Ep. 34 With John Clifford

In this last episode before their summer break, Ferry van Beek and Simon Webb have a very interesting conversation with Ron Mendelsohn from MegaTrax. With over 30+ years in the production music industry, it’s great to hear Ron’s perspective on how the industry has changed, and where we’re heading. Ron doesn’t mince his words on the disruptors, and has a strong opinion on how we should perceive this competition. Expertise, opinion and vision make a great combo for another fascinating episode of Synchronized!

West One Music Group’s setup might well be the blueprint of the independent production music publisher of the future. What started as a British label label working traditionally with sub-publishers around the world arguably changed into the first hybrid independent global production music publisher. Besides having their own offices in London, Munich, Paris, Sydney, Dublin, Bangkok, Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles they still rely heavily on local sub-publishers. What was the reason for starting their own offices in certain territories? And why do they feel they still need local sub-publishers in other territories? Ferry van Beek and Simon Webb talk with Edwin Cox, Global CEO of West One Music Group. Interested in his views on the current state of the production music industry? Check out this new episode of Synchronized!

JP Sing is YouTube’s Music Content Strategist for Europe, Middle East and Africa. With his background as a booking agent, road manager and Digital Strategist at Sony Music Entertainment Africa he has enough experience up his sleeve to help YouTube navigate the world of music copyright. Besides the business side JP is still enjoying music to the fullest when playing the guitar in his band OneDaySky. Ferry van Beek and Simon Webb discuss a wide variety of topics with JP. What is YouTube content ID? How does it work? How important is music to YouTube? How can music creators use YouTube to generate income & reach their clients and fans? Again a very informative episode of Synchronized!

Adam Taylor started out producing documentaries, TV Movies and Reality programming. Later he joined APM Music, (a leading US Production Music Library) and he is now President and CEO, a post he has held since 2001. He has also been the chairman of the PMA from 2017 to the present day: More than enough reasons to have a sit down with him, and talk about the state of the production music industry. Hosts Ferry van Beek and Simon Webb talked with Adam not only about the changes that our industry has seen in the past 20+ years, but also about the changes that are about to take place. What does the future of production music look like? Listen to this episode of Synchronized! and find out!

Cora Music claims it's providing 'the music your videos always deserved', competing with Epidemic Sound for video producers' synch in the Nordic market. It was founded by Swedish performing rights society STIM, but how is it different from all the other platforms? Ferry van Beek and Simon Webb decided to ask CEO Malte Andreasson what Cora Music is all about. Is this set up going to be an example for other PRO’s around the globe? Will Cora Music offer their services globally in the near future?  Is Cora Music the future of production music or a maybe a threat to production music? This new episode of Synchronized! is yet another hour filled of information that will help you decide your strategies for the future.

In this episode of Synchronized!, hosts Ferry van Beek and Simon Webb talk to industry veteran Randy Thornton. Randy gives us the benefit of his wide-ranging experience in the library music business. He co-founded Non-Stop Music in 1981, and built it up to the point where it was acquired by the Warner Music Group in 2007, becoming the foundation for the Warner Chappell Production Music operation. As CEO of Warner Chappell Production Music, Randy became a worldwide leader in production music. He was appointed Chairman of the Production Music Association (PMA) in 2012, and served in that post for five years. With his children, he now owns and runs Amphibious Zoo Music, a highly successful library operating out of Utah, USA. This episode gives a sweeping view of the last forty years of the business from the point of view of a man who really has seen and done it all!

Web3, crypto currency, NFT’s, minting a sync license and a virtual fashion show by Dolce & Gabbana. You might want to grab a notepad before listening to this episode of Synchronized! Ferry van Beek & Simon Webb talk with Keatly Haldeman, CEO at Dequency. Dequency is the world’s first web3 synchronization licensing marketplace. A platform for music and visual creators to connect and collaborate on NFT art and metaverse content. Confused? You won’t be after listening to this episode of Synchronized!

Having worked for almost 20 years at Sesac, where his last job was as SVP Strategic Development / Distribution & Research Operations; for 2 years as Executive Director of the PMA, and already more than 7 years as EVP, IP and Business Development at SourceAudio, it is difficult to find a guest with more diverse and deep-rooted experience. In this episode of Synchronized! Ferry van Beek and Simon Webb talk with Hunter Williams about the state of our industry. From PRO’s to new business models, from simply being a distribution platform to becoming a generator of new income sources, there is no stone left unturned. The production music industry doesn’t just face challenges, there are plenty of opportunities too!

Our guest in this episode, Art Munson, is the founder and owner of musiclibraryreport.com. This long-running website is the ‘Trust Pilot’ of library music: A forum for composers to share views on different libraries, and library practices. Art Munson’s enthusiasm for NFT’s, Crypto currency, Artificial Intelligence, and all things at the cutting edge of production music, is infectious. In a fascinating episode, this senior statesman of library music talks about all this and more:  How he graduated from playing guitar with Dick Dale and The Deltones to becoming a guru of our business? The joys, for a composer, of non-exclusivity. The merits of releasing tracks on micro-stock websites? How the subscription models of the new wave of disruptors are disrupting the older royalty-free disruptors. What it's like being an octogenarian in the library world. And, what he believes the future holds….. You’ll find out all this and more in the new episode of Synchronized!

This new episode features John Clifford, until 2017 Managing Director of Universal Production Music UK, and, until recently, EVP & Global Managing Director at BMG Production Music.  John is now a self employed at True Road Music, and board member of the PMA. In the past he has been a long-standing member of PMAG (Production Music Advisory Group) at PRS for Music.  John brings a wealth of experience to the podcast. He argues strongly for the traditional publisher / sub-publisher relationship, and provides a compelling counter-narrative to some of the more disruptive and independent voices we have heard recently. It's a very interesting conversation.