Music licensing,
cleared from the start.
Sync licensing, music clearance, and collecting society questions handled in one place. We clear master and publishing rights for advertising, film, and series, negotiate licences, and compose music that belongs to you outright. From Frankfurt for brands and productions worldwide.
Request music licensing →What is music licensing?
Music licensing is permission to use a piece of music within a defined scope: in a commercial, a film, a series, at a trade fair booth, or in a phone hold system. A sync licence, the permission to combine music with moving image, requires two rights to come together: the right in the recording, the master, and the right in the composition, the publishing share. Clearing only one of the two leaves you with an intention, not a licence.
Then there is the collecting society. If the composer is a member of a society such as GEMA, PRS, or ASCAP, broadcast and public performance trigger reports and payments. Society-free music means the author is not represented there. Royalty-free is something else entirely: a marketing term that describes your relationship with the platform, not your obligations towards a collecting society. You can buy royalty-free music and still owe a report.
The three legal routes for music into your production:
- Collecting society repertoire, the normal case for well-known songs and many production music catalogues. You clear the use, reports and payments follow.
- Cleared library music, you pay the provider once or by subscription. What matters is that the clearance statement exists in writing.
- Custom composition, music written for you, with usage rights you define. The most expensive option up front, the cleanest across its life, and the only one with real exclusivity.
A custom composition pays off as soon as the same music runs across several channels, stays in use for more than two years, or no competitor should be able to use the same track. For the detailed maths, read our guides Sync Licensing: How Music Gets Into Ads, Film, and TV and The Music Licensing Guide for Companies.
Everything on this page is a professional assessment from a production perspective, not legal advice. For a binding review of your case we recommend a firm specialising in copyright and media law, and we gladly supply the production-side documentation.
Music rights services
at a glance.
Sync Licensing & Placement
Music for commercials, film, and series: We find fitting tracks, clear both sides of the rights, and deliver broadcast-ready versions. For sync in film and TV we also run musicproduc.ing/sync.
Clearance & Rights Research
Master, publishing, samples, splits: We check who owns what, obtain releases, and document the chain of rights. So your campaign does not hang on one uncleared sample.
Collecting Society Guidance
Society repertoire, cleared music, or buyout: We assess which reports apply on broadcast, at events, and in public performance, and put the licensing position in writing. As a professional assessment, not legal advice.
Custom Composition as the Alternative
When licences get too narrow: music composed for your brand, with a defined buyout, stems, and edits. More on our Music Production page.
Library & Vault
Pre-produced, fully cleared tracks from our catalogue: The Music Vault delivers instrumentals, stems, and defined licences without a rights investigation.
Negotiation & Contracts
Scope of use, media, territories, term, exclusivity: We negotiate the conditions and make sure the contract states exactly what you actually use.
How a licensing project runs with us.
1. Briefing & Scope of Use
Where will the music run, for how long, in which territories, and who is the licensee? These four answers determine price and contract form, which is why they come first.
2. Search or Composition Concept
We propose licensable tracks or sketch a custom composition, including an honest calculation of when each route wins over the intended lifetime.
3. Clearance & Negotiation
We contact the rights holders, clear the master and publishing sides, check samples and splits, and negotiate conditions, exclusivity, and terms.
4. Contract & Delivery
You receive the licence with named media, territories, and terms, plus the audio files in every required format and a documented chain of rights.
Music projects
with rights that clear.
Commercial music and sound design for the Mercedes-AMG brand film, produced and cleared in one place.
Oriental main theme as a custom composition plus complete film audio for the product launch.
Music production and 5.1 mixing for the national campaign of Luxembourg's health fund.
Music production and artist development, from composition to the music video shot in Iceland.
Common questions about
music licensing.
Royalty-free is a marketing term: you pay the platform once instead of per play. It says nothing about collecting societies such as GEMA, PRS, or ASCAP. If the composer is a member, broadcast or public performance can still trigger reporting obligations. Licensed music is cleared for a defined use with named media, territories, and term. Always get the clearance statement in writing, as a document rather than a product description.
It depends on media, territories, term, and how prominently the music is used. In the international market, a placement in a streaming series typically runs 3,000 to 50,000 US dollars upfront, a national US TV spot 15,000 to 250,000 US dollars. European figures sit below that, the structure is identical. A custom composition realistically starts around 3,000 euros and often becomes the cheaper route once exclusivity or reuse enters the picture.
With one-stop clearance, when a single party can release master and publishing, it is often a matter of days. As soon as several rights holders, uncleared samples, or parties in different countries are involved, it can take weeks. That is exactly why we schedule clearance before the edit, not after it.
Only if the contract says so. Licences are granted for named media, territories, and terms, and whether they cover Germany, DACH, or the whole world makes a substantial difference to the price. “All rights” without a list is worth nothing in a dispute. With a custom composition and a full buyout you define the worldwide scope once and are done.
A well-known song borrows emotion instantly, but it is expensive, rarely exclusive, and usable only within the licence. A custom composition belongs to you and builds your brand rather than the song. The maths tip towards the custom route as soon as the same music runs across several channels, stays in use for more than two years, or exclusivity is required.
Discover more audio services.
Found the track,
rights still open?
Tell us about your project, free and without obligation. We will get back to you within 24 hours with a first assessment of the rights situation.
