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No. 24Rights & Licenses
Also called sync rights, synch rights, visual media licence
The right to pair your music with visual content, film, TV, ads, games, and online video.
Watch closely
Without approval rights, sync decisions are entirely the label's to make.
Synchronization rights (sync rights) cover the use of a composition alongside moving images. A sync placement requires two separate licences: one from the master recording owner (usually the label) and one from the composition publisher. Both must agree for the placement to proceed.
Sync is one of the highest-value licensing categories in music. Labels that control sync without seeking artist input can place recordings in contexts that damage brand or artistic reputation, or hold out and block placements that would benefit the artist.
The same clause is drafted three ways. These are the positions we see, worst first, so you can tell at a glance which one is in front of you.
The drafting language and the negotiation moves for this clause are part of the workspace.
You have read what the clause means and where the risk sits. The rest is the side-by-side of how it reads when it is against you and when it is not, plus the specific moves that get it there.