Is It Worth My Time To Pursue This?
Sync Licensing
Wes Senter
Last Update vor 3 Monaten
Is it worth your time? Absolutely.
Why? First lets take a look a digital song streaming services.
When someone plays your song on one of the digital streaming services, you get paid on average $.25 cents. This is correct, about a quarter of a cent. Figure out how many plays it would take for you to earn $25.00.
Also consider the fact that there are 10,000 new songs per day being submitted to the digital streaming services, such as Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, iTunes, and about 150 other well known services.
It is almost an exercise in futility.
This is why we do not push this service any longer. We do offer it but we don't recommend it.
Now for a service that most songwriters know nothing about. This is why they don't know about it.
1. It is hard to break into.
2. It has not been advertised.
3. It requires more work to get your music prepaired to send to the databases that music supervisors pull from.
So, we at Songwriters Portal Intl. LLC have created a new offering that will most likely greatly overtake our song pitching service.
Introducing "Sync Licensing Opportunities". You can read about it in one of the articles in this group that directly addresses what it is and how it works.
Now, to the point. Is it worth your time? I will show you how you get paid and on average, how much. And, your odds are just as good with landing a contact using this service as the old song pitching services that 99% of all songwriters are taking part in.
Here are the typical Sync Fee Ranges today. A Sync Fees is a one-time licensing agreement that rights holders (you) negotiate with an interested party for the right to use your song. You are paid according to the terms of the contact, often up front with royaltys paid on the backend.
These are the one-time sync fees that rights holders negotiate for the right to use your song:
* Micro-syncs (YouTube, indie video): ≈ $50–$1,500
* Small films / local ads or short web content: ≈ $500–$5,000
Mid-Tier placements
* TV episodes, streaming series, indie films: ≈ $5,000–$25,000+
* National ads / larger campaigns: ≈ $10,000–$100,000+
High-end placements
* Major brand commercials / premium film trailers or theme songs: $100,000+ —
sometimes several hundred thousand dollars for big campaigns.
🧠 So what does that mean for the songwriter?
* If you own 100% of the composition and master, you get your full share of the sync fee (but publishing splits and any co-writers reduce this).
* Many sync deals are split (e.g., 50/50 between the songwriter, the publisher and master owner) if others have rights.
* After splits, a songwriter’s net from a mid-tier TV sync might realistically be in the $2,500–$15,000 range if you own half the rights, but it could be $25,000+ for a lucrative commercial.
📈 Performance Royalties on Top
In addition to the upfront sync fee:
* If your song airs publicly (TV, streaming episodes, films), you also earn performance royalties via your PRO (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC). These are paid over time and vary based on audience size and how often the media plays.
📌 Key Takeaway
There isn’t one average payday — it’s a spectrum. But for most independent songwriters:
* Small placements pay in the hundreds to low thousands,
* Mid-level placements in the low five-figures, and
* Major syncs can pay tens of thousands to six figures or more.
So, to the songwriters out there, do the math. However, don't expect to get rich overnight. Like the song distribution service, it just takes time.