Inside this Issue
Get In Sync with Chelsey Coy (Q&A)
Come Together: A Gathering of Voices
New Releases
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Get In Sync with Chelsey Coy (Q&A)
The March 11th Herizon Music Industry Meetup “Sync Licensing 101 with Chelsey Coy” sold out faster than all our previous events. It’s not surprising as women are researching and testing different ways of generating income in a male-dominated industry.
A quick look at her bio reveals that Chelsey Coy has been performing since before she can remember. Her voice appears on records and voice overs, and she’s graced stages from Southern California to New York. She graduated The University of Southern California where she studied music business with an emphasis in vocal jazz performance and is a member of She Is The Music, SONA, ASCAP, Women in Music, and the Recording Academy. And now she’s a Herizon Music subscriber :)
After getting married in 2008, she and her husband started writing songs together for an Americana project they named Single Girl, Married Girl (after the Carter Family’s song of the same name). She spent years honing her songwriting skills and learned to play various instruments – banjo being her favorite.
Chelsey opened twoOhsix Music, a synchronization, or sync, licensing company, in 2019 with her two business partners Alex and Lauren. Her company has since matched artists’ songs with major brand advertising (Adidas and Michael Kors), and series like The CW’s Batwoman, Netflix’s First Kill, and Disney’s The Crossover.
Your first question might be “What exactly is sync licensing?”
Synchronization licensing “generally refers to a legal agreement between the copyright owner of a piece of music and the party seeking to use that music, which permits the synchronization of copyrighted music to any other type of content (mainly visual content, although certain types of audio-usage require sync licenses as well),” per SoundCharts.com.
According to Legal Zoom, any visual media content you create that contains someone else's music requires a sync license. The copyright holder of the music grants the license for a fee, which can cost upward of hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the song and how you are using it.
twoOHsix Music specializes in licensing sync music for advertising, film, television, trailers, promos, and games. As a licensing agency, they offer a searchable online catalog of artists and songs. When you choose a song to sync with your content, you request a license, and the agency squares away the legalities and delivers music files in exchange for a percentage of the licensing fee.
Chelsey will cover more about the benefits of working with a sync licensing agency in her chat. She did answer a couple of questions to get us warmed up…
Thea: How did you become interested in sync licensing?
Chelsey: I came across a sync licensing course when listening to a podcast back in 2018 and decided to join. I had learned about sync in college, but for some reason never thought It was something I should be doing - I was a serious singer, after all :) So glad I found sync all these years later though. It is a great community of people and it's incredibly fulfilling to hear your songs on TV and in ads, etc.
Thea: What are some benefits of sync licensing from a female perspective? (I would think that ageism, gender, appearance are all removed from the opportunity equation, right?)
Chelsey: Sync does have its limitations when it comes to gender (some opps are seeking male vox only or female vox only, etc.), but appearance and age don't really enter the mix, which is quite refreshing!
Thea: What points will you be discussing at the Herizon Music Meetup on March 11th in Austin?
Chelsey: Here's what I'll be discussing:
Get your ducks in a row - what to put together BEFORE pitching your music to licensing agents or supervisors
METADATA - what is it and what do you need to include?
Start pitching - here’s what to focus on
Getting the placement - what to know to keep getting more
Thank you, Chelsey!
Can’t make it to the March 11th meetup in Austin? A video of Chelsea’s presentation will be available to paid subscribers after the event. It will also be available through the upcoming women’s career development program, Herizon Music Makers (HMM), which is launching this spring.
If you’re an artist who would like access to HMM, please sign up here to get access to career development programming approached through a female lens. We will match you with a patron who will generously donate a 12-month subscription for you.
A big shoutout to HMM sponsor Lurleen Ladd, founder of Wavemakers 40+, for supporting Herizon Music. Are you a woman over 40 who is thinking of pursuing a music career? Connect with Lurleen and the Wavemakers today!
Come Together: A Gathering Of Voices
Herizon Music is proud to partner with our friends at Texchromosome for a two-day live music showcase on March 15th and 16th at the TexPopATX museum in Austin, Texas. This is NOT affiliated with SXSW (we think of it as an “off SX” event), but it’s a world class lineup of Texas female *and* male artists. Herizon Music’s 2023 Tate-Makeba Rising Star Award Winner Amethyst Jonquille is hitting the stage on Friday at 1:30. Swing by if you can!
New Releases
Buying music is the best way to support musicians. One $5 album is worth, on average 1,145 streams on Spotify. Perspective: 80% of artists average 50 monthly listeners and 79% of tracks have been played fewer than 5,000 in total! (source)
Buy through these links, and Amazon pays me a wee percentage of its proceeds — which helps keep this publication and podcast running. Do you have a new release or want to refer one from a female act you love? Let me know in the comments!
“Another Breakup Song” (folk single) by Alicia Stockman, Utah
Peacemaker (Alternative album) by Vera Sola, California
I Got Heaven LP by Mannequin Pussy, Pennsylvania (thank you
for the referral!)“Fallin’ For You” (acoustic pop, music video) by Karley Davidson, Michigan
The Dream of Delphi (New alternative LP) by Bat for Lashes, England
“Jet Plane” (Folk-pop single) by Lauren Mendelsohn, Pennsylvania
You made it to the end! What next? Please share this post with friends, on social, and anywhere you think like-minded people hang out. Thank you for your on-going support of Herizon Music and the women we serve. ❤️🧡💛
Thea 🎶
Thx for the stack @Alisa Kennedy Jones ! How are you?!?
Thx @Jared the Curator for stacking!