FAQ
Questions people actually search
These are the eight questions we hear most. Honest answers below.
How do I sell my music?
There are really only three ways to monetize music in 2026, and you usually do all three at once. First, streaming royalties via DistroKid, TuneCore, or CD Baby — pennies per stream, but it’s table stakes. Second, sync licensing — placing tracks in film, TV, ads, games, and trailers. This is where most working composers actually make money. Third, direct catalog sales or work-for-hire deals with labels and publishers. MoveMusic focuses on path two: we research the right sync libraries, music supervisors, ad agencies, and label A&R, and send each of them an individually personalized pitch with your tracks attached.
Where can I license my music?
The main destinations are sync libraries (Musicbed, Marmoset, Artlist, Audio Network, APM, Universal Production Music), production music networks, ad agencies with in-house music teams, music supervisors at film and TV studios, trailer houses, and game audio directors. Each one has narrow taste — Marmoset wants indie/cinematic, APM wants production-friendly cues, supervisors at A24 want different things than supervisors at Hallmark. Mass-submitting to all of them is how composers burn six months and get nothing. Targeted, personalized outreach to a curated list is how placements actually happen.
How do I sell my late father’s music catalog?
First, figure out what you have: registered works, masters ownership, publishing splits, existing royalty streams from PROs and SoundExchange. A catalog with documented royalty history is worth real money to a music investment fund or publisher; a catalog without paperwork is much harder. Step two is decide between an outright sale (catalog acquisition fund, publisher buyout) or ongoing licensing (keep ownership, license tracks for sync). For sync licensing of an inherited catalog, MoveMusic’s research-then-outreach process works well because legacy catalogs often have evergreen tracks that supervisors love and never knew existed.
How much does MoveMusic cost?
Three flat-fee tiers, no commission. Starter is $79 — AI catalog research and 25 individually personalized outreach emails to a tightly targeted list of libraries and supervisors. Standard is $149 — deeper research and 60-100 emails across libraries, supervisors, ad agencies, and label A&R. Premium is $349 — comprehensive research, 150+ emails, plus follow-up sequences at day 7 and day 21. We do not take a cut of any sync fee or licensing deal you ultimately sign. You keep 100% of the placement income. If our research shows your catalog has limited sync viability, we tell you before sending and refund.
Will MoveMusic help me license music that’s been rejected by libraries?
Often, yes — because most library rejections are about fit, not quality. Marmoset rejecting a track doesn’t mean APM will reject it; it usually means the cue didn’t match what Marmoset’s roster currently needs. We approach it differently: we research the supervisors and libraries whose recent placements actually look like your catalog, then pitch each one with a specific reason your music fits their roster. That said, we won’t take your money if the research shows no real demand. If your tracks have been pitched everywhere and rejected on substance — mix issues, dated production, cleared sample problems — we’ll tell you and not run the campaign.
What if my music doesn’t get placed?
We can’t guarantee a placement — anyone who guarantees one is selling something. Sync deals depend on what’s getting greenlit that quarter, what cues directors are searching for, and pure timing. What we do guarantee: the research quality, the email volume, the personalization (every email references the recipient’s recent placements and current roster gaps), and tracked delivery. If a campaign closes without a placement, we share the full response data — who opened, who replied, what cues they asked about — so you can adjust your catalog or re-run with a different angle. Many placements close 60-180 days after outreach, when a project lands that needs your sound.
How long does music licensing take?
Outreach itself is fast: research and a written catalog assessment in 24 hours, sample emails in 48-72 hours, full campaign sent over 5-10 days. The licensing cycle on the buyer side is much longer. A supervisor who likes your tracks today might license one 3-9 months from now when the right scene shows up. Sync libraries that take you on may not place a cue for 6-12 months. Plan on 30-90 days to get meaningful response data, 6-12 months for first placements, and 12-24 months for the catalog to season inside the libraries that pick you up. This is normal — it’s how the industry has always worked.
Is MoveMusic better than hiring a sync agent?
It depends on what you actually need. A traditional sync agent or pitch service is great if you have a catalog of 50+ broadcast-quality tracks and you want long-term representation; they’ll take 25-50% of placement fees in exchange for ongoing pitching and relationship management. MoveMusic is better if you have 1-30 tracks and you mostly need someone to do the targeted research and personalized outreach work upfront, without giving up perpetual revenue. Our Premium tier ($349) does in three days what a sync agent typically does over weeks. For a deep catalog that needs constant pitching, hire both: us for the cold-launch sprint, an agent for the long term.
Note on “help me move my music” / catalog migration: MoveMusic is not a catalog migration, distribution, or PRO-administration service. If you need to move masters between distributors or change PRO affiliation, that’s a different workflow. We focus exclusively on getting the right buyers — supervisors, libraries, agencies — to actually hear and license your work.