WA-based company, Lolly Box Music was founded by Noah Shilkin and Dave Tenni to provide a conduit between WA artists and songwriters, and an international network of music buyers for film, television, advertising and gaming projects.
We take a moment with Dave to talk about the work Lolly Box achieves and the advantages for creatives of partnering with the company.
Tell us about Lolly Box Music and what the company is all about.
We promote songs and music created by the exceptional artists here in Western Australia to our international network of music buyers for film, television, advertising and gaming projects.
What is your role at Lolly Box Music?
My role is Managing Director and Noah is our Creative Director. Noah is an internationally renowned recording artist, songwriter/ composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and music supervisor. While my background is as a company director and business advisor.
Together, we believe that we provide a unique blend of artistic integrity, deep musical experience and commercial acumen – the combination of which allows Lolly Box Music to provide expert guidance, creative objectivity and streamlined outcomes for our customers and artists.
What sort of compensation can an artist/songwriter expect if their work is picked up by a client?
There are so many factors that contribute to the type of fees expected, but in short the range can be from hundreds of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars (and beyond).
IP is the creative artist's most valuable asset and these kinds of deals not only help financially, but the exposure can be career changing.
What services does Lolly Box Music offer?
We are seekers, curators and purveyors of excellent new music and specialise in creative music searches to fulfil a vast range of synchronisation briefs.
Are you able to mention any clients you have worked with?
Lolly Box Music has built an international client base of music buyers for film, TV, advertising and games, starting with close relationships Noah established over his career as an artist, songwriter and producer in North America, and we are actively investing in expanding our network.
Music supervisors simply don’t have the time to listen to and evaluate the ownership and copyright clearance of every track provided to them and as such want to go to the people they know. Our focus therefore is very much on our strong, trusted advisor relationships with music buyers in many major US and Canadian entertainment companies through personal interaction and face to face meetings.
In short, our approach is based upon airfares and shoe rubber rather than relying totally on phone or email communications.
How do creatives such as songwriters benefit from the work you do?
The ever-increasing volume of film, television and gaming content being created globally is driving the need for more and more excellent music for synchronisation briefs.
However, for music creators and writers to get noticed in this highly competitive market it is vital they have access to music supervisors in major global entertainment companies.
It is Lolly Box Music’s focus on building and maintaining face to face relationships with our buyer network that differentiates our approach from the traditional reliance on email or hoping to get noticed through metadata searches.
We believe people still buy from people and building trusted-source relationships with our buyers provides a unique advantage for WA writers and artists.
Importantly this approach puts Lolly Box Music and the WA-based writers we represent on a more equal footing with global players who are able to conduct their business face to face as a matter of course.
While some might see this approach as obsolete in the age of electronic communications and Skype, we believe it provides a unique opportunity for WA songwriters to stand out from the crowd.
What is the connection between the company and WAM?
There is no formal connection between LBM and WAM - but there is of course a shared passion for WA music. Noah and I do, however, currently volunteer our time to WAM where Noah is the Board Vice-President and I offer my services as business coach and strategy advisor. Lolly Box Music is also a 2018 WAMFest sponsor.
Who are some of your favourite WA bands and artists at the moment?
We obviously have a soft spot for WA artists - we're big fans and supporters of all of them and we'll be trying to see as many as we can at this year’s WAM Festival. Even the ‘unknowns’ can have huge songs that can launch their careers.
Though set up for WA, are there plans to expand the business to include artists from other states?
It's a huge task just working with all the WA artists and their repertoires and that's our initial focus. That being said, however, we aren't afraid to look Australia-wide to fill a brief for our clients.
