52 Cues - A Production Music and Sync Podcast
Hosted by working composer and long-time professor Dave Kropf, the 52 Cues Podcast takes you inside the real world of production music, library music, and sync licensing – breaking down cues, unpacking industry insights, and sharing candid conversations with fellow composers and publishers.
Weekly episodes deliver practical strategies, creative inspiration, and insider information to help you land more placements and build a sustainable career in sync.
Podcasting since 2021 • 267 episodes
52 Cues - A Production Music and Sync Podcast
Latest Episodes
Level Up Your Pitches with Reelcrafter 2.5
In this episode, Sam Hulick and Sara Pocius from ReelCrafter return to talk about the brand-new ReelCrafter 2.5 update, what’s new under the hood, and how it helps composers pitch smarter and present their music professionally. Plus, we’re unve...
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Season 2025
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Episode 40
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50:25
The Secrets of Tasking Cues
In this episode, we’re unpacking tasking cues – the music that underscores moments of focus, pacing, and process in reality TV and beyond. We’ll talk about what makes them work, where they’re used, and break down one of my own inside the DAW.
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Season 2025
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Episode 39
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43:00
What Does "Editor-Friendly" Mean?
In this episode, I unpack what it really means to write an editor-friendly cue. We’ll look at the six essentials that reduce friction in the edit bay and I'll walk through a Shark Week investigation cue I recently wrote and put it to the test.<...
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Season 2025
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Episode 38
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37:45
Writing Melodies That Work
In this episode, I unpack my approach to writing melodies that really work inside production music cues. I walk through how I build motivic ideas, how modes shape the emotional color of a phrase, and how static melodies can create forward...
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Season 2025
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Episode 37
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48:42
Unlocking the Secrets of Reference Cues
In this episode, I share a simple framework I created to help composers break down and study reference cues. You’ll learn how to listen for the musical elements that shape mood and emotion and how to extract those details so you can use them as...
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Season 2025
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Episode 36
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48:47
