How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Musicbed and Marmoset are the prestige end: selective rosters, negotiated fees and splits around 50/50.
- Songtradr, Pond5 and Music Gateway accept open or near open submissions, so they are the realistic first door for unrepresented catalogue.
- Epidemic Sound and Artlist pay flat or pooled amounts and usually take the track exclusively, which suits volume and hurts long term control.
- The split is only half the deal. Term, territory and exclusivity decide whether 50 percent of a fee is generous or a trap.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Musicbed | Curated artist roster for film and brands | See website | No |
 Songtradr | Open marketplace with tiered artist shares | $19 per year | Yes |
 Artlist | Subscription library for creators and brands | See website | No |
 Epidemic Sound | High volume subscription catalogue | See website | No |
 Marmoset | Boutique pitching for prestige TV and ads | See website | No |
 Soundstripe | Filmmaker subscriptions with artist payouts | See website | No |
 Music Gateway | Active pitching to music supervisors | See website | Yes |
 Pond5 | Non-exclusive marketplace volume | See website | Yes |
 Audiosocket | Curated licensing for brands and trailers | See website | No |
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The best sync licensing companies in 2026
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Musicbed built its name by treating sync like a record label rather than a stock library. The roster is curated, the tracks are by working artists, and music supervisors use it when the song itself is a creative decision the client will notice. For an artist, that curation is the value and the barrier at the same time: getting in is hard, but once a track is in, it is not competing with a million uploads.
Fees are negotiated per placement, and reporting during 2026 puts the artist share at roughly half the licence fee. Musicbed also sells subscriptions to filmmakers, with business tiers reported near $1,100 a year, while single songs for hero projects start far lower. Read the deal terms on term and territory before signing, because a long exclusive window at a fair split can still be worse than a short non-exclusive one elsewhere.
What we like- Real artists and real records rather than anonymous production cues, selective roster means less internal competition per brief, splits reported around 50/50 on licence fees, strong record with filmmakers and brand teams
Watch out for- Acceptance is selective and many strong tracks are turned away, licensing for buyers is priced per project so costs are unpredictable, catalogue skews to indie and cinematic styles over chart pop
Starting price$19 per year
Free planYes
Songtradr is the biggest open door in sync. Anyone can upload, the platform matches tracks to briefs from brands, film and TV buyers, and the artist share depends on the membership tier: reporting puts the Lite tier at $19 a year with roughly a 40 percent share, and Pro at $49 a year with roughly 80 percent. Those published tiers make it the only company here with a genuinely quotable starting price.
The trade is visibility. A marketplace that accepts everything surfaces very little, and artists who treat Songtradr as a passive upload-and-wait channel tend to earn little. It works best as one non-exclusive outlet among several, with careful tagging, clean metadata and stems ready, because supervisors search on metadata quality as much as on the music.
What we like- Open upload with no gatekeeper, artist share rises to roughly 80 percent on the Pro tier, non-exclusive so the same track can earn on other platforms, global distribution and licensing under one account
Watch out for- Open doors mean a crowded catalogue and low discovery odds, entry tier share is only around 40 percent, reported matching quality is inconsistent so placements rely on your own metadata work
#3
Artlist
Best for: Subscription library for creators and brands
Visit artlist.io
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Artlist runs the subscription library model: buyers pay a yearly fee (the tier that covers client work is reported at about $299 a year) and download as much as they need, while artists are paid from the licensing pool or on flat per track terms. For buyers it is the simplest legal route into commercial work. For artists it is a volume business, not a prestige one.
The exclusivity is the catch. Reporting consistently describes Artlist deals as flat buyouts that usually lock the track to the platform. That can be a fair trade for catalogue written to brief, and a poor trade for a song with its own life as a record. Sign the tracks you wrote for the library, and keep the career records on non-exclusive terms elsewhere.
What we like- Huge buyer base of creators and production teams paying one subscription, steady per track payouts at volume rather than rare big fees, application process is open to working artists with finished masters, buyers get simple blanket licences that encourage repeat use
Watch out for- Deals are usually exclusive and flat, so a breakout track cannot be moved elsewhere, payouts per download are small and depend on pool maths, catalogue leans toward usable background music over distinctive songs
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Epidemic Sound pays differently from everyone else here. Instead of splitting a licence fee, it buys tracks outright for a fixed upfront fee, then shares streaming revenue with the writer. For working session writers producing a steady flow of production music, that predictability is the appeal: an accepted track pays on delivery, not on the luck of a placement.
Read the rights page carefully before you sign. A buyout is forever, and a track that later fits a major campaign has already been sold. Epidemic is a good employer of production writers and a poor place to park songs you still hope to release as an artist. Human first is also policy: the company does not accept AI generated contributor material.
What we like- One of the largest creator subscriber bases in the business, upfront payment on accepted tracks rather than waiting on placements, strong demand from YouTube and social video producers, clear briefs for session musicians and writers
Watch out for- The model is a buyout: rights are assigned and the track is exclusive, reported 50/50 streaming split softens but does not remove the rights transfer, no AI generated contributor submissions accepted, per track earnings depend on staying in demand inside the catalogue
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Marmoset is the smallest company on this list and, placement for placement, among the best paid. It works like an agency: a tight roster, personal relationships with supervisors and brand teams, and pitching done by people rather than an algorithm. When a Marmoset track lands, it tends to land in work people see.
The door is narrow. Marmoset accepts a small fraction of what is submitted, and exclusivity on submitted catalogue is common in reporting. Artists with a finished, distinctive record and no rush should try Marmoset early, then place the same material non-exclusively elsewhere only where the Marmoset terms allow it. Order matters: an exclusive signed carelessly can block the agency deal you actually wanted.
What we like- Boutique roster with hands on pitching by real music supervisors, prestige placements across TV, film and national advertising, negotiated splits reported around 50/50, custom music and scoring division for briefs nothing in the catalogue fits
Watch out for- Highly selective, most submissions never receive a reply, submitted catalogue is often taken exclusively, slow timelines compared with self serve marketplaces
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Soundstripe competes for the working filmmaker rather than the hobbyist: its Pro tier covers client work, its licences are written in plain language, and review scores put its support and clarity ahead of bigger rivals. For artists it pays on the subscription model, with tracks accepted through a curated submission process.
The honest position is middle of the road. Soundstripe is neither the cheapest buyer library nor the highest paying artist outlet, but its terms are unusually easy to read, which matters more than it should in this market. Artists who dislike pool maths will dislike it here too; artists who want a second subscription outlet alongside a marketplace will find it a sensible addition.
What we like- Subscription built for working filmmakers, with client work and digital ads covered on Pro (reported $239 a year), stems available on original songs, clear licence terms and cancellation terms published openly, artist recruitment runs through a public submission route
Watch out for- Smaller catalogue and buyer base than Artlist or Epidemic Sound, artist payouts follow subscription pool logic rather than per placement fees, music skews to production friendly genres
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Music Gateway positions itself as a pitching service rather than a library. Instead of waiting for a supervisor to search a catalogue, members submit to live briefs and the company's sync team pushes suitable tracks. Reporting puts the artist share on placements at around 70 percent, which is generous for an actively pitched deal.
The model suits artists willing to work a catalogue: responding to briefs, supplying versions and instrumentals, and treating sync as a sales job with support rather than a lottery ticket. A free tier exists to test fit. As with every pitching service, ask how many briefs in your genre ran in the last quarter before paying for a higher tier.
What we like- Built around pitching rather than passive listing, with sync agents working briefs, reported artist share around 70 percent on placements, free account tier to test the platform before paying, also handles publishing administration and artist services
Watch out for- Results depend on how actively your catalogue matches current briefs, smaller buyer reach than Songtradr, service breadth means sync is one offer among many rather than the whole company
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Pond5 is a general stock media marketplace where music sits beside footage, images and templates. Artists upload non-exclusively, set their own prices and keep a reported share around 60 percent. Nobody pitches your track to a supervisor; the buyers who find it are editors and producers already shopping for footage.
That makes Pond5 a volume and long tail play. A large, well tagged catalogue of production tracks can produce steady small sales for years, and because the deal is non-exclusive there is no real cost to listing. It is the wrong tool for an artist record hoping for one prestige placement, and the right tool for a library of cues written to be found.
What we like- Non-exclusive, so tracks can sit here and everywhere else at once, artist sets the price on their own work, reported contributor share around 60 percent on music sales, huge general media marketplace with video and image buyers already present
Watch out for- Music is one department inside a general stock marketplace, so sync specific pitching is absent, discovery depends almost entirely on your own titles and keywords, premium broadcast placements are rare compared with curated agencies
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Audiosocket is one of the older curated licensing companies, built around pitching a vetted catalogue to professional buyers rather than running an open marketplace. It turns up in roundups of legitimate entry points for independent artists precisely because it does pitch: supervisors come to it for music that has already passed a quality bar.
Expect agency economics rather than marketplace transparency. Terms are agreed per artist, fees are negotiated per placement, and nothing is priced publicly, which is normal at this end of the market. For a finished catalogue with a clear sound, Audiosocket is worth a submission alongside Musicbed and Marmoset, with the same discipline: read the exclusivity clause before you sign anything.
What we like- Curated catalogue pitched to film, TV, advertising and games, long track record in trailer and brand licensing, licensing is handled end to end including negotiation and paperwork, artists keep their publishing outside the licensed uses
Watch out for- Selective intake with no open upload, less visible pricing and terms than the marketplaces, smaller scale than Songtradr or Artlist
How we chose
We picked companies a US artist or producer can realistically deal with today: curated agencies (Musicbed, Marmoset, Audiosocket), open marketplaces (Songtradr, Pond5, Music Gateway) and subscription libraries (Artlist, Epidemic Sound, Soundstripe). Splits and tier prices come from current 2026 comparison reporting; where a company negotiates privately we say See website rather than inventing a number. We did not claim hands-on testing, and no company paid for placement.
Splits, exclusivity and paperwork: how to read a sync deal
Start with the split, but do not stop there. A 50/50 split on a negotiated fee at Musicbed or Marmoset can be worth more than 80 percent of a tiny marketplace licence at Songtradr, because the fee itself differs by orders of magnitude. Student films pay near nothing, streaming episodes pay in the hundreds to low thousands, and national adverts pay five figures. Judge a company by the tier of buyer it actually reaches.
Then read the lock. Exclusivity decides what else you can do with the song. An exclusive deal at any split blocks every other route for that track during the term, so term and territory matter as much as the percentage. Buyouts, the Epidemic Sound model, are the extreme case: money now, rights gone. Marketplaces are the opposite pole: small money, no lock, your track earns in five places at once.
Paperwork is the third leg. A sync licence covers the recording and the composition, so the company needs both sides clean: if a co-writer or a sample is undocumented, a placement can die at the clearance stage. Keep instrumental versions, clean metadata and split sheets ready before you pitch. Finally, check each company's AI policy if any part of your process uses generated material: Epidemic Sound refuses AI generated submissions outright, and the curated agencies restrict them, while marketplaces assess case by case.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a sync placement actually pay?
Fees run from almost nothing on student work to $50,000 or more on a national advert, with streaming TV commonly in the $500 to $5,000 range per episode. Your share then depends on the company's split, which runs from about 40 percent on entry marketplace tiers to roughly 80 percent on Songtradr Pro.
Should I sign an exclusive sync deal?
Only when the company can plausibly reach buyers you cannot, and only with a term and territory you can live with. Exclusive agency deals can be worth it for prestige placements. Exclusive buyouts on songs you still plan to release as an artist are rarely worth it.
Can I place the same song with several companies?
Yes, if every deal is non-exclusive. Songtradr, Pond5 and Music Gateway all allow it. The moment one contract is exclusive, the others must stop, so check terms before uploading anywhere new.
Do these companies accept AI generated music?
Mostly no, or only with restrictions. Epidemic Sound refuses AI submissions, and Musicbed, Artlist and Marmoset restrict AI material. Songtradr assesses case by case. Read the policy before submitting anything with generated elements.
What do I need ready before pitching?
Finished masters, instrumental versions, clean metadata with accurate genre and mood tags, and split sheets signed by every co-writer. Supervisors work to deadlines of hours, and a track that cannot be cleared quickly loses the placement to one that can.
Sources we checked (0)
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.