How to submit your music to sync libraries

A sync library is a company that holds a catalog of music and pitches or licenses it to productions, so that a supervisor who needs a track can search a curated, pre-cleared collection instead of hunting down individual artists. Submitting to libraries is one of the most scalable ways for an independent artist to get into sync, because a single library relationship can put your music in front of many productions at once. The tradeoff is that libraries take a cut, and some deals ask for exclusivity. This guide covers how libraries work and how to submit without signing something you regret.

How libraries fit the sync world

Music supervisors, ad agencies, and video producers are often working fast and need music they can license without friction. Libraries solve that by offering searchable, pre-cleared catalogs tagged by mood, genre, tempo, and use-case. Some libraries focus on production music written to order for background use; others represent artist tracks and songs. When a production licenses something from the library, the library collects the fee and passes along your share after its cut.

The value a library provides is reach and pre-clearing: they have the relationships and the systems to get your music considered and licensed at scale, and they present it in a form supervisors can use immediately. What you give up is a share of the fee and, in some deals, exclusivity.

Exclusive vs non-exclusive: the key decision

This is the most important thing to understand before submitting:

• Non-exclusive. You can place the same track with multiple libraries and keep pitching it yourself. This maximizes your reach and keeps your options open. The risk is that the same track floating around many catalogs can be licensed at varying rates and is less "special" to any one library.
• Exclusive. Only that library represents the track. This can come with more active pitching and a higher perceived value, but it locks the song to one company for the term. If they do not place it, it just sits there.

Neither is automatically better. Many artists place some tracks non-exclusively for reach and reserve stronger material for a trusted exclusive partner who actively pitches. What matters is that you know which you are agreeing to, and for how long.

What to read before you sign

Library agreements vary widely, so read for:

• The revenue split. What percentage the library keeps and what income it applies to (upfront fees, backend, or both).
• Term and territory. How long the deal lasts and where it applies. Watch for long terms and auto-renewals.
• Exclusivity, as above.
• What happens after the term. Do the rights revert to you cleanly, and do you keep the backend on placements made during the term?
• Backend performance royalties. Confirm how the composition's performance royalties are handled and that you (or the library, on your behalf) can collect them through a PRO. See how sync royalties work.

A reputable library earns from placements, not from you. Be wary of anyone charging an upfront fee to "list" or "consider" your music.

What libraries want in a submission

Libraries deal in usable, well-organized catalogs, and the general deliverables bar (broadcast-ready masters, instrumentals, stems, documented splits) is the same one covered in the sync licensing pillar. What is different here is process and metadata: follow each library's submission instructions exactly, and treat your tags as the product. A library track earns when it surfaces in someone's search, so accurate mood, tempo, instrumentation, and use-case tags are not admin work; they are distribution.

Production-music libraries vs artist and song libraries

Not all libraries are the same, and knowing the difference helps you submit to the right ones. Production-music libraries deal mainly in instrumental beds and cues written to work as background under dialogue and action, tagged tightly by mood and use-case. If you write functional, mood-driven instrumental material, these are a strong fit. Artist and song libraries represent finished songs and artist tracks, the kind that get placed as featured needle drops or in trailers and ads. If your strength is songs, target these. Some libraries do both, but pitching a full vocal song to a pure production-music library, or vice versa, wastes everyone's time. Match your material to the library's actual business, and you will get taken more seriously and placed more often.

Verified production-music and library catalogs in the directory include APM Music, Audio Network, De Wolfe Music USA, ScoreKeepers Music, and Black Toast Music, listed under music publishers with how to reach each one.

Find the market you are submitting into

Knowing which supervisors and productions license from libraries helps you choose the right ones. Heard's directory of verified music supervisors shows who is cutting which kinds of projects, which tells you where a library placement would actually land.

One library placement will rarely change your year, but fifty well-tagged tracks sitting in the right catalogs quietly can. My advice: read the exclusivity clause twice, start non-exclusive while you learn the landscape, and compare the library and publisher listings before you submit anywhere.