Making Money in Music With Micro Sync Licensing
A different type of opportunity
In the music industry it is important for smaller, independent artists to know all of their potential sources of income. Of all the opportunities synchronization licenses (also known as sync licenses) can be some of the most lucrative.
What Is a Sync License
A sync license is what somebody must acquire to use a song in a film, television show, video game, or advertisement. Advertisements typically pay the most out of these. Unlike royalties which are paid per instance, sync licenses are a one time payment to the artist upfront for the right to use their song.
The downside about these, is that traditionally they were very hard for independent artists to get, usually requiring a publishing or record deal to have the proper connections in the industry.
Fortunately the idea of a “micro-sync licenses” have come around thanks to companies like Musicbed.
Micro-Sync Licenses
While they pay less than traditional sync licenses, they offer an opportunity to smaller, independent artists that was not previously there. Instead of missing out sync licenses completely there is now an option, and the beneficial exposure from having your song used in a film, television show, video game or advertisement.
The way that most artists get access to sync licensing opportunities is through synchronization representation companies, or sync reps for short. There are two different kinds of sync rep companies, music libraries and selective pitching companies.
Music libraries
Music Libraries tend to be less exclusive and will take on more songs and more artists. Their uses can browse the library and find the song that fits what they need. The downside is that they typically take a percentage of a fee up front, and typically 50% from the back end on any performance royalties that may be generated from the synchronization use.
So, while it may be easier to get your songs in a music library, the fees taken out tend to be larger than selective pitching companies. The benefit is that deals with music libraries tend to be non-exclusive, meaning that the artists still have the right to license their song elsewhere. Some examples of well known music libraries include Nightingale Music, Songtradr, and RX Music.
Selective Pitching Companies / Music Houses
The other kind of sync rep, selective pitching companies, work a little different. They involve the artist signing a synchronization representation deal with the company. They are, well, more selective in who they choose to sign and license.
Contrary to music libraries, selective pitching companies offer exclusive deals that mean the artist cannot find licensing opportunities elsewhere. This may not sound ideal at first, but it tends to be better for the artist.
The term, or amount of time the deal is for, are typically short with oppositional renewal periods so there is no potentially harmful long term engagements. The main thing that separates selective pitching companies is that they actively field requests for songs from film makers, advertisers etc.
They will also actively seek opportunities for their artists and their songs rather than just having people come search their library.
These companies also generally only take a fee out of the front end and not from potential royalties generated elsewhere. This fee is often smaller too. That is the trade off, signing an exclusive deal but for higher paying opportunities and lower fees.
Selective pitching is typically the way to go if the option is available but again, these deals are a bit harder to get than getting songs into a music library. Some examples of Selective pitching companies are the aforementioned Musicbed, and also companies like musicgateway.
Finding Opportunities
The way to get these opportunities is fairly simple, and as it should be for independent artists. For music libraries all one has to do is submit their music and await submission, and again they are more open to who they accept.
For selective pitching companies it can work in a similar way. Some companies have a submission option as well, where you simply follow the steps and throw your hat into the ring. Others though actively seek out artists using A&R teams. They will sometimes reach out to artists they think have sync licensing potential and make them an offer.
This can sound intimidating but you do not necessarily have to have a huge following. After all, they are looking for smaller, often independent artists to work with.
Do I have the right kind of Music?
If you find yourself wondering what kind of music gets the most sync licensing opportunities, just turn on a television show or movie and pay attention to advertisements. Movies and TV often need a wide array of music for different kinds of scenes.
For advertisements, the highest paying sync opportunities, it can be useful to keep your ear dialed in on what is popular in the ads you see every day to give you an idea of what is hot.
Conclusion
Thanks to some helpful people realizing there was a whole market of small and independent artists missing out on sync licensing opportunities, those artists now have another valuable source of income. The two main kinds of micro-sync license companies, music libraries and selective pitching companies, have their own pros and cons to be weighed but in the end there is an opportunity for most to make more money doing what they love.
