Riptide Music Group

Riptide Music Group is a Los Angeles-based creative music company founded in 2000 that provides music synchronization licensing, publishing administration, and digital label services for independent artists and songwriters. The company has generated over $60 million in licensing fees through thousands of placements in television, film, trailers, advertising, and video games, using a non-exclusive co-publishing model that lets creators retain ownership of their work.

How Riptide Music Group Works

Riptide operates as a hybrid sync licensing agency, music publisher, and digital label. The company was formed in 2014 through the merger of Riptide Music and Pigfactory, two Los Angeles-based sync licensing and publishing companies. In 2020, Riptide acquired Hidden Track Music, a boutique sync placement company, to deepen its relationships with music supervisors and the worldwide licensing community.

Sync Licensing

The majority of Riptide's staff focuses on sync and A&R. The team pitches music daily to music supervisors, advertising agencies, trailer houses, and game publishers. Riptide does not operate as a passive catalog that supervisors browse. The team actively pitches tracks based on current project briefs and maintains direct relationships with decision-makers.

Riptide also looks beyond traditional sync. The company actively pitches to non-traditional music users including YouTube, digital jukebox services, retail chains, and corporate in-house use.

The Incubator Program

Riptide runs an Incubator program for its writers, producers, and artists. The program works as follows:

1. Co-writing sessions: Riptide sets up co-writing sessions between creators on its roster, providing detailed briefs based on current sync opportunities. This is not a passive catalog. The team actively shapes what gets created.
2. A&R support: With decades of production experience, the Riptide team provides hands-on guidance to help writers and artists produce release-ready masters.
3. Catalog reinvigoration: Riptide creates covers, remixes, derivative copyrights, and trailer-friendly versions of classic songs to generate new sync opportunities from legacy catalogs.
4. Non-exclusive co-publishing: The deal structure is non-exclusive, meaning creators retain the freedom to create and pursue other opportunities.

Global Publishing Administration

Riptide provides worldwide publishing administration through a proprietary rights management platform. The company collects:

• Public performance royalties
• Mechanical royalties
• YouTube revenue
• Neighboring rights
• Digital royalties

The platform includes a client portal where songwriters, artists, and publisher clients can view all earnings details and payments. Riptide pays out faster than industry standard for sync placements, while maintaining standard timelines for other royalty types.

The company partners with independent publishing administrators across international territories to ensure worldwide collection. Riptide positions itself as "big enough to matter, but small enough to care."

Real-World Example

An independent electronic music producer signs a non-exclusive co-publishing deal with Riptide. The producer retains ownership of their masters and compositions. Riptide pitches their tracks to music supervisors for upcoming TV shows, films, and ad campaigns.

Six months in, a music supervisor selects one of the producer's tracks for a scene in a streaming drama series. Riptide negotiates a $5,000 sync fee for all media (excluding theatrical), worldwide, in perpetuity. The producer receives their share of the sync fee according to the co-publishing agreement.

When the episode airs on broadcast television internationally, the producer earns performance royalties through their PRO. Riptide's publishing administration team collects mechanical royalties from the streaming platform and neighboring rights from international collection societies. All of this revenue flows through the proprietary platform, and the producer can track every payment through the client portal.

Through the Incubator program, Riptide also pairs the producer with a vocalist on their roster for a co-writing session. The resulting track gets pitched for a national advertising campaign and lands a $12,000 placement. Both creators earn sync fees and ongoing performance royalties.

Why It Matters for Independent Artists

Riptide Music Group offers a model that differs from both production music libraries and traditional exclusive publishing deals. The non-exclusive co-publishing structure means you do not give up ownership of your music to get sync representation.

Key considerations:

• Non-exclusive means flexibility: You can pursue other licensing opportunities while represented by Riptide. This is different from exclusive library deals where the library owns all rights. Read our guide to music licensing agreements to understand the difference between exclusive and non-exclusive deals.
• Active pitching, not passive catalog: Riptide's team pitches your music directly to supervisors. This is more effective than uploading tracks to a platform and hoping someone finds them. Learn more about how this model works in our guide to sync licensing companies vs music libraries.
• Co-writing creates opportunities: The Incubator program pairs you with other writers based on real briefs from supervisors. This means you are creating music that has a specific buyer waiting for it, not just adding to a catalog.
• Publishing administration is included: Riptide collects all royalty types worldwide, not just sync fees. This means you do not need a separate publishing administrator. Use our publishing royalty split calculator to understand how publishing shares work.
• Register with a PRO: You must be a member of ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, or another PRO to receive performance royalties. Riptide collects and administers, but PRO registration is your responsibility.
• Production quality matters: Riptide provides A&R support, but your tracks must be broadcast-ready to land placements. Clean mixes, proper mastering, and instrumental versions are required. Read our guide to creating music for sync licensing for production standards.

Riptide Music Group is located at 9469 Jefferson Blvd, Suite 100, Culver City, CA 90232. Contact the team at contact@riptidemusic.com or 310.437.4380.

Use our sync licensing fee calculator to estimate potential earnings from different placement scenarios.

Related Resources

• How to Get Your First Sync License - Complete walkthrough for beginners
• Sync Licensing for Independent Musicians - Full guide to the sync ecosystem
• Sync Licensing Companies vs Music Libraries - How Riptide compares to other models
• Library Music and Production Music for Passive Income - Understanding non-exclusive vs exclusive models
• Music Licensing Agreements: Types, Terms, and Red Flags - What to watch for in co-publishing deals
• Sync License Glossary Definition - Core sync licensing terminology
• Riptide Music Group Official Website - Sync highlights, roster, and contact information