Music sync licensing websites are everywhere on the internet these days. For those creatives working on a project, life is so much easier than it has ever been before to find and license great music for any of the following:
Movies- Movie trailers
- Short films
- Indie films
- Video games
- Game trailers
- Advertising – online and offline
- TV
- Videos
- Corporate presentations
There are loads of projects out there that will be made that much better with the inclusion of quality music and the above list illustrates just some of the main ones.
Now while there may be a plethora of licensing sites to choose from, based on my own personal experience from both the POV of a buyer and an artist selling music, my two favourites are:
- Songtradr
- Musicbed
There are other good sites as well, but these sites I know the best and am also the most impressed with.
Songtradr
These guys are relatively new to the scene, having officially launched in March of 2016. What I like about this company is just how simple everything is. When I say simple, I don’t mean unsophisticated or basic, I mean their site is uncluttered and very easy to look at. And from an artist perspective, the process to add songs to their growing catalogue is also simple and logical, with no glitches in the upload process (unlike many of the other sites I’ve tried).
The Songtradr search tool is also a major plus for buyers. It’s fast and extremely accurate, saving you time when searching for just the right kind of music to suit your project. The pricing structure on Songtradr is also extremely fair, and is tiered depending on what kind of sync license you require. As an example, a sync license for a movie trailer will cost more than one for a corporate video.
Songtradr are well connected and host a diverse array of quality artists and music tracks, both with vocals as well as loads of instrumentals.
Musicbed
The guys at Musicbed have been around for quite a while now, although still not as well known as some other music licensing companies. Musicbed have rather strict vetting procedures and only allow a small number of artists to host songs on the Musicbed website. They do this so their site doesn’t get overloaded and saturated, allowing all artists on their books a fair chance of getting licensing placements.
The focus on Musicbed is very much cinematic. There is a diverse range of artists and genres on Musicbed, but very dominant in the movie production track type of sound. You can be guaranteed of quality sounds and recordings on the Musicbed platform and it’s very popular with filmmakers the world over.
Like Songtradr, Musicbed tier their pricing depending on the type of license required, rather than offering blanket licenses.
The Wrap
Whether you choose Songtradr for your licensing needs or Musicbed, either way it will be a good choice. Both platforms are quite simple to use with similar pricing, and both have high quality artists and material.
My personal favourite from a seller point of view is Songtradr, and you can check out my catalogue by clicking on the Songtradr logo below.
I assume that you write music yourself. If a person has that skill, to write his own music, then do you contact one of these licensing companies to get the music copyrighted or something like that? And then does the your music get sold to companies wanting to use it, or do they buy the right to use the music? It’s interesting how all this works. I’m not a music writer myself, but coming across your site has gotten my interest up. Can you give me a break-down of how this all works?
Hi Jim.
Copyright of music is automatic the moment it is created. You can, however, officially lodge a copyright if you want to, but you don’t have to.
It doesn’t cost anything as such to join a music licensing website to sell your music, but they take a percentage (usually 50%) of all license sales. Buyers purchase a license that grants them the right to use the music in a specified project. Sellers can completely sell the copyright to a song if they wish, and usually for a much higher price. But with licensing, you can sell the same song over and over again, so usually people don’t sell their copyright.
Hope this helps.