---
title: 'The Difference Between Stock Music and Sync Licensing '
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=JvMp1iO4MIc'
video_id: 'JvMp1iO4MIc'
date: 2026-09-29
duration_sec: 683
channel: 'Make Music Income'
---

# The Difference Between Stock Music and Sync Licensing 

> Source: [The Difference Between Stock Music and Sync Licensing ](https://youtube.com/watch?v=JvMp1iO4MIc)

## Summary

This video clarifies the differences between stock music licensing and sync licensing, addressing a common point of confusion among musicians. It explains the distinct purposes, payment structures, and creative opportunities associated with each path, helping viewers decide which approach aligns with their goals.

### Key Points

- **Introduction and Context** [00:00] — The video follows up on a previous discussion about doing both stock and sync licensing, prompted by a viewer's question about the difference.
- **Discord Community and Resources** [00:25] — The creator mentions a free Discord channel for musicians to discuss licensing, production, and tips, with a link in the description.
- **Core Difference Explained** [01:18] — The main difference is that stock music libraries are often non-exclusive and low-barrier, while sync libraries are exclusive and curated, with higher entry standards.
- **Sync Licensing Details** [06:06] — Sync libraries personally curate their catalogs, offering exclusive deals for a set period (2-5 years) or perpetuity, and they focus on TV, film, and advertising placements.
- **Exclusivity and Rights** [07:58] — Exclusive sync deals mean the library has sole sync rights, but composers can still use the music elsewhere (e.g., Spotify) unless restricted by the library.
- **Choosing Your Path** [09:22] — Stock music suits those wanting quick, low-pressure income, while sync licensing is for those aiming for higher fees and prestige in film/TV, despite longer timelines.
- **Analogy and Conclusion** [10:59] — The creator compares the two to short stories vs. novels, emphasizing that different compositions fit different markets, and encourages viewers to choose based on their strengths.

### Conclusion

The video provides a clear, practical guide to understanding the key differences between stock and sync licensing, empowering musicians to make informed decisions about their music careers.

## Transcript

Hey, you know last week I did a video on if you can do stock music licensing and sync licensing music at the same time. And some of you were like, yeah, that's great, but what's the difference?
So today, that's what we're going to talk about, and we're going to do a video on it. Are you ready? Here we go. So there seems to be some confusion about my last video, where I talked about doing stock music and sync licensing music,
and how you can do both of them, but you can do them at the same time. and I recently started moderating a Discord channel with my friend Stevie B. If you want to be part of that Discord channel, we talk about lots of things.
We talk about licensing, we talk about production, we talk about tips and tricks and all sorts of stuff, and it's absolutely free, so go down into the description of this video, and you can be part of that Discord channel.
We'd love to have you in there. You can also find information about Stevie B in the description below, and his new production academy, which is just getting ready to launch, And so we're really excited about that. But one of the questions I got today on the Discord was from someone who said,
what if I don't know what the difference is between stock music licensing and sync licensing music is? What if I just don't understand the difference? So I thought maybe there are people who would like to know the difference
and like to know just general what is stock music licensing and what is sync music licensing. So here we go about that. Knowing the difference between stock music licensing and sync licensing is really important
as we start into the sync licensing part of this channel. I'm going to have a lot of content about that, and so I want to make sure that everyone kind of knows the difference, at least as far as I understand it.
I told my story about how I got started in stock music and the libraries I started with, so you can see all that right up here. First, let's define stock music licensing. Well, generally, I think of stock music as music that's made for this kind of video.
You might hear it playing right now. Music that you hear playing behind YouTube videos like this or corporate presentations, it's generally music made for the background. Now, I'm not talking about the background of a TV show or a film.
Sometimes those lines can cross, but for the most part, this is music made for the background of a YouTube presentation, a corporate presentation. You hear it, but you don't hear it. It's music made for the background.
It's made not to stick out. And it can be in many styles. The other big difference is that in most cases, stock music is non-exclusive, meaning that many different companies and users
can use the music at the same time. Now I painting with a really broad brush here as there is music used in TV film advertising and gaming that may be non But generally stock is going to be non music that is designed to work in many stock libraries at the same time
and be used by people just like stock photos are, stock video, stock sound effects, all that kind of stuff. And you'll usually find them in the same libraries. Another thing about stock music, it's generally available at a very, very low price.
Many YouTube videos don't have a large audience, so that's why you can find stock music on Pond5 or Audio Jungle available for $9 or $25. Also, in many cases, that's the only payment for this music,
and while it can be used many times by many different people at that price, it's usually only going to be used one time by a client, and also there is no back-end PRO payment,
which means they're not paying your VMI account and they're not paying your ASCAP account. Now, there can be exceptions to this, and we'll talk about that in a minute. So you may think, if this music is so cheap, they don't pay my PRO, and it's not exclusive,
then I could just throw any crappy music I've got up, right? Uh, no. Uh, no. It's very competitive out there. And while you might get from my description here that this music is second-class music or something, that is far from the truth.
First, to stand out these days on stock music libraries, your music better be top-notch. It better be higher quality, well-composed, and produced very well. Don't worry, they will reject you on Audio Jungle or Motion Array if they feel the music quality or composition is lacking.
The second thing to remember with stock music, and the reason it needs to be quality, is because there is a bigger tier that you can put your music on. On Audio Jungle or Song Trader and other sites, if you want to use something for a TV or a movie, you won't be able to get it for $9.
You'll have to pay a premium price. So why not just do this? Why not just use stock music licensing and put your music up there onto libraries? It's pretty easy, and nobody has to approve you in most cases.
And have your big price as film or TV come knocking. The big problem is that music supervisors aren't really going to go to Audio Jungle or Pond5 when they're looking for the next big hit to put behind a song montage,
or they're looking for a score for the film. They're also not going to go to these stock libraries looking for great songs to put behind big-time, big-budget advertising. While all the music supervisors and the sync agents love finding indie music and finding gems,
they are likely going to be looking at the next level of music library that they trust or directly to an artist or composer that they have a personal relationship with This is where we start finding the difference between stock music and sync licensing
Music used in sync licensing tends to be music from trusted sources like exclusive libraries or seek agents or sometimes composer that a supervisor may know personally. personally. Sync music that is used in TV, film, advertising, games, is much more
of that is. This means that like a music publisher, the music library personally found the composer or the artist and invited them into their catalog. This is what we're talking about with sync licensing, not music that is just going
to be behind presentations or going to be part of YouTube videos and that is a very low point of entry for composers. These music libraries didn't just open the doors and allow anyone who has music to submit it. They personally listened to each song and okayed each song because
they thought it would make their library look good and stand out to music supervisors. While stock music on the whole, especially when you're talking about Pond5 and Audio Jungle and Motion
rate. These are non-exclusive libraries. Sync music tends to be an exclusive deal that the composer signs with the library for a certain amount of time. No one else can use that song
for sync purposes unless they come to that library. Some libraries do an exclusive deal for two or three years, sometimes five years, but then at some point perpetuity can come into play,
which means they can have your song forever if it starts making them money, and some of the your libraries just do perpetuity from the start perpetuity means the song stays with the library forever that doesn't mean that you can't take the song out and put it on spotify or perform it or
anything like that this is only pertaining to sync license uses now every library is different so what they may decide you can and cannot do with the song might be different from library to library
Some think libraries might say, we don't necessarily want it on Spotify, or we don't want you making YouTube videos. But most of the libraries I've worked with so far are happy that it's on Spotify or YouTube.
So it's just going to be depending on the library that you're working with. Now, you may be thinking, wait, what? Wait, what? Why would I ever give up my song to a library forever? Well, if that library is getting use after use and paying $2,000 a pop for your songs,
maybe that's okay. Or you can go ahead and make $9 every time it sells in a stock library. And that even if it gets seen or found in a library of 900 songs Exclusive fake libraries tend to be just that exclusive Your goal is to find a company that loves your music and let them represent you as part of their carefully curated catalog
These are libraries that music supervisors trust for their TV uses, their film uses, their advertising uses, and they come back time and time again because they know the quality is going to be high and they know that library is going to serve them and their needs. Music supervisors don't want to
through 900,000 music files of varying quality and composers who may be good, may be not so good. The other thing is, whatever they find at these non-exclusive libraries is available
to anyone. So, that's not exactly what you're looking for if you are a music supervisor really looking for something special for a TV scene or a film score or for an ad use.
Exclusive sync libraries are rarely putting songs in YouTube videos and corporate presentations. They are after TV placements, film placements, advertising placements, and gaming use,
and other things that pay great upfront fees, and they also pay your PRO in the back end. So if sync is so cool and big time, then why would you focus on thought music at all? This is a good question.
And this is why there are the two kind of areas that people choose to work in. They might say, you know, stop music just fits me better. I can put stuff up quicker. I can get paid quicker. I don't care if it's cheaper.
I just like to make that. And the pressure is not as high. Or you could say, you know what? I really like creating pop songs or country songs or EDM or songs that I think could be used in a film or TV.
I don't think they'd be so great in a YouTube presentation or something like that. But I think they would be great in a TV show or a film or a game. Think of it like being an author or an artist. Some short stories you might have work great for a local paper or online publishing.
But then again, you're going to write some things that are novels that really need to be published by a publisher and get out to a wider audience because they're bigger works. Maybe you draw diagrams that go in technical presentations,
but you also paint beautiful paintings that can sell for thousands of dollars. sync and stock are both mediums like that for musicians you can distribute your music based on what kind of composition it is not everything is going to be built for sync licensing not
everything will work as a stock music thing to see my video on how i went from zero to 600 in stock music you can see that right here and for my video about my journey in sync music license you can see that video right here when it's ready but i don't think it may not be ready yet if it
So, thanks for watching and I hope this helped.