A sync submission has two jobs. It has to earn a listen now, and it has to remain identifiable after the audio file has been separated from your email.
Sync is permission to use a written song with moving images. If the production wants your existing recording, it also needs permission for that recording. A useful submission therefore does more than introduce your sound: it helps the recipient see where the track fits and whether the rights can be cleared.
Public advice from supervisors and production-music executives points to the same practical sequence: research the recipient, follow the stated process, send a small relevant set, label it clearly and put contact information inside the files. The quotations below come from ASCAP roundups published July 8, 2015 and June 23, 2021; the dates matter, but the submission mechanics remain specific and testable (ASCAP supervisor roundup; ASCAP library roundup).
Research the catalog before you ask for somebody’s time
The first filter is fit.
Joe Saba, co-founder of VideoHelper, told ASCAP that writers should understand whom they are pitching and what they can do for that company, including whether there are gaps in its catalog (ASCAP). That turns research into a decision: send only when your music solves a need you can actually name.
Fit also changes the first line of your note. “I make indie pop” makes the recipient do the sorting. “These three tracks fit the restrained, hopeful indie-pop lane already present in your catalog” shows what to listen for without pretending you know a private brief.
If you cannot explain the fit in one sentence, wait. Ten minutes spent checking the company’s roster, submission page and accepted styles can save your music from entering the wrong inbox.
Follow the stated submission process exactly
Every recipient can set a different door. Christina May of FirstCom Music advised writers to research a company’s accepted submission format, follow up without harassing and avoid sending a massive amount of music; her specific suggestion was to pick a top five across different styles (ASCAP).
That means a private streaming link is not interchangeable with an attachment if the page asks for one format. A five-track maximum is not permission to send a discography. A closed form is not an invitation to find an employee’s personal address.
Submission windows can also be literal. Track Club’s company-published submission page says Marmoset’s A&R team accepts submissions during a one-week window each month (Track Club). That is one company’s process, not an industry calendar. Check the current page when you are ready to send, because the recipient’s published instructions are the source of truth.
Send a small set that proves range without creating homework
A short submission helps the recipient make a decision. May’s ASCAP guidance says not to send massive amounts of music and recommends selecting a top five in varied styles (ASCAP).
Choose tracks that each have a reason to be there. For example:
- one closest match to the company’s catalog;
- one adjacent track that shows a different energy;
- one instrumental-ready song with clean ownership;
- one contrasting mood, if the submission rules allow it;
- no filler added only to reach the limit.
Comparables can make unfamiliar music faster to sort. Music supervisor Gabe Hilfer told ASCAP that when an act is unknown, it helps to include bands the artist may be compared with (ASCAP). Use that field as navigation, not a boast: two accurate sonic references are more useful than a string of famous names.
Put your contact details inside every audio file
An email and its files do not always stay together.
Hilfer advised creators to put as much contact information as possible into song metadata because a supervisor may download music and not listen for weeks or months (ASCAP). If the file travels into another folder, the metadata becomes the route back to you.
At minimum, make the track title, artist name and working contact clear. Add the recording’s permanent identifier when one exists. The U.S. ISRC Agency defines an ISRC as a unique, permanent identifier for a specific recording, independent of its format or changing rights holders (U.S. ISRC Agency).
The metadata is what identifies your recording once the audio file has been separated from your email.
The ISRC identifies the recording; it does not replace your email address or prove that you control the rights. Keep both. Use plain filenames too, because Final_v7_REAL.wav tells the next person nothing after the file leaves your folder.
If metadata is new to you, that is fine. Start with the plain-language glossary, then create one reusable metadata sheet for the catalog so you are not reconstructing the same information at every deadline.
Make the rights answerable before anybody asks
A recipient evaluating production music needs more than a good recording. Morgan McKnight, Executive Director of the Production Music Association, told ASCAP that samples lead to immediate rejection from production music libraries and that music for sync has to be original (ASCAP).
Treat that as a direct catalog check. If a track contains material you did not create, do not describe it as clean because the source felt small or familiar. Resolve the permission or choose another track.
Then document who controls the written song and who controls the recording. The one-stop self-audit walks through those two rights separately, which is useful before a submission puts a deadline on the answer. For a deeper explanation, read one-stop and easy-clear.
Clean rights save time on both sides. The recipient can consider the song without opening a second investigation, and you do not have to locate a co-writer after interest has already arrived.
Commercial-quality audio is the starting line
Ron Mendelsohn, President and CEO of Megatrax, told ASCAP that creators need to produce commercial-quality recordings themselves or with their own team (ASCAP). A submission is not the place to ask the recipient to imagine the finished mix.
Listen to the exact file you will send. Check that it opens, that the link permission works and that the title in the player matches the title in your note. If an instrumental exists, label it as an instrumental instead of making the recipient compare unnamed versions.
This does not require a paragraph about your equipment. The finished audio is the evidence.
Follow up once with a useful reference point
“Cold calls never get noticed,” music supervisor Sean Fernald told ASCAP (ASCAP). May’s library guidance allows for follow-up but draws the line at harassment (ASCAP).
Those two points suggest a restrained approach. Use the accepted channel first. If the company permits follow-up, send one short note that includes the original link and submission date, so the recipient does not have to search for context.
Do not turn silence into a sequence of new subject lines. It may mean no fit, no opening or simply no decision. Your controllable work is making the original submission easy to understand and easy to recover.
A complete submission makes the next action obvious
Before sending, check the package in order:
- The company currently accepts your type of submission.
- Your note explains the fit in one sentence.
- The set follows the stated track limit and format.
- Comparables are accurate and brief.
- Every file carries title, artist and contact metadata.
- Each recording has its ISRC where available.
- The rights are documented, and no sample is being waved away.
- The links work without requesting access.
- Any permitted follow-up can point back to one clean package.
If you want to remove the clearance questions before you write the pitch, run each candidate through the one-stop self-audit. You will finish with a smaller, cleaner submission that a recipient can evaluate without chasing you for the basics.