All Episodes
52 Cues - A Production Music and Sync Podcast — 300 episodes
Your Cue Got Accepted! Don't Blow the Deliverables.
Dave Answers Your Production Music Questions
Inside a 52 Cues Cue Breakdown
Is Using Loops "Lazy?"
Brutally Honest Advice from a Library CEO (Chuck Henry, 10 West Music)
Stop Pitching and Start Building Relationships
Can AI Help Get Your Cues Signed? (with Alan Lazar)
Composers, You Need a Second Brain
Why Good Music Isn’t Enough in Sync
Stop Using Spreadsheets for Metadata with Cuemonic
Inside the Production Pipeline of Warner Chappell
What It Takes to Score a Network Game Show
How Do You Actually Go Full-Time in Production Music?
The Biggest Sync Mistakes We’ve Ever Made
What Non-Drummers Get Wrong About Programming Drums
How Do Composers Find New Libraries?
TV Composer Reviews Your Production Music Cues Live!
Let's Talk Trailer Music (with Randon Purcell)
Do I Just Suck at Workflow?
What New Composers Get Wrong About Sync
Building Better Work-Life Balance
The Production Music Industry Quietly Changed
Your Influences Are Louder Than You Think
I Wrote Fewer Cues in 2025. Should I Be Worried?
I Use The Same Mixing Method on Every Cue
Office Hours with Prof. Dave
Inside the A&R Mind (with Farnell Newton)
How to Write True Crime Tension Cues
I Said This Isn’t Art… Was I Wrong?
Meet the Exec Who Decides Which Cues Get Used
The PROs Say Yes to AI Music. Should You?
A VIP Tour of 52 Cues
Why Conferences Matter (PMC 2025 Recap)
Level Up Your Pitches with Reelcrafter 2.5
The Secrets of Tasking Cues
What Does "Editor-Friendly" Mean?
Writing Melodies That Work
Unlocking the Secrets of Reference Cues
Must-Know Tips for Music Conferences
How to Write Investigative Tension Cues
Vacation Fails & Life Lessons
Prep Like a Chef: The Composer’s Mise en Place
The 4 Stages of Learning Any DAW
Chomp and Circumstance
Your Sync Questions, Answered!
5 Failures That Kill Your Creative Output
How I Think About Light Tension
Sync Terms You Should Know (But Were Afraid to Ask)
Give Your Cues an Edge That Beats AI
Composers, It’s Time to Leave SoundCloud
Ask Dave Anything (LIVE)!
Why Your Metadata (Probably) Sucks (with Mrs. 52 Cues)
Pomp and Circumstance – Composer Quest LIVE!
Even More Inconvenient Truths About Production Music
The Four "C's" of Success
These 5 Small Choices Can Mean Huge Growth
An Editor Tells Why Great Cues Get Cut! (with Biagio Messina)!
These Climbers Made the Summit of Expedition 52!
They Went From Returns to Real Placements (with Michael Reschke)!
This Dramedy Cue Gets Placed Over and Over!
Stop Overthinking Chords with This Simple Tool!
Can Samples Save This Hip-Hop Cue?
7 Keys to Great Collaborations
Reworking, Repurposing, and Reinventing Your Cues with SCAMPER
Do Sync Composers Need Branding? (with Andy Gesner)
Production Music Q&A – LIVE!
The State of AI in 2025 (with Timothy Andrew Edwards)
How to Stay Grounded When Sync Feels Overwhelming
Sync Trends for 2025 (with Timothy Andrew Edwards)
How To Work Smarter, Not Harder
Looking Back on 2024 and What's Ahead for 2025
The 3 Keys to a Long (and Happy!) Career
Why Does it Take So Long to Get Paid?
What Defines the "Mood" in a Cue?
It's Episode 200! What Have I Learned?
Understanding Ominous Tension
Is Originality Overrated?
How to Use Transition SFX
Collaboration is King (with Dale Grisa)
Ask Me Anything!
Conferences, Colons, and Storms (Oh My!)
One on One with Jason Graves
Writing Epic Hip-Hop for Sports
Christmas In July Winners!
Cue Review – LIVE!
How To Use Story Beats to Structure Trailer Cues
What Makes a "Good" Cue?
How Do I Stay So Positive?
Christmas In July Composer Quest Live!
How PROs Support Composers (with Erin Collins, SESAC)
Are Production Music Composers Going Extinct?
How To Use Your Superpower (with Nathan Toft)
Understanding Orchestral Articulations
Getting Into Film Scoring (with Scott Mclaughlin)
How to Play the DAW Like an Instrument
Production Music Is A Team Sport
More Inconvenient Truths About Production Music
What's Your Superpower? Composer Quest Live!
I Got Copyright Notices for Using AI Loops
Sync Gems, Part 2 (with Roy Matz)
Sync Gems, Part 1 (with Roy Matz)
Production Music Q&A LIVE!
5 Career Lessons I Learned from Star Wars
What's Your Superpower?
The Habits of Success (with Jelle Dittmar)
Parkinson's Law and Composers
Evolving in the Music Industry (with Timothy Andrew Edwards)
Let's Talk Sync Agents (with Chuck Milan)
From Pews to Production Music (with Jeff Hargrove)
Where Are Your Bottlenecks?
Cymbal Slice Composer Quest LIVE!
We Need To Talk About AI... Again
Hacking Music Theory with Music Interval Theory
Ready for Sync? Live!
Software Synths Demystified (with Jon Audio)
What Are You Afraid Of?
What Can Golf Teach Us About Production Music?
From Beats to Banjos (with Ryan Harlin)
How to Handle Discouragement (a Family Roundtable)
What Should You Look for in a Mentor?
Looking Back on 2023 and What's Ahead for 2024
I Just Turned 50 and I'm Just Getting Started!
Is This Orchestral Hip-Hop Cue Ready for Sync?
A Library Wants My Cue! What Now?
Is This Spanish Guitar Cue Ready for Sync?
Is This Festive Christmas Cue Ready for Sync?
The Classically Trained Synthesist (with Jameson Nathan Jones)
Production Music Q&A LIVE!
Is This Synthwave Cue Ready for Sync?
6 Career Lessons I Learned from Star Trek
The Power of Gratitude, Grace, and Forgiveness
Is This Dark Dramedy Cue Ready for Sync?
How To Think Like a Publisher (with Jason Rudd)
Is This Epic Hip-Hop Cue Ready for Sync?
I Suck at Guitar (and That's OK)!
Spy Dramedy Cue Review
Arabian Orchestral Cue Review
Orchestration Recipes (with Philip Johnston)
Fright Night Composer Quest Live Showcase!
Hybrid Horror Cue Review
Coming Up Through the Ranks (with Jonas Friedman)
Uplifting Piano & Orchestra Cue Review
How to Find the Art in Artisan (with Hans York)
Sound Design Trailer Cue Review
Who Needs Spitfire's Abbey Road 1st Violins??
Indie Acoustic Cue Review
Orchestral Sports Cue Review
Emotional Piano & Strings Cue Review
Sports Rock Cue Review
Can Subscriptions Actually Be Done Right? (A Roundtable)
Americana Hip-Hop Cue Review
Exploring Sound Design with Venus Theory
Uplifting Orchestral Cue Review
Turning Pro
Country Hip-Hop Hybrid Cue Review
Demystifying the Cue with Dean Krippaehne
Indie Pop Positive Cue Review
Musical Solutions to Mixing Problems
Stomp Clap Cue Review
Q&A Live!
Kitschy Jazz Cue Review
Standing Out In The Crowd (with Jason Moss)
Do You *Need* a YouTube Channel?
You Should Learn Guitar (with Mike Meiers)
Who Writes Those Plugin Demos?
Let's Get Weird!
Hip-Hop for Sync with Anthony Clint, Jr
The 5 Lies I Used to (and Still Do) Tell Myself
Left vs Right Brain Thinking for Composers
How Gaming Makes Me a Better Composer
Sync or Swim Music with Robbie Hancock
Overcoming and Avoiding Burnout
PROs Explained
How Can the 80/20 Rule Can Boost Your Career in Production Music?
From Sample Making to Filmmaking with Jon Meyer
Production Music Q&A
Do Libraries Owe Us a Response on Returns? (with Michael Laskow)
Is TuneSat Really Worth the $$$?
10 Piano VSTs Compared!
What Do Editors Want? (with Josh Siegel)
Waves Goes Subscription... Only?
5 Books That Changed My Thinking
My Own Mount Rushmore of Plugins
Do You Have What It Takes?
The Four Stages of Competence
Let's Talk Metadata
Expanding Creativity Using Ableton Live with Christina Horn
Inexpensive and Easy-to-Play Instruments for Your Cues!
A Chat With ReelCrafter
The 10 Commandments of Production Music
Is One Cue Per Week Really Enough?
Read the @#$%& Brief! (Anatomy of a Taxi Listing)
2022 In Review (and What Comes Next!)
How I Use Sketching for My Cues
Getting Into Game Music (with Adam Fligsten)
Why Do We Do This and Is It Even Worth It?
Bebop Killed Jazz: A Cautionary Tale for Media Composers | 52 Cues Podcast, 2022 Week 48
Am I Wrong About Stock Music? (with Steven Beddall)
4 Things You Can Do With Your Unused Cues
Saying the Quiet Parts Out Loud with Anne-Kathrin Dern
PMC & Taxi Road Rally Review
5 Ways to Stay In the Creative Flow State
Do We Really Need a Web Presence?
(Yet) Another Q&A Episode!
Writing Cues for Sports (with Rob Aster)
What's Luck Got to Do With It?
Make Your Publisher's Job Easy (with Michael Laskow)
How is Production Music Different than Film (and Other) Music?
4 Ways to Jumpstart Your Creativity!
The Inconvenient Truths About Production Music
Collaborations and Conferences with Tracey and Vance Marino
5 Steps to Starting Your Career In Production Music
We Need to Talk About Waves Plugins
The Many Ways I Make Money Making Music
Are You Too Old to Start a Music Career?
4 Ways To Be A Better Composer (Without Focusing on Composing!)
Will Artificial Intelligence Ever Replace Composers?
5 Career-Killing Habits You Should Stop Now!
All About the Production Music Association with Morgan McKnight
Never Say Never (or Always)
Making Music Income with Eric Copeland
The Truth About "Passive" Income
Do We Really Need to Know Music Theory?
Tips and Strategies for Maximizing Taxi
Soundcloud vs Reelcrafter vs Disco
Keeping It Real with Jesse Josefsson of Sync My Music
The Best YouTube Channels for Media Composers
Should Composers Ever Work for Free?
Are Audio Software Subscriptions Worth It?!
Sound Design and Soundtracks with The Unfinished's Matt Bowdler
SOLVED! Which DAW is the Best?
How to Write Titles that Get Placements!
The New 52 Cues!
Nice Guys Finish First (with Marlon Gibbons)
Another Q&A Episode!
Back Up Everything, Then Back Up Your Backups!
My Path to Production Music
We Need to Talk About Splice
How to Handle Criticism Like a Pro
Why "52" Cues with Dan Graham
5 Things Many Students Get Wrong About Being a Composer
How To Use References Responsibly
Quality vs. Quantity: Is One Cue Per Week Enough?
So You Want To Make Sample Packs?
I Wrote at Least One Cue Per Week for a Year – What I Learned
You Need These Two Items If You Write Tension Music!
Is This Job Even Fun for Me Anymore?
Does Expensive Gear Really Make a Difference?
Why I Use So Few Plugins when Mixing and Mastering
Over Promising and Under Delivering
I Quantize Everything (and So Should You)
How I Use Ozone for Quick and Easy Mastering
I Use This Song Form on (Nearly) Every Cue
Production Music Isn't Art
Chopping Samples in Serato Sample for Production Music
Organize Your Catalog (or Else)!
Learning That This Career Is Not For Me
Get More Placements by Thinking Like an Editor!
Answering More of Your Industry Questions
The One Thing I Do To Add Realism To All My Cues
Get It In Writing: Work-For-Hire and Co-Writer Contracts
How to Find the Right Sounds Fast!
How Many Hats Do Production Music Composers Wear?
How Many Hats Do Production Music Composers Wear?
Honesty Is the Best Policy (Duh!)
Honesty Is the Best Policy (Duh!)
Where do ideas come from?
Where do ideas come from?
Why Should I Be Using a Template for My Cues?
Why Should I Be Using a Template for My Cues?
What’s the one thing I wish I'd known about having a career in music?
What’s the one thing I wish I'd known about having a career in music?
Don't Throw Away Your Unused Cues!
What's the Best Mouse for Music Production?
How Do You Battle Imposter Syndrome?
Do You Have to End Your Cue on the I/i Chord?
3 Tips for Realistic Drum Programming
How To Handle Rejection From a Publisher
What Genre of Library Music Sells Best?
How to Stop Procrastinating and Get Back to Composing
I Don't Write Music Every Day, and That's OK
Do you have to go to school to be a composer?
3 Ways to Pay Work-for-Hire Musicians to Play on Your Cues
The Power of Collaboration
Answers to Your Questions About Production and Library Music
I Mix and Master in Headphones and I'm Not Even Sorry!
What One Habit Increased My Productivity?
How Long Does It Take To Get Paid Royalties?
Can Creativity Be Taught?
We Never Stop Learning
When Is the Right Time to Turn Down Work?
5 Ways to Get Out of Your Creative Slump
Organize (and color) your cues for easy export!
How many libraries should you write for?
Adjusting to a "new normal" is pretty normal for composers
5 ways composers should be more like Bob Ross
When is it safe to use loops in production music?
How do you land a publisher?
It's OK to Ask for Help
You're never too "pro" to make a rookie mistake