From Kate Bush to Yellowstone: How Sync Deals Can Supercharge a Career and Open Doors for Indie Artists
- Isabella Basile
- Aug 28
- 8 min read
Getting your music featured in a motion picture is a huge accomplishment and no easy feat. But, how do you get there? Can an indie artist score one?
What is a Sync Deal?
A sync deal, short for synchronization license deal, is an agreement in which music is paired with a motion picture, which can include, but is not limited to, film, TV, and video games. A sync deal grants a company, such as Netflix, permission to use your musical composition and/or recording in TV shows, movies, video games, and commercials. In order for a sync deal to be made possible, the company has to get permission from both the Publisher and the Sound Recording Copyright Owner (SRCO).
Kate Bush and Stranger Things
Sync deals are vital in motion pictures; the right or wrong song can really make a scene. The more popular the show and/or streaming service, movie production company, and TV studio is, the higher the chances for your song to perform well, with potential for a snowball effect of streams, revenue, and gigs.
Due to Stranger Things' huge fan base, especially with the release of Season 4 in 2022, many songs included in each season got traction. One of the most notable songs that gained traction was “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush, featured many times throughout Season 4 as a motif for Max as she uses it as a source of strength and means of escape from Vecna, most prominent in Season 4 Episode 4, “Dear Billy” symbolizing her grief over Billy’s death, being trapped in the Upside Down, and her desire to change places with Billy. Originally peaking on the charts in 1985 at No. 30, “Running Up That Hill” re-entered the charts at No. 8 exactly two weeks after the first part of Stranger Things’ season four aired and peaked at No. 1 on Hot Alternative Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.
“Running Up That Hill” beat THREE world records:
Longest time for a track to reach No. 1 on the UK’s Official Singles Chart: 36 years 310 days.
Oldest female artist to reach No. 1 on the UK’s Official Singles Chart: 63 years and 328 days.
Longest gap between No. 1s on the UK’s Official Singles Chart: With her previous No. 1, “Weathering Heights” being at No. 1 on charts for four weeks in 1978, it took Bush 44 years and 83 days to get a song to No. 1 on charts!
Why is this so important?
With how many times “Running Up That Hill” was played throughout the series, it both gained huge traction, about 9,000% more with about 497 million streams, and a massive amount in streaming royalties, of $2.3 million, which Bush most likely got the bulk of.
“Running Up That Hill” being featured in Stranger Things made it possible for Kate Bush's music to be discovered by a younger generation, leading to a surge in TikTok and Reels popularity, which in turn caused a massive boom in royalties and radio playtime. Not only was "Running Up That Hill" being streamed more, but all of her music was being streamed more.
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The Yellowstone Effect
Yellowstone, known for its Western tales, dark secrets, and other scandalous events, reached 13.1 million viewers for its season 5 finale, making it the most-watched episode in the series' history. Yellowstone focuses on America’s history through the lives of an American family looking over the land they have held since the Civil War. With Yellowstone's loyal following, artists and music featured throughout the series have gained millions of streams, featuring artists like Chris Stapleton, Zach Bryan, Emmylou Harris, Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, starring as Abby, and Ryan Bingham, starring as Walker.
Yellowstone, tailored to country fans and an older generation, opens up Pandora's box for independent artists to get their country music across to a new demographic. With this, country fans and the baby boomers are finding country music that sounds similar to what they used to hear on the radio.
Lainey Wilson’s music first appeared in Yellowstone’s Season 2 Episode 1 “Thundering” with her song “Workin’ Overtime” with a total of eight songs featured throughout the series!
Season 2
“Workin’ Overtime” - Episode 1
Season 3
“Straight Up Sideways” - Episode 6
“Small Town Girl” Episode 10
Season 5
"Smell Like Smoke" - Episode 3
"New Friends" - Episode 4
"Hold My Halo" - Episode 6
"Watermelon Moonshine" - Episode 6
“Hang Tight Honey" - Episode 14.
Making her acting debut in Yellowstone’s series finale, after featuring her music on Seasons 2 and 3, co-creator and director Taylor Sheridan created Abby to reflect Lainey Wilson herself. With both herself and her music on the show, Wilson claimed in a July 2024 TODAY appearance, “I realized just how beneficial it was to have music in that show because people were coming to my show being like, ‘I found you through the Yellowstone soundtrack.’” Already making her name before her features and appearances on Yellowstone, her streams and followers were boosted even higher after being featured.
Since Yellowstone, Wilson has become a huge name in the country scene, winning Best Country Album at the 66th Grammy Awards for Bell Bottom Country, six Academy of Country Music Awards, 2022’s New Female Artist, 2023’s Album of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Music Event of the Year, and Visual Media of the Year, and won seven Country Music Association Awards, including 2023’s Entertainer of the Year which according to NBC the last female to receive Entertainer of the Year was Taylor Swift in 2011.
Ryan Bingham, starring as Walker on Yellowstone, was featured a total of 17 times throughout the series, also being featured in every season, making him the most featured artist!
“Sunrise” - Episode 4
“All Choked Up Again” - Episode 5
“Sunrise” - Episode 5
“Wolves” - Episode 7
Season 2
“My Diamond Is Too Rough” - Episode 1
“Bread & Water” - Episode 2
“The Weary Kind” - Episode 10
Season 3
“Tell My Mother I Miss Her So” - Episode 8
“Snake Eyes” - Episode 9
Season 4
“The Other Side” - Episode 2
“Wishing Well” - Episode 2
“Take It Easy Mama” - Episode 6
“The Poet” - Episode 7
“Hallelujah” - Episode 9
Season 5
"Nobody Knows My Trouble" - Episode 6
“A Song For The Stone” - Episode 14
"I'm a Goin' Nowhere" - Episode 14
Throughout the series, Bingham both had original songs and covers featured on Yellowstone, but “A Song For The Stone,” featured in the season finale, episode 14, was written specifically for the show. Ryan Bingham's official quote regarding the release of “A Song For The Stone” was, “I’d like to dedicate this song to all the Yellowstone fans out there, all the cast and crew, and all the folks that have made this whole thing possible over the years. It’s been a pretty amazing journey, and I’m honored to just be a part of it. It’s taken me a while to write this song, but sometimes you’ve got to live it before you can write it.”
And according to the LA Times, Taylor Sheridan wrote the movie ‘Wind River’ listening to Bingham’s ‘Hallelujah’ on a loop, and in an email, he stated, "to have him on ‘Yellowstone’ is a gift. He is the graveled voice of this generation’s cowboys and poets.”
Yellowstone elevated Bingham’s career, both by being a featured artist and an actor on the show, which gave him many opportunities for his musical and acting career, even creating his own bourbon in 2023.
Following the end of Yellowstone, Bingham released a live album, Live at Red Rocks, with The Texas Gentlemen at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and a music video for “A Song For The Stone.” Now, he is touring “The All Night Long Tour” with no opener.
“All I See Is You,” first heard on Season 4 Episode 3 of Yellowstone, also named “All I See Is You,” was played during a scene with Travis Wheatley (Taylor Sheridan) listening to the song in his truck with his crew, stating with dialogue that he was listening to “Shane Smith and the fucking Saints.” Again played at the beginning of Season 4 Episode 4, “Winning or Learning,” while Travis Wheatley and his crew are driving to Scottsdale.
Season 4
“All I See Is You” - Episode 3
“All I See Is You” - Episode 4
Season 5
"Dance the Night Away" - Episode 1
"Alex" - Episode 1
"Fire in the Ocean" - Episode 1
According to Inside The Music Of Yellowstone: Shane Smith & The Saints, after their music being on Season 4, Smith had his manager get in touch with Yellowstone’s co-creator and director, Taylor Sheridan. Although this did not work out, Smith and his team were contacted by Andrea von Foerster, Yellowstone’s music supervisor, about them filming as a band for an upcoming episode, where they record three songs, “Alex,” “Dance The Night Away,” and “Fire In The Ocean,” to be included in Season 5 Episode 1.
Since appearing on Yellowstone, Shane Smith & the Saints gained many opportunities, such as events organized by Sheridan, such as Las Vegas's horse reining event, Run for a Million, attending the premiere of Yellowstone's spin-off 1923, and performing for Yellowstone's fictional Montana Gov. Dutton to the inauguration of real-life Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Shane Smith & the Saints went from 240,981 monthly listeners on Season 4 Episode 3’s release on November 14th, 2021, gaining 15,392 in just two days, to today at 1,658,815 monthly listeners. With the increase of listeners, they gained many followers on social media, with a total of 136K on Instagram, 92K on Facebook, and 83K on TikTok.
How Can I Get a Sync Deal as an Indie Artist?
Build Relationships with Other Musicians: Try to collaborate with them, ask for help, offer help; you never know when an opportunity may arise.
Have an Established Online Presence: When your music is being taken into consideration, the music supervisor and team for the production will want to look at you and your story. If you are not well established, there is nothing else for them to go on other than your music, and sometimes your music alone will not always cut it.
Target the Right Projects: Pick a project that aligns with your music, ideals, and goals. For example, if your music is on the punk side, target and pitch a punk, emo, or grunge clothing brand such as Hot Topic; you'll have better chances to pitch your music there than say Vineyard Vines.
Don’t Over-Reach: If you are a small artist with 10,000 listeners or less, try to focus on smaller productions such as student/independent films, animations, small business commercials, and games. Chances are, you will land these with more ease than a big production! And if you are in college, you can try to collaborate with other departments, classmates, and clubs!
Sync Licensing Company and Agent: A Sync Licensing Company can get your music in a wide range of media, and they will help handle fee negotiations, licensing paperwork, and payment. With a Sync Licensing Company, you may have a better chance at getting a sync deal, for example, TuneCore Sync.
Instrumental, Clean Versions, and Stems of Your Music: Many productions only want instrumental music and clean lyrics, so it is best to have many options for them on hand. Offering an instrumental version and stems helps the editors pick the parts in the music that fit best with the scene and helps them work around the dialogue.
Make Sure Your Music is High Quality: Your song may be great, but is the quality? Make sure you have the highest quality .wav files for all of your songs; quality matters!
Stay True To Yourself: The best music comes from the heart. Don’t try to change your style because you think you will get a sync deal if you do. Your uniqueness and authenticity are what will land you a sync deal, not sounding the same as every other artist the music supervisor had to listen to before you.
Long Story Short: Although you may think it's impossible to land a sync deal, they can drastically change your career, like Kate Bush! With the right song, determination, and drive, you are one step closer to a sync deal! And with the right sync deal, your career can reach new levels, gaining more streams, fans, and revenue.
