Sync licensing, defined in plain English.

The underlying musical work — the melody, harmony, lyrics, and structure of a song, independent of any specific recording of it. A cover of your song is a different master of the same composition. In sync, every song has two copyrights that must both be licensed separately: the composition and the master.

A document the producer of a film, TV episode, or ad submits to the PROs listing every piece of music used in the production, the timecodes, the durations, and every writer and publisher for each cue. Cue sheets are how performance royalties get paid on broadcast uses. If a supervisor licenses your song but the cue sheet doesn't list you correctly, the performance royalties don't reach you.

A song whose paperwork — split sheet, PRO registrations, work-for-hire agreements, and any sample licenses — is documented completely enough that a supervisor's clearance department can license it in a single email exchange. Contrast with a song that requires chasing multiple co-writers, undocumented producers, or unlicensed samples. See One-stop and easy-clear for the full working definition.

A sync representation deal in which only one representative has the right to pitch your song to buyers for a defined term. Ownership stays with the artist. A clean exclusive deal has a defined length, a per-song withdrawal right on notice, and a sunset clause. Distinct from an exclusive publishing deal, which transfers the publisher's share for a term. See the NERD explainer.

A re-performance of a melody, lyric, or hook from an existing song — not sampling the original recording, but re-recording the same underlying material. From a clearance perspective, an interpolation is often as complex as a sample: it still requires permission from the original composition's rights holders, even though no audio was copied.

A 9- to 11-digit unique identifier a PRO issues to every writer and publisher on affiliation. IPI stands for Interested Parties Information; CAE (Composer, Author, and Publisher) is the older name for the same number. Every writer on a song needs one before the song can be registered internationally; every split sheet should include the IPI for every writer.

The specific recording of a song — the sound as captured, mixed, and mastered. The master and the composition are two separate copyrights. In sync, both must be licensed to use the song in visual media. The master owner is often the label or the artist; the composition owner is the writer(s) or their publisher.

A royalty paid to the composition's rights holders when the song is reproduced — historically for physical copies and downloads, and now including interactive streaming in the US. In the US, mechanicals from interactive streaming are collected by The MLC. Mechanicals are separate from performance royalties and from sync fees.

A clause in a sync license that guarantees the licensor will not accept a lower fee than the highest fee paid to any other rights holder for the same use. If a supervisor licenses the master at $5,000 and the composition at $3,000, an MFN clause on the composition side would raise the composition fee to $5,000 to match. MFN clauses are common on both sides of a sync deal.

The US organization that collects and distributes mechanical royalties from interactive streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and others). Every self-published US songwriter should have a free account at The MLC and register every composition there. Verilux's exclusive-plus-administration tier registers works with The MLC on behalf of its administered artists; every other tier leaves this to the artist.

Verilux's shorthand for the three main sync deal structures an independent artist gets offered. Non-exclusive is reversible and open. Exclusive is a focused, term-limited partnership. Retitling is the exploit shape and should be refused. See the NERD explainer for the full breakdown and the six questions to ask before signing anything.

A sync representation deal in which the artist may be represented by more than one rep at once, and may self-pitch. The artist retains full ownership and can withdraw songs on reasonable notice. The rep is paid a percentage of the sync fee only, on placements the rep closes, and does not touch the artist's writer's share, PRO income, or other collections. Verilux's default tier is non-exclusive.

A song whose master and composition can be licensed under a single signature — one person or one entity controls both sides. The word supervisors and reps use most often when deciding whether a song is even worth shortlisting. See the full explainer.

A royalty paid to the composition's rights holders when the song is performed publicly — on broadcast television, radio, satellite radio, live venues, restaurants, streaming services, and elsewhere. Split into a writer's share and publisher's share, and collected by a PRO. Sync fees do not replace performance royalties: a licensed placement on TV pays both a sync fee up front and performance royalties on every subsequent broadcast.

An organization that licenses public-performance rights for compositions and collects and distributes performance royalties to writers and publishers. In the US: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR. Every writer must be affiliated with exactly one PRO; each song must be registered with the writer's PRO for royalties to flow.

The entity that owns or administers the publisher's share of a composition. A self-published songwriter is their own publisher of record. A songwriter with a publishing deal has assigned the publisher's share (and sometimes the writer's-share collection) to a third-party publisher for a term. On a split sheet, every writer must have a publisher of record listed, even if it's "self-published."

The practice of uploading a song to a pitching platform under a fabricated new title so the same recording can be "exclusive" in multiple places at once. Retitling corrupts PRO reporting, breaks clearance, damages supervisor trust, and often introduces a shadow rights-holder. Reputable US sync agents refuse to retitle. Verilux does not retitle. See the NERD explainer for why.

A portion of a pre-existing recording used in a new song. Every sample requires separate permission from both the master owner (of the sampled recording) and the composition owner (of the sampled song), and every sample must be declared on the split sheet with the granted percentages. An undeclared sample is one of the most common ways a "one-stop" song turns out not to be. Compare with interpolation.

The US organization that collects and distributes digital-performance royalties on masters played on non-interactive digital radio — SiriusXM, Pandora, and webcasters. Under statutory law, SoundExchange splits payouts 50% to the sound-recording owner, 45% directly to the featured artist, and 5% to a fund for non-featured performers. Registration and membership are free. A large share of independent artists have unclaimed money sitting at SoundExchange because they never registered. Verilux does not collect on SoundExchange income on any tier.

A signed, one-page document that records who wrote what percentage of a song's composition, including every writer's PRO affiliation and IPI number. Filled out at the point of creation, before the song is released. See the working-desk explainer. Also: the free Split Sheet Generator.

A contract clause under which songs the rep hasn't placed within a defined period revert to the artist. The two terms are used interchangeably; both refer to the mechanism that prevents an exclusive deal from indefinitely tying up songs the rep isn't actively pitching. Any exclusive deal without one is functionally perpetual.

The upfront payment for a sync license, negotiated per placement. Paid to the master owner and to the composition owner (split by a specific ratio, sometimes governed by MFN). Distinct from performance royalties and mechanicals, which continue to accrue after the placement. Sync agents like Verilux typically take a percentage of the sync fee only.

A license that grants the right to synchronize a specific composition and/or master with a specific piece of visual media — a scene, an ad, a game trailer, a YouTube video. Every sync license defines the media, the territory, the term, and the fee. Both the composition and the master usually require separate sync licenses; a "one-stop" song lets a single entity issue both.

A specific legal arrangement, under US copyright law, in which someone hired to create part of a work does not retain authorship rights — the hiring party is the author. Common for session players, but requires an explicit signed agreement stating so. Paying someone a flat fee for a session does not automatically make their contribution work-for-hire; a signed work-for-hire agreement is a separate document, and clearance departments will look for it.

Every composition generates performance royalties that are split in two: the writer's share is paid directly to the writer(s) by their PRO and is generally non-assignable; the publisher's share is paid to the publisher of record. A self-published writer collects both. On a split sheet, the writer's-share and publisher's-share columns are two separate 100% totals that describe two parallel ledgers, not two halves of one pie.