EP. 29: INTERVIEW WITH MUSIC SUPERVISOR JENNIFER SMITH

This week on SyncRiffs, Charles sits down with Jennifer Smith, a Los Angeles based Music Supervisor with over a decade of experience in music and film/TV. Jennifer's impressive career includes working on shows such as America’s Best Dance Crew, Dancing With The Stars, The Ellen Show, and Netflix’s Deadly Illusions. She is also the founder of her own music supervision company, Rat Dance Party, which specializes in Film, TV.

Jennifer's work has been featured on projects produced by Showtime, Paramount+, Netflix, Viacom, Shorts TV, Amazon, Pluto TV, NBC, Voltage Pictures, Indican Productions, Kiss & Tale Productions and many more. When she's not working, Jennifer is teaching as part of the music business faculty at the Los Angeles College Of Music or hanging out with her pet rats.

Jennifer is a board member of The Guild Of Music Supervisors and a member of the Television Academy, Women In Media, Women In Music, and the Recording Academy. Don't miss this episode to hear from a true industry expert!

(Note: At the time of this interview, the WGA-SAG AFTRA strike was occurring. Since the airing of this episode, a deal has been reached.)

Follow Jennifer on IG at: @rat_dance_party

On the web: https://www.ratdanceparty.com/

0:00 Introduction

1:05 Background and work

1:58 Breaking into the Industry

1:26 Working at Kobalt

3:46 American Idol

4:13 Sonic Storytellers

5:31 Understanding all angles of the music industry

7:30 Forming Rat Dance Party Music Supervision

8:52 Mentorship Programs and Jennifer’s work

10:05 Working & Teaching Artists

11:30 WGA - Sag Aftra Strike + Music Supervisors forming a union

12:56 Protections during Covid

13:50 Protections and Equity for Music Supervisions

17:08 Giving Folks the tools for Change

17:27 Relationships with your Show runners & creating change

18:30 A livable wage in the Entertainment Industry

19:33 Working through the studios & Show runner to create change

25:34 Jennifer’s teaching curriculum

26:19 Advise for new artists

27:18 Building your team in the music industry

28:00 Unscripted Television

30:00 Protocol with working with Music Supervisors

36:00 Working with Mark Cherry

38:48 Working on Why Women Kill

39:41 Working on Behind the Music

41:56 What’s on repeat on Jennifer’s playlist?

43:30 Jennifer’s sweet spot for getting work done.

45:35 Etiquette for reaching out to Music Supervisors

48:37 Building authentic relationships with Music Supervisors

49:25 Bending Music to Picture

🎙️ SyncRiffs is a weekly podcast where we discuss sync placements in multimedia (TV/Film/Advertising, etc.), the music industry, pop culture and everything in between including exclusive interviews with musical artists, composers, agents, and music supervisors where we riff about syncs and the state of the music industry.

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This content is for educational purposes. We encourage others to conduct proper research, and if needed, consult an attorney for any legal advice regarding music licensing. (c) (p) 2023

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