is catchy and memorable, which is purely a marketing ploy to make the game or movie stick in your head along with the melody. If you can make something that will stick in somebody's head then it might well get picked up.
Make it Known
Make it publicly known that you are looking to compose for soundtracks, if you have a Facebook page or a website, make it clear that you're happy to strike publishing deals and make your music available for these purposes. Some people really don't like having their music listened to in this context.
Get it Listed
Finally, you can try and get your songs featured in a music library, which act as catalogs for your tunes when people are searching for production music for their latest project. By doing so, you might also get asked to compose bespoke songs for soundtracks and start to make your way into it through this route.
There are many different ways your songs can get picked up and used for soundtracks, and a lot of it does depend on how fortunate you are, but ultimately there is no one specific route, and the key is just to keep throwing your stuff out there and hope something sticks.
Guest post: Ben Jacklin is a blogger, entrepreneur and music enthusiast from the UK.
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