Music licensing is when music is used for commercial purposes, like in a TV ad, show, a film, or a video game. A licensing agreement makes sure the copyright holder of the song gets paid for the use of the song.

So anytime you hear music in a commercial, that tells you an artist signed a music licensing deal and made money — sometimes a lot of money.

Music licensing companies takes you on as a client, then helps you get music placement deals. In short, when your song gets heard, you get paid.

In the music licensing contract, it would state how much the licensing company gets and how much the artist gets. It’s often 50-50.

I’m not saying these are the “best” companies out there because everyone makes different music and these companies offer different benefits. But here are a few of the best to get you started:

• Crucial Music
• Musicbed
• AudioSocket
• Songtradr
• SyncDaddy
• Marmoset

First, you need to figure out what you want in a licensing company and what your deal-breakers are. For example, I don’t want to work with a company that offers any less than a 50/50 split. I want the company to accept my music based on its merit and licensability, so I want it to be an equal partnership.

Then you’ll need to start submitting to every single licensing company that meets your requirements and expectations.

So, as you research music licensing companies, below are some things to consider that will help you know who’s a good fit.

These are 4 practical steps you can take as you’re looking for the right music licensing company to represent you and your tunes.

If a licensing company’s website is ugly and hard to navigate, that’s not good.

And here’s why you should care: if it’s hard for you to navigate their website, chances are that it will be difficult for people who want to license your music.

So if you visit a music licensing company and your first thought is “ew” or “ugh,” steer clear of them.

Also, it could be a good idea to look at their website traffic, especially if it’s a music library. More traffic means more chances that your music will be licensed. You can use free tools like Similar Web or Alexa’s traffic tool to check the stats.

A split is simply how the licensing company splits the licensing profits with their artists. An industry standard split is 50/50 – 50% of the sync fee (paid upfront) and 50% of the backend performance royalties (paid through your Performance Rights Organization).

Many companies will state their splits on their website. But for those that don’t, you can simply email them and ask. If they don’t get back to you, you can just submit your music and then ask about their splits once they’re interested in working with you.

The best way to learn about a music licensing company or library is to hear from those who have gone before you.

Here are some ways you can hear from artists already working with a company:

If the company has a page on their site that lists some of the artists they work with, Google their names, find their website and contact info, and shoot them an email.

You can join a FaceBook group like Sync Lounge (which is all about sync licensing) or post in relevant subreddits. I’ve found this to be the most helpful method for vetting a music licensing company.

MusicLibraryReport is a website specifically for artists to share their experiences with different music licensing companies (but it requires a membership fee).

Much of sync licensing is a waiting game. You make music, pitch it to your vetted music licensing companies, then wait for them to land you a placement.

But just because you’re waiting for your previous music to get placed doesn’t mean you can’t be making more music. Keep making music. Keep submitting it to companies.

A lot (maybe most) of your submissions will probably be rejected. But that’s just because certain companies need certain types of music, and it may not be that your music isn’t “good” enough.

Some artists try to represent themselves so they can keep 100% of the profit, meaning they don’t work with a music licensing company or agent. But, although it can pay off, going that route is not as easy.

This typically looks like reaching out to Music Supervisors directly. These are the folks who work for a film company to pick the music for an ad, TV show, or film. While cold emailing supervisors used to be okay to do, it’s no longer a good idea. Supervisors have been burned one too many times because an artist didn’t have the proper rights to the song, leaving the supervisor legally hanging out to dry.

However, if a music supervisor specifically asks for artists to submit music and provides a link or email address, that’s of course totally okay. I’ve seen supervisors on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram posting a call for submissions.

So let’s look at the pros and cons of taking the DIY approach…

Pros:

• You’re in control, meaning you keep 100% of profits you make from a placement
• It may be more rewarding when you’re able to pull this off on your own

Cons:

• You have to write and execute contracts, which can be difficult for someone who’s not a lawyer
• It takes a ton of work and time
• Most music supervisors don’t accept submissions directly from artists
• You usually have to know the right people who know the right people — it’s unlikely that cold emails will get you anywhere
• You may not know how to negotiate as good of compensation that a music licensing company could.

Basically, avoid going the DIY approach with sync licensing. It’s totally worth working with a music licensing company.

Now let’s run through a few more general rules for pitching your music to a music licensing company:

• Always follow the music licensing company’s submission guidelines first and foremost
• Add metadata to every song: your contact info, the feel/vibe of the song, and that you own 200% of the song. I recommend DISCO for this.
• Send streaming/download links to MP3s, not attachments (only to music supervisors who have asked for submissions).
• Don’t pitch the amount of money you want to be paid (they pay you a percentage of what they get, your fee is not negotiable).
• Be polite and charming.
• If you haven’t gotten a response after two months, send a follow-up email with new music, don’t say something like, “Have you listened to that song I sent yet?”
• Just because you haven’t gotten a response doesn’t mean that somebody didn’t listen and enjoy. It may just be that they don’t need that type of music.
• Make sure you understand the contract before signing anything.
• Be patient and persistent.
• Network with filmmakers, music supervisors, musicians, and other music industry people any chance you get.
• Always make authentic music.

Whatever kind of music you make, there’s a type of visual media it can be paired with in an impactful and money-making way.

Do you make chill acoustic music? Indie films love that genre.

EDM? Look at car commercials.

Death metal? There’s surely a show that needs a bit of that.

The point is, keep making the music that’s authentic to you, that you are excited about, and it will find its place in the sync licensing world. Because if you’re excited about it, chances are other people — like Music Licensing Agents — will be too.

That way, your music will basically pitch itself to music licensing companies.