Case Study: Memory Lane Music Group
How we provided Memory Lane Music Group with a publishing-focused system to manage and monetize their assets more efficiently, and the tools to oversee their entire sales and pitching pipeline.
The Client
Memory Lane Music Group is an independent music publisher with a client-centric approach. Established in 1921 as Larry Spier Music (ASCAP), Memory Lane Music Group has earned a stellar reputation as one of the most trusted names in music publishing.
With the solid foundation of their legacy catalog Larry Spier Music and the cutting edge savvy of their active roster Scion Music, they bring unparalleled expertise, vision, and attention to every step of the music publishing experience.
The Challenge
With a catalog of thousands of tracks encompassing both their legacy copyrights and active roster, Memory Lane Music Group needed a platform to house and manage all of their assets. Additionally, they wanted users, both within their team and externally, to be able to search their catalog, and required efficiencies for pitching their music to creatives and tracking the progress from pitches and quotes to licenses and payments.
“We needed one place from which we could pitch our catalog and track uses. We also wanted a website that allowed users to search our catalog via a variety of search parameters.”
Heather Trussell Butsch, Senior Vice President
The Solution
As one of Synchtank’s first music publisher clients, we set out to create a platform tailored to Memory Lane Music Group’s unique, composition-orientated requirements. “As a publisher with multiple recordings of the same composition, we needed a system with the capacity to link compositions with their sound recordings and transfer data seamlessly between the two,” explains Senior Vice President Heather Trussell Butsch. “Synchtank worked with us to accomplish this and accommodate our specific requirements.”
We created a front facing website for Memory Lane Music Group that serves as the primary website for the company as well as a destination for their catalog. The team can showcase the best of their company and copyrights, from news to recent placements and playlists, through an easy to use content management system (CMS). The entire catalog is searchable in a matter of seconds thanks to our advanced search function, powered by automated metadata tagging, which enables buyers to find tracks and request licenses at the click of a button.
“Synchtank worked with us to create a platform to meet our unique needs. We never heard ‘We can’t do that.'”
Heather Trussell Butsch, Senior Vice President
On the back-end, we provided the team with the tools to streamline the process of pitching and negotiating for sync deals. All pitches, from single tracks to albums and playlists, are fully tracked to measure engagement and drive quality leads. The team are able to oversee their entire sales and pitching pipeline through a dedicated customer relationship management (CRM) system. Again, the company’s publishing expertise helped us to tailor this to their specific needs. “We worked with Synchtank to determine the data fields necessary for comprehensive license tracking and reporting,” explains Heather.
From the beginning, Memory Lane Music Group were impressed by the functionality of the system and the service that they received: “We were impressed with the Synchtank platform, both the front-end and the back-end,” says Heather. “The team is very attentive and cooperative. We never heard, ‘We can’t do that’.”
The Result
The Synchtank platform has helped Memory Lane Music Group to be more efficient in managing, pitching and monetizing their assets. “We have become more streamlined and efficient with respect to pitching our catalog and tracking uses,” explains Heather.
The advanced search tool helps the team to respond to briefs faster and with greater accuracy. “The search function is very helpful when I’m looking for songs to pitch,” says Heather. “The variety of search methods and the ability to narrow the scope of the search is very helpful, and we are able to turn around requests from sync briefs much faster.”
“We have become more streamlined and efficient with pitching our catalog and tracking uses. The CRM and its report feature allows us to better track licenses and routinely follow-up on any outstanding payments.”
Heather Trussell Butsch, Senior Vice President
As a client-centric music publisher, tools such as the CRM allow Memory Lane Music Group to work more effectively on behalf of their writers and partners, from issuing licenses to monitoring payments. “The CRM and its report feature allows us to better track licenses and routinely follow-up on any outstanding payments,” explains Heather.
With technology playing a more important role than ever in the changing music industry landscape, the Synchtank platform is incredibly versatile and can be adapted to support the team’s evolving requirements. “Whenever we have a suggestion for how a function might work better the team is responsive and accommodating,” says Heather. “Synchtank is consistently looking for ways to improve upon and expand the functionality of its platform.”