By Michael Smith (Knolly Boy 2K), owner and lead engineer
Most artists who try to get into sync licensing submit their music too early. They may have a strong record, a folder of mixes labeled Final, and enough confidence to start emailing companies. Then nothing happens. No replies. No briefs. No placement.
Often the song was not ready to clear. A music supervisor does not need another promising track with messy splits, incomplete metadata, no instrumental, no clean version, and a co-writer who will sign later. They need a song that can be searched, licensed, edited, and paid out without stalling the job. That is what this sync licensing checklist is for.
It works alongside our guide on how music supervisors actually find songs and our list of music sync licensing companies. This page is the preparation list. Those pages cover discovery and where to go once one song is actually ready.
There is also a legal reason to take this seriously. In the United States, a sync license for the composition and a master use license for the recording are separate permissions. The U.S. Copyright Office is clear that there is no compulsory sync or master use license for audiovisual uses such as film, television, advertising, or video games. If you cannot clear both sides, the song is not ready to submit.
If the record still needs a finished mix or a set of stems before you pitch it, we can help with that.
Send your stems for mixing and mastering
Who This Checklist Is For
This guide is for independent artists, self-administered songwriters, producers, and composers who want to know how to get a sync license path in order before they submit music for TV, film, ads, or games. It is also for anyone building tracks for a production music library or a music licensing company. A great song and a sync-ready song are not always the same thing. Preparation is what makes a track usable.
What This Page Covers
- Rights and ownership
- Registration and song data
- Metadata and searchability
- Deliverables and audio versions
- Mix quality and catalog presentation
- Clearance strategy and platforms
- Frequently asked questions
Rights and Ownership
Before you submit anything, confirm the details that stop a clearance later:
- Who owns the master?
- Who owns the composition?
- What percentage does each writer control?
- Which PRO does each writer belong to?
- Who can approve the deal?
If you do not have a publishing split sheet yet, make one before you pitch. ASCAP's split guidance says writer and publisher shares must add up correctly, and BMI explains that performance income is split between the writer and publisher shares.
If the song contains a sample, an interpolation, or an uncleared remix element, do not call it ready. The U.S. Copyright Office is clear that when you use someone else's work, you need permission unless a legal exception applies. Trying and failing to reach a rightsholder is not a substitute for permission.
Cover songs need the same honesty. DISCO recommends naming the original artist in the title, listing who owns the master of your recording, and, when you can, naming the publishing controller for the composition. A beautiful cover with no idea who clears the underlying song is a problem, not a sync asset.
Registration and Song Data
Your track should not live only on a laptop and in a group chat. Register the composition and store the correct identifiers.
The Copyright Office explains that a recorded song can create two copyright-protected works: the musical work and the sound recording. Copyright exists when the work is fixed. Registration is not required for that protection to exist, but it creates a public record and provides legal benefits, including the ability to bring a federal infringement lawsuit for a U.S. work.
The same Copyright Office guide explains that creators who want digital audio mechanical royalties under the Music Modernization Act need accurate registration with The MLC. If you have a publisher or administrator, they should register for you. That MLC registration is not a replacement for copyright registration.
Your checklist should include at least:
- Title
- Writer or writers
- Publisher, or a note that you are self-published
- PRO affiliation
- IPI numbers
- ISWC, if available
- ISRC for the recording
An ISWC identifies the musical work. An ISRC identifies the sound recording. Those are different numbers for different sides of the song. The U.S. ISRC Agency recommends registering recordings and their ISRCs with SoundExchange.
If you want a public check on performance ownership data, Songview is useful. ASCAP and BMI describe it as an authoritative view of performing-rights ownership shares for the vast majority of musical works licensed in the United States. The platform now also includes works information from GMR and SESAC. That helps when a song has multiple writers and the percentages need to be reconciled before a brief deadline.
Metadata and Searchability
Incomplete metadata can take you out of the search entirely.
DISCO's sync metadata guidance says the most important track metadata when pitching for sync is rights ownership and clearance contact information. Put the splits you control, the other owners when you know them, and a clearance email in the comments field. DISCO also notes that writer details entered only in an internal writers tab may not travel with the file, so anything a supervisor needs should be in the comments.
In plain language, metadata should tell a supervisor what the track is, how it feels, and who can clear it. Useful creative fields include:
- Vocal type
- Explicit status
- Tempo or BPM
- Genre and subgenre
- Mood
- Theme
- Featured instrument
- Era
- Key
- Keywords and, when you can, lyrics
Marmoset's public browse tools also show that modern catalogs are searched by criteria such as genre, mood, lyrics, length, and instruments. Your song title matters. Your comments field matters. Your tags matter. Your clearance email matters. A file named Fire beat final v3 is not metadata. It is a sign that the package is not finished.
Deliverables and Audio Versions
A track is not submission-ready just because the main mix exists. Supervisors and editors often come back for an instrumental, a clean version, a cutdown, or stems, sometimes after the first pitch. DISCO lets you nest those versions under the main track so they travel with the same link, and it supports full-resolution WAV or AIFF files.
Your minimum package should usually include:
- The main mix
- The instrumental
- A clean version, if the lyrics are explicit
- Stems, either grouped buses, individual files, or both
If the song has a long atmospheric intro, also make a version that enters sooner. If the hook only works with the vocal on top, prepare a section an editor can use. That work is part of being easy to license. If you need the export steps, use our guide to exporting stems for mixing.
Mix Quality and Catalog Presentation
There is no official rulebook titled Your Snare Is Ready for Television, but serious catalogs still expect a finished record. DISCO asks you to upload WAV or AIFF masters. Marmoset supports high-resolution WAV and AIFF downloads for licensed use. Musicbed's own site says it accepts less than 1 percent of artist submissions, which is a useful reminder of how selective a curated library can be.
Sync-ready music needs to sound finished. That means controlled low end, a clean vocal, space in the arrangement for dialogue, and a master that holds up without being crushed. This is where professional mixing and mastering matters. At Blak Marigold Studio, at 14321 James Buchanan Street in Manor, just east of Austin, the job is not only to make a song feel expensive. It is to make the files usable. Send-in mix and master is $200, or $75 for mastering only, delivered in 3 to 5 days with two revisions.
View mixing and mastering services
Clearance Strategy and Platforms
You also need a plan for how the song will be offered.
DISCO defines an easy-clear track as one with no complicated master and publishing clearance issues, and a one-stop track as one where a licensee needs to contact only one party to clear both sides. One-stop clearance is valuable because it reduces friction when a brief is live. It is not the same as calling a song pre-cleared. The license is still negotiated. There are simply fewer parties to reach.
Use each tool for what it actually does now.
DISCO is a catalog, pitching, and delivery platform, not a music licensing company. It is useful for organizing a catalog, tagging tracks, building playlists, and sending a supervisor a clean link. Our sync licensing companies list covers the companies that actually license music, and it treats DISCO the same way: as a delivery tool, not as a licensor.
Songtradr is no longer an open artist marketplace you can upload to and become discoverable for sync. Songtradr's help center says the Songtradr Marketplace closed on September 30, 2026, and that sync licensing has shifted to an invite-only model under a Master Services Agreement. If you have not already signed that agreement, Songtradr says it is unable to extend an offer at this time. Do not build your submission plan around an open Songtradr upload portal. Use the current company list for what each service actually offers now.
Songview helps you check performing-rights ownership data. The MLC is how you register for digital audio mechanical royalties. SoundExchange is how featured artists and sound recording owners collect certain digital performance royalties. After a placement, cue sheets remain the document PROs use to pay for music in film and television. ASCAP says the production company is typically responsible for submitting that cue sheet. Your job is to make sure your writer, publisher, and ownership data are accurate so the sheet can be filed correctly, and to follow up if a payment does not appear.
When you pitch, keep it short. A searchable DISCO playlist with metadata, versions, and a clearance contact will do more than a long email. If you also need the song released to streaming services first, use a current music distribution path rather than mixing that step up with sync clearance.
If your catalog, metadata, and clearance notes are already solid and you are ready for organized outreach, our Sync Licensing Bible directory is below. It is a digital download of 300-plus music supervisors, music libraries, publishers, and licensing contacts. Used too early, a contact list is just a faster way to get ignored. Used after this checklist, it can shorten the distance between a ready catalog and the people who actually license music.
Sync Licensing Bible directory with 300+ music supervisors, music libraries, publishers, and licensing contacts for artists and producers pitching music for film, TV, ads, games, and sync placements.
The Sync Licensing Bible gives artists, producers, songwriters, managers, and indie labels access to over 300 music supervisors, music libraries, publishers, licensing companies, and sync contacts so you can stop searching and start pitching with a real plan.
This directory is designed to save you time, help you stay organized, and give you a stronger starting point for getting your songs in front of people who work with TV, film, ads, trailers, games, and digital media.
Perfect for anyone ready to stop guessing where to send music and start building a real sync outreach system.
Digital download only. No physical product will be shipped.
Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
The common mistakes are predictable. No publishing split sheet. No IPI or ISRC on hand. No instrumental. No clean version. No clearance contact in the metadata. An uncleared sample. Ownership details so incomplete that a supervisor cannot tell who can approve the license. After a placement, some artists never confirm that a cue sheet was filed, and then wonder why the back-end royalties did not show up.
Here is the faster fix. Pick your best three tracks. Confirm rights. Register the composition and recording data. Add searchable metadata and a clearance email. Export the additional files. Put the tracks into DISCO in a way a music supervisor can understand in seconds. Then compare the mix against the quality of real catalogs, not a casual playlist. If you need help finishing the files, send them in for mixing and mastering.
We work with artists from Manor and the Austin area, and with artists who send files in from elsewhere. For questions about a mix, email Blakmarigold@gmail.com, call 512-593-1267, or use our contact page.
Send your stems for mixing and mastering
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a sync license?
In the United States, a sync license is permission to use a musical work in an audiovisual project, such as a film, television program, advertisement, or video game. A separate master use license is needed for the sound recording. The U.S. Copyright Office explains that there is no compulsory sync or master use license for those audiovisual uses, so both sides have to be cleared with the rightsholders.
What should I check before I submit music for sync licensing?
Confirm who owns the composition and the master, and that the writer shares add up. Complete a split sheet. Register the work and the recording data, including PRO affiliations, IPI numbers, an ISWC if you have one, and an ISRC for the recording. Add clearance contact information and searchable metadata. Export a main mix, an instrumental, a clean version if the lyrics are explicit, and stems when you can.
What metadata matters most for sync licensing?
DISCO's sync metadata guidance says the most important track metadata is rights ownership and clearance contact information. Also include genre, mood, theme, vocal type, explicit status, tempo or BPM, key, featured instruments, and keywords. Put ownership splits and a clearance email in the comments field so a supervisor can tell who can approve the license.
Do I need stems and instrumentals for sync?
You should assume that you do. Editors often need an instrumental, a clean version, or isolated stems to fit a scene on a deadline. DISCO lets you nest instrumentals, clean versions, cutdowns, and stems under the main track so they travel with the pitch. If you need help exporting those files, use our guide to exporting stems for mixing.
What is one-stop clearance?
DISCO defines a one-stop track as one where a licensee only has to contact one party to clear both the master and the publishing rights. An easy-clear track is one with no complicated clearance issues, such as having to reach a large number of owners. One-stop is not the same as pre-cleared. A one-stop song is still licensed deal by deal, but the paperwork has fewer parties.
Can I submit a cover song or a song that uses a sample?
Only if the rights are actually clearable. A cover still needs a sync license for the underlying composition, and a sample or interpolation needs permission unless a legal exception applies. DISCO recommends naming the original artist in the title of a cover and listing master ownership, plus publishing controller information when you have it. If you cannot identify who clears the composition, the track is not ready to submit.
What is the difference between an ISRC and an ISWC?
An ISRC identifies a specific sound recording. An ISWC identifies the musical work, meaning the composition. You want both data paths organized so the recording and the song can be matched for licensing and royalties. The U.S. ISRC Agency also recommends registering recordings and their ISRCs with SoundExchange.
Do I need The MLC and SoundExchange to get a sync deal?
Not for the sync license itself. The MLC is how self-administered songwriters and publishers register for digital audio mechanical royalties under the Music Modernization Act. SoundExchange is how featured artists and sound recording owners collect certain digital performance royalties. Both still matter after a placement, because a sync fee is not the only money a song can earn.
Ready to Get One Song Sync Ready
Use this checklist on one song before you submit ten half-ready songs. Confirm both sides of the copyright, put the data in order, attach the versions a supervisor will ask for, and only then start outreach. When the mix and the stems are the missing piece, you can send them to us for mixing and mastering.
