Glossary · Licensing
Sync license
A sync license grants permission to synchronise a musical composition with visual media — film, television, advertising, games, online video. It is negotiated freely, has no statutory rate, and is separate from the master use licence needed for the recording.
Synchronisation is the act of pairing music with picture, and it requires permission from the owners of the composition. Unlike the mechanical licence under Section 115, sync is not compulsory. The songwriter and publisher can simply say no, and because they can say no, the price is whatever the parties agree — from nothing for a student film to six figures for a national campaign.
Sync almost never travels alone. Using an existing recording of the song in the same production also requires a master use licence from the owner of that recording. Two licences, two owners, two negotiations. This is why productions on tight budgets often commission a re-record: the composition still needs licensing, but a new master is cheaper than clearing a famous one.
For an independent artist who owns both copyrights, this is genuinely good news — you can clear both sides in a single conversation and sign both licences yourself, which makes you easier to work with than a major-label catalogue. That "one-stop" status is one of the few structural advantages of being independent, and music supervisors value it.
Publishers and publishing administrators pitch sync as part of their service, and it is one of the clearer arguments for signing with one. Splice's licensing terms explicitly permit using Splice sounds in sync placements, so a track built from Splice loops is not disqualified.
The misunderstanding: assuming a distributor handles sync. DistroKid Publishing's documentation lists worldwide sync income among what its paid publishing add-on collects, but base distribution through DistroKid, TuneCore or CD Baby does not license sync for you.
I own both sides of my catalogue, which makes this simpler for me than for most — not legal advice.
Related terms
- Master use licenseA master use license grants permission to use a specific sound recording, as distinct from the composition.
- Musical compositionA musical composition is the song itself — the melody, harmony, structure and lyrics — protected as its own copyright separate…
- Compulsory licenseA compulsory license is a licence the law grants automatically, on set terms, without the copyright owner's consent.
- Content IDContent ID is YouTube's automated system that matches uploaded videos against a database of reference files supplied by rights…
Definitions on this site describe the United States system. I am an artist who has been through this, not a lawyer.
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