Licensing music for commercials: a step-by-step guide for agencies and brands

What licensing music for commercials actually covers

Licensing music for commercials means getting written permission from everyone who owns a piece of the music, for the exact way your ad will use it. For almost every spot, that is two separate rights: a sync license for the composition, from the publishers, and a master use license for the recording, from the label or artist. Re-record the song with new musicians and you only need the sync license, though the publisher still has to approve it.

Public performance is mostly handled for you. Broadcasters and many platforms hold blanket licenses from performing rights organizations (PROs) such as ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, which pay the songwriters when the ad airs, but those licenses don't let you put the song in the ad. For how each license works and who grants it, see what is music licensing. This guide is about the process: the order to do things in, and where campaigns go wrong.

Step 1: Lock the media plan before you pick the track

Every quote in commercial music licensing is built on how the spot will run, so the most expensive mistakes happen when the plan changes after the music is cleared. Before you send a single request, write down:

• Media: broadcast TV, streaming and connected TV, online video, paid social, cinema, radio, out-of-home with sound, in-store, and internal or trade use.
• Term: how long the campaign runs. Many advertising licenses follow the flight, often a year or less, with options to extend.
• Territory: a single market, the U.S., North America, or worldwide.
• Versions: the hero spot plus every cutdown, lift and social edit, including any that use the music differently.
• Exclusivity: whether the brand needs to keep the song away from competitors in its category.
• Timing: air date and when the edit needs final music.

If anything is uncertain, ask for options now. An option to add a territory or extend the term at a price agreed today is almost always cheaper than going back after the spot is a hit.

Step 2: Choose your route: a known song, catalog music or custom

There are three ways to get music for an ad, and each changes the licensing work.

• A known commercial song. The most recognition and the most work. You'll deal with one or more publishers and a label, artist approvals, and fees that move with the song's fame.
• Catalog or production music. Music from independent artists and libraries, typically controlled by one party for both sides, which is called a one-stop. Faster, more predictable, and often far less expensive. Check that the license tier actually covers paid broadcast and the full media plan.
• Custom music. A score, jingle or song written for the spot. You negotiate once with the composer or agency, and ownership is set in the deal: a buyout gives the brand the music outright, while a license grants use for a set media, term and territory. See our page on custom music.

Many agencies pursue a known song and a backup at the same time. If the first choice comes back too expensive or declined, the edit isn't stuck.

Step 3: Find every rights holder

A single song can have several writers, each with a different publisher, and every one of them has to sign off. Miss one share and the song isn't cleared.

Start with the PRO databases. ASCAP and BMI publish searchable repertoires, and their joint Songview tool shows combined ownership data for works in both. They list writers and publishers, though not always current contacts for sync. For the master, the label or distributor on the release is the starting point, though rights sometimes revert to the artist or get sold with a catalog.

This is the part where a music clearance partner earns its fee. Knowing who actually controls a share, and who at that company answers sync requests, is most of the job.

Step 4: Send a clear request and negotiate

Rights holders quote on what you tell them, so a vague request gets a vague, high number. A good request includes:

• the brand, product and agency;
• a script, storyboard or rough cut, and a description of how the music is used (background, featured, over the logo, lyric changes);
• the length of the music in each version;
• media, term, territory and exclusivity from step 1;
• any options you want priced now;
• the air date and a response deadline.

Expect most favored nations (MFN) terms on known songs: if the label and publisher are each quoted separately, both will usually insist on being paid at least as well as the other. In practice, budget both sides at the higher number.

Some writers and artists decline advertising entirely, or decline specific categories. Ask early whether the use is even possible before the creative is built around it.

Step 5: Get approvals for edits and lyric changes

A license covers the song as written. Changing the lyric to mention the product, cutting out a verse, or remixing the track usually needs specific approval from the writers, and sometimes the artist. Get the edit plan approved as part of the license, not after.

Avoid the shortcut of a sound-alike, a new track built to imitate a famous song or singer. In Midler v. Ford Motor Co. (1988), a federal appeals court sided with Bette Midler after Ford's agency, Young & Rubicam, hired a backup singer to imitate her voice in a commercial. If the brief is “something like this song,” write something genuinely original, or license the song.

Step 6: Paper it and deliver

Before the spot airs, you should have signed sync and master licenses (or one-stop paperwork for catalog music) that match the final media plan, the final edits and the agreed fees. Keep them with the job file. Networks, clearance services and later your legal team may ask for them.

Then deliver the right files: final mixes, stems, alternates and the metadata needed for any music reporting, so writers can be paid their performance royalties when the spot airs.

Step 7: Track the term and renew on time

A license ends on a date. When it does, the spot has to come down everywhere the license covered, including the brand's social feeds and website, unless you have renewed. Put the expiry date and any option deadlines in a calendar the day you sign. Exercising a pre-negotiated option is simple; renegotiating after the deadline is not.

Common mistakes in music licensing for advertising

• Clearing after picture lock. The team falls for the temp track, and the request goes out a week before air.
• Assuming “social only” is cheap or casual. A paid social campaign is a real advertising use, and rights holders price it that way.
• Using a platform's music library for brand content. Music built into social apps is generally licensed for personal posts. Branded and sponsored content usually needs its own license or a platform's commercial library.
• Missing a publisher share. A song isn't cleared until 100% of the composition and the master are.
• Mistaking a library tier for a broadcast license. Read what the license covers before the spot goes to air.
• Forgetting cutdowns and lifts. Every version that uses the music needs to be within the license.

When to bring in a music agency

Brands and agencies can clear music themselves, and plenty do for simple uses. A music partner makes sense when the song is well known, the timeline is short, the media plan is broad, or the creative needs options from catalog and custom at the same time.

That is what we do at In The Groove Music. We search our catalog of about 44,000 tracks against the brief, handle rights, clearances and delivery for broadcast, digital and global campaigns, and write original music when the right track doesn't exist. Our campaigns include Ram Trucks, Maserati, BMW / MINI, Honda and AMEX Platinum; see our work and music for commercials.

Frequently asked questions