Your success as a singer-songwriter depends a good deal on the strategic way you position yourself as a musician. The artistry of producing good music—your vision, your mood, your intuitivesense of rhythm and musical figures—is a vastly different beast than the frequently daunting legal and financial panorama of music in this new generation of digital distribution. One undertaking is creative and intuitive; the other entails red tape, legality, logistics and variables.

Aside from the creative process, it’s important to consider strategy when considering where you would like your sound to take you. Do you produce audio as a vocation? Is music your primary type of funding? Do you create music to sell albums and gather a fan base, or do you primarily perfect to have your productions placed in film, television and video games? Perhaps you produce new music for all three reasons.

An additional crucial aspect to take into consideration is what distribution technique will in reality make you money. Given the present landscape of diminishing download earnings and the high cost of antiquated physical distribution systems it can be a daunting task to find the course of action that is suitable for you. In 2012, most musicians agree that the top two strategies to generate income from music are to tour, or to license music for film, television and video games. After considering the effort and expense involved in organizing, booking and executing tours licensing clearly emerges as a preferred revenue stream generated by music. If placement in films and television is your primary purpose, please keep reading.

The way you retain ownership of your music is an essential ingredient for potential music licensing deals in the future. You’ll want to research what would make the most sense for your own sound with a lawyer, but in general, you’ll need to consider:

  1) You are going to want to keep your own publishing.
  2) It truly is easier to consider licensing contracts if there is one sole
  songwriter credit for your music.
  3) It is less complicated to work with licensing agents if you release your own
  songs as an independent artist. In general, the less parties there are
  in a contract, the better.
  4) It is ideal to evaluate licensing agencies well. Have an attorney
  examine any possible contracts. Should you choose a licensing agent, they
  often prefer to be the exclusive agent—so choose well.

Musician Jennifer Clarke is one such singer-songwriter. She creates her music mainly as an emotional pursuit. Her songs are deeply personal and soulful. Yet the moment the album is mastered and printed, Jennifer becomes all business. She licensed her song, “More Than I Have,” on the FX Series starring Denis Leary, Rescue Me. Her current album, Trinkets in Rubble, is slated for release in March 2012, when she’ll start new efforts to get the album licensed.

What can you do to pursue licensing? Get in touch with Music Nomad, ASCAP, or use your favorite search engine to look for companies that specialize in the field. Most importantly, never give up. If you knock on enough doors eventually one of them will open.