How much does it cost to license a song?

How much does it cost to license a song: the short answer

How much does it cost to license a song? Anywhere from a few hundred dollars to well into six figures, and occasionally more. A little-known song from an independent artist in a festival film sits at the bottom of that range. A famous song in a worldwide TV campaign sits at the top.

There is no rate card for commercial songs. Every fee is negotiated with the people who own the music, based on how you plan to use it. That is why the most useful thing you can learn is not a number but the handful of factors that produce one.

One note before the figures: the ranges in this article come from public industry sources and are cited as such. They are not In The Groove Music's prices. The real number for your project comes from a quote.

Two licenses, two fees

Most uses of a recorded song in video need two licenses, each with its own fee:

• Sync license for the composition, from the publisher (or publishers) who represent the songwriters.
• Master use license for the recording, from the label or whoever owns the master.

When people quote a figure “per side,” they mean one of these. A $10,000-per-side deal costs $20,000 total. Most known-song deals are on most favored nations (MFN) terms, meaning neither side accepts less than the other, so in practice the higher quote sets both. Re-recording the song yourself removes the master fee but not the sync fee, and the publisher still has to approve it.

Production music and independent catalogs are often one-stop: a single party controls both sides and issues one license, which is a big part of why they cost less and clear faster. For the basics of each license type, see what is music licensing.

What drives music licensing fees

Rights holders price the use, not the song in the abstract. These are the factors that move licensing fees for music, roughly in the order they matter.

Media: where it plays

Broadcast TV, theatrical film and trailers generally command higher fees than online-only or internal use. Advertising of any kind tends to cost more than editorial use, because the song is helping sell something.

Term: how long you can use it

A three-month flight costs less than a year, and a year costs less than perpetuity. Films and TV episodes are often licensed for long terms or in perpetuity because they keep circulating. Ads are usually licensed for the campaign, with options to extend.

Territory: where in the world

Local or regional use is cheaper than national, and national is cheaper than worldwide. A global campaign multiplies the audience the song reaches, and the fee follows.

Usage: how the song appears

Background music under dialogue costs less than a featured use where the song carries the scene. A vocal costs more than an instrumental. Opening and closing credits, the main title, or using the song as the spine of an ad all push the price up. Film Independent's guide notes that fees often don't scale with the length of a cue, except for credits use, so cutting the clip shorter rarely saves much.

The song's fame and the artist's stance

Recognition is the biggest single variable. A well-known song is worth more to the buyer and its owners know it. Some artists also turn down advertising, specific product categories or political uses at any price, and others will lower a fee for a project they believe in.

Exclusivity

Most licenses are non-exclusive, so the same song can appear in other projects. Brands sometimes want category exclusivity, keeping the song out of competitors' ads for the term, or full exclusivity. Either one costs more, because the owners give up other deals.

Buyouts and ownership

With custom music, the question is who owns the result. A buyout, where the brand or production owns the music outright, usually costs more up front than a license for a defined use, but it removes renewals. Some productions prefer a long-term license instead. Either way, the scope is set in the deal, so it's worth thinking through how long you will use the music before you commission it.

Ranges industry sources commonly cite

Public figures vary widely, and most come from companies that sell licensing, so treat them as orientation, not a budget. With that caution, here is what reputable sources say:

• Festival films: music supervisor Brooke Wentz, in Film Independent's guide to music licensing, says festival rights for most songs can often be cleared at around $500 per side.
• Overall spread: writing for Synchtank, entertainment attorney Steven Masur describes typical one-time sync fees as running from a few hundred dollars for a small artist in a small project to a few hundred thousand dollars for a major artist in a large-budget production.
• Feature films with many songs: Almost Famous is a well-known outlier. Its final music budget reached about $3.5 million, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Notice how wide the spread is: from a few hundred dollars to a few hundred thousand for the same kind of license. That's the factors above at work. A useful number only exists once the media, term, territory and use are pinned down.

Known song, catalog track or custom: how the costs compare

Licensing a famous song is the most expensive and least predictable route, because two sets of owners negotiate separately and can say no.

Catalog music from independent artists and production libraries usually costs less and clears faster, because one party controls both sides and the music was made to be licensed. You'll also see “royalty-free” sites that sell a flat-fee license for unlimited use within that site's terms. Read those terms closely: lower tiers often exclude paid broadcast or large campaigns, the same track can be in thousands of other videos, and there is usually no way to negotiate exclusivity. At ITGM we don't offer royalty-free or stock music; every track we license comes with rights scoped and cleared for your use.

Custom music is priced on scope: length, number of versions, live musicians, and whether it's a buyout or a license. It costs more than a catalog track, often less than a hit song, and the brand can end up owning a sound no one else has. See custom music for how that works.

How to get an accurate quote

The fastest way to a real number is a complete request. Whether you go to a publisher, a label or a music agency, include:

• the song, or the brief if you're open to options;
• the project, client and a rough cut or description of the scene;
• how the music is used and for how long in each version;
• media, term and territory, plus any options you may need later;
• whether you need any exclusivity;
• your budget range and your deadline.

Sharing a budget feels like giving away leverage, but it usually does the opposite. It lets rights holders say yes quickly, or tells you early that a song is out of reach, and it lets a music supervisor bring you alternatives that fit.

In The Groove Music is quote-based: we price every project to its use. We can clear a specific song, search our catalog of about 44,000 tracks for options in your range, or write something original. Our step-by-step guide to licensing music for commercials covers the process in detail, and our music licensing page explains what we handle.

Frequently asked questions