How to Get Your Music Placed in TV, Film, Ads and Games
- 11 Nov 2026
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A single sync placement in a TV show, ad or game can pay more than a year of streams, and it introduces your music to people who would never find it on a playlist. Sync is competitive, but many placements go to independent artists because they are easy to license.
How sync licensing works
To use a song in a video, the producer needs two licences: one for the composition, from the songwriters or publisher, and one for the master, from the recording owner. If you wrote, recorded and own your song, you can grant both. This is called being one-stop, and it is the main advantage independent artists have.
What music supervisors look for
- Easy clearance: no uncleared samples, every writer known and agreed.
- The right mood more than the right genre. Supervisors search for "hopeful", "tense" or "end-of-summer".
- Lyrics that do not fight the picture: general themes work better than very specific stories. Names, brands and dates make a song harder to place.
- Clean versions without explicit lyrics.
- Instrumentals and stems, so editors can drop the vocals under dialogue.
- A clear arc: a song that builds, with a strong ending or a clean edit point.
Prepare your catalogue
- Export a full mix, an instrumental, a clean version if needed, and a few stems for each song.
- Embed metadata in the files: title, artist, writers, publisher, contact email, ISRC and mood keywords.
- Register the songs with your PRO, so TV and film usage pays performance royalties: broadcasters file cue sheets listing the music they used, and your PRO pays from them. See how to register songs.
- Prepare a one-sheet: your strongest five to ten tracks, short descriptions, similar artists and your one-stop status.
Routes to placements
- Music libraries and catalogues license music to creators, agencies and broadcasters. Some are exclusive, some not. Read the terms on ownership, fee splits and Content ID.
- Sync agents pitch your music directly to supervisors for a share of the fee. Look for agents with placements in the kind of projects you want.
- Music supervisors directly. Short, relevant emails with a private streaming link, not attachments. Follow up rarely.
- Briefs. Some platforms and communities share open briefs with deadlines and descriptions. Answer only the ones that genuinely fit.
Questions to ask before you agree
- What media, territories and how long is the licence for?
- Is it exclusive? Can you still release and license the song elsewhere?
- Will the library register your music in Content ID? That can claim your own videos.
- Will they re-title your song? Re-titling can confuse royalty tracking.
Keep the release versions of your songs on streaming with SpaceMedia; supervisors often check that an artist is active and that the song has a real release.
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Register on SpaceMedia
Begin your music publishing journey by signing up and creating a free account on SpaceMedia.
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Choose the plan that suits you best
Select from a variety of membership options to find the one that aligns perfectly with your music distribution needs.
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Submit your music for distribution
Create a new release and upload your tracks to have them distributed across various platforms.
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Quick Review
Our team promptly evaluates your uploaded tracks, ensuring they meet our quality standards before distribution.
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Get Paid
Once your music is distributed and gains traction, we ensure timely compensation for your creative work.
SpaceMedia delivers music to a broad and changing network of streaming, download, social, and music-identification platforms. This can include major services such as Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, SoundCloud, Tidal, Pandora, Boomplay, Anghami, iHeart, JioSaavn, KKBOX, NetEase Cloud Music, Tencent, Qobuz, and other supported partners.
The exact network can change as platforms update territories, rules, and delivery requirements. SpaceMedia gives you access to supported distribution channels, but no distributor can guarantee that every platform will accept every release in every country.
Most major streaming services do not let every artist upload music directly. A distributor like SpaceMedia delivers your audio, artwork, metadata, and rights information to supported platforms so your release can appear on services such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, TikTok, and others.
Create an account, choose the plan that fits your needs, upload the final release files, review the details, and submit. SpaceMedia reviews Free submissions within 5 business days, Premium submissions within 2 business days, and Label submissions within 1 to 2 business days. Store publishing happens afterwards.
You can monetize eligible music on supported video platforms through Content ID when your plan includes it. Content ID is currently included with Premium and Label, and it is not included with the Free plan.
Only submit music you fully control for Content ID. Tracks with uncleared samples, non-exclusive beats, royalty-free loops used by many creators, public-domain recordings, or disputed rights may be rejected or may cause claims that need to be resolved.
Submit your release through SpaceMedia and choose distribution to social music platforms where available. Eligible releases can be delivered to platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and other supported social or short-form music services.
Once delivered, each platform decides how the music appears, how long processing takes, and which features are available in each territory. Use accurate metadata and clean audio to reduce avoidable delivery issues.
Independent music distribution lets artists release music to streaming, download, and social platforms without signing to a traditional record label. You stay in control of your music while using a distributor to deliver it to supported services.
With SpaceMedia, you can manage releases, artist details, earnings, and payout information from your account. All standard plans let users keep 100% of standard DSP royalties.
The Free plan lets artists release music without an upfront distribution fee and keep 100% of standard DSP royalties.
This gives new artists a way to start releasing music before paying for a yearly plan. Premium and Label add more primary-artist capacity and tools. All standard plans include 100% of standard DSP royalties.
Yes. In many cases you can transfer existing releases to SpaceMedia while keeping them live, as long as you submit the same metadata, audio, artwork, UPC, and ISRCs where available.
Keep the old release live until the SpaceMedia delivery is live and matched correctly. Removing the old version too early can interrupt availability or make stores treat the transfer as a new release instead of matching it to the existing one.