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Working to perfectly match music with video to create powerful, engaging and entertaining content. Indie music from filmmakers and beyond.
Our expansive catalogue of independent artists and tracks allows us to provide options for almost any brief and has given us the pleasure of licensing music to some of the most exciting productions across TV and Film.
The Autumn/Winter 2020 range by New Balance for Kids Korea collaborated with Anthony Browne clothing to introduce a limited edition line of apparel.
This music-driven campaign required an upbeat popular production and catchy topline suitable for children that could also be re-recorded with children’s vocals.
Bamtone’s “Win The Day” had the perfect fun and youthful energy which the songwriters Scott Horton and Briand Melanson composed. Happy to collaborate with the creative team at New Balance and re-imagine the track with fun children’s vocals, the official song was appropriately re-recorded and released as “Dream Song”.
Pink Flamingo Films Christmas time black comedy film “The Loss Adjuster” stars Luke Goss, Joan Collins and Kym Marsh.
Hapless insurance loss adjuster Martin Dyer feels his life is spiralling out of control but discovers that even when you reach rock bottom, that some clouds really do have a silver lining. All music treatment for The Loss Adjuster was passionately curated by Music Gateway’s in-house Music Supervision and Sync Team.
Including the official theme song of the film “A Christmas Wish” by Beverley Knight, a modern Christmas bop with a classical feel.
UK-based watch brand Uniform Wares, known for their British design and Swiss craft geared up to unveil their new selection of watches through an online campaign.
Their vision was to create an advert that represents their modern and minimalist style and required a track to capture the attention of a young, vibrant and mixed audience.
South London-based producer Ch!mes’ ambient mid-tempo Electronic track “Apparent'' with its distinctive vocal chops paired perfectly with Uniform Wares’ campaign and successfully appealing to their target audience.
American TV Network CBS’ ongoing crime drama “NCIS: Los Angeles” starring LL Cool J, Chris
O’Donnell and Daniela Ruah follows the Naval Crime Investigation Services team as they take on
the toughest cases in LA.
Souluvmuziq’s multi-genre songwriter and producer MadD3E’s uplifting R&B track “Know Me Better”
featuring vocalist Bluesforthehorn secured a seamless sync to begin episode 10 of season 11 on a
high.
Sky One Sky One’s action-drama series “Bulletproof” follows undercover police duo and best friends Bishop played by Noel Clarke (Kidulthood, Adulthood) and Pike played by Ashley Walters (Top Boy) as they pair up to take down criminal gangs across Europe in the pursuit of justice. 5ive 9ine is a genre-bending team comprised of U K Rap pioneer Sway Dasafo and Producer Zagor who landed a Sync for the series’ multiple action-packed promotional trailers with their high-intensity Rap track “Born A King”.
Actress Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Prometheus) leads the action-packed Netflix thriller “Close” as a deadly bodyguard hired to protect a troubled heiress. Directed & written by Vicky Jewson.
Working with Music Supervisor Claire Freeman we secured two placements with tracks “Kerbela” from artist Orlando Lanzini and “Middle” from JP.
BAFTA award winning documentary following the reunion of brothers Matt & Luke Goss from the 80s pop band “Bros”. Watch how their journey to resolve past issues & deliver long-awaited shows at sold-out London O2 Arena gigs.
We secured a sync for Jess & James 60’s pop track “Move” through working directly with established Music Supervisor, Michelle De Vries.
Ridley Scott’s “The Terror” airing on AMC is a 10-part horror anthology series based on the bestselling novel by Dan Simmons.
With a catalogue full of nostalgic & vintage tracks suitable for period dramas, working with music supervisor Natasha Duprey we placed “Candy” by Jack Kluger & Jay Clever and his Orchestra.
The BBC drama “The Capture” was a huge hit. A 6-part mini-series about a persistent young detective who begins to discover a multi-layered conspiracy when handling the case of a British soldier who is charged with murder.
We placed a techno track for a specific club scene through Music Supervisor Michelle De Vries for this brief, which featured producer Politis’ track “Gravity” within the fifth episode.
“The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” is an Amazon original comedy/drama set in 1950s Manhattan following the life of Miriam “Midge” Maisel who is refinding purpose through stand up comedy after her husband leaves her for another woman.
We secured a sync for artist Lily Chao, whose track “Picking Tea Leaves and Catching Butterflies” was placed by Reel Music’s Robin Urdang.
“Moffie”, 2019 London Film Festival’s Best Film category nominee is a British South African LGBT biographical war drama written & directed by Oliver Hermanus. The film is based on an autobiographical novel by Andre Carl van der Merwe.
Working with Music Supervisor Jack Sidey led to us securing 4 amazing sync placements by 3 separate artists for this film including artists Denny Leroux, Structure and Steve Swindells.
Critically acclaimed Netflix Original series “Bloodline” is a drama/thriller based in the Florida Keys following the well-off Rayburn family (Kyle Chandler, Linda Cardellini) who has a dark past which slowly unravels leading to an uncertain future.
A sync placement was secured for the final season with “Never Been Good at Goodbyes” by Mike Goudreau & The Boppin’ Blues Band by experienced US Music Supervisor Mark Wike.
Biographical drama “American Soul” is a series on BET based on the ambitious story of Soul Train show creator and host Don Cornelius. Set in 1970’s Los Angeles, this is a series filled with iconic music, dancing & fashion.
We secured 60s soul group Bud Ross & Pals with their lively track “Do Your Own Thing” working directly with Music Supervisor, Ashley Neumeister.
“Ashes In The Snow” is a historical drama film based on true events starring Bel Powley (Diary of a Teenage Girl) & Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Secret Service). Set in 1941 during Stalin’s brutal dismantling of the Baltic region, Lina, a young aspiring artist and her family get deported to Siberia.
Our trailer placement was via LA advertising agency Soda Creative syncing independent artist NEVERGONE’s track “Motion”.
Def Jam signed artist & dancer Teyana Taylor stars in Universal Pictures’ “Honey: Rise Up and Dance”. Skyler joins a dance crew to compete for a college scholarship. Discouraged by her family & friends, she tirelessly practices amongst Atlanta’s underground dance scene.
Singer, Songwriter Tyler Shamy scored a major sync with “Work You Out” performed by Spencer Sutherland. Thanks to established Music Supervisor, Adele Ho.
An amazing 6-part BBC mini-series “The Little Drummer Girl” is based on John Le Carre’s best-selling novel. Actress and idealist Charlie gets drawn into high-stakes espionage. Starring Florence Pugh, Alexander Skarsgard & Michael Shannon.
Working with Air-Edel music supervisor Matt Biffa, we secured three sync placements for authentic Greek copyright music productions played during the opening scenes set in Greece.
eOne Entertainment’s “Private Eyes” is a crime-solving comedy/drama TV Series based in Toronto, Canada. It follows an ex-hockey player and private investigator who form an unlikely partnership.
The soulful R&B track “You Wreck Me” by Artists Kaki & Eddy Smith was placed in the opening scene of EP 9,, S3 through Canadian Music Supervisor, Dondrea Erauw.
Produced by NBC Universal “Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce” is a TV series following a self-help book author who is recently separated and is navigating her life in Los Angeles as a single woman in her 40s.
Working with NBC in-house music supervisor Kerri Drootin, we secured a sync licensefor Artist Sounds Like Moving’s track “Away”.
Netflix original comedy series “Friends From College” stars Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele, Keanu) & Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother, Avengers). Experiencing nostalgia from their time at Harvard together, a group of friends try to manage their complicated lives whilst entering their 40s.
Music Supervisor Manish Ravel licensed a selection of Polish club music frok us for a nightclub scene featuring Weekend’s tracks “Ona Tanczy Dla Mnie” & “Dalem Ci Kwiaty”.
British Indie comedy film “Destination: Dewsbury” based almost entirely in West Yorkshire, follows 4 old friends on a mission to see their dying friend Frank for the very last time. The BBC reported that this made director Jack Spring the youngest feature film director at the time.
A song sync opportunity within the trailer was secured here through Music Supervisor Will Smith using rock band The Great Cynics’ energising track “Whatever You Want”.
Our sync licensing music library has thousands of one-stop tracks available for quick and easy music licensing no matter the project.
Our creative team knows the catalogue inside out and can quickly create a custom playlist of options for you to stream based on your creative needs and budgetary requirements, for free!
We understand music licensing fees can be hard to navigate and it’s really easy to license free music and royalty free music. Our model ensures you raise your game with your audio, support the music industry and makes for easy song licensing all at the same time.
Please get in touch, we would love to discuss your project and see how we can help.
Are you a new music supervisor or someone just looking for the perfect song for your project? Perhaps you’re an artist wanting a career in the world of sync. Before any of that can happen, you first need to understand the world of sync licensing. It’s important to know all about the best music libraries for film and TV, how to license music for short film, what open license music is, licensing for music production & more. Let us shed some light on music library licensing, production music licensing, music libraries for sync licensing and more.
In its simplest form, sync licensing is paring music with film, radio, TV or any other possible type of media. Content producers (filmmakers, etc.) need music to create an atmosphere or a specific emotion. Imagine watching a film with no music – it wouldn’t have the same impact. A music placement in any form of production can reward an artist with both exposure, high sync license fees and performance royalties.
A sync licensing music library is the first place a music supervisor will look when pairing music for televised, gaming or audio production. Sync licensing libraries are vaults of music for every mood and production requirement.
In order to use a piece of music with your media, music supervisors first need to secure a music license with the copyright owner. This allows the right to place the chosen music on TV, film or radio. From a standard license to master recording and creative commons licenses – it is important that the music, tracks and sound effects you use are properly licensed.
You may be wondering how to license music for a film, but before you dive into obtaining licensing agreements for music, you first need to understand the two types of music rights holders involved.
The Songwriter – The songwriter/copyright holder is the composer and lyricist of a piece of music. This can be one person or a group of people, all holding a percentage split of the copyright.
The Master Rights Holder – A master rights holder is the person (or company) that owns the rights to a recording of a piece of music. The master rights holder is the person or company who funded the recording process of that particular song or album.
If you’re a signed artist, your record label will own the rights to your recordings. Note that a master rights holder only owns the rights to the recording they funded. If you have two recordings of the same song, funded by different entities, both recordings will have separate rights holders.
One Stop – A ‘one stop’ is a term used in the sync world for a person that owns both the songwriting and the master rights to a piece of music. One stops are easier to license due to the singular point of contact.
Once a piece of music works has been chosen for media, the creator must then obtain a license to place it. There are four main types of licenses:
Sync License – A synchronisation license allows for a piece of music to be used in conjunction with other media. This must always be obtained when wanting to license music for video or other media. Music
Master Recording License – A master recording license gives the right to use a specific sound recording. This does not always need to be obtained. If only a sync license can be obtained, a cover recording can be created – this often makes the licensing cheaper.
Mechanical License – A mechanical license allows for copies of the media containing licensed music to be made. This is needed for the production of CDs, DVDs, etc.
Performance License – A performance license allows media to broadcast music to the public. This is needed if music is placed in radio or TV commercials – performances of musical work/ public performance.
All of these licenses can be obtained either through speaking with a ‘one stop’ or by contacting an artists publisher, performing rights organizations (PRO) or a music licensing company like PRS for Music or PPL/PRS combined.
A PPL licenses the use of recorded music on behalf of record companies and performers when it is played in public, used anywhere on the internet or broadcast on radio or TV.
A licence from PRS for Music covers the majority of copyright music being played, with some exceptions including music which is out of copyright.
Library music, also known as stock music, is a fantastic easy-to-find way for media creators to source music for films, TV and radio. Using a TV film music library is a cheaper alternative to placing hit songs on your media and is much easier to obtain licenses as music is ‘ready to go’. Just one piece of library music can have multiple versions: Full track, instrumental, music bed – all of which can be synced. Some library music can even be royalty-free!
All of this music needs a place to be stored so media creators can easily find their desired song. That’s where a music library comes into play. Stock music libraries and sync libraries work in much the same way as your iCloud music library does – only on a monumental scale. It’s important that music supervisors have a broad knowledge of music past and present, in order to negotiate the vast annals of a sync music library. Music supervisors will have an extensive network and have access to the top music libraries for tv & film placements.
A music library directory, music licensing directory, sync libraries, or music licensing library, are all a collection of music from all styles and backgrounds for the purpose of music synchronisation. Every song or instrumental stored in a music library database is encoded with metadata for easy categorisation which can be used by supervisors to locate that perfect track.
Music library companies will have huge production music libraries for the purpose of sync. Once a piece has been selected, supervisors can easily obtain the required licences through the licensing company that works on behalf of the artist. Read about Music Gateway’s music library here.
Some music libraries list, like the YouTube music library, offer royalty-free music for use in media. Free music libraries or a free music archive are a great way of placing music on a budget as most provide copyright-free music – with no licenses needed! There are plenty of free music websites out there. Simply search ‘free music for videos in Google.
Not everyone has huge a budget when it comes to song licensing. So the best way to find those killer tracks for your latest film without busting the bank or making a copyright infringement is to use royalty free stock music.
Royalty-free doesn’t necessarily mean the music will come for free. You may still have to pay for the licensing. However, this does mean that you won’t have to pay out every time your media is aired and you’re not using copyrighted music illegally… Imagine you’re a small business creating an advert for TV – you don’t have the budget to pay out royalties every time your ad is aired. Royalty-free music would be the perfect solution.
Royalty-free doesn’t mean poor quality either, it just means you’re not breaking copyright law. There are countless music libraries out there that make incredible quality original music, all waiting to be placed in your media! Play recorded music worry-free Are you needing easy music licensing for film or other media outlets in the UK, the US or worldwide? Check out Music Gateway’s licensing services here.
Read our success stories for Music Gateway Sync or check out our Music Distribution.
How do I get a music license?
Synchronization licenses or ‘Music Licensing’ are custom-negotiated directly with the copyright holder upfront and can be quite complex. You can attempt to locate the copyright owners yourself and request permission.
What types of music licenses are there?
There are six different types of licenses:
Who needs a music license?
Anyone who wishes to use a copyrighted song in any type of media, such as TV, film or their own music, requires a license. Sync licenses are needed for audio-visual products whereas mechanical licenses are needed for audio-only only products.
How much does a music license cost?
There is no set cost for a music license. The cost of licensing a famous song can vary quite a bit. If it is a song by a small independent artist, the cost of a license could be between $50 (£35) and $150 (£105).
