What is a master use licence?

A master use licence is permission from whoever owns a specific sound recording (the "master") to use that recording in visual media such as a film, TV episode, advert, game or online video.

Two copyrights, two licences

The U.S. Copyright Office separates a song into two works: the musical work, "a song's underlying composition along with any accompanying lyrics", and the sound recording, the sounds "fixed in a recording medium". It adds that these works "are commonly owned and licensed separately."

That split is why sync clearance comes in pairs. The sync licence clears the composition. The master use licence clears the recording itself.

Who grants it

According to Wikipedia's entry on synchronization rights, the master is "most often owned or administered by the record label", while the composition side usually sits with a publisher. A producer who wants an existing recording in a scene "must pay for both the use of the sound recording 'master' as well as the composition."

If you self-released and never signed away your masters, the owner is usually you, or whoever paid for and controls the recording under your agreements. Check your distributor and producer contracts before assuming.

What the fee depends on

Per the same Wikipedia entry, the owner of the master (or the composition) issues a quote, usually a "one-time fee" often called the sync fee or "front end". Negotiation typically covers how the work is used, the length of the segment, how prominent the cue is (background music, or the title track over the credits) and how popular and important the recording is. Fees "can range anywhere from free, to a few hundred dollars, to millions of dollars for popular recordings."

The other point on the table is whether the deal is a "buyout", meaning whether whoever broadcasts the production will have to pay "backend" performance royalties. For how those are collected, see performing rights organisations explained.

When you only need one

If a production re-records a song (a cover or a sound-alike), it doesn't use your master, so it needs the composition licence but no master use licence from you. The reverse doesn't work: you can't use a recording without also clearing the song underneath it.

Ways producers avoid the master fee

Wikipedia notes that producers on tight budgets often use a cover version of a song, or work with independent artists, "to save money on the master side". They can ask the artist for original music, or for "work-for-hire" music where the producer buys the artist out of their master side. For you as the artist, that is the other side of the same negotiation: a supervisor who cannot afford a famous master may be looking for exactly what you own.

What we think

For indie artists the master use licence is the easier half to lose control of without noticing. Producer agreements, label-services deals and some distributor terms can give someone else a say over the master. Owning both sides and being able to sign both in one email (a "one-stop" track) is the cleanest pitch you can make to a music supervisor, so know exactly who controls your masters before you pitch.