It’s one thing to have finally found the perfect track to match your trailer, commercial, TV show or film, but, as any editor or music supervisor will tell you, it’s another thing entirely to land a license for that track squarely within your marketing or production budget.
As with all things in the music business, the price of music licensing agreements varies greatly depending on the negotiation between copyright owners and those looking to license music. These sometimes vast differences in price and expectations have no doubt contributed to the growing appeal of full scope music companies, like Sencit, whose relationships with labels and publishers in the industry help take some of the guesswork out of licensing fees.
While Sencit specializes in music supervision and rights clearance for trailers, in our broader experience as a full-service music company we have noticed some commonalities in the way licensing fees are structured that will be familiar to those who have worked in music sync before.
Type of Production: Trailer, Film, Commercial & More
It’s common knowledge among licensors that budgets for marketing projects like trailers and advertisements trend higher than those for productions. Because of this, many artists and copyright holders will adjust their music usage fees accordingly. The flip side is that artists are often willing to license for much less than they otherwise would, given the opportunity to expand their audience through placement in a film, video game, or TV production, or they have a personal connection to the message of the project.
For well-known artists or those on a major label, it’s not uncommon for trailer placement fees to come in at as much as six figures for master rights and synchronization licensing. For independent films, this fee can range from as low as $10,000 to the low six figures — though again, this is often subject to negotiation based on the artist’s personal interest in the project.
The fees for lesser-known artists, or up-and-comers partnered with niche music libraries are usually lower, offering affordable opportunities to budget-conscious productions at no cost to overall production value. But that’s not to say you should assume the music of a well-known artist is out of reach — Sencit’s Rights Clearance Division has a long history working with labels and publishers of all sizes, and can help facilitate the discussions that go into securing these kinds of rights agreements.
Media Rights and Usage
The scale of your project matters when pricing music licenses, and can hinge on the extent to which you plan on using the musical work. For example, a worldwide license —one you’d need for global release in theaters, television, at film festivals, etc. — will naturally cost more than one limited to a particular region. This is because the requisite distribution rights cover more ground and entail that much more usage. Additionally, some artists are represented by multiple publishers in different parts of the world and will need to factor in the additional costs of these pre-existing agreements, complicating the process of clearing usage everywhere you plan on distributing your project.
Again, this underscores the importance of working with labels and licensors who have a strong understanding of their own publishing arrangements and can tackle large-scale licensing agreements with confidence. Many tenured production music libraries will offer industry-standard rate cards with set prices, making it much easier to set your expectations and stay on budget. These rates will vary based on the type of production, the timing of the usage (how much of the song is being used) and the extent of rights required (regional, worldwide, theatrical, online)–a nice alternative to the sometimes unpredictable nature of direct negotiations over price.
Industry Experience
Perhaps the most relevant factor in negotiating the cost of a music license often winds up being the level of experience of the parties involved. Big-name acts know their worth as ambassadors of culture, and knowingly command big-name prices for placement in ads, video game trailers, film and TV. On the other hand, less tenured artists or libraries with less experience in licensing (and perhaps with some outsize expectations) may turn a wild card when it finally comes time to talk pricing. Having knowledge of industry trends in fee licensing can be helpful here, along with a clear sense of your own budgetary constraints and the type of music you can expect for the money.
When securing the rights for a track, you ultimately want as few surprises as possible. Getting a project smoothly across the finish line often just comes down to experience. At Sencit, the bonds we’ve forged with labels and publishers throughout the years is as much an instrument to our success as the time we’ve spent in the industry as rights and music supervisors ourselves. Fun fact: our Music Supervisor and Rights Clearance leads have a combined 35+ years of experience between them. Besides the balancing of budget, keeping the experience of rights clearance at minimal friction will be easier for everyone involved, with fewer last minute changes, re-approvals, or revised expectations.
Regardless of the budget or scale of your project, it pays to have more options than fewer when licensing music for trailers, film or TV. Don’t sell your project short just because you don’t know how much something will cost—and if you’re having trouble finding out, reach out to those of us who can. Your success (and the success of your clients) will benefit as much from confident rights clearance as from the music that underscores the journey there.