{"id":6523,"date":"2019-07-17T14:43:22","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=6523"},"modified":"2025-10-09T17:12:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T21:12:38","slug":"how-sync-licensing-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-sync-licensing-works\/","title":{"rendered":"How sync licensing works: What artists need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"
Illustration: George Wylesol<\/a><\/h6>\n

The music and sound design ecosystems are always shifting and evolving with consumer trends, industry changes, and innovations.<\/h2>\n

We like to keep up with opportunities for creators to earn revenue<\/a>, sustain their careers, and feed their creativity. With that, we were keen to learn the inner workings of sync licensing.<\/p>\n

We spoke with three music supervisors across film, television, and commercials \/ branded content about their processes, how they build their libraries, who they work with, and what advice they have for artists looking to find a place for their music in today\u2019s cultural and media landscape.<\/p>\n

According to IFPI\u2019s 2019 Digital Music Report<\/a>, sync revenue has maintained a 2.3% share of the total music market. That may not seem high, but we see an incredible opportunity as streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon continue to invest billions in original programming.<\/a><\/p>\n

As Chris Swanson<\/a>, music supervisor and founding partner of Secretly Group<\/a> (home to record labels Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar, and Secretly Canadian; and Secretly Publishing<\/em>) said, \u201cIt can sometimes feel like you\u2019re making music in a bubble, spurring the \u2018does this even matter?\u2019 question. In a film, your music is seen. It\u2019s heard. It matters. It checks some existential boxes and some commercial boxes, and that check can be a nice bonus for the artist, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dive in, shall we?<\/p>\n

Sync licensing basics: what you need to know<\/h2>\n

As a creator, the first thing to know about sync licensing is that there are two parts to every song: the master recording and the composition recording, and each has its own license.<\/p>\n

The master represents the recording of a song. There can be many masters\u2014different ones for live recordings, cover versions, radio edits, etc.\u2014and each can be controlled by different labels or distributors. Your master recording royalties are collected and controlled by your label or distributor, if you have one.<\/p>\n

The composition recording refers to the unique qualities that define a song or piece of work, such as the lyrics, melodies, or structure. The composition copyright (or ownership) belongs to the songwriters and their publishers, who both collect composition royalties. If there are several songwriters for a given piece, each has their own license in need of securing. The ownership of these rights are commonly referred to as a synchronization (or sync) license. We\u2019ve also seen them called a composition or a publishing license.<\/p>\n

If not signed to a label, the artist controls the license. In their Modern Guide to Music Publishing<\/em><\/a>, Songtrust shares, \u201cCopyright law protects songwriters by giving them exclusive rights to grant or deny the reproduction, distribution, or performance of their work. When that work is shared and engaged with by the public, the recording of that song starts to generate royalties. As well as creating and owning the songs, you become the publisher of your songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the landscape is complicated, especially when working across countries with different laws and regulations. It helps to hire people who can help navigate that so you can focus on creating.<\/p>\n

Typically, an artist is represented by a sync agent who pitches their clients\u2019 work to music supervisors. After selecting the music they want to secure for a project, supervisors approach publishers and rights administrators at record labels with a pitch. Those folks share the project with the songwriter to get their sign-off. Then, after much negotiation and paperwork, a deal is struck and the rights are secured to use in a project.<\/p>\n

Budgets vary from project to project but are categorized into tiers. We\u2019ve been told commercials are a high-tier license because your music is an implied endorsement in selling a product. TV campaigns and film trailers tend to have the highest budgets. After that, it\u2019s films, then TV shows. Video games range across the spectrum, depending on the company creating them.<\/p>\n

What a music supervisor\u2019s process looks like<\/h2>\n

The project kickoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

The project intake and kickoff process looked fairly consistent across film, TV, and commercials among the folks we spoke to. Each starts with a general meeting where the potential client shares the vision of the project and its music. Some have very specific ideas and even write songs into the scripts. Others have a general idea of the tone or texture they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

The music supervisor can receive the script before or after this meeting, depending on the client\u2019s process. They discuss ideas and determine if they\u2019re on the same page or not.<\/p>\n

For film, this meeting is with a director or producer, in Chris Swanson\u2019s case. Swanson has worked on The Comedy<\/em> and The Mountain<\/em> with Rick Alverson, independent darlings Drinking Buddies<\/em> and Heart Beats Loud<\/em>, the hit Netflix docu-series Wild Wild Country<\/em>, and many other notable titles.<\/p>\n