Industry Insider: Steve Bootland Discusses Sync Licensing & Artist Development

For our new Industry Insider interview, Fantasma Music’s Steve Bootland shares insights on sync, branding, AI, and how artists can build meaningful fan relationships in today’s industry.

With over 25 years in the music industry, Steve started out playing “not so good guitar” in a band before moving into touring as a guitar and backline tech for artists such as Gail Ann Dorsey and Joe Strummer. He went on to be a tour and production manager for acts including The Catherine Wheel, Crash Test Dummies, The Almighty, and Candlebox. After working alongside some of the industry’s top artist managers, his passion shifted from touring to the business side of music.

Over the years, Steve has worked in digital distribution, international artist development, ran a small indie label, and managed several artists. Canadian-born, Steve relocated to the UK at a young age and now lives in Portugal, where he focuses on Sync Licensing and artist development. After years of sync repping, A&R and Head of Sync for other companies, he recently launched Fantasma Music, where he is the GM and Head of Sync. Learn more here.

What’s the most overlooked aspect of an artist’s development?

Steve Bootland: “I’ll try to focus on how Licensing & Sync fits into all these questions. This question has many roads that hopefully all connect in an artist’s career. Firstly, not all artists are the same; most managers and teams helping with release strategy and development will tell you that. Strategies and approaches that work for another artist, simply may not work for you. Organizing your ducks in one row to deliver in the short term while thinking about the long term is hurriedly overlooked sometimes.

“Wanting to be a full-time musician while doing other jobs is many times the case, but it isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes, diversifying your assets, where your job could help build a fanbase, gets overlooked. Building a brand identity and a business foundation, or at least preparing mentally for the onslaught of ‘no’s’ before that first ‘yes,’ can be overlooked. Momentum can fizzle quickly, and many artists talk ‘to’ their fans, not ‘with’ their fans, not just in the early stages.

“Sharing ‘On Tour’ posters with a week between each show or ‘We’re Coming Your Way’ social posts doesn’t engage me if I still haven’t really listened to your music. Doing something different, like asking fans in a new city to recommend a café or business in town that is hurting financially and needs a boost, then organizing a flash mob visit in the afternoon with fans who want to take part, sounds to me like you’re looking to the future. I’m going to want you to come back to my town.

“With licensing & sync, you’re planning your future by getting all your ducks in a row again before sending your music out there to music supervisors. You’ll hear music sups and sync reps say this over and over, time and time again. Why, because it can’t be stressed enough: Metadata, Metadata, Metadata. Do you have split sheets with any co-writers of the track, or your producer, if they have a piece of the master rights? Do you have an administration agreement with everyone involved, allowing you to sign licensing deals without their prior consent?

“It not only helps turn your submissions into a ‘One Stop,’ but a sync brief could also land on your lap while your bass player happens to be on holiday, and you miss out if all signatures are needed right away. In the song file itself or the description, have you included the ISRC, ISWC, the composers’ full names with their PRO IP#’s, genre, BPM, mood & lyrical themes, the lyrics themselves? Are you using a platform that allows you to send a streaming link to the song that contains all that metadata and doesn’t expire in time?

“A year or two down the line, a music sup may be looking for a track and remember they had been sent one years before. They might simply search their own email for tags like ‘dark, uptempo, tense, building, electro-pop, etc’ and find your email. Poor metadata and paperwork in general could affect your chances of landing sync placements.”

Tour Bus Parking Only sign, photo by Steve Bootland

What’s the biggest mistake artists make when they first start building their team (managers, agents, publicists, etc.)?

“There’s always been that age-old example of where working with close friends goes horribly wrong, though you do hear some success stories. A good team should complement the artist’s weaknesses and challenge their thinking. Don’t hire ‘yes people’ and build a team, thinking you can fire them if you don’t agree on things. Build a team for the long term so you can grow together. Remember, though, just because they tell you they know everyone and can get your music in front of music supervisors, for instance, it doesn’t matter if they’re best friends; your music still needs to hit the heart of the person it’s being sent to, and with sync, it needs to fit very specific briefs.

“It’s great having overwhelming drive, but hiring a team, thinking it’s your ticket to playing huge festivals next year, may end up being disappointing for you, especially if you start backing off in communication with each other. I can’t count the number of times an artist told me they were unsure whether the team they currently had was doing any work. Don’t talk to me about that, talk to them, you may be really surprised how many ‘no’s’ they’ve had in their inbox.”

How do you see the role of live performances evolving in a post-pandemic world?

“Sometimes we forget COVID started six years ago now because of the continual storm of craziness going on in the news today. It certainly helped online concert and event platforms grow and improve the ways in which many artists communicated with their fans. Quickly, it became a lesson on how to keep the energy in the room while monetizing in different ways. A lot of opportunities came about for people to be able to connect with professionals or peers in the industry and share ideas. Things like behind-the-scenes VIP access exploded, as well as the use of analytics improved.

“The pandemic showed some artists that they really knew nothing about their fanbase and wished they had started an email list at the last couple of live shows they did before lockdown. Venues and promoters that survived and avoided closure had to rebook cancellations first and work with artists and their teams in a whole new world afterwards as things started to settle.

“Some artist/promoter relationships grew, especially in the way they marketed shows together. All in all, the subject of ‘Fan Experience’ was put to the test, and we’re seeing it today still. Brand partnerships at festivals are collecting better analytics, not just advertising their products. The role of live performances evolving comes from the demand for live performances. AI isn’t going to replace that feeling of seeing the soul of the artist for some time to come. There is no better feeling than seeing your favourite artist live or discovering a new artist at a great gig. Actually, ‘never get off the bus’ is an expression I use all the time and means many things to me, like never give up or don’t stop touring. I loved being on the road for over 15 years.

“Currently, the majority of news about the live music industry shows growth in many territories, though not without a few curveballs now and then, like work permits, taxes, sanctions, etc. Gaming companies, too, like Roblox, continue to develop in-game live opportunities, which should be on the watch list. Even if you’re not a gamer, it’s an amazing way to get your music out there. Whether it’s rightsholders opening up IP for game developer communities or a full-on avatar gig in a game, the gaming world is a cultural hub for young new music lovers. Gaming is ‘visual’ like a live gig is visual, or TikTok and streaming services like Spotify are taking more notice of that. The live performance has no choice but to evolve, and hopefully, new technology will also help keep touring costs and ticket prices down, maybe.

“People have the opportunity, like never before, to make their shows more visual and even split segments into short video clips for future content creation, so why wouldn’t you take advantage? Immersive performance is coming as well, so look out for opportunities there. Fantasma Music’s Street Team Arm has taken some old ideas and blended in some modern tech, allowing our teams to use things like NFC technology to help get new releases out to fans, new videos, collect data, and heighten the live show experience in general.

“These days, there are fewer reasons why every person in the room doesn´t have your new single or hasn’t joined your mailing list. Bringing artists closer to the brand itself or even helping launch a Netflix series marketing campaign in the live music scene has many advantages now, with brands collaborating closer with the artist and the target audience they both share.”

What’s one technological advancement you think artists should embrace to stay ahead of the curve?

“There have been some great advancements in so many directions, and more tools come out constantly. Subscribe to the newsletter from ‘There’s an AI for that’ for a look at new apps. Tracking data and analytics does sound boring to many for sure; however, if you’re not doing it in some minor way, even, there are other artists who are (Metadata, metadata, metadata, three important words). If you are not adding in proper metadata when pitching sync reps, and music supervisors’ other artists are doing that.

“With AI like ChatGPT, there are many reasons why artists should be jumping on it, from asking it to improve your bio to searching out radio stations that play your genre, release planning, etc. There are AI platforms analyzing music fans’ Discord messages now. Not to hype on about AI, it´s hard not to talk about these days. If you don’t feel like doing things like a simple search on IMDb for names of music supervisors for TV shows and films you think your music fits, ask AI.”

Do you think there’s too much pressure on artists to be ‘content creators’ in addition to musicians?

“Yes, but content creation done right can grow your fanbase and even lead to sync opportunities. Not to mention, simple fan-generated content can be shared as well. Music fans are everywhere, but can’t always be everywhere. They’re sometimes on your TikTok, sometimes on Instagram, or even sometimes watching in-flight music videos on an airplane. If something you do on your socials connects with your fanbase, it can explode at any time. It doesn’t have to be a dance challenge or a ‘cover my song’ competition, though they both still work.

“There are great platforms now that can take any of your videos and split them into very cool snippets, like I mentioned, giving you more content to share. There are companies like LyricFind and more, where you can generate cool lyric videos.

“Something I like to do personally, I have a video of a fishing boat passing a beach I was on a few years ago. I changed the video to black and white and took the sound away. I’ll often use the same video in my IG Stories using different songs from artists we rep for sync. Simple and very effective as it shows it’s the song that can change the feel of that video. One minute it can feel like a spy escaping in a boat at the end of an action movie, a person leaving their past life behind them and sad or a lone hero about to save the world. It works well, one shot, different songs, creating different feelings.

“Try making your own short film of yourself looking out the window of a train, attach two of your songs separately and share both video versions. So many people will connect with that scenario, ask fans to choose which one they like. I understand everyone is different, and some people just don’t want to be content creators, but it can be very simple, anything people connect with. You probably have access to a smartphone in your pocket that can help you do it; it doesn’t have to be difficult.”

How do you think the artist-fan relationship will evolve over the next few years as direct-to-fan models become more prevalent?

“I mentioned in one of my answers that even brands are continually tweaking which platforms they advertise on. The direct-to-fan model has been around for a while, and for sure, we’re going to see some new ideas coming out from clever teams. We might see some interesting ways in which fans become more of the story, and licensing can play into that as well.

“Think fan-powered sync campaigns even? What’s to stop an artist from building their own realistic sync campaign for fun, first by asking fans to choose one of their tracks they think would fit for a 14-second video of ‘things just not working right at all.’ Cars not starting, light switches not working, missing trains, any mishap in life could work. Have them add their videos with a chosen section of that song to their IG stories using a tagline or hashtag. Create a fake product using ChatGPT, complete with a clever tagline that any company could use (don’t steal other brands’ logos and slogans).

“Ask fans to make their videos funny and engaging. Be honest with them and tell them you want to bring them on a journey to land a real sync placement with a real brand or TV Series, film or game, eventually using that same song. If you build your own campaign for your fake product to the point of it creating a big buzz, shop it to brands and music supervisors if they haven’t already seen what you’ve been doing. You could land a brand advert that might even continue with your mayhem in life idea, using their product to save the day, of course. Just an idea there.”

Fantasma Music poster

Have you seen any changes in how artists approach building their fanbase, given the rise of niche communities online?

“For sure, there are no rules, and if one approach doesn’t work, tweak it. If you don’t have a manager or team, try feeding all your artist info into ChatGPT, then ask it to give you a couple of niches you may fit. Then ask it to build a plan to find those communities and build fans there.”

Do you think artists today need to have a deeper understanding of data analytics to succeed, or can they still rely on pure artistry?

“To ‘succeed’ is very definitive; success can come in many forms, but if you aren’t prepared to treat it like a business, then is the music business right for you? Say an artist comes along and sends an industry rep a couple of the best songs they’ve heard in ages (be it a manager, sync rep, agent, etc). They both strike up a conversation, and the industry person loves the artist’s drive to conquer the world, so they dive in with a few more questions. Questions that probably don’t need a mathematics or marketing degree to answer… ‘What are some of your trigger cities?’ ‘Are you getting Shazam hits in places you didn’t expect?’ ‘What is Spotify for Artists telling you?’ ‘Have you checked out some of the other DSP’s ‘for artists/for creators’ platforms like Deezer, Apple, Amazon, Anghami, etc?’

“There’s every chance the industry rep you’re talking with already knows some of your answers, so no need to fake it; you should know it. Comments like ‘Spotify pays artists crap’ are not a new analytic, remember, especially if you’re not following some of the industry organizations or people working on getting better streaming income for artists. In Sync, data analytics can help you pitch for sync briefs. Knowing where your music is being played can help you look for brands and even TV shows from that territory, for instance. Incidentally, one sync I worked on, which was placed in a popular Netflix series, showed an increase of over 800 percent in Shazams from all over the world within a couple of weeks.”

How do you feel about the rise of virtual artists (like AI avatars) who don’t exist in the physical world? Could they disrupt the industry?

“Let’s see, I liked Gorillaz when they came out, but that’s completely different, I know. It was the unmistakable sound of Damon Albarn, yet animated. If a new song came out tomorrow sounding like Damon, I’d be searching the press to see who’s suing whom or who’s getting paid what, though. Avatars and fake bands are already happening, and I think there is every chance an AI Avatar artist could land a sync deal instead of a real artist. If the song is great and the team behind it come up with a cool strategy to get it out there, then we might even be wearing their t-shirts.

“For now, emotional depth and cultural relevance are hard to replace with AI. For gaming, we might see virtual artists doing product launches and some songs getting hugely popular. It can be argued that coming up with prompts, designs, and the package has an artistic element, so it could open more doors than it closes. If anything, maybe it will up the mark for quality. I loved it when I heard Denmark is giving their citizens copyright to their own faces.”

What’s your view on how artificial intelligence is shaping music production, creation, and marketing?

“Currently, Fantasma Music does not accept music written using AI, though I think the whole subject is important to stay on top of. There are quite a few platforms with mailing lists I would recommend for a daily, weekly, or monthly dose of recent tech and industry news. V13.net obviously then… Waterandmusic.com, Rock Paper Scissors, Music Tectonics, Musically.com, members.ditcommunity.com, to name a few.

“AI is accelerating everything, both good and bad. I do not want to see artists’ intellectual property stolen, and I want to see fair remuneration, so I try to keep up. Artists who use AI as a tool to refine ideas or create alternative song versions might have an edge without losing their human touch. With Sync Licensing, it can help ‘up’ people’s game with the extra competition being created. Are we ready to order the t-shirt from the fake AI band yet, though? Do we want our favourite charity using an AI-written song in a TV commercial? I don’t think so, not yet anyhow.

“With marketing, AI can offer a lot of help from digital release strategy planning to lyric video ideas. Is your own band/artist website discoverable on AI platforms? Something to look into if you haven’t already. There are sites like aipeekaboo.com that you can check out. Tagging and metadata are already hugely important for licensing and sync, and the market is quickly learning that you can easily build your own solutions. Imagine if someone asked ChatGPT, ‘recommend five of the best songs released in the last two years that I could use in a police chase scene for a film, … and your song was listed as one of them.’”

How do you think the rise of AI-generated music will impact the careers of human musicians?

“I could go on about this topic for ages, but I will try to keep my comments geared more towards licensing and sync again. In a nutshell, some say it could be damaging, and others say it’s an exciting time to be in the business. Did the release of thousands of songs on Spotify last week stop you from creating your own music? Just because Johnny down the road is a better guitar player than you, are you going to give up? Are you using AI as a tool in your writing process, or are you feeding in prompts to make a song that sounds exactly like another artist for your own gain?

“Consumers and music lovers are already leaving platforms that don’t take human creation seriously. Do you want to align your brand with those ethics? If you do, then as a consumer myself, maybe your brand isn’t for me. However, did the prompts you used to copy another artist use one that cloned their own voice for AI usage, and they’re receiving royalties?

“Maybe a brand decides to incorporate the original artist in their marketing campaign. That brand might be thinking ahead of the game; I’m sure we’ll be seeing many new ideas coming. For now, audiences still want reassurance on how AI is going to make their lives better, and even the recent launch of ChatGPT 5 received criticism over showing no emotional connection with the audience. Deezer excludes tracks that are fully AI-generated from editorial and algorithmic recommendations. There are already many background music websites that brands can license music for low budgets; microsync licensing has been around for ages.”

Is the idea of “selling out” still relevant in an industry where brand partnerships and corporate sponsorships are now seen as essential for survival?

“I wouldn’t say corporate sponsorships are ‘essential’ for survival; money comes from different directions in a musician’s career, and there is a lot of competition out there for brands to come knocking on your door. In sync licensing, it’s more likely to see an artist’s music being used in a one-off placement, which might last for some time, versus the artist receiving any sort of ‘corporate sponsorship.’

“Not all campaigns come with massive budgets as well. Sure, budgets for sync placements can go from small to huge, but sometimes it’s not just the initial all-in fee that helps. At times, artists can even collect residuals. If your music, your vision, and even your core base align with a brand or business, then you are not really selling out. Haters are always going to hate. They might dislike the fact that your death metal music is in a kitten food commercial every time they turn on the TV, but it won’t matter really, check your Shazam hits.

“The way in which brands are choosing to market campaigns also shifts a lot, with many choosing streaming platforms like Netflix shows versus TV Series to launch products. The way in which music is chosen for a particular campaign isn’t always the job of a music supervisor; sometimes it’s a campaign manager, the Chief Marketing Officer or even the CEO of the brand that is making the music decisions. There are companies out there, like Winmo, that specialize in finding out which major brands have advertising campaigns coming in the next yearly quarter. Yes, you might not have the budget for a full membership, but I’d suggest signing up for their quarterly mail-out.

“This is another reason why Fantasma Music has launched a ‘Street Team’ arm. Not only does it work with music business students wanting experience, but we also work with brands and corporate sponsorship. It allows brands the opportunity to work closer with the artist they licensed music from. The brand, the artist and even the promoter can also share analytics from fans that align with the brand. What a great way as well for an artist’s team to grow superfans’ involvement and help music business education evolve, and yes, like our sync arm, we work globally.”