licensing
Licensing & Sync
Music you can actually use, with the usage written down.
In short
A sync licence is permission to use a specific recording or composition in a specific piece of media. Its scope is set by media and channels, territory, term and exclusivity. ASRcreative issues licences for works it controls, confirms in writing what is covered, and says plainly when something has not been verified.
ASRcreative licenses music from its own catalogue for commercial use: advertising, film and series, online content, games, installations and events. A licence is defined by four things — what is used, where it runs, for how long, and how exclusively.
Outcomes
What you get out of it
- A licence scoped to the usage you actually have, not a generic template
- Written confirmation of what is covered and what is not
- Versions and edits cut to the durations your edit needs
- One point of contact for the whole clearance conversation
Deliverables
- Licence agreement listing media, channels, territory, term and exclusivity
- Delivery masters in the format your post house requires
- Alternate durations where required: 60s, 30s, 15s, loopable beds
- Instrumental, clean or stem versions where they exist for the work
- Metadata and cue-sheet information for reporting
Process
How the work runs
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01
Enquiry
You describe the piece, where it will run and by when. If you already have a specific work in mind, the enquiry carries its reference.
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02
Availability and rights check
We confirm what we control for that specific use. Anything not verified stays marked unverified until it has been checked — no clearance is implied before it exists.
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03
Scope and fee
Media, territory, term, exclusivity and the versions you need define the scope. You receive it in writing before anything is agreed.
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04
Agreement
The licence is issued in writing with the permitted usage explicitly listed, so the people who audit your campaign can read it.
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05
Delivery
Approved files, versions and documentation are delivered for the agreed use.
What actually defines a licence
Two projects using the same track can pay very different fees, and the reason is never arbitrary. Four variables carry almost all of the weight.
Media and channels — a piece running on national television and in cinema is a different licence from one living on a brand's social channels. Territory — one country, a region, or worldwide. Term — how long the usage is permitted to run; a six-month campaign and a licence in perpetuity are not comparable. Exclusivity — whether the work can be licensed to anyone else during your term, and whether competitors in your category are excluded.
Getting these right at the enquiry stage is the difference between a licence that survives a legal review and one that has to be renegotiated the week before launch.
What we confirm, and what we will not pretend to confirm
There is no instant clearance engine on this site, and there will not be one until rights logic, pricing and legal terms genuinely support it. Anything claiming to clear a sync licence in one click is either working from a very narrow catalogue or is not telling you the whole story.
What you get instead is a direct answer: what ASRcreative controls for your use, what it does not, and what still needs checking. Where a work's rights status has not been verified, it is shown as unverified rather than dressed up as available.
If the catalogue does not have what you need
Licensing an existing work is the fastest route when the right work already exists. When it does not — because the brief needs a specific instrumentation, a precise duration, a sonic identity that belongs to you, or exclusivity that an existing work cannot offer — commissioning original music is usually cheaper than forcing a fit.
The same brief form covers both. If the answer turns out to be a commission rather than a licence, we will say so.
Before you write
What we need from you
- What the work is for: campaign, film, series, game, venue, event
- Where it will run: specific countries, a region, or worldwide
- How long the licence needs to last
- Media and channels: TV, cinema, online video, social, radio, podcast, in-store
- Whether you need exclusivity or a competitor restriction
- Deadline and the durations your edit requires
You do not need all of it to make contact. Anything you can answer makes the reply more useful; anything you cannot is part of what gets worked out together.
Request licensingFAQ
Questions people actually ask
What decides how much a music licence costs?
Four variables carry most of the weight: the media and channels the work will run on, the territory it will run in, the term the licence has to cover, and whether you need exclusivity. A six-month social campaign in one country and a worldwide broadcast licence in perpetuity are entirely different agreements, even for the same track.
Can I clear a licence instantly on this site?
No. There is no self-serve clearance engine here, and one will not be added until rights logic, pricing, legal terms and payments genuinely support it. Enquiries are answered by a person who confirms in writing what is covered for your specific use.
What does it mean when a work's rights status is shown as unverified?
It means exactly that: the ownership or clearance position for that work has not been confirmed yet, so nothing is being promised about it. Unverified is shown rather than hidden, because a licensing decision made on an assumption is the expensive kind of mistake.
Next step
Request licensing
Describe the project and what it has to achieve. You get a written answer with scope and next steps, not an automated quote.