Frederic Schindler, music supervisor, Founder of Too Young Ltd and Catalog, argues that it’s time to reclaim the value of independent music and “break free from the bottleneck of traditional sync licensing”...
A few weeks ago, a major-owned library music company bragged on social media about its several sync placements in the must-see documentary about DJ Mehdi's influential career – I'm pretty sure he would have called them out on it. And here’s why…
The visual media landscape is booming, but commercial music licensing has yet to keep up. Pay attention to the end credits of your average Sunday evening streaming show, and you'll likely see what I mean: chances are, most of the music in the programme is not from artists you love or want to discover. For independent artists and rights holders, this "boom" might feel more like a bust.
Consider this: in 2023 alone, over 10,000 new TV series, nearly 20,000 feature films, and almost 15,000 video games were produced, not to mention the countless digital and social media video ads. This translates to millions of sync opportunities annually. Yet, eight out of ten tracks we hear in visual media today are stock or commissioned works.
The numbers tell a stark story. Library music now generates a staggering $1.3 billion in annual revenue (Prophecy Mark Insights) and is estimated to be $2.9 billion by 2032, dwarfing the visual media presence and earnings of culturally relevant music. In fact, library music brings in $670 million more than all record labels – major, indies, and niche – combined. And we haven't even touched on unlicensed generative AI.
Clearly, the system is broken, and we have a big problem that needs to be addressed.
The commercial music licensing bottleneck
Picture this: a music supervisor on a tight deadline and budget needs the perfect song for a pivotal scene, or maybe an ad agency needs a quick turnaround for a digital ad campaign with a $10,000 music budget. They identify a few strong tracks, but finding relevant options is just the first hurdle. What comes next? Days are spent tracking down rights-holders, negotiating terms and waiting for fragmented and often contradictory approvals. And we haven't even started the legal paperwork yet. Redlining, executing and paying multiple agreements and invoices adds another layer of complexity.
This back-and-forth can drag on for weeks, even months, eating into precious time for all parties involved. This is a common struggle during Fashion Week, where hundreds of streamed shows compete for attention. Delays in music licensing can cause significant stress and tension for clients, even though most artists are eager to collaborate.
For example, during the last SS Paris Fashion Week, I cleared a track from two prominent electronic music icons, and we received approvals, but both parties diverged in the publishing splits. It took lots of emails and last-minute calls to align everyone, and luckily one party compromised to make it happen.
But the outcome is often different. Faced with this bottleneck, it's no wonder buyers often opt for the path of least resistance: library music. With its one-stop shops, tech-enabled search tools, transparent pricing, and automated licensing, it's simply faster and easier. Alternatively, the temptation to utilise unlicensed generative AI tools grows, risking potential legal complications and ethical concerns for copyright infringement. Or, they might even commission a studio to create a sound-alike track, often almost replicating the song they truly wanted but couldn't license.
The challenge of sync-granularity
When the CD era collapsed, labels and artists recognised the potential of sync to create a vital new revenue stream. Before the mid-2000s, commercial music in advertising or video games was rare, and neither artists nor their labels showed much interest. In an industry fighting for survival, music supervisors were born, sync teams were established, and bespoke processes were developed – yet, two decades later, little has changed for commercial music sync.
This initial ecosystem, however, was designed for a time when there was significantly less visual media content. It was primarily built around the demand for recognisable songs and dramatically fails to distinguish between a global hit and the vast majority of tracks in a catalogue. This lack of "sync-granularity" poses a significant problem. Hits, in constant demand, require strategic licensing with detailed evaluations. We will not argue with that.
Meanwhile, lesser-known tracks from outstanding artists are buried under the same cumbersome process, riddled with multiple rights-holders, fully manual processes and outdated technology. This discourages music buyers from discovering and licensing these gems en masse. As a result, these often groundbreaking, goosebump-inducing deeper cuts lose out on opportunities, and clients may become accustomed to library rates for non-hits, leading to a devaluation of music in the long run. Ultimately, the lack of nuance in the process hinders the ability of talented artists to earn crucial income and impoverishes the overall music quality of our visual media culture. If a track hasn’t generated sync income, why be so precious about it? When the creative aligns, and the budget is reasonable, let’s make it heard!
Reclaiming the value of independent music
To reclaim the value of independent music and break free from the bottleneck of traditional sync licensing, we need a fundamental shift in our approach and mindset. Clinging to entirely manual and micro-managed processes for catalogue tracks is counterproductive. We need to be able to respond quickly and efficiently to any buyer with two fundamental answers: "Can I use this song? If yes, how much will it cost for my intended usage?"
To put things in perspective, a single $50,000 music placement in a major film represents 50% less than ten "long tail" placements worth $10,000 each. These smaller placements, while individually less lucrative, can collectively generate a significant and more sustainable revenue stream for artists and rights holders, especially when licensing is streamlined and accessible. And the fact is, there are millions upon millions of smaller sync opportunities waiting to be seized.
To reclaim the value of independent music and break free from the bottleneck of traditional sync licensing, we need a fundamental shift
Frederic Schindler
Unlocking these opportunities, regardless of production scale, is crucial for independent artists, yet obstacles remain.
Firstly, with a century of outstanding recorded music and over 100 million songs available on major streaming platforms, music buyers are drowning in choices. To address this, they need curated platforms that showcase sync-ready music, categorised by era, genre, label and other relevant criteria; powered with advanced search capabilities that even the most basic stock music company has already implemented.
Secondly, we need to leverage technology to shield customers from the complexities of copyright fragmentation; it's not their concern. Tech-enabled systems can simplify copyright clearance by providing clear, accessible information about ownership and standardising licensing flows and terms.
Thirdly, we need a stronger, more adaptable rationale for pricing that accounts for both the context of the placement and the inherent qualities of the music, ensuring fair and transparent value for both artists and clients.
The future is now
The future of music licensing will be shaped by sync DSPs. These platforms hold immense potential, offering advanced discoverability, smart-pricing and tech-assisted licensing that will empower independent artists to compete on a level playing field. We're already seeing several companies actively developing these innovative solutions, each with its own unique approach. In fact, I've spent the last three years working to find solutions and built one, Catalog, in collaboration with like-minded founding partners, labels, managers and artists. These start-ups are fostering collaborations to streamline the sync process and address the key challenges we face.
As an industry, we need to collectively engage in this conversation and support these advancements. The stakes are high: $2.9 billion and the soul of our soundtracks hang in the balance. The time for change is now. Let's work together to reshape the sync landscape and bring vital revenue to the independent ecosystem.
This need for authentic and meaningful music is something that DJ Mehdi understood deeply. In a 2007 Red Bull Music Academy lecture in Toronto, he eloquently said: "I wouldn’t like my music to be only one message. I love it when you can have one track that says: 'Hey, that’s who I am, I’m from this part of the city, and this is what I’m experiencing.' I wouldn’t like my music to be only dance, for example, or to be only love or to be – what did you call it – elevator music or whatever, hotel music?”
