The New Music Business with Ari Herstand

How Music Gets in Commercials from Music Supervisor/Actor Winslow Bright

Mar 24, 2021

01:04:59

Winslow Bright is a music supervisor and music producer at Search Party Music. They primarily put music in commercials. They do really big campaigns like Sephora, Beyond Burger, Calvin Klein (the one that featured Justin Bieber and Lil Nas X), Mini Cooper, and many more.

We talk about what that job is all about and how they decide what songs are going to get placed. Winslow shares information on what goes on behind the scenes when a song is placed. She also talks about how cover songs get placed. We also talk about how original music gets composed and scored for commercials, who those people are, and where they come from.

Winslow has an interesting background. She's an actress and musician. She's currently working as both. She's in a Shonda Rhimes show called Inventing Anna. She discusses all of the hats she's wearing as a music professional and what it's like.

Quick links:

4:45 - What Winslow Bright does at Search Party Music

7:27 - When does Search Party Music get involved in a project?

10:33 - What does a budget for original music look like?

19:30 - Is a 50/50 split between master and publishing common these days?

22:08 - Are most favored nations clauses (MFNs) common?

24:23 - What's the process for placing cover songs?

31:29 - Is an existing cover used?

34:33 - How does Search Party Music approach lesser known artists? What's the process like?

41:22 - How Winslow Bright got into music supervision

58:44 - How does Winslow balance and bounce between everything she does?

1:03:52 - What it means to Winslow to make it in the new music business