Sync Licensing: Get Your Music Ready

Sync is how music ends up in a film, a television programme, an advert, a game or a corporate video. For an independent artist it can be a useful extra income stream and a way to reach people who would never find a release on a streaming service. It is also a business of paperwork. When a production wants your track, the first thing that matters is whether somebody can say yes quickly and cleanly.

This guide explains what a sync licence actually clears, how to check that you control the rights, what to put in a pitch package, how exclusive and non-exclusive deals differ, where Content ID and leased beats cause trouble, and how WBBT's sync licensing service fits in. It promises no placements, and nobody honest can. It is practical guidance, not legal advice.

What a sync licence clears

A synchronisation licence lets a production put a piece of music together with moving images. The UK Intellectual Property Office's blog post Synchronise and commercialise lists film, television, advertising, games and corporate video as typical uses, and says a licence is needed whenever the copyright has not expired.

The same post makes the point that matters most: a finished track contains two sets of rights. The publishing rights cover the song, meaning the music and lyrics, and come from the publisher or publishers. The master rights cover the recording and come from the record label or whoever owns the recording. A production that wants your actual recording needs both. A production that hires musicians to record its own version of a song needs the song side only, because the recording is new.

WIPO's guide for independent filmmakers, Rights assessed during clearance, adds two details worth knowing. A song with several co-authors can mean several publishers, and the guide describes clearance as all-or-nothing: approval from one co-author does not cover the rest. The licence should also say which scenes, territories and distribution windows it covers. In some countries public performance of the music earns remuneration that is paid to a collecting society, and the producer reports the music used on a cue sheet. That reporting is separate from the sync fee.

Do you control both sides?

Before you pitch anything, answer these questions for each track, honestly.

• Who wrote it? If you wrote the whole song, you hold the song side unless you have assigned it to a publisher or a society. If there were co-writers, you need each of them, so settle who can sign for the group.
• Who owns the recording? If you paid for and organised the recording, you do. If a label or an earlier distributor holds exclusive rights to it, they will license the master, not you.
• Is anything borrowed? A sample, a loop pack, a leased beat or an AI-generated part belongs to someone else or sits under someone else's terms. Each needs its own permission for sync, and a licence that allows release on streaming services does not automatically allow film use.
• Is anything registered elsewhere? A library deal, a Content ID registration or a society mandate can limit who is allowed to license the track.

If the honest answer to the first three is "me alone" and the fourth is "nothing", you are in the simplest position, and you can license both sides yourself. Otherwise sort the rights out before a buyer asks, because an unclear answer can end a promising conversation.

Make a one-page rights sheet

A supervisor or a library will send you a short list of questions. Answer them in advance on one page per track. The page should hold:

• The title, the version and the ISRC of the recording. WBBT generates ISRC and UPC codes for releases, so copy them from your account.
• Every writer with their legal name and share of the song, plus the publisher or society for each writer if there is one.
• The owner of the master, and any performers who are owed a share.
• A statement about samples, beats and AI: none used, or what was used with the licence attached.
• Any registrations or exclusive arrangements: Content ID, PPL, a library, a label.
• The territories in which you can license, and the name and email address of the person who can sign.

Most of this is information you already entered in the Release Wizard, where every track carries its composers, shares and ownership answers. If the sheet and the wizard disagree, fix the disagreement first.

Prepare a package a supervisor can use

WBBT's sync licensing page lists what a usable package contains: instrumentals, clean versions, stems where available, lyrics, tempo, mood tags and a reliable rights contact. In practice that means the following.

• The full master as a final WAV, named consistently so it can be found again.
• An instrumental and, for explicit lyrics, a clean version, so a scene can run dialogue over the music or an advert can use a version without the explicit words.
• Stems if you own every part of them and the licences of your samples allow sharing.
• Lyrics and a plain-language summary of what the song is about, because briefs often ask for a theme or a mood.
• Tempo, key, mood and genre tags that describe the recording as it is. Describe it accurately instead of promising that it sounds like a famous track.
• The rights sheet above, ready to send with the audio.

Tailor each submission to the brief you were sent. A short, accurate reply that includes the sheet is worth more than a large folder of unrelated tracks.

Exclusive or non-exclusive, library or direct

Two choices shape most sync arrangements, and both are in the contract.

Exclusive or non-exclusive. A non-exclusive deal lets you license the same track to others. An exclusive deal gives one licensee the sole right for the scope you agree. Check what the exclusivity covers: one campaign or every use, one country or the world, one year or for ever. A narrow exclusive for a single advert is a very different commitment from a broad one over the whole recording.

Library or direct. A music library offers a catalogue to productions and usually handles the paperwork, often in return for a share of the fee, and sometimes for exclusivity or a share of the song. Pitching directly keeps control and the full fee, but you do the work. Libraries differ a great deal, so read the term and what happens when it ends, the territories, who registers the track with societies and with Content ID, whether you may still release the track on streaming services and whether you can remove a track later.

That last point connects to distribution. In the final review of the Release Wizard you confirm that the release is not under an active exclusive contract with another record label and that you hold all the rights required for distribution. If a library or label already holds exclusive rights to the recording, you may not be able to make that statement truthfully. Check before you sign, and write to support if you are unsure how an arrangement interacts with your release.

Where Content ID, leased beats and samples cause trouble

Overlapping registrations. If a library or sync agent registers your recording with a content-matching system and your distributor requests Content ID for the same recording, the references can clash. WBBT lists a recording that is already registered with another Content ID provider as a reason a request cannot be approved. Decide which one party registers the track, and tell everyone else. YouTube explains in Learn about copyright claims that a claim is not a copyright strike, but a claim on a licensee's video can still cause delay, so agree in advance who clears it.

Leased beats. The producer owns the beat, and a non-exclusive lease cannot support an exclusive sync deal. YouTube's Content ID eligibility page excludes licensed music where the licence is not exclusive, and the same logic applies to any exclusivity you try to promise. Releasing a song made on a leased beat explains what to check.

Samples and AI. A sample licence written for a streaming release may not extend to film, so read its scope. Buyers also ask whether AI tools were used. If they were, the tool's terms and the copyright position of the result matter, as the guide to distributing AI music and the rights checklist in Music Rights Checklist Before You Release explain.

How WBBT's sync licensing service fits

Sync licensing is listed on the Pro plan, and on the Label plan it is available by application. It is not part of the Free or Basic plan, and the pricing page shows the current comparison. On the service page, WBBT says it can discuss eligible catalogue submissions and that a placement is never guaranteed. Two further points keep expectations realistic.

• Distributing a release does not give any production the right to use it. A sync use needs its own written agreement.
• The service page says that fees and scope depend on the production, territory, term and media, and that you should have the agreement in writing before you allow any use.

To start, write to [email protected] and ask for the current submission process, then send the rights sheet and the package for the tracks you want considered. We do not publish a fee schedule or a record of placements here, and nothing in this guide should be read as one.

Read the licence before you sign

Whoever drafts the licence, check these points. For anything of real value, take the document to a music lawyer.

• Which recording and which song are being licensed, named exactly.
• The media, such as television, cinema, online or advertising, and whether use out of context is allowed.
• The territory and the term, and what happens when the term ends.
• Whether the licence is exclusive, and for which uses.
• The fee, who pays it and when, and who reports the use to the societies through a cue sheet.
• Credit, approvals and any right to edit or remix the music.
• The warranties you give. You will probably promise that you own what you license, so promise only what you can prove from your rights sheet.

Seven steps to sync readiness

1. Choose tracks you control completely, with no uncleared sample, no leased beat and no unsettled co-writer.
2. Write the rights sheet for each one and check it against what you declared in the Release Wizard.
3. Build the package: master, instrumental, clean version, stems if you can, lyrics and tags.
4. Decide who registers what: one party for Content ID, and a clear answer on any library or society arrangement.
5. Check your plan on the pricing page and ask support about the current sync submission process.
6. Answer briefs briefly and accurately, with the sheet attached and no claims you cannot support.
7. Sign nothing exclusive until you have read what it covers and how it interacts with your release.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a publisher before I can pitch for sync?

No, but somebody must be able to give the song-side permission. If you wrote the song alone and have signed nothing that hands the rights to a publisher or society, that person can be you. If you have a publishing deal or you assigned rights to a society, its terms decide who may license, so read them first.

Does having my track on streaming services stop it being licensed for sync?

No. A track can be on every store and still be cleared for a film or an advert. What gets in the way is a missing clearance or an exclusive deal that covers the same use, which is why the rights sheet in this guide matters.

Can I pitch a track that uses a leased beat?

Only if the beat's licence allows it. A non-exclusive lease usually does not let you grant exclusive rights to anyone, and the producer owns the beat. Ask the producer for written permission that covers sync, or pitch a different track.

Will WBBT place my music?

WBBT can discuss eligible catalogue submissions, and no placement is ever promised. Rights clearance, the production brief and the buyer's decision decide whether a licence is agreed.

Should I pay a company that promises placements?

Be very cautious. Nobody can promise a placement, because the buyer makes the decision. Pay only for services you can describe in terms of what is delivered, such as a catalogue review or an admin task, and never for a promised result.

Sources and next steps

These are the primary sources behind this guide. We opened each of them on 25 October 2026. Laws, platform rules and society terms change, so check the current wording before you rely on a point.

• Synchronise and commercialise, UK Intellectual Property Office blog, 16 March 2017 (accessed 25 October 2026).
• Rights clearance: a guide for independent filmmakers, rights assessed during clearance, WIPO (accessed 25 October 2026).
• The rights PPL manages, PPL (accessed 25 October 2026). PPL says it does not deal with every right in a recording, so check which rights a society actually handles.
• Qualify for Content ID and Learn about copyright claims, YouTube Help (accessed 25 October 2026).
• What Musicians Should Know about Copyright, US Copyright Office (accessed 25 October 2026), on licensing a song and a recording separately.

To go further, read the rights hub Music Rights Checklist Before You Release, the guide to YouTube Content ID and the one on PPL and neighbouring rights. The FAQ answers whether a sync submission guarantees placement, and you can submit your music when your release is ready.