John W. Snyder is an active composer and pianist in Los Angeles. He has received numerous academic and composition honors, including induction into the Wheaton Scholastic Society, UCLA’s Henry Mancini Award, and an honor by the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. He has also scored numerous films, documentaries, and commercials for clients such as Capitol Records, Chevy, VW, the Affordable Care Act, Disney, Lenovo, and many others. Snyder holds degrees from Wheaton College, IL (B.M., summa cum laude) and UCLA (M.M.).

Key Take Aways:

• Know Yourself - What you can handle and what you cannot
• However difficult you think the music industry will be, multiply it by 10
• In order to find business - a lot of times your networking must be outside of your comfortable circle of musicians
• At the end of the day, you gotta deliver
• In Hollywood there is only one rule: You can't miss deadlines
• No matter how small the opportunity, when you get it, you've got to deliver. Even if it's not a project that you're super excited about
• All you need is one real pay-off to get the snowball rolling. So approach each opportunity as way more than just this one gig. You never know who is going to end up listening to what you're working on
• Getting your name out is a slow build. Start at the bottom, and work your way up
• You need more influences than music alone. You need to get out, and bring many different influences into your life

Recommended Book for Performers: "Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing" by Josef Lhevinne

Recommended Book for Composers: "Harmony" by Walter Piston

Learn more about John Snyder: JohnWSnyder.com

Featured Artist: Matthew Szlachetka

Song: "Back Into Your Heart"

Website: MatthewSzlachetka.com

Facebook.com/matthewszlmusic

Twitter.com/MatthewSzlMusic

Instagram.com/matthewszl

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If you would like to be considered for featured artist, email music submissions [email protected]

Shownotes: modernmusician.co/012