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Sync Licensing Rate Calculator16 mediums · free · no signup · verified

What should this placement actually pay?

Pick the medium and describe the deal. Get a benchmark fee range built from the Chartlex 2026 sync rate card: 16 mediums, from indie shorts to studio trailers. Sync fees are negotiated deal by deal, so use this to sanity-check offers, not as a promised payout.

Inputs

The deal

Medium
Placement type
Needle drop length
Term and territory
Exclusivity
Artist recognition
Benchmark fee range · combined sync + master
$4,800 to $17,000
Typical for this deal shape: $11,000
Assumptions behind this number
  • ·Network TV episode, published band $3,000 to $45,000 all-in
  • ·Featured placement, 30 to 60 seconds of usage
  • ·1 year, North America, non-exclusive
  • ·Emerging independent catalog
  • ·Combined sync + master fee (you grant both as a self-released artist)

Sync rates are negotiated, and every published number is a benchmark drawn from disclosed deals and library rate cards, not a guarantee. Never accept a first offer, always ask for MFN, and get the term and territory in writing.

See the full 2026 rate card
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The data, sources, and assumptions.

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The data behind this calculator: 2026 sync licensing fee benchmarks

Last updated:

Sync licensing fees in 2026 range from $0 for exposure-only placements to $1.5 million or more for studio trailer campaigns. For independent artists, the median paid placement falls between $1,500 and $5,000, weighted toward indie film, podcast, and library placements. The full benchmark bands for all 16 mediums, the same data the calculator computes with, are published below.

All-in fee = sync (composition) plus master (recording) licensed together. A plus sign marks open-ended ceilings from disclosed outlier deals.
MediumSync onlyMaster onlyAll-in (sync + master)
Indie short film$0 to $500$0 to $1,000$250 to $1,500
Indie feature film$500 to $5,000$500 to $10,000$1,000 to $15,000
Studio feature film$5,000 to $50,000$5,000 to $200,000+$20,000 to $500,000+
Network TV episode$1,500 to $15,000$1,500 to $30,000$3,000 to $45,000
Streaming TV (Netflix, Apple TV+, etc.)$5,000 to $25,000$5,000 to $50,000+$10,000 to $75,000+
Network TV ad (national)$20,000 to $300,000$30,000 to $500,000+$50,000 to $800,000+
Local or regional ad$1,000 to $15,000$1,500 to $25,000$2,500 to $40,000
Streaming ad / pre-roll$2,000 to $50,000$2,500 to $60,000$4,500 to $110,000
AAA video game$5,000 to $50,000$10,000 to $100,000+$15,000 to $150,000+
Indie video game$250 to $5,000$250 to $10,000$500 to $15,000
Mobile or casual game$0 to $2,500$0 to $5,000$0 to $7,500
Podcast (mid-tier indie)$50 to $1,000$100 to $2,500$200 to $3,500
Podcast (major network)$500 to $10,000$1,000 to $25,000$2,000 to $35,000
YouTube monetized creator$0 to $500$0 to $1,000$0 to $1,500
Trailer (studio film)$25,000 to $300,000+$50,000 to $1,000,000+$100,000 to $1,500,000+
Trailer (indie)$1,000 to $25,000$2,000 to $50,000$5,000 to $75,000

Methodology

Benchmarks are drawn from publicly disclosed deals, library platform rate cards, BMI and ASCAP guidance, and music supervisor interviews, maintained in the Chartlex sync rate card. The fee bands were last verified against that rate card on and independently cross-checked against published 2026 rate guides in August 2026. Where a placement lands within a band depends on six negotiated variables: production budget, placement type (background is the floor; featured adds roughly 50 percent; end credit roughly 100 percent; opening or closing scenes 150 percent or more), needle drop length, term and territory, exclusivity, and artist recognition. These are benchmarks, not guarantees. Market context: recorded-music sync revenue totaled $641 million globally in 2025, down 2.0 percent year over year, its first decline after four years of growth, per the IFPI Global Music Report 2026.

Worked examples

An emerging artist lands a featured, 45-second placement in a streaming TV episode, 3-year worldwide license, non-exclusive, all-in deal.

Streaming TV all-in band $10,000 to $75,000+. Featured placement and 3-year worldwide term position the quote in the middle of the band: roughly $18,000 to $30,000.

An indie film licenses a track as background music, 1-year North America, under 30 seconds.

Indie feature all-in band $1,000 to $15,000. Background placement, short needle drop, and minimal term hold the quote near the floor: roughly $1,000 to $2,500.

A national TV ad wants full exclusivity on a charting artist's hook, perpetual worldwide.

National ad all-in band $50,000 to $800,000+. Full exclusivity, perpetual worldwide term, and artist recognition push the quote into the top third: $300,000 or more.

Extracted from the Chartlex Sync Licensing Rate Card 2026 (drawn from publicly disclosed deals, library platform rate cards, BMI/ASCAP guidance, and supervisor interviews). Benchmarks, not guarantees.

Changelog

  • 2026-08-20Full benchmark table published on this page as reference data.
  • 2026-07-11All 16 medium fee bands verified against the Chartlex 2026 sync rate card.