---
title: 'The Case FOR Stock Music Licensing & Micro-Sync Sites!'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=TzWGVV5EyFc'
video_id: 'TzWGVV5EyFc'
date: 2026-09-18
duration_sec: 962
channel: 'Make Music Income'
---

# The Case FOR Stock Music Licensing & Micro-Sync Sites!

> Source: [The Case FOR Stock Music Licensing & Micro-Sync Sites!](https://youtube.com/watch?v=TzWGVV5EyFc)

## Summary

Eric Copeland makes a case for stock music and micro-sync licensing as a viable secondary income stream for musicians, despite recent criticisms. He emphasizes the value of non-exclusive music placement, the potential of back-end Content ID revenue, and the importance of realistic expectations. The video also promotes his new course, 'The Stock Market,' which provides an in-depth guide to the industry.

### Key Points

- **Controversial Topic Introduction** [00:00] — Eric introduces the topic of stock music as potentially controversial, acknowledging it could ruffle feathers and be accused of clickbaiting.
- **Course Announcement** [01:48] — Eric announces his new course, 'The Stock Market,' based on his popular e-book, covering stock music, micro-licensing, and Content ID.
- **Course Value Proposition** [02:39] — The course helps musicians understand the stock and micro-sync industry as it exists in 2023, with behind-the-scenes looks at nearly two dozen libraries he's in.
- **Free Preview Available** [03:28] — The entire introduction to the course is free, and the full course is available at a discounted price while it's being developed.
- **Addressing Criticisms** [05:00] — Eric references Stevie D's video with 'hard truths' about stock music and Daniel's success with Envato Elements, noting the invite-only nature of some platforms.
- **Realistic Income Expectations** [06:31] — Eric shares his own income: averaging $250-$300 a month, with occasional $500 months, mostly thanks to Content ID, and notes he's not in top-tier libraries like Envato Elements or Artlist.
- **Non-Exclusive Music Benefits** [08:12] — He argues for placing non-exclusive music in multiple libraries, as it can earn money from songs not suitable for sync licensing, and music supervisors rarely care about exclusivity.
- **Training Ground for Beginners** [09:31] — Stock libraries are a great starting point for learning how licensing works, from preparing music to making first sales, even if small (e.g., $5-$6).
- **Back-End Revenue Potential** [11:38] — Eric highlights the importance of back-end revenue from Content ID and YouTube monetization, which can compensate for low upfront sales, citing a $200 check from Identify.
- **Success Stories and Reality** [13:06] — While some creators make $500-$1,000 a month, it's not common; success often requires large catalogs (700+ songs) and high quality, as seen with long-time contributors.
- **Personal Experience and Honesty** [14:14] — Eric admits he doesn't always write what libraries want and doesn't focus on pumping out songs, which affects his income, but he still values the passive income from his catalog.
- **Encouragement and Course Promotion** [15:04] — He encourages viewers to check out the free module of his course, emphasizing that even modest earnings can add up over time.

### Conclusion

Eric concludes that stock and micro-sync licensing can be a worthwhile secondary income stream for musicians, especially for songs that aren't suitable for exclusive sync deals. He emphasizes realistic expectations, the importance of back-end revenue, and the value of starting with stock libraries as a training ground.

## Transcript

This is a topic that could end friendships, that could ruin professional partnerships. This is going to ruffle some feathers and generally be accused of clickbaiting, instigating,
propagating, and even subjugating? Microsync isn't even a real term. Stock music isn't something you should even think about as a serious, sane person wanting to make music income.
Will I say yes? Am I mad? Hasn't this been solved already? Haven't we done enough videos to put this issue to rest? All of the thought leaders and the gurus and the YouTubers and content creators,
haven't we talked enough about this? Apparently not. Am I selfishly beating a dead horse to promote my channel and possibly a new amazing product? Probably. Today, I want to make a case for stop music.
The reasons why you should do micro-sync. as one of your music incomes, but just one of your music incomes. And also today is a momentous day, because today I release something into the wild that I am very proud of.
A bold new project, an informative new resource, and something that this space has not really seen yet, and yet it just happens to have something to do with stock music.
How convenient. Welcome to Make Music Income, where we talk about all things music income.
My name is Eric Copeland, and today's show is sponsored by The New Course, my very first one, called The Stock Market. This just in, I have a new course. But wait, you say, isn't the stock market a famous e-book that you've had for sale for over a year?
And hasn't it sold like hotcakes and already had two updates? Well, yes, it has. And you are absolutely correct. But I decided to kind of practice and turn the popular e-book into a course.
And it just kind of turned into something different and huge. And it's actually on sale now at a special price. You probably guessed that. Are you interested in learning how to make music income with stock music, micro-licensing, and the back-end content ID that comes along with that?
Why continue to sit on the fence about licensing or be confused? You have the songs sitting on your hard drive, or you've put them out to Spotify, and yet you don't really think they are right for television and film and advertising.
This new course, like the e-book it was based on, helps you understand the stock and micro-sync industry today as it exists now in 2023, not in 2014, not in 2019, not during the pandemic, but now.
This course takes you behind the scenes of every single library I'm in. That's almost like two dozen sites that I'm in. What it's really like to be a contributor for each one. Pond5, Motion Array, Song Trader, Identify, Audio Sparks, Motion Elements, and many other libraries, sites, and things that earn me income every single month.
And as usual in all my videos, I have something free for you. The entire introduction telling you about the course, what's going to be covered, and all that kind of stuff is completely free. A free preview for you.
The course is all shot. I am editing each module. And so some of it is ready. Some of it is still being edited and I'll be putting new pieces of that course up every day. But because I doing that I am pre the course at a super cheap price Besides the free introduction you can get the entire course now for probably like half or a third of what it going to be when it done It will go up as I add modules
and add more content, which is going to be a lot. You can buy it now and lock in your price for whatever it turns out to be. So check out my new course, my very first one, The Stock Market.
Where, how, why, who, what, when, and lots of other words about how to find MicroThink websites and stock music libraries,
as well as the back end of Content ID and how to start making music income now. You know, you want to, I do. Everybody wants passive income. Just go to makemusicincome.com slash stock market.
You can check it out for free. I'm very excited. But wait, you say, hold up, hold on just a doggone minute there, partner. Really? Stock music?
Wasn't Stevie D just on last week with the hard truth about stock music? Yeah, he was. And you should go watch that video because he has some great points in there and really talks about why he says that.
And it might seem confusing because isn't Daniel at Stock Music Licensing telling us every week how much he is making with Envato Elements, Audio Jungle, and Melody Loops, Tickens.
And Daniel, my friend, your site is starting to look like Make Music Income, too, which is fair enough because Daniel was really super helpful in the beginning of making this channel grow. And you should go check out the links I have to Daniel's products.
The problem with some of these videos you might be watching, though, are there are people in things like Envato Elements, and they're telling you how much they make. Well, one of the problems is it's invite-only.
And if you aren't already in Audio Jungle, which is usually how people get invited into Envato Elements, then likely you're not going to get a chance to be in Envato Elements. And I'm not sure I know anybody who's in Melody Loops except Daniel.
I have a video coming up with Daniel on this channel where we talk about these very things. So why would I make a case for stock music? I've even done tons of videos. Is stock music still working?
Is stock music this? Is stock music that? Blah, blah, blah. So why in the world would I make a case for stock music and micro-sync? And why I think you should still do it? Besides, of course, releasing a course about it. Am I just a rabble rouser?
Yes. Yes, I am. Well, you know I focus on what I do. Kind of the basic tenet of this channel. I tell you what, it's worked for me. Have I made $3,000 to $5,000 a month on Motion Array or $20,000 in a year from Artlist?
No. I've barely made a tenth of that from Motion Array. Have I shown you videos of how good Envato Elements is making money for me? No, because I haven't been invited to Envato Elements.
I also haven't been accepted to Artlist. I'm an outsider. I'm just not one of the coolest kids. But, this is a big but, I still feel there is a case to be made for making non-exclusive music
that you put into a variety of places, from Pond5 to Motion Array to Song Trader to a dozen other places. Do I guarantee $500 to $1,000 a month? No.
Do I know plenty of people making that? Yeah. Am I one of them? Well, I have a $500 month every now and then, mostly thanks to Content ID, which I talk about in the course early and often.
For the most part, though, I average probably closer to $250 to $300 a month. I'm sorry, is that not enough for you? If someone told you that you could take 50 to 100 songs that you have laying around your old catalog or just some of the music that you make that not right for some use over here but it might be right for this use And you could make money with it You could pay a bill It helps out at my house I said this before Why wouldn you Why wouldn you put music up that
non-exclusive? And music that you're not thinking of pitching exclusively. Like music that you're not thinking is going to go in TV, film, advertising. Just isn't for that. And by the way, sync licensing
has its own drawbacks, and maybe I'll go off about that one day. Probably already have. But if you are making music and not pitching it to sync and want to keep all the rights to it, then non-exclusive is the way to go.
And yes, you can even pitch your non-exclusive music that you might have in Pond5 or Motion Array to other possibilities, like TV and film. Is a music supervisor or an advertising agency going to care
that the song is available somewhere else if they need that song for the youth they need this week. No. They probably don't even know about Pond5 and Motion Array or care. They just want that song right now,
and as long as you are one stop and they can get that right from you, they're not going to care. And also, if you want to pitch it to another library, be careful with the libraries you put it in that you can easily take out of these stock music libraries
and these microsites, take them down, and then pitch them. I still believe that stock music libraries are a great place to start. If you're even thinking about getting into any kind of licensing, especially if you have never submitted to libraries, it's a great training ground.
I think Stevie B touched on this for a second in his video as well. It can be a really good experience to put your music into these libraries, find out how that works, preparing music for libraries, putting them into these libraries,
getting accepted to them, getting songs into the libraries, and then making your first sale. Even if it was just for $6. Ah, 123RF, I'll always remember you fondly.
I just had a client report his first sale in Pond5, and it was for $5, and he was ecstatic. Hey, it feels good when someone randomly downloads one of your songs, and you're like, hey, hey, this could be a thing.
There's money coming in, and all I did was put up a song a year ago. I just had this happen this week. Two little sales I had were from songs that I just happened to upload because I had made them already.
They were literally made for something else. One that I made long ago before I even thought about making licensing music of any kind. And another one that I made for Sync but didn't work in Sync and I just put it in here.
These little songs just sitting around get used randomly someday. Isn't that the whole point of a story music is get our music used? I'm telling you, that feeling of getting your music used is awesome.
So I remember the feeling of getting my first sale. I remember the feeling from yesterday of getting a sale on Pond5. I remember the feeling of getting checks two days ago from Motion Array and from Pond5. But at the time of that first sale, I was just hoping that I could get something,
that this might turn into something that would bring me consistent monthly or close to monthly passive income. And really, that's what stock and micro-sync licensing has done for me, is be that kind of secondary passive income for songs that aren't going into bigger things.
So I think stock licensing and micro-licensing can be some nice pennies and dollars for your little red-headed stepchildren songs that just might have a use by someone needing it for a video somewhere down the line.
So let's remember that there is another side of both sync licensing and you may not know this, but also of stock and micro-sync licensing. There's a whole other side.
There is a back-end just like there is in sync. Matter of fact, sync is mostly back-end these days. On the sync side for TV we have royalties that come from several places but mainly our PROs But now I am a big believer in content ID and YouTube monetization
And that often alone makes up for bad months when I haven't had as much upfront sales from libraries. But yet my songs have been used on videos, and I'm getting paid for that.
So yeah, someone downloaded a song on Motion Array, and I literally made 45 cents. But then I get a check from Identify for $200 for that month because that particular song maybe got used in a video and they didn't monetize it and that money came to me.
That, my friends, is a win. And a point we have to remember beyond the meager sales that we might get from Upon5 or from Motion Array or whatever. Sure, if you can make $3,000 in a month from downloads only and you make that the next month, then that's awesome.
And I've seen that happen. But a check for months of back-end is also pretty nice. I have one for almost $500 coming to me next month. So if you watch videos by Stevie B or Alex B,
they've had some really gigantic months by doing the kind of music that gets selected as a first-page staff pick on Motion Array. I really need to change my name, I think, to Eric C.
So it can happen. I do know others who make $500 to $1,000. I would not say that they are most of the people I know. And it's certainly not because they are in the same library Daniel was in.
But you remember that Daniel is someone who has been doing this since 2014. A lot of people who were in Audio Jungle back then or who were in Pond5 back then had a very large catalog. I'm talking about 700 plus songs that they have in these libraries.
And so they were making a lot of money, and they're still at the top of the people who made money there and they're still being found in these libraries. I wasn't one of those people. You're probably not going to be one of those people. And these people make outstanding music.
Quantity and quality are needed to make this a viable income. But if you have those things, there's a chance of better income than me. I literally have a video coming up called, Why Don't I Make As Much As Other People?
And I can spoil that video for you now. I don't always write the coolest thing that libraries are looking for. And I don't concentrate on pumping out songs in either sync or stock, really.
If I do, it's for a library or a client who is paying me to do that or has asked me for that. But I do what I do. I'm a weirdo. I just like to write the music I like to write.
And it makes me the income that it makes me. You will have a different experience. So that's my case. for stock music and micro-sync. And that's why I think it was important enough
and helpful enough to take my stock music e-book that has been very helpful to people and turn it into a course. I think it's necessary and going to be helpful for people to take a course to really learn how to do this kind of thing
that could bring hundreds of thousands of dollars for years to come. And I'm not just saying that because it's a thing that can be said. I have literally made $10,000 over the past two and a half years and I show it all the time.
I show you what I've made. So you can, believe it or not, and you can watch other people's videos and believe it or not, and then you can find people who are saying, I've never made a dollar off this or I've not made a dollar off that.
But I guarantee you, they probably only put 5, 10, 20 or 50 songs up and they may not have been very high quality. So I hope you will check out the first free module of my course.
Just go down on the course page to the free preview and let me know what you think. I'm going to be building it with you. And you can get the full course while it's still developing for a very low price.
Okay, so that's it. I rest my case. Let me know your thoughts on stock and micro-sync. As always, thanks for watching this, silliness, and we'll see you next time.