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How sync licensing works for independent artists

A sync license lets someone put your music in a film, a show, an ad or a game. Here is how the rights work, the ways in, how the money comes, and what to prepare before you pitch.

By , a composer with 300+ tracks on audio stock and 12 years in production. Updated 12 October 2026. 5 min read.

In short. A recording holds two rights: the composition and the master. A production needs a license for each: a sync license for the composition and a master use license for the recording. If you control both and every co-writer agrees, your track is "one-stop", and supervisors can clear it in one deal. You get in through music libraries, sync agencies, sync platforms, or by pitching directly. You can earn an upfront fee, then performance royalties through your PRO when the use is broadcast.

What a sync license is

"Sync" is short for synchronization. A sync license is the right to put a piece of music together with moving pictures. Films, TV shows, ads, trailers, games and online videos all need one.

The fee is negotiated for each use. ASCAP lists what moves it: how the music is used, for how long, how many times, and where the film or show will be seen. There is no standard price.

Two rights in every recording

When you record a song, you create two works. The US Copyright Office calls them the musical work and the sound recording. They are separate, and they are often owned and licensed separately.

The composition The master
What it is Melody, chords, lyrics This one recording of the song
Who usually controls it The writers and their publisher Whoever owns the recording: you, or a label
The license a production needs Sync license Master use license

So a production that wants your recording needs two licenses. One from whoever controls the composition. One from whoever owns the master. If either side says no, the track is out.

What "one-stop" means

A track is one-stop when one person or company can license both sides. The production deals with one party and closes one deal.

You are one-stop when:

  • you own 100% of the master and 100% of the composition; or
  • your co-writers and co-owners have given you written permission to license their shares for sync.

A supervisor answers for every track that goes into the show. Sync Summit writes that supervisors "vet rights as if their lives depended on it". A track that needs five people to say yes may not clear in time. A one-stop track needs one deal. That is why supervisors prefer one-stop music.

A track with a sample is not one-stop, unless the sample is cleared on both sides. Sync Summit puts it plainly: "No Samples. Period." Sync Summit also uses the term easy clear: you don't control every share, but you can get the other owners' yes fast, typically within 12 to 72 hours.

Four ways in

Music libraries. A library takes your tracks and licenses them to productions. Many also pitch to TV and film. Read the deal before you sign. Some are exclusive. Some retitle your track. Many keep the publisher's share of royalties. See Exclusive or non-exclusive and Music libraries to submit to.

Sync agencies and reps. An agency pitches your music to supervisors for a cut of the fee. In a 2018 Spotify for Artists interview, supervisor Thomas Golubić advised working with a licensing company that takes a percentage, not ownership of your publishing. Ask which one this is before you sign.

Sync platforms. These are sites where you upload tracks, and supervisors or other buyers search and license them. Audiosocket is one example. Each platform has its own terms, commission and rights rules. Read them first.

Pitching directly. You write to music supervisors yourself. It takes the most time of the four. In the same interview, Golubić warned against sending large audio files by email: send a streaming link instead. Pitch only what fits the show, and keep it short.

How you get paid

The upfront fee. The production pays for the sync license and the master use license. If you control both, both fees come to you, minus any agency or library cut.

The backend. When the show airs on TV, you can earn performance royalties through your performing rights organization (PRO). These come from the cue sheet: a list of all the music in a film or episode, with writers, publishers, their shares, the length of each use and how it was used. ASCAP says cue sheets are usually sent in by the producer or music editor, not by you.

The backend only works if your works are registered with your PRO and the cue sheet lists you correctly. How that works, and what to check yourself: Registering library music with your PRO.

What supervisors need ready

  • An instrumental. Editors need music that sits under dialogue. In the Spotify for Artists interview, supervisor Dondrea Erauw said instrumentals and stems are "really helpful".
  • A clean version, if the lyrics have explicit words. Audiosocket asks for clear labels, for example "Song Title (Clean)".
  • Stems. Keep them ready. Audiosocket asks artists to keep stems available and may ask for them separately.
  • Cutdowns of 60, 30 and 15 seconds for ads. See Versions, cutdowns and stems.
  • Metadata in the file: writers and co-writers, publishers, master owner, PRO, year, and a contact. A track with missing details may be skipped.
  • A split agreement with every co-writer. Supervisor Alexandra Patsavas: master ownership, publishing splits and sample approvals "should be tied up far in advance".
  • No uncleared samples. One uncleared sample can stop the whole deal.

Before you pitch

  1. You know who owns the master, and who wrote the song.
  2. Every co-writer has signed a split, and agreed in writing that you can license the track, or that they will answer fast.
  3. Every sample is cleared, or there are none.
  4. Your works are registered with your PRO, with the right shares.
  5. Full mix, instrumental, clean version, cutdowns and stems are rendered and named so they stay together.
  6. Each file carries its metadata and your contact.
  7. You know which tracks are tied to an exclusive deal. Those you don't pitch anywhere else.
  8. You keep a record of where each track was sent, and what came back.
The catalog in tracklog: a row for each track, a column for each platform, a dot for the status.
The catalog in tracklog: a row for each track, a column for each platform, a dot for the status.

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