Episode 287

Ryan Ordway: Writing Songs for Sync

Ryan Ordway is a multifaceted artist, songwriter, producer, and audio engineer with over two decades of experience in recording, mixing, music licensing, session playing, and commercial studio management. Having recorded and produced nearly 1,000 songs across various genres, he has worked with internationally recognized artists and designed, built, and operated multiple recording studios. In 2020, he partnered with The Studio Portland in Portland, ME, overseeing an ambitious remodel completed in 2024. Under his direction, The Studio became home to 98.9 WCLZ’s Studio Z series, hosting artists such as Noah Kahan, Grace Potter, Lake Street Dive, Joy Oladokun, and Gregory Alan Isakov.

Ordway’s songwriting talents led him to record at the renowned Blackbird Studios in Nashville with legendary producer Ken Scott (The Beatles, Elton John, David Bowie). His song Easy Street was featured in Getting Started with Music Production (Hal Leonard, 2015). His work has been nominated for Producer of the Year at the New England Music Awards (2023) and Song of the Year for Back Again (2022).

Beyond the studio, Ordway’s music has been licensed in over 13 countries and featured on major platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu, as well as in TV shows such as The Office, Happy Endings, and Raising Hope.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

Studying a producer/engineer’s entire workflows, rather than in bite-sized pieces
Getting into music publishing
What kinds of mixes you need to submit if you want your music to be licensed
Why you should start your own music publishing company
Songwriting splits: how to deal with them fairly
Writing music for possible sync deals
Embracing a “less is more” approach to songwriting and engineering
Finding the right people to get into sync work
Making fans by shaking hands
Building your team for success

To learn more about Ryan Ordway, visit: https://theordways.com/

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