MUMBAI: Income from music placed in popular British TV programmes, movies, adverts and video games rose by 6.4 per cent in 2014, generating revenues of £20 million for major and independent record labels, announced the music body BPI.
Music synchronisation – using recorded music to enhance visual content – grew strongly in the TV, movie and advertising sectors where revenues increased significantly by 7.5 per cent.
In the advertising world, the legendary British group Queen emerged as the most synced act of 2014 according to figures published by adbreakanthems.com. Well-known hits were used in huge TV campaigns by Tesco (I Want It All, Crazy Little Thing Called Love and We Are The Champions), Furniture Village (Somebody To Love), and the holiday operator Thomson/TUI (Bohemian Rhapsody).
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Topping the list of the most synced songs of 2014 in advertisements was the classic Bonnie Tyler track, Total Eclipse of the Heart, following its placement on adverts for Innocent Drinks, Toyota and Cadbury’s; whilst the second most-synced song was another catalogue favourite, Europe’s The Final Countdown, thanks to campaigns from Stride Gum and O2 Priority as well as Tesco’s Boxing Day TV spot.
In terms of genres, contemporary pop was the most in-demand type of music in the advertising world followed by alternative rock and orchestral music.
When it comes to companies most engaged with music sync, Tesco topped the charts with no fewer than 44 syncs out of a total of 586 spots researched by adbreakanthems during the period. Tesco used Billy Swan’s I Can Help for its Home Delivery campaign, Paolo Nutini’s Pencil Full of Lead, and re-records of Queen’s I Want It All and the disco classic Don’t Leave Me This Way. McDonalds, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer followed suit, all using music in adverts, making the food sector the biggest user of music in adverts ahead of the motoring and fashion industries.
The news comes ahead a music industry trade mission to the entertainment capital of the US, Los Angeles, where more than 40 senior delegates will meet next week with the top brass of Hollywood studios and ad agencies. Now in its 11th year, the Los Angeles Sync Licensing Mission – organised by BPI and the Music Publishers Association in partnership with UK Trade & Investment – will aim to encourage greater exports of music to the US.
In 2014, albums by British acts accounted for one in seven of all artist albums sold in the States.
Placement of songs and compositions by UK writers is also providing a boost to the business growth of UK music publishers. Last year’s Measuring Music report, by pan-industry trade body UK Music, highlighted that music publishing accounted for over 25 per cent of the UK music industry’s £2.2bn export value in 2013. This was encouraged by a 44% year-on-year increase in sync licensing to non-UK licensees.
BPI and The BRIT Awards Chief Executive Geoff Taylor said, “Clinching a sync deal in the entertainment capital of the world can transform an artist’s career literally overnight and launch them to a new global audience. “He added, “Through the BPI’s annual trade mission with the MPA and UKTI, we can help artists and the labels and managers who invest in them by introducing them first-hand to Hollywood royalty at media giants such as NBC Universal, CBS, and Walt Disney. The networking opportunities we offer are second to none and open up the way for smaller companies to compete with international players to place music on American cult TV programmes, blockbuster movies, popular adverts and interactive video games. The revenues from sync complement other revenues from CD sales, downloads, streams, concert tickets and other business areas. Combined, they add up to support future investment in music and to boost the contribution that the music industry makes to the UK economy.”
Music Publishers Association Acting CEO Jane Dyball added, “Sync licensing is a vital revenue stream, growing year on year, for UK music publishers, and one of the reasons why our sector is leading the export of British music overseas – and particularly so in the US where, for the past three years, 1 in 3 of Billboard’s Top 100 Year End albums have featured compositions by a UK songwriter or composer. Working alongside the BPI and UKTI, the LA mission offers a fantastic opportunity for music publishers to meet with US music supervisors and other industry professionals – brokering new contacts, increasing their knowledge base and growing their business.”
The week-long trip is being undertaken by independent record labels, music publishers, artist managers, music development agencies, individual songwriters, composers and sync companies, all of whom look to promote their repertoire and score hits on US-produced blockbuster movies and cult TV series. Delegates include representatives from Ministry of Sound, Cooking Vinyl, and PIAS as well as music executives from Northern Ireland, Wales and numerous cities across England.
Over the course of five days (13-17 July 2015) at the iconic Capitol Tower building in the heart of Hollywood, attendees will meet those responsible for placing music on movies like Whiplash and Pitch Perfect 2 and TV series such as The Hills, Frasier, NCIS, Blue Bloods and other programmes aired by HBO and on American networks ABC, NBC Sports, the Style Network and many more. There will be opportunities to meet video games companies including Sony PlayStation, Activision and Electronic Arts and the mission will finish off with a site visit the studios of Walt Disney and Sony Entertainment.
Cooking Vinyl’s Head of Sync, Verity Griffiths, explained why the trade mission is so vital to the label, “This will be my 4th time attending the Sync Mission and it’s proven track record in delivering syncs is the reason I keep returning. The calibre of panellists and access is excellent, with multiple networking opportunities and well run site visits alongside the main conference to make this a must attend event in the UK sync calendar. The mission has directly contributed to syncs I’ve worked on across all areas (film, tv, games, trailers) and has elevated our relationships with key contacts to a level that would have taken considerably longer without their much valued support.”
An official Garden Party hosted by the British Consul-General in LA, Chris O’Connor, in honour of the delegates, will bring together the movers and shakers at the top of their game in the creative industries.
UK Trade and Investment’s Sector Specialist for Music, Phil Patterson, added, “Music and artists are discovered in many ways these days and the opportunity to sync your music into television programmes, movies, games and advertising all of which offer new audiences, puts the top Music Supervisors who can deliver these opportunities as must-meet people. And it is with this in mind that we deliver the LA Sync Mission each year, presenting opportunities to the delegates to get to know these people well, understand their needs and hopefully develop strong on-going business relations.”
