In our new series State of Synch we reach out to industry leaders from different fields to get their opinion on where we stand. How do ongoing technical developments, market shifts, customer behaviour and the global economy impact our playing field – and what do we intend to do about it? Julian Krohn, Director Music & Audio at Scholz & Friends, about how AI, new audience behaviours and a growing demand for authenticity are changing the way music, brands and artists work together.
“Sync has shifted from supervision to culture”
How have you experienced the last five years in sync and advertising, especially in relation to brands?
There are two dimensions to this. First, the role of music in advertising is evolving and diversifying. The question is: what role does music play today? It can act as background sound, emotional reinforcement, a trigger for recognition, or a way to capture attention.
The biggest changes have happened in background and emotional use, because these can now be handled very quickly and cheaply, thanks to AI, music libraries and subscription models. These have become the go-to options for brands and agencies, treating music as a fast and easy service.
When you look at bespoke composition or artistic collaboration, however, it becomes far more complex – and more valuable. Creating attention, recognition, or a cultural connection between brand and audience requires creative involvement, often an artist or a hit.
Secondly, Advertising itself has changed – from a mainstream push instrument to a more personalised and selective pull instrument. Advertising today has to become part of culture in order to be seen or heard. It’s no longer about talking to everyone, but about talking to someone directly, through something meaningful, emotional, maybe local or niche.
AI, music libraries and subscription models make production easier and faster than ever, but the more technology takes over the simple tasks, the more human creativity becomes essential in the complex ones.
Does this stronger cultural focus mean brands now rely more on artist personas than on songs alone?
Yes, absolutely. For me, the goal is to connect sync with proactivity and collaboration. Sync is becoming smaller and more competitive when it’s only about song use. The business of syncing hits will always survive, but the other songs that still deserve fair licensing depend on deeper collaboration.
That means involving artists earlier, co-creating content, and looking beyond the song itself, into storytelling, authenticity, and shared meaning. Music supervision is becoming more holistic: part curatorial, part creative production, and part cultural strategy.
You mentioned the growing importance of culture. What does that mean in practice?
We’re moving from music supervision to providing creative solutions. Today, supervisors might handle project management, production, PR, social media or even film production.
It’s no longer about “song placement” alone. It’s about providing overall solutions: developing the creative concept, the story, and the cultural context around the music. We’re shifting from song to artist, from reach to attention, from campaign spots to behind-the-scenes storytelling. From mainstream to local, from finished products to showing how they’re made, from one big campaign moment to continuous creative storytelling.
People can choose not to see ads anymore, so brands must create content that people want to see – collaborations, behind-the-scenes videos, and backstage moments.
AI plays a role here as well, not as a replacement for creativity, but as a generator of new ideas and tools that help us work faster and explore new possibilities.
From an artist’s or manager’s perspective, where does the value of a sync placement lie today?
The core value hasn’t changed. It’s always been about attention. But attention is more valuable than ever because audiences are fragmented into smaller bubbles and niches. Advertising doesn’t reach everyone anymore. Attention matters more than the budget.
Reach can be bought, attention can’t. For artists, that means a sync is not only a commercial deal, but a visibility and credibility boost. For publishers and composers, it also means they’re now competing with AI and librarie. So the focus has to shift to unique creativity, storytelling, and new collaboration models that bring their music to life in unexpected contexts.
Does the same apply to microsyncs, or will AI take over that space?
Microsyncs are actually a perfect example of the value of attention. It’s about getting your song out there quickly and easily. These opportunities are fast and affordable, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It pushes everyone to be more flexible and to rethink old pricing models.
There’s also huge potential in new digital solutions that connect smaller campaigns with emerging artists, linking the long tail of advertising with the long tail of music. New Sync Startups like MEWO, Catalog or Ringo are already exploring leaner and more digital ways of automating (parts of) the sync process. The danger, however, is the dominance of social media giants like TikTok or Meta, who are trying to build closed licencing ecosystems. The music industry should develop its own independent solutions to stay autonomous.
Looking ahead, how do you see collaboration between music, film and advertising evolving?
More than ever, sync means collaboration: partnerships between brands, publishers, labels, artists, songwriters and producers need to be reimagined.
The music, but also the advertising industry can learn a lot from gaming and tech. They’re faster, take more creative risks, and often believe in “build fast, test fast” rather than endless approval loops. That mindset of agility and collaboration will be key for sync in the future.
We have to explore new processes and possibilities beyond a song, telling stronger stories and involving other parts of the creative industry.
That’s one of the ideas behind the European Sync Camps, which I helped initiate in 2024. The goal is to bring professionals from music and advertising together – across levels, backgrounds, and genres – and to create an open platform for music creation and brand collaboration.
What excites you most about the next decade?
I’m quite optimistic. The most exciting developments are happening where advertising meets culture: in live experiences, artist collaborations, new branded formats and cross-industry platforms.
The intersection between tech, music and culture is where new ideas are born. AI will keep transforming our tools, but creativity, emotion and authenticity remain human.
That openness is what excites me, connecting people, encouraging cultural collaborations, and bridging music and tech.
Music supervision will never disappear: New artists and songs are emerging constantly, and while AI can support creative processes, it will never replace the emotional power of a great song or great artist. Those will always survive and they’ll always belong in great campaigns.
Julian Krohn founded the music & audio department Scholz & Friends Sounds at the leading creative agency Scholz & Friends in 2021. He is responsible for music consulting & strategy for clients like UBER, Sparkasse, VW, Google or McDonald’s. Prior to that Krohn held leading creative roles at Jung von Matt owned in-house music agency White Horse Music, with clients like Vodafone, BVG and EDEKA, as A&R Manager at Universal Music, as well as music supervisor for German blockbusters. In addition to numerous gold and platinum awards for artists such as Alice Merton , Lena Meyer Landrut and Rag’n’Bone, Krohn won AdWeek’s Global Best Branded Podcast Award, gold at ADC Europe, won the Ciclope Award as best music agency, and ranked among the top 3 global music agencies at the Clios For Music Awards. He is a jury member of the Art Directors Club Germany, the CommAwards for Audio, and member at the Music WorX Hamburg incubator.
