Ben Lindvall knows what it takes to land a sync deals. He regularly places his home produced songs in Fox Feature Films, Television Networks and commercials like Subway Sandwiches.
Pop quiz — High School style.
He helped us put together four essential questions to help you get started.
Do you love making music; I mean–really–love, making music?
Ben’s first freelance gig was for Car & Driver online. The pay was minimal and the demands were kind of crazy, but he loved it because all he wanted to do was write and record original music.
Do you believe that things will work out… somehow?
When Ben first moved to New York all he had was a two-month studio engineering certificate from the Recording Workshop in Chillicothe Ohio, yet somehow, he thought it would work out, and it did…. eventually.
How long will you keep trying until you succeed?
Successful entrepreneurs aren’t smarter or better with people – they don’t give up. Neither did Ben. When the studios refused to hire him, he started interning. When he tired of pushing paper, he started freelancing. He didn’t have the skills when he started out, but he learned them.
Can you truly listen? Can you ask good questions? Can you work within a deadline?
Ben’s first clients knew nothing about music production, but they had ears, and they weren’t afraid to tell him what they thought.
“That’s not at all what we were looking for.
Can you speed it up?
Can you slow it down?
Can you get me something with lyrics and a melody in two hours?”
It was a steep learning curve, but it taught him to ask the right questions – up front – to listen and respect the answers, and to deliver on time – all the time.
Want to give your tunes an extra boost before pitching them to a client?
Kami Records can help.
Ben uses it for his commercial projects because:
1- It makes tracks more audible, so that you can trust that what you’re making is going to translate on a pair of iphone headphones.
2- He finds it easier to work with a dry master bus and give it to Kami Records because it gets his tracks loud and clear without having to worry about extra parameters as with a lot of mastering plug-ins.
3- Kami Records is like a second set of ears, like a collaboration without needing someone else to re-arrange or re-mix your track. The results are really exciting.
