Lyric House’s Approach to A&R For Sync
To say that Lyric House has been busy during the last year would be an understatement, and the creative key to our success lies in the synch-focused A&R we do from the ground floor.
We take A&R very seriously. After all, our business and livelihood doesn’t exist without a talented roster to pitch! Here’s a glimpse into what we look for when finding new artists/writers/producers to sign and work with, and how we partner with them to cut through the noise and stand out in the synch world.
Research & Vetting Potential Artists:
- Referrals – It’s safe to say that 90% of our signings have come to us from trusted colleagues, artists and writers, industry friends and more. Everyone has a band or artist they want to share. We love and appreciate these referrals because at the end of the day, our business is first and foremost built on trust. Trust in our ear, our track record, our respect for project confidentiality, ability to meet deadlines, and trust in our accuracy in our metadata and organization.
- Scouting – Aside from referrals, like many A&R’s, some of our team members scour the internet and social media daily looking for the next big artist or writer. That could be from a variety of streaming services (SoundCloud/Bandcamp/Spotify), or checking out performances of up-and-coming bands, music blogs, etc. Gone are the days of fully developing talent from scratch. We are always looking to find that diamond in the rough that is hustling and creating while being very aware of their identity as an artist/writer. It’s important for us to be able to identify that specialness in someone and take what they’ve built so far and take it to a whole new level of expansion.
- Submissions – We are one of a few synch companies that actually allow unsolicited submissions. It takes some time for us to review but it can always be worth it when we land on something we are all really excited about. There have been a few submissions that have turned out to be some of our most successful artists/producers on our roster, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret. It rarely happens. Mostly because we get a lot of “noise” in our inboxes including people not following guidelines – so it makes it that much harder for us to get to the artists or writers that are “placement ready.” If you come prepared by following the submission guidelines on our website and do some research about us (does your music fit our repertoire, have you crossed check Tunefind.com to see if your music can stand up against songs in TV / film, etc.), have professional recordings that are pitch ready, then you’ll have a much better chance at connecting with us and getting a reply!
Signing an artist or writer is very much like interviewing for a job. Once we find a potential signee, we set up multiple meetings to get to know more about them and make sure they are a great fit to our roster. It’s also important to us that all parties involved are team players, good energy and of course highly talented! Bringing something fresh and new to our roster is always attractive to us.
▼ Article continues below ▼A few factors we consider when looking for an artist:
- Is the artist actively promoting themselves? – Can anyone easily look them up and find that they are engaging with fans and building their brand as an artist? If they’re primarily a producer or writer, are they always hustling to network and create as much music as possible?
- Are they organized and prepared for us to pitch them? That means having all the assets needed, instrumental tracks, clean versions, lyrics, visuals (photos, album artwork, etc.) and splits.
- Is their team easy to work with? That goes for managers, attorneys, PR teams, and especially anyone who regularly cowrites/produces/engineers with them. We’ve had no problem passing on a potential partnership because a member of the team was unprofessional or toxic.
From there we can finally get to work! Our approach to working creatively with our roster is fine-tuned and tailored to each signee. Some require a lot of handholding at first, and others might only need very minimal direction. Either you’re a young and hungry artist ready for our guidance and development, or you are already at diamond status! No matter what level of experience, we signed that particular artist or producer for a reason, and we don’t want to do anything to take away from that, only help in achieving their goal as a music creator.
To start, the creative team meets each week to discuss what has come up in music searches or meetings with music supervisors and identify what is the current hot sound or trend or what we feel needs to be expanded upon in our catalog.
For example, we might see an uptick of searches for a certain genre that we don’t represent yet, or it could be a music supervisor looking to replace a popular (and most often an expensive) song with new ideas from up-and-coming artists. A lot of times, we like to be ahead of the curve and innovate in our song/sound guidance with our writers and artists – so we can set that next cool trend. We love taking risks and coming up with ideas with our writers as to how to execute that next sound. From there, our team will brainstorm on which of our artists, writers, and producers should be paired together to use those themes and innovative ideas as inspiration while creating something uniquely their own.
Director of Creative and Music for Lyric House, Patrick Clancy
What truly sets us apart is we are a team of passionate creators ourselves. Our President and Founder, Jessica Cole, is also a seasoned songwriter so she takes a very hands-on approach to ensure a positive and creative environment. That could mean personally coming up with ideas as to who should be paired with who, joining the session to make sure those songs are at the standard Lyric House is known for, and sometimes it’s to write with her favorite collaborators and create something awesome together. Jessica and all of us at Lyric House love to explore new territories in sound and push our writers to the best of their capabilities. At the end of the day, we want our artists to be excited enough about a new song that they can’t wait to share it with the world… and hopefully on their favorite show.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patrick Clancy is an active member of the sync licensing community in Los Angeles, CA. He is currently the Director of Music + Creative at Lyric House and is responsible for sync licensing and development of their writer and artist roster.
Patrick also has a long history in live performance, recording engineering, and session playing. Primarily a bass player, he’s done nationwide tours with several bands, and recorded on multiple projects. Currently, he can be heard playing in his newest punk band El Chavito around LA.
