139. Finding Your True Value as a Musician with Elaine Ryan

🎙️ Episode S5E24 – Finding Your True Value as a Musician with Elaine Ryan

In this episode of Musicians Tip Jar, hosts Chris Webb and Dave Tamkin sit down with Elaine Ryan — singer-songwriter, author, and founder of Unicorn Sync — to explore how musicians can discover, communicate, and confidently set their value in today’s music industry.

Elaine shares her inspiring journey from gigging in Maui to building a thriving sync licensing agency in San Francisco, helping indie artists land placements in TV, film, and ads. She opens up about balancing creativity with income, launching her nonprofit Sync Music for Change, and writing her upcoming book Living a Music-Centered Life. 👉 Whether you’re a gigging musician, songwriter, or building your sync career, you’ll learn:

• How to define your unique value in music
• Why setting your rates matters (and how to do it without guilt)
• Tips for navigating sync licensing opportunities
• Strategies to balance fulfillment with financial stability

💡 Key Quote from Elaine:
“For me, it’s always been being able to create songs that I care about and get them heard by other people.”

📌 Nonprofit of the Week: Maui Music Mission – bringing music education to kids and communities in need. 🔗 Don’t miss this conversation full of practical advice, inspiration, and a reminder that your music has real value.

Elaine's
website: https://www.elaineryan.ca/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mselaineryan


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.

Visit MusiciansTipJar.com for more resources and tools to empower your financial journey.

Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.com

Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi

https://soundcloud.com/rockababyrock

Pictures by: Kit Chalberg https://kitchalberg.com/