• Pro Services
  • Venues & Colleges
  • Festivals & Conferences
  • Members
  • Show Availabilities
  • Band Availabilities
  • Classifieds
  • Blog
  • Home
  • Features
    Pro Services Venues & Colleges Database QuickPitch Emailing Festivals & Conferences Show Availabilities Band Availabilities Classifieds
  • Members
  • Account Benefits
  • Blog
  • Home
Login Sign Up

The Life Cycle of a TV Sync Placement

SHARE
  • Facebook logo

Posted: Oct 23, 2024

Category: Licensing

licensing tv cold pitching royalties symphonic distribution sync placements follow up sync rep be patient

**Guest post originally featured in the Symphonic Distribution Blog.

 

Lifecycle of TV Sync - Symph Dist

 

 

"You may think landing a sync placement in a show is just a matter of sending your music to a music supervisor, getting picked, and getting paid. If only it were that easy! In reality, the life cycle of a sync license can be a very lengthy and complex process. In this post, Symphonic’s own Head of Sync, Jon Mizrachi, breaks it down and gives you a behind the scenes look to help you get a better idea of how it all works. Here’s the rundown...


Step 1: Pitching

If you send your songs directly to a music supervisor you don’t know personally, chances are it won’t ever get listened to. There’s a rare handful of thoughtful supervisors who try and listen to everything they receive, but most rely on a network of trusted sources like record labels, publishers and sync reps. These are music licensing experts who curate music based on creative briefs and research, only sending songs that are a perfect fit for the project.

In the process of regularly pitching music this way, they’re planting lots of seeds. If a supervisor loves something they hear but it’s not right for whatever scene they’re working on at the moment, they’ll inevitably hang on to it for future use. Then a year later, you might just get a surprise email with a licensing request!
+Three Tips for Pitching to Busy Music Executives


Step 2: Quote Request

A quote request will often come with a proposed offer. It’s typically a reasonable fee based on their budget and past experience licensing similar songs, but if you feel it’s too low you can always try and negotiate for more. It’s important to note, there may be other artists who would be more than happy to accept their offer, so if you push for more you may just end up with nothing. Assuming you’re cool with the fee, you can sign the quote request and send it back to the music supervisor.
+NEGOTIATION TACTICS your band DOESN'T know

And then... you wait.


Step 3: Confirmation

Just because you sent back a signed quote request doesn’t mean your placement is guaranteed. All it means is that you’ve agreed to honor that price if they choose to use it. It’s effectively just a placeholder.

If the episode airs tomorrow, there’s a good chance the song will be used. Otherwise, the longer you have to wait before the episode is released, the more time there is for something to change. For example, your song could get replaced at the last minute with something else, the scene could be edited out, or the whole show could even be canceled entirely!

Nobody likes to be the bearer of bad news either, so if something like this were to happen it’s rare that anyone will notify you. So how do you know if your song made it in? Before an episode is released, it has to be mixed. When the mix is locked, that’s when the final decision is made. You’d think at this point someone would reach out to let you know, but most often an official confirmation notice is sent out weeks after the episode is released.

So if you want to be sure beforehand, you’ll need to follow up in the days leading up to the release date to confirm. But wait, what about the license?


Step 4: Licensing

When a new episode of a show is released, much of the music you hear hasn’t actually been officially licensed yet. The signed quote request serves as a temporary authorization for the use, and the long form licensing agreements generally take months to be prepared by the production company.

Due to the high volume of licenses needed across an entire season of a given show, there’s often a backlog of paperwork. Once the licensing agreements are squared away, you’ll then need to get set up as a vendor with a W-9 tax form and send out an invoice for payment. The typical timeframe for payment is three months after the episode release date, sometimes sooner but often longer.
+How to optimize your website for sync licensing


Step 5: Payment

It’s now close to a year since you initially pitched your song, and you finally got a check in the mail! If you wrote the song and it aired on television, you’re also entitled to performance royalties from ASCAP, BMI or SESAC which will come a few months later. So be sure to get your songs registered with one of the PRO societies.

Performance royalties are based on mysterious calculations that few people really fully understand, so it’s difficult to know for sure how much you’ll get. But it’s not nothing! It could add up to hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, and if it’s something that keeps airing over time you’ll keep getting those royalties.
+Earning Royalties For Your Music


Get Repped!

Landing a placement in a show can be a very rewarding experience. It generates great revenue and helps build your profile as an artist, but it’s not an easy thing to do on your own. Working with a sync rep can be a great way to break into this part of the industry, and since they work on commission there’s no upfront cost. If you already work with one, hopefully this article has given you a better appreciation of how complex the process is and how much effort is necessary to make sync placements happen. So be sure to show them some love!"

 

 

Related Blog Posts:

+Quick tips when submitting to curators via SubmitHub

+Never Say These 11 Phrases When Pitching Your Music For Film and TV

+Music Business After Dark Ep. 5: Sync Me a Song

 

 

IOTM News

Join Our Newsletter
Tweets by Indieonthemove

Venue Reviews

More Reviews
  • kristen

    formerly rockwood #2

    Knitting Factory at Baker Falls, New York, NY - Booking Information & Music Venue Reviews · 4 days ago

  • Stud Ford & Will Coppage

    We cannot say enough amazing things about The Nick. From the booking process, accommodating a late load in (stuck under an underpass for about 45...

    Indie on the Move The Nick · 4 days ago

  • JonTylerWiley&HisVirginiaChoir

    One of my favorite rooms to play, either solo or with a band. Great sound, great staff.

    Gibson Music Hall, Appleton, WI - Booking Information & Music Venue Reviews · 1 week ago

  • Angela Stendel

    GET TO ALL OF THEIR SHOWS!! Tammy and Greg ROCK!!!!!

    Every Buddy's Bar and Grill, Chippewa Falls, WI - Booking Information & Music Venue Reviews · 1 week ago

  • Austin Miller

    closed

    Corks Wine Co., Bluffton, SC - Booking Information & Music Venue Reviews · 2 weeks ago

About | Features | Pricing | Testimonials | Contact | Newsletter | Blog | Touring Tips | Terms | Privacy
  • About
  • Features
  • Pricing
  • Testimonials
  • Newsletter
  • Contact IOTM
  • Members Directory
  • Blog
  • Touring Tips
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Professional Services
  • Venues & Colleges
  • Festivals & Conferences
  • Show Availabilities
  • Band Availabilities
  • Classifieds
Facebook X Instagram
Back To Top

© 2025 Indie on the Move. All rights reserved.