Music Sync Expert: How Sync Works, Why It's Broken and How To Fix It

Tom Stingemore is one of the most knowledgeable minds in music sync licensing. He was President of Sync at Hipgnosis, the multi-billion dollar music catalog fund that owns thousands of No. 1 songs. Before that, he was SVP of Sync at BMG and Creative Director of Sync at Universal Music Group. In this episode, we link up in London to talk about Tom’s new company, Alloy, and his mission to fix one of the biggest problems in sync: bad data. We break down what music sync is, how it works, what’s broken in the current system, and how it can be improved. Whether you’re a music supervisor, artist, producer, or just curious about how songs get placed in film, TV, ads, and games—this episode will give you a deep understanding of the sync world today and where it’s going. We are On The Go — here’s my conversation with Tom Stingemore. Special thanks to Dean St. Studios in London for having us! (00:00) INTRO (02:55) WHY SYNC IS IMPORTANT TO ARTISTS (03:59) SYNC MAKES YOU MONEY (04:45) HIPGNOSIS (07:13) PROBLEMS, CURRENT STATE OF SYNC (21:33) SYNC SOLUTIONS, ALLOY (25:17) EXAMPLES (28:10) REACTIONS (30:08) TOM'S FOUNDER JOURNEY (33:00) THE METADATA PROBLEM, SPOTIFY (35:25) WHY SYNC HASN'T BEEN FIXED YET (37:15) JAMMCARD (38:24) BETTER SYNC IS ACHIEVABLE (40:32) HOW IS SYNC DIFFERENT BETWEEN BMG, UMG, HIPGNOSIS (44:10) INDIE ARTISTS GETTING SYNC ‘Go with Elmo Lovano’ is a weekly podcast where Elmo interviews creatives and entrepreneurs in music on HOW they push forward every day, got where they are in their careers, manage their personal lives, and share lessons learned and their most important insights. Please SUBSCRIBE / FOLLOW this podcast to catch new episodes as soon as they drop! Your likes, comments and shares are much appreciated!   Listen to the audio form of this podcast wherever you get your podcasts: https://elmolovano.komi.io/ Follow Tom: https://www.instagram.com/tomstinge/ Learn more about Alloy: https://www.alloy.music/ Tom's Article on Music Business Worldwide: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/five-reasons-why-sync-is-still-stuck-in-the-last-century/ Follow Go With Elmo: https://www.instagram.com/gowithelmo/ https://www.tiktok.com/@gowithelmo https://x.com/gowithelmopod Follow Elmo Lovano: https://Instagram.com/elmolovano https://x.com/elmolovano