Guidelines for Composing Music for TV Shows

For all music lovers and those passionate about this wondrous thing, composing music for TV is something like a dream come true. If you have excellent production, editing, and mixing skills, you can think of yourself as someone built out for this. However, you must keep a few things under consideration before you take off to start your journey of composing music.

Here are a few things that will take you to become a successful music composer.

Sign Up With a Performance Rights Organization

Performance Rights Organizations or PROs are responsible for issuing licenses for TV networks, streaming services, radio stations, and music venues to broadcast their copyrighted music.

In the interest of their members, PROs collect and pay performance royalties. You need to be registered with a PRO if you want to be paid royalties for using your music on TV.

There are three major PROs in the USA: ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.

SESAC is an invite-only organization, while BMI and ASCAP offer open enrollment. The most crucial thing is to pick one, despite the fact that they differ in various ways. In the absence of membership, you will not be paid performance royalties. The songs can be registered with your PRO after you join up.

Experience Different Music

Watch some shows that would go well with your music. The song's dynamics, instrumentation, and structure should all be considered. In most circumstances, a standard two- to three-minute pop-style format will work. As you add and remove things during the cue, keep the intros succinct and interesting.

The majority of shows will keep to a specific genre or atmosphere, while diversity is not rare. Take note of the various ways in which emotion is evoked by sound.

To learn more about the standards that have been set for TV music, look into the catalog of well-known and reputable libraries like Extreme Music and Killer Tracks. If your skills in production and mixing fall short of what you hear in those libraries, you still have work to do.

Learn What You Are Good At

Get into working on the genres you enjoy the most. Of course, it is an obvious choice to make, but it will help you a lot if you will spend the time composing the music you love the most. Suppose you have to compose music for a TV show; if you want to impress their editors or music supervisors, you have to serve them with something completely unique. They will find the difference between the music you will put your soul into, as you really love making that sort of music, and the music you have just made up to meet their show requirements.

At the end of the day, you will see some music genres ending up on TV all the time. When you find the genre you are good at, adept at composing more music in that one. Therefore, you will have even more chances to get hired to compose music for TV shows.

Don't make it so challenging for yourself and others

Keeping it simple for all will certainly help you have your chance as a rising music composer. Keep a few things in mind while making music for a TV show.

First, your music should never get in the way of dialogue or the story.

Second. Avoid creating any harsh-sounding leads, extremely busy drumming patterns, or other elements of music that will interfere too much.

Third. Leave the required space for any alterations. Since your music has to get along with the story of the TV show, it has to be ready to be arranged as a specific scene demands.

Make It Broadcast Ready

Make sure your music is mixed and mastered properly before delivering it to a publisher. When you take care of that aspect, it makes your music broadcast ready all the time.

You can check out some of the mixing and mastering tutorials to get insights on how you can accomplish this. Make sure you do not crush the mixed buss while leaving some headroom.

Reuse and recycle your unfinished tracks

Suppose you have many unfinished tracks that have not been added to your next album; you can always use them to make your next cue.

You will find many ways to reuse and recycle MIDI performance or audio files. Maybe you can import a MIDI file into a new track using a new sound. Try to change the tempo while sliding some notes to create a new verity. This will be the easiest way to get the most creative cues to keep coming up.

So these are some of the most useful tips that can help you with composing music for TV. Many well-known music composers like Luis Guerra have been using these strategies to make music and create multiple income sources using it. You will get a great addition to your passion for recording, mixing, and composing music when you will start doing it for TV shows.