For Law Firms
Sync Valuations acts as music licensing expert witness in copyright claims over music used by brands. Whether you are pressing a claim or answering one, the figure in the letter is a claim, not a valuation. We produce independent, court-ready evidence of what a license for that use would actually have cost. We are instructed by both sides.
There is no published rate card for sync licensing and benchmarks vary widely depending on who you ask. The question a tribunal actually asks is narrower: what would a willing licensor and a willing licensee have agreed for this track, this use, this territory and this term?
Bringing a claim. Your client’s music was used without a license and the figure on the table is a fraction of what the use was worth. We establish the fee which would have been payable, supported by comparables a tribunal can inspect, so the number you put forward survives challenge rather than inviting one.
Defending a claim. A letter of claim has landed and it names a figure for music used in an advert, a social post or a video. Claim letters are commonly built from a rights holder’s own rate card, a statutory multiplier or a settlement anchor. None of those is evidence of market value, and the claimed figure is often well above what a license would actually have cost.
Either way you need an independent expert who can produce a valuation that holds up under cross-examination: not a guess, not a rule of thumb, but a structured, evidence-based analysis backed by verifiable comparables and a stated methodology.
Quantum is the size of the claim: the fee which would have been payable had the use been licensed properly. In sync it is driven by the artist’s standing, the media and territory, the term and any exclusivity, how prominent the music is in the edit, and the commercial weight of the campaign behind it.
Two uses of the same recording can differ by an order of magnitude on those factors alone. A three-second bed under a regional social post and a hero sync in a global television campaign are not the same license, and a quantum figure that does not distinguish them will not survive cross-examination.
Because sync quantum is not in the books. A forensic accountant is the right expert for tracing revenue, profit and loss through a set of accounts. The license fee which would have been payable sits somewhere else entirely: in comparable deals, at comparable prominence, in comparable markets, at the relevant point in time.
Different question. An accountant reconstructs what a business earned. We establish what a license would have cost.
Different evidence base. Ledgers and management accounts, against sync deal comparables drawn from active market practice.
Different cross-examination. The pressure lands on whether the comparables are apt, which is a sync practitioner’s question rather than an accounting one.
In practice the two are complementary. Where an account of profits is in play, a forensic accountant and a sync valuation answer different halves of the same claim, and we are used to working alongside one.
We give evidence on value: what a license for the use would have cost. Whether one piece of music copies another is a question for a forensic musicologist.
In an infringement case the two experts answer different questions. Where a case needs both, we work alongside the musicologist.
A music licensing expert witness produces a court-ready valuation report, delivers written and courtroom testimony, rebuts opposing analysis, and supports pre-litigation settlement. Those are the four things a case actually needs.
Valuation Report
A court-ready document with a defensible valuation range, full methodology disclosure, and all supporting data. Designed to survive Daubert challenges and opposing expert scrutiny.
Expert Testimony
Written reports, depositions, and courtroom testimony. Our experts explain the methodology in clear, non-technical language that judges and juries can follow.
Rebuttal Analysis
If the opposing side presents their own valuation, we can prepare a detailed rebuttal identifying methodological flaws, data gaps, and unsupported assumptions in their analysis.
Pre-Litigation Support
For demand letters and settlement negotiations, we provide preliminary valuations that establish a credible starting point, which often leads to faster resolution without trial.
100+
Cases Assessed
10+
Jurisdictions
20+
Years Each In Sync Deals
The xSV™ framework has been accepted as evidence by the opposing party.
A clear, well-structured valuation changes the dynamics of a negotiation. When both sides understand the defensible value, disputes resolve faster.
“Sync Valuations provide us with expert assessments that accurately appraise the hypothetical licensing fees payable for a range of commercial uses of our clients' intellectual property. A critical validation tool for our cases.”
“We were able to close cases with these valuation reports swiftly and amicably that we otherwise might not have been able to settle out of court.”
Specialization. We focus exclusively on sync licensing valuation. Other music experts cover royalties, publishing, and general IP. We go deeper in the specific domain that matters for your case.
Methodology. The xSV™ framework is structured, repeatable, and transparent. It produces consistent results that can be explained clearly in court rather than black-box estimates.
Speed. Standard reports in 5–10 business days. Expedited delivery available for urgent litigation timelines.
Fixed pricing. We quote a fixed fee upfront based on case complexity. No hourly billing surprises.
Our work draws on practical experience licensing music for brands. We know the decisions behind a license: who can grant it, what use it covers and how a fee is negotiated.
Co-founder
Nicholas brings deep operational expertise across music, media, and rights management, from founding Jet Black Records and ARC Studio to scaling Sizzer Amsterdam as Managing Director. He co-founded Ringo and Howl alongside Marcel and serves on the board of Music Tech Netherlands.
Co-founder
After a decade as partner and strategy director at Sizzer Amsterdam (overseeing 1,000+ sync campaigns for Mercedes, Dior, and Heineken) Marcel co-created xSV, a valuation methodology accepted as evidence by the opposing party in legal proceedings in the USA, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, France, the UK, and Italy. He is the founder of Ringo and writes a bi-weekly newsletter on music, tech, and culture read by ~4,000 industry professionals.
Send us the claim letter, the usage details and your deadline. You get a scope assessment and a fixed fee, normally within one business day.
