Term, territory and media are the three limits that define every sync license. Term is how long the production can use your song, territory is where in the world it can be shown, and media is which formats and channels it can appear in. Together they set the scope of the deal, and the scope sets the fee: the wider the license, the more it should pay.
A typical TV or film license reads something like "in perpetuity, worldwide, all media now known or hereafter devised," which means forever, everywhere, in every format. An ad license is usually much narrower, for example "one year, United States, broadcast and online," with paid options to extend. Neither is good or bad on its own. What matters is whether the fee matches the scope, and whether the scope is limited to the one production you agreed to.
| Term | Common wording | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Term (how long) | "In perpetuity," "one year from first air date," "six months" | When the clock starts, and whether there are renewal options at a set fee |
| Territory (where) | "Worldwide," "the universe," "United States and its territories," "North America" | Whether streaming platforms in the listed territories count, and whether adding territories costs extra |
| Media (which channels) | "All media now known or hereafter devised," "broadcast TV and SVOD," "festival only," "paid social" | Whether promos, trailers or ads are included, and if so, in-context or out-of-context |
The term covers how long the licensee can keep distributing the production with your song in it. It does not give them the right to drop your song into new productions later. Each new use needs a new license.
Territory used to matter more when TV was sold country by country. Now that so much is distributed through global streaming services, many film and TV licenses are worldwide by default, sometimes written as "the universe" to cover everything. Advertising is where territory still varies most: a regional campaign may only need one country, and expanding it to more markets is normally priced as an additional option.
If a license lists a single country but the production is going to a global streaming service, ask how that is handled. A mismatch between the territory and the actual distribution plan is a common reason licenses get renegotiated later.
Media lists the ways the production can reach an audience: broadcast TV, cable, subscription streaming (SVOD), ad-supported streaming, theatrical, home video, airlines, festivals, and online. "All media now known or hereafter devised" covers all of them, including formats invented in the future.
The part to read carefully is promotion. In-context promo means the scene with your song can appear in a trailer or promo for that same production. Out-of-context means your song can be used in marketing on its own, laid over other footage. Out-of-context use is closer to an advertising use and is often priced separately or excluded.
Every widening of scope is worth something. A festival-only license for an indie film might be a small flat fee, with a larger step-up fee already written in for worldwide, all-media distribution if the film sells. An ad license priced for one year in one country will usually carry options for a second year or for more territories, each at a pre-agreed price. Locking those option fees in at signing is the reason to read this section before you agree to anything.
On the backend side, performance royalties follow wherever the production actually airs and gets reported, through the cue sheet process. A wider territory can mean more backend over time. Read how sync placements pay for the full picture of fees versus royalties.
Scope also interacts with other clauses. Exclusivity has its own term and territory, covered in exclusive vs non-exclusive sync library deals. A most favored nations clause compares your terms with other songs in the same production, and one-stop means you can grant both the master and publishing sides on the same terms. If you have a publisher or library, they usually negotiate scope for you. This is general information, not legal advice; for a large or unusual deal, have a music attorney read it.
Briefs often hint at scope before a license exists. "Indie feature, festival run" and "national broadcast campaign, 12 months" tell you a lot about the fee range and terms you can expect. Reading that line is part of reading a sync brief well, and it helps you decide which songs are worth sending.
Pitchkit does not negotiate licenses. It handles the step before one exists: paste a brief, and it ranks your own catalog by tempo, key, energy, mood, genre and lyrics, then copies the best fits, with clean artist and title filenames, into a pitch folder. It runs on your Mac and your files are never uploaded.
Related reading: what it means when a song is on hold, how to write a split sheet, and how to answer a sync brief in under an hour.
Not usually for film and TV. A show or film keeps existing after release, so the production needs the right to keep distributing that episode with your song in it. Perpetuity applies to that one production only; it does not let them reuse the song elsewhere. It deserves more scrutiny in advertising, where a limited term with paid renewal options is common, and in any deal that also asks for exclusivity.
No. Territory says where the production can be shown, not whether you can license the song to others. Most TV and film sync licenses are non-exclusive, so you can still pitch and license the same song elsewhere. Exclusivity is a separate clause, and if it appears, check its own term, territory and media, which may be narrower than the license itself.
It means the production can be distributed in every format that exists today and any format invented later, such as broadcast, streaming, download, airline and formats that do not exist yet. It is standard in many film and TV licenses because productions are distributed for decades. It should be reflected in the fee, and it should not extend to unrelated uses like a separate advertising campaign, which normally needs its own license.
The advertiser has to stop running new airings or postings of the spot with your song once the term expires, unless they exercise a renewal option. Many ad licenses include pre-agreed options to extend the term or add territories for an additional fee. If a spot keeps running after the term with no renewal, raise it with the licensee or your publisher, with dates and links.
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