VideoHelper

VideoHelper is an independent boutique production music and sound design library founded in 1995 by Joseph Saba and Stewart Winter in New York. The company creates 100% human-authored music specifically designed for advertising, movie trailers, promos, news, sports, and sound design. VideoHelper supplies all major television and cable networks, ad agencies, production companies, and trailer houses with one-stop licensing. The library is known for tracks that are super-editable, genre-defying, and built to drive visual storytelling rather than function as background filler.

How VideoHelper Works

VideoHelper operates as an independent, one-stop licensing production music library. "One-stop" means the company owns both the master and publishing rights to every track, allowing clients to clear music through a single license rather than negotiating with separate master and publishing rights holders.

The process for clients works as follows:

1. Register for an account: Production companies, agencies, networks, and trailer houses register on the VideoHelper platform to access the catalog.
2. Search the catalog: Users search using VideoHelper's custom search engine, which allows finding tracks by real-life scenarios like "Don't You Die On Me, Man" and "Creepy Santa" rather than only by genre or tempo. This scenario-based search is designed for producers who think in terms of scenes, not musical categories.
3. Download and license: Clients download tracks and license them for their productions. The one-stop model means a single license covers both sync and master use rights.
4. Custom searches: For clients who need help finding the right tracks, VideoHelper offers custom search services where their team curates selections based on the project brief.

The catalog is organized into categories that reflect how producers actually work:

• Trailers: 4 playlists, 14 albums, 408 tracks of high-impact, dramatic music designed for movie trailers
• News: 14 playlists, 19 albums, 847 tracks covering breaking news, hard news, and global conflict
• Sports: 33 playlists, 15 albums, 597 tracks including World Cup and soccer content
• Politics: 10 playlists, 7 albums, 250 tracks for political coverage and campaign content
• Sound Design: 16 playlists, 24 albums, 920 tracks including the Modules library of narrative sound design
• World Cup 2026: 5 playlists, 5 albums, 112 tracks of specialized content for the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Real-World Example

A movie trailer house needs music for a 2.5-minute theatrical trailer for an upcoming action film. The trailer has three distinct emotional sections: a quiet build in the first 30 seconds, an escalating tension section in the middle, and a high-impact climax in the final 45 seconds.

The editor searches VideoHelper's trailer category and finds a track that covers all three sections with built-in edit points. The track costs $500 to $2,000 for a theatrical trailer license, depending on the scope and territory. Because VideoHelper is one-stop, the editor clears both the sync and master rights in a single transaction.

Without one-stop licensing, the editor might need to negotiate separately with a record label for the master use and with a publisher for the sync use. If the track has multiple co-writers, each publisher needs to approve. This process can take weeks and cost $5,000 to $50,000 for a well-known commercial track. VideoHelper's one-stop model eliminates that complexity.

For a TV promo for a network show, the same track might license for $200 to $800 depending on the usage. Network blanket deals can reduce per-use costs further for high-volume clients.

Why It Matters for Independent Artists

VideoHelper occupies a specific niche in the production music ecosystem. For composers and artists, understanding this niche is valuable:

• Music designed for editors, not listeners: VideoHelper tracks are built to be cut, edited, and synced to picture. Every track contains multiple features that make editing easier, suggest visuals, and provide emotional dynamics. If you write music for production libraries, learn to think like an editor, not a musician.
• 100% human-authored: VideoHelper explicitly markets its music as 100% human-authored, with no AI involvement. This positions the library against the growing wave of AI-generated production music and appeals to clients who need guaranteed human-created content for legal and quality reasons.
• Genre hybridization is a strength: VideoHelper experiments with unusual style combinations. Their catalog includes descriptions like "Ska mixed with John Philip Sousa being chased by a herd of elk." If you compose music that defies easy categorization but works well under dialogue or visuals, this type of library may be a fit.
• One-stop ownership means clean splits: Because VideoHelper owns both master and publishing, composers typically receive an upfront fee and a share of licensing revenue. There are no complicated split sheet negotiations with external publishers. Read our guide on split sheets to understand how splits work in other contexts.
• The Modules library is unique: VideoHelper's Modules library of narrative sound design is a distinct product. Composers who specialize in sound design and atmospheric textures rather than traditional musical compositions can find opportunities here.

If you want to submit music to VideoHelper, register on their website. Ensure your tracks are produced with editability in mind: include multiple sections, clear edit points, and emotional dynamics that serve visual storytelling. Read our guide on creating music for sync licensing for production techniques that make tracks more placeable.

What Sets VideoHelper Apart

VideoHelper's philosophy is stated directly on their website: "We hate production music. We love production music." This reflects their approach of creating music that avoids the cliches of traditional production music (cloying, soulless, repetitive) while embracing what makes production music useful (super-editable, genre-defying, story-driven, visually-inspiring).

The company was founded by former network promo producers and major label artists, which explains why the music is designed to "think like a producer." The founders understood from personal experience what editors need: tracks with multiple features, hyper-detailed track descriptions, and a search engine built around real production scenarios rather than musical terminology.

VideoHelper remains independently owned and operated, distinguishing it from corporate-owned libraries like Universal Production Music or BMG Production Music. The company has approximately 13 employees and generates an estimated $5.3 million in annual revenue, making it a focused boutique operation rather than a volume-driven enterprise.

Use our sync licensing fee calculator to compare one-stop licensing costs against traditional multi-party sync deals.

Related Resources

• Creating Music for Sync Licensing: Production Tips - How to produce tracks that editors want to use
• Sync Licensing Companies vs Music Libraries - Where boutique libraries like VideoHelper fit
• Library Music and Production Music for Passive Income - Understanding income from production music catalogs
• How to License Music for Commercials and Ads - The advertising music licensing process
• VideoHelper Official Website - Current catalog, playlists, and registration
• VideoHelper on YouTube - Preview tracks and albums