REKN
Sync Licensing Guide

A sync fee and a royalty are two different payments.

Sync licensing has no society to register with, no membership form, and no single rulebook. This guide covers how the money actually moves, how to get a catalogue ready to pitch, and how to chase the second payment most independent artists never learn exists.

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Five things to get right

How sync licensing actually works, end to end.

"Sync" means your music licensed into film, TV, advertising or games — synchronised to picture. Unlike performance or mechanical royalties, there is no collecting society standing between you and the fee: a supervisor, agency or library negotiates directly, and the amount is whatever that deal says. That simplicity is also why it is easy to leave money on the table — there is no membership renewal reminding you what to do next.

Most of the value here is preparation. Sync-ready metadata and a signed split sheet turn an interested supervisor into a signed placement, instead of one that stalls in clearance.

01

Two Different Royalties, Not One

A sync fee and a performance royalty are separate payments, from separate places.

Sync income is negotiated per placement rather than collected by a society: a music supervisor, ad agency or library licenses your composition and your master together for a specific use, and the fee is whatever the deal says. That is the whole payment for most online, app and web placements. But a placement that airs on broadcast TV, cable or in a cinema usually triggers a SECOND, separate royalty: your PRO pays a performance royalty once the broadcast is reported on a cue sheet, exactly the way any other broadcast performance of your composition would. A stock-library sync fee for a YouTube video or an in-app ad almost never has a cue sheet behind it, because there is no broadcast to report. Knowing which kind of placement you have decides whether there is a second payment to chase at all.

The distinction that matters

One-time sync fee: paid directly, negotiated per placement, no society involved. Broadcast performance royalty: separate, paid by your PRO, and depends on a cue sheet actually being filed — see topic 5.

02

Get Sync-Ready Before You Pitch

Supervisors and libraries want a finished package, not just a track.

A music supervisor or library reviewing hundreds of submissions wants a broadcast-ready mix, an instrumental version, and a clean edit (no explicit lyrics) before they will seriously consider a placement — stems are a common ask too, for anything that might need re-mixing to picture. "One-stop" tracks, where a single party controls both the composition and the master outright, are also preferred: they are the fastest to clear, because there is nobody else to chase for a signature. Accurate metadata (title, ISRC, ISWC, writer and publisher credits, PRO affiliations) has to travel with the track, or a placement that gets picked can stall in clearance instead of turning into a fee.

Minimum package

Final mix · instrumental version · clean edit · stems (if asked) · full metadata · confirmed ownership

03

Lock Your Splits Before You Pitch

A sync deal needs every rights holder to sign off — after the fact is the wrong time to find out who they are.

A sync licence has to be cleared on both sides of the copyright: every songwriter's share of the composition, and whoever owns the master. If those percentages were never written down, a supervisor with a deadline will simply move on to a track that is easier to clear, and a deal that does get signed with an incomplete or disputed split can freeze the fee entirely once a co-writer objects. This is exactly what a split sheet exists to prevent, and it needs to happen before you pitch, not after a placement is offered.

Do this first

A signed split sheet, for every writer and every master owner on the track — not a verbal understanding.

04

Libraries vs. Direct Licensing

Two routes in, and most independent artists use both.

Sync libraries pre-clear your catalogue and pitch it to supervisors and brands on your behalf, in exchange for a share of the fee (terms vary — some are exclusive per track, some are not). It is the more accessible route for an independent artist with no existing supervisor relationships. Direct licensing means a supervisor, agency or a publisher's sync team contacts you or your publishing administrator directly for a specific project — usually a higher fee with no library cut, but it depends on being findable and having a reputation or a catalogue that already fits a brief.

Sync libraries that report into Rekon

Musicbed · Artlist · Epidemic Sound · Pond5 · Music Vine · Audio Network

05

After It Airs: Chase the Cue Sheet

Whether you can file it yourself, or have to ask someone else to, depends on your PRO.

Once a placement airs on broadcast TV, cable or film, a cue sheet has to reach your PRO before the performance royalty behind it pays out — and who is expected to file that cue sheet is genuinely different from one society to the next. Some expect the production company to do it and will not accept it from anyone else. Others expect the songwriter to file it directly. Guessing which applies to you is exactly how a real royalty goes uncollected, so check your own PRO's process rather than assuming it matches a friend's.

Verified for these societies (Sept 2026)

See the table below — and sign up to get this routed automatically to your own home PRO.

Before you pitch anything

Lock your splits, then pitch.

Rekon's e-signed split sheets cover exactly the ownership question a sync deal has to answer before it can close: who owns the composition, who owns the master, and by how much — timestamped, and ready to hand to a supervisor or library the moment they ask.

Composition and master splits in one document
E-signature sent directly to every collaborator
Timestamped and ISRC-linked, before you pitch
PDF export, ready for a supervisor or library to review
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Quick Reference

Who files the cue sheet?

Verified against each society's own published guidance, September 2026. Re-check before relying on it — cue-sheet portals and policies change. Every other territory: ask your own society directly rather than assuming one of these patterns applies.

TerritorySocietyWho files itNote
United StatesASCAP / BMI / SESAC / GMRProduction, usuallyASCAP members can also self-submit (with the production copied); BMI will not accept it from anyone else.
United KingdomPRS for MusicBroadcaster / productionYour job is making sure your writer name and IPI number are registered exactly as credited.
GermanyGEMAYou, the memberFiled via the AV-Anmeldung service in the GEMA Online Portal — a guided form or an Excel template.
FranceSACEMYou, the composerYou prepare the "feuille de montage" (music cue sheet) yourself, alongside the synchronisation contract.
BelgiumSABAMEither partyFiled online via MyWorx — every credited rights holder has to sign the declaration.

Rekon flags real sync income in your statements and routes this question to your own home PRO automatically — sign up to get it personalised.

Don't let a placement
pay you only once.

Rekon flags real sync income the moment it shows up in your statements, and tells you exactly what your own PRO expects next — no guessing which territory's rule applies to you.

Sign upAlso: The royalties guide →