We recently connected with Elaine Ryan and have shared our conversation below.

Elaine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I started my own music licensing agency, Unicorn Sync in 2021 and it’s a bit of a long story as to how I got there.

I’m also a musician, so starting out, I just wanted to get my own songs placed. I stumbled into running an agency indirectly through a non-profit initiative I started in 2021. I’d always been into activism work and had been working on getting out the vote for the 2020 election. I noticed that a lot of the music supervisors I followed on Twitter and Instagram were posting about the election and they seemed, like me, to have liberal/progressive views. This wasn’t too surprising—most creative types tend to be more left-leaning, and most music supervisors live in LA or New York. I thought it might be interesting to see if I could organize monthly listening sessions with music supervisors, where musicians wrote to their elected representatives about an issue or made a donation to a cause, in exchange for submitting a song to the listening session. I invited my co-writing friend Justina Shandler to join me and we started Sync Music for a Change.

We were already connected with a ton of great musicians through a music licensing course we’d taken as well as through the many sync-related FB groups that we were a part of. The first three listening sessions were great successes; the musicians loved getting to share their music and the music supervisors loved the songs. The music supervisors we had on began to ask if they could clear all the music we’d shared through one person. Basically, they wanted to know if we were an agency. We weren’t but we decided pretty quickly to start one. After a few zoom calls, some brainstorming the creation of a website, Unicorn Sync was born! Running an agency is a lot of work, but I’ve always been fairly detail-oriented so it turns out to be the kind of work that I’m good at and enjoy.

Justina’s main passion is songwriting and last year she took a full-time job writing lyrics for a kids show and had to leave Unicorn Sync, so I’m running the show solo now and still loving it! What began as an attempt to get my own music licensed (which I have managed to do, though it’s no longer my primary goal) has grown to a business where I represent hundreds of artists. I’m thrilled for them each time we get them a placement and find it to be very rewarding work.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Unicorn Sync works on behalf of independent, unsigned artists to get their music placed in TV shows, movies, trailers, promos and ads. We are an artist-run business that understands the challenges faced by indie musicians and we know how difficult it is for these artists to be recognized for their creativity and hard work. Many talented artists pour their lives into making beautiful music and they find it extremely difficult to find an audience and stand out from the crowd. Having their song placed in a tv show, for example, is a tangible sign of success and provides them with much needed income. We are a link between music supervisors (who curate the music for tv/film/ads etc) and independent musicians.

In only two short years of business, we’re proud to have had our artists’ songs placed in promos for movies such as Dog (Channing Tatum), Bones & All (Timothée Chalament/Zendaya) and Creed III (Michael B Jordan), in TV shows like Disney’s Saturdays, Love Island, Are You The One and in independent films including Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall (Jenna Ortega).

We also run a monthly listening session through a non-profit initiative called Sync Music for a Change. Music supervisors volunteer to listen to songs by indie musicians in exchange for those musicians making a donation to a given cause (eg. homelessness, Maui wildfires, climate change, racial justice) or in some instances writing letters to their senators about the issue. Check out www.syncmusicforachange.com for more information.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

Our name and branding is a key aspect of our marketing strategy. Unicorns are beloved creatures so Unicorn Sync has been a really useful business name that people warm to quickly.

One risk I took from the beginning was to show up at every conference or networking event I attended decked out in Unicorn regalia. I always wear a Unicorn hat or a headband with a single horn on it and it helps people to notice me and remember who I was when I follow up. I’ve found that being willing to be the person who looks a little bit silly allows other people to drop their guard. In an industry where being ‘cool’ is at a premium (though no-one admits to it), being a bit ridiculous differentiates me and creates a situation where people to feeling comfortable talking to me. This is super important in the music licensing business because it’s relationship based. Being willing to feel a little uncomfortable is the secret sauce to starting new relationships. The funny thing about it is that since I’m wearing all this unicorn gear, people assume that I’m super extroverted and outgoing. I’m definitely able to turn that tap on (I do have a background as a performer) but I’m actually pretty introverted and laidback when the hat comes off.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Aside from the belovedness of Unicorns, I think our reputation is built on word-of-mouth. I cater to two groups of people—the artists that I represent or seek to represent and the music supervisors who need music for their projects.

I mentioned that I run a monthly non-profit initiative, Sync Music for a Change; I think it builds a lot of good will among the musicians that I represent to know that I’m not just in this for status or a quick buck—I really do care about social injustice, climate change and being a force for positive change in the world. It’s also really important to me to treat others with dignity and respect and I hope that comes through in the way I interact with people (though I know I have my moments of impatience – I’m a work in progress).

Music and motion pictures are hard businesses to eek out a living in and many people, ranging from musicians to agents/label reps/publishers to music supervisors feel underpaid and underappreciated. The result is that music supervisors get a lot of people reaching out to them, and there’s often a tone of urgency or desperation in the emails. I do my best to be empathetic and calm in my communications and I think (or hope at least) that comes through. There are also a lot of civic-minded music supervisors who respect the non-profit work I do and who volunteer to participate, for which I’m extremely grateful!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.unicornsync.com, www.syncmusicforachange.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/unicornsync, www.instagram.com/syncmusicforachange

Image Credits
Justina Shandler