Atlanta, GA - Georgia State University's School of Music hosted a weekend of all things Sync, the art of combining songs with moving images, featuring some of the top music supervisors in the industry. The event aimed to create a pipeline to pair Georgia State students aspiring to be professional musicians with the sync community. During an exclusive listening session, a handful of GSU students who have recently launched their music with the MTM Standard label presented their music in an exclusive listening session with six of the top music supervisors in the country.
“We feel that it will be impactful for the supervisors to not only hear the artists’ music but also get to meet them and learn a little bit about their story as students and artists,” said Al Thrash, professor of Music Management at GSU.
The Sync Meetup was open to all GSU students and the public and took place Sunday, April 16 at 12 p.m. It included a panel discussion with the visiting supervisors followed by a social mixer. These supervisors are experts in their field and shared their insights and experience with attendees. Here's a highlight of each guest:
- Attique Iqbal: joined the NFL in 2006 and has been the Music Coordinator for NFL Media Group (NFL Network) since 2012. In this post, Attique has overseen music reporting for nearly all NFL Media Platforms, helping curate and selecting music for various NFL Media|NFL Network shows and content.
- Tiffany Anders: One of the busiest music supervisors in LA, Tiffany just completed work on Reservation Dogs, Pen15, the Chair, and Firefly Lane and has a full slate of projects lined up for 2023.
- Andy Ross: Responsible for music in more than 120 theatrical releases, including a three-time Oscar-winning film a Golden Globe-winning TV show and box office global hits totaling $1+ billion in revenue. Ross won the 2015 Guild of Music Supervisors award for film under $5m for his work on Whiplash.
- Reesha Archibald:is a Creative Executive with A Bird and a Bear Entertainment- Cedric the Entertainer and Eric Rhone's production company, and she also works alongside Cheo Hodari Coker, who was the creator/Executive Producer/Showrunner of Marvel’s Luke Cage as the Head of Operations for his Fighting 99th Productions company.
- Angela Jollivette: is a 2x award-winning soundtrack producer, receiving an NAACP & Stellar Award for the Greenleaf Season 2 soundtrack. She launched Moonbaby Media, a music supervision & production company in 2017. Angela also currently oversees VH1's Black Ink Crew franchise as Music Supervisor bringing a new horizon breaking new music talent, and developing her own music content for television.
- Romar Bennett: A talented Music Supervisor, Sound Designer, Philanthropist whose credits include @Marvel, @Netflix, @SonyPictures,@WBPictures, @BET, @Disney.
“We want to encourage all the music makers at GSU to learn the importance of sync and the many opportunities available across all forms of visual media,” says Ben Yonas, professor of Music Production & Recording at GSU. “While many artists are chasing Spotify playlists, Tik Tok and Instagram followers, Sync is one of the few areas of the business where it really comes down to the music. We are also hoping to expose a career path in music supervision to our students.”
According to Billboard, Sync revenues from TV, film, and ads were up 29% in 2022. This increase outpaced streaming (up 16%) and vinyl sales (up 22%).
The Sync Meetup took place on April 15-16 2023, at Georgia State University’s Creative Media Industries Institute. The event on Sunday was open to songwriters, artists, music producers, aspiring music supervisors, aspiring tv & film producers, music publishers, labels, managers, and more!
Through the Rise Initiative, SOM recently launched MTM Standard, GSU’s student-led music distribution and sync company. The distribution arm had its debut in March with a series of releases from student artists. This Sync Meetup coincides with the launch of MTM Standard Sync, a full-service music library and licensing company.
For more information about the Sync Meetup and to RSVP, visit mtmstandard.com.
