The Power of Licensing Songs into Commercials



The right song married to the right brand has the power to evoke emotions and create lasting impressions.

Licensing a song into a TV show is a win for anyone but landing a song in a high frequency commercial can do some amazing thingsā€¦

Whether it's a local, domestic or international commercial every time the ad goes to air you have the potential to get a new fan, build credibility and make some serious income. Time and time again songs in commercials not only get found by a brand new audience but more sync opportunities begin to arrive after music supervisors hear the track in the commercial.

So what are ad agencies looking for when searching for the right track for their brands?

Selecting the right song is key when creatives are focused on creating emotional connections, reinforcing brand identity, increasing engagement of the brand and ultimately increasing their clients bottom line. When done right syncing the perfect track can be a game-changer for a brand and the artist.

Before the search starts for the perfect track a few questions need to be answered.

  1. Who is the target audience ? and what kind of music resonates with this particular audience?
  2. What message are they needing to convey and what kind of song will enhance that message?
  3. Will the song align with the brand identity?


Once these answers are deeply answered then the search starts. If it's a known track that fits then a clearance process begins but if they are opening it up to finding under-the-radar artists or bubbling artists then the search can be wide. Good creatives will start with music that they've been sent, songs that have been pitched already, tagged and filed on their computers. The search will then be sent out to a Go-To list which will pitch back ideas. The key in the world of sync is to firstly have your songs already known to creatives and secondly become someone that's on those Go-To lists. It takes time, patience and persistence but if you do the work then you're in with a chance of landing a deal. If you don't do the work then don't expect a good result.

When pro-actively pitching songs check out all of their current campaigns and the songs that they have licensed (there's plenty of places you can view commercials). Work out if your songs are a strong fit, find out who's looking after that brand using theSYNCreport then get pitching!