Big Sync Music

United Kingdom • LondonFounded 2013

Big Sync Music is a global music licensing and creative music solutions company founded in 2013, headquartered in London with offices in 11 territories. The company was the first full-service music agency to work directly with brands, unifying the music and talent acquisition process. Big Sync Music consolidates music purchasing power for global brands and offers music review, strategy, validation, licensing, custom music creation, and talent acquisition services.

Contact & HQ

Headquarters

London, United Kingdom

Specializations

Brand Music Licensing
Music Strategy
Custom Music Creation
Talent Acquisition
Music Validation
Advertising
Social Media
Global Campaigns

Additional Details

Genres

All genres

Submission Process

Big Sync Music works primarily with brands, agencies, production companies, and influencers rather than accepting unsolicited artist submissions. Artists and composers interested in working with Big Sync should contact the company through its website with a portfolio and sync-ready catalog.

Typical Fee Structure

Project-based pricing for brands. Licensing fees negotiated per use. No standard artist submission fee structure. Revenue splits for custom music projects are negotiated individually.

Notable Clients

Global brands
Advertising agencies
Production companies
Social media influencers
Content creators

Big Sync Music is a global music licensing and creative music solutions company founded in 2013 and headquartered in London. The company was the first full-service music agency to work directly with brands, unifying the music and talent acquisition process into a single service. With offices in 11 territories and a network of local, regional, and global music contacts, Big Sync Music consolidates music purchasing power for global brands and passes the volume savings on to clients. The company serves brands, advertising agencies, production companies, and social media influencers with music licensing, custom music creation, and strategic music consulting.

How Big Sync Music Works

Big Sync Music operates on a brand-first model. Unlike traditional sync licensing agencies that pitch artist catalogs to music supervisors, Big Sync works directly with brands to manage their entire music strategy. The company consolidates a brand's music purchasing across all campaigns, regions, and media types into a single relationship.

The company offers six core services:

Music review: Evaluating a brand's current music usage and identifying opportunities for improvement or cost savings.
Music strategy: Developing long-term music strategies aligned with brand identity, target audience, and marketing KPIs.
Music validation: Using real-time data analytics to validate music choices against brand KPIs and audience response metrics.
Licensing consolidation: Leveraging the company's consolidated buying power (they buy more music than anyone in the industry, according to their own claims) to negotiate better rates for brands.
Custom music creation: Producing original music tailored to brand briefs when licensing existing tracks is not the right fit.
Talent acquisition: Connecting brands with artists, composers, and influencers for campaigns, events, and partnerships.

The company's 11-office global footprint means a brand running a campaign across multiple territories can license music through a single point of contact rather than negotiating separate deals in each region.

Who Big Sync Music Is For

Big Sync Music serves three main client types:

For brands: If you are a global brand spending significant budget on music licensing across multiple markets, Big Sync consolidates that spending and provides strategic oversight. The company claims its consolidated buying power results in lower per-use costs for brands.

For advertising agencies: Agencies that need music for client campaigns can use Big Sync as a one-stop partner for licensing, custom music, and clearance. This is particularly useful for agencies running multi-territory campaigns where local music rights vary.

For artists and composers: Big Sync Music is a potential client rather than a representative. If you are an artist or composer with music that fits brand campaigns, Big Sync may license your tracks or commission custom work. The company does not accept unsolicited submissions in the traditional sync agency model, but artists can reach out with portfolios and sync-ready catalogs.

Real-World Example

A global consumer brand launches a multi-region advertising campaign spanning TV, digital, social media, and in-store audio. The brand needs different music for each territory to match local cultural preferences while maintaining a consistent brand identity.

Without Big Sync: The brand's agency negotiates separate licenses in 10 territories with 10 different publishers and labels. The process takes 8 weeks and costs 40% more than necessary due to lack of leverage.

With Big Sync: The brand contracts Big Sync to handle all music licensing globally. Big Sync uses its consolidated buying power to negotiate volume rates, validates music choices against audience data, and delivers cleared tracks for all 10 territories through a single point of contact. The process takes 3 weeks and costs 25% less.

For a custom music project, Big Sync commissions a composer to create an original brand anthem. The composer receives a production fee and retains performance royalties through their PRO when the music airs on broadcast television.

Key Benefits

Consolidated buying power: Big Sync claims to buy more music than anyone in the industry. This volume leverage translates to lower licensing costs for brand clients.
Global footprint: Offices in 11 territories mean brands can run multi-region campaigns without managing multiple vendor relationships.
Data-driven validation: The company uses real-time data analytics to validate music choices against brand KPIs, taking guesswork out of music selection.
Full-service model: From strategy through licensing, custom creation, and talent acquisition, brands get everything from one partner.
Brand-first approach: Unlike sync agencies that represent artists, Big Sync represents brands. This means the company negotiates on the brand's behalf, not the artist's.
25+ years of team experience: The Big Sync team brings over 25 years of experience partnering with global brands for music licensing.

Potential Drawbacks and Things to Consider

For artists and composers:

Not a traditional sync agency: Big Sync does not represent artists for sync placements. The company works for brands, not artists. If you want someone actively pitching your catalog to supervisors, look at Crucial Music or Bodega Sync instead.
No open submission process: There is no public application portal for artists. You need to reach out directly with a professional portfolio and sync-ready catalog.
Brand-driven deals: When Big Sync licenses your music, the negotiation is from the brand's perspective. The company may push for lower fees to benefit the brand client. Use our sync licensing fee calculator to know your minimum acceptable rate before entering negotiations.
Custom music is work-for-hire: If Big Sync commissions you to create custom music for a brand, the deal is likely work-for-hire. Read the contract carefully to understand what rights you retain. See our guide on music licensing agreements for red flags to watch for.

For brands:

Minimum spend threshold: Big Sync's consolidated buying model makes sense for brands with significant music licensing budgets. Small brands with occasional one-off licenses may not benefit from the full-service model.
Less direct artist relationships: Working through a consolidated agency means less direct contact with artists. Brands that value direct artist relationships for authentic partnerships may find the intermediary model limiting.

Company Type and Licensing Model

Big Sync Music operates as a full-service brand music agency. The company works directly with brands rather than representing artists. Services include music strategy, licensing, custom music creation, talent acquisition, and data-driven music validation.

The licensing model is project-based for brand clients. Fees are negotiated per use or per campaign. Big Sync consolidates a brand's music purchasing across all territories and media types into a single relationship, leveraging volume to negotiate lower rates.

Big Sync was acquired by Songtradr, a music licensing platform. The acquisition gave Big Sync access to Songtradr's technology and data intelligence. The company operates as a subsidiary within the Songtradr ecosystem.

The company does not represent artists for sync placements. Artists and composers are potential vendors, not clients. Big Sync may license existing tracks or commission custom work depending on the brand's needs.

Catalog and Clients

Big Sync Music does not maintain a traditional owned catalog. The company licenses music from publishers, labels, and independent artists on behalf of brand clients. It also commissions custom music from composers when licensing existing tracks does not fit the brief.

Notable clients include Unilever (400 brands worldwide), Diageo, L'Oreal, Johnson and Johnson, and Samsung. The company serves global brands, advertising agencies, production companies, and social media influencers.

Genre coverage spans all genres. The company sources music across every style depending on client needs.

Big Sync operates from offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, Singapore, Sweden, Paris, and Sydney. The company has 15 employees and approximately $9 million in annual revenue. It operates in 6 countries with workforce distributed across 8 countries.

The company has 25,332 LinkedIn followers. Andrew Stafford serves as Co-Founder and Director. Dominic Caisley serves as CEO and co-founder.

Notable work includes creating an inclusive sonic branding identity for Unilever's Dirt Is Good brand (Persil, OMO, Surf) designed to be accessible to the hearing-diverse and Deaf community.

Payment Structure

For artists and composers, Big Sync operates on two payment models depending on the engagement type.

When licensing existing tracks: Big Sync negotiates sync fees with rights holders on behalf of brand clients. The negotiation is from the brand's perspective, meaning Big Sync may push for lower fees to benefit the brand. Artists receive the negotiated fee minus any publisher or label cuts.

When commissioning custom music: Composers receive a production fee for the work. Custom music deals are typically work-for-hire. Composers may retain performance royalties through their PRO when music airs on broadcast television, depending on contract terms.

Big Sync does not charge artists upfront fees. The company earns from brand clients, not from artists. However, artists do not receive active pitching or representation. Big Sync contacts artists only when a specific brand project requires their music.

Comparison: Big Sync Music vs Other Sync Licensing Companies

Company	Type	Licensing Model	Catalog Size	Exclusivity	Artist Payout	Typical Fee Range
Big Sync Music	Brand music agency	Project-based for brands	No owned catalog	N/A	Per-use license fee or work-for-hire	Varies by brand project scope
Songtradr	Music licensing platform	Per-use and subscription	1M+ tracks	Mixed	Per-use payout to rights holders	$50 to $50,000+ per use
Jingle Punks	Music for brands	Catalog and custom	50,000+ tracks	Mixed	Per-use payout and custom fees	$500 to $25,000 per use
Music House	Brand music agency	Project-based and catalog	Not disclosed	Mixed	Per-use and project fees	$1,000 to $20,000 per project
MassiveMusic	Sonic branding agency	Project-based for brands	Custom only	N/A	Project fees to composers	$10,000 to $100,000 per project