Sync licensing explained
Sync fee or royalties?
A sync license is paid as a one-time fee, agreed before the music is used, for a defined use, territory and term. Royalties are a separate stream: broadcasters and platforms pay them, through collecting societies, when music is performed or played. For a brand, the sync fee is the license.
How the sync fee works
The fee is agreed per side. The label, or whoever controls the recording, licenses the master; the publishers license the composition. A use of an original recording needs both, so the total is the sum of the two sides.
Each fee is negotiated for the specific use: the media, the territory, the term and the standing of the song. There is no published rate card.
Most deals run on Most Favored Nations terms: if one rights holder secures better terms, the others are raised to the same terms.
Where royalties come in
Performance royalties are paid for the playing of music, not for putting it in an ad. Broadcasters and platforms pay them under licenses with collecting societies such as ASCAP and BMI in the United States, PRS in the UK, GEMA in Germany or Buma/Stemra in the Netherlands. The societies pass them on to songwriters and publishers.
A platform's license with a collecting society covers the platform. It does not clear a brand's commercial use of the music, and royalty payments at platform level do not replace a sync license. Our whitepaper Platform Availability Is Not Commercial Clearance sets out the sources.
Why "sync royalty rates" do not exist
People search for sync royalty rates because they expect a fixed percentage, as with streaming. Sync does not work that way: the fee is a negotiated amount for one use. What drives it is set out on What Does a Sync License Cost?
What this means in a dispute
When music was used without a license, the question is what fee would have been agreed for that use: the license quantum. Royalties a rights holder received from a platform do not answer it. A quantum assessment looks at the use itself: what was used, where, for how long and in which media.
Questions people ask
Is a sync license paid as a fee or as royalties?
As a one-time fee, agreed per side (master and composition) before the use, for a defined use, territory and term.
Who pays performance royalties on an ad?
Broadcasters and platforms pay them under their licenses with collecting societies. They are separate from the sync fee the brand pays.
Do platform royalties replace a sync license?
No. A platform's license with a collecting society covers the platform; it does not clear a brand's commercial use of the music.
Discuss your case
A dispute over music use by a brand?
Tell us what music was used, how it was used and what you need to establish. We will discuss the scope and agree a fee before work begins.