Music sync market forecast Production libraries raise the pitch

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20,000 foot view:  Amid fragmenting fandom and the attention recession, sync is more important than ever as a tool for both revenue generation and marketing. There are also dozens of emerging use cases for sync, from creator content to fitness platforms and virtual spaces in the evolving metaverse. However, the music industry’s complex, and largely analogue, licensing frameworks risk obstructing this potential. As a result, major rights holders are competing with a strongly growing sector of next-gen production music companies, which also benefit from the growth of the creator sector, increased accessibility of tools for making high-quality music, and artists seeking revenue beyond streaming.

Key insights 

• Despite a near-halt in growth during the pandemic year, global sync revenue is set to generate        billion in annual revenue by 2030, more than doubling annual revenue from 2020 
• While the sync market will bounce back from the pandemic over the next several years, growth will level off slightly, as an increase in volume of sync is offset by a decrease in price
• Most of music sync revenues come from advertising        followed by TV        film        games        and other       
• The growth of content creation opens a new opportunity for micro-licensing, as one-fifth of global consumers now create content in some form — but the content creator segment is underserved by traditional licencing models
• Music licensing for non-DSP streaming is on track to generate the music industry nearly        billion annually by 2030 — a        increase on 2021
• Music discovery is shifting towards UGC: while        of global consumers say TV shows, movies or games are among the main places they discover new music,        say so about TikTok,        about YouTube, and        about social media overall
• Next-generation production music libraries are well-placed to support these emerging opportunities of micro-licensing and non-DSP streaming
• Production library revenue growth is outpacing growth of the overall sync market, thanks to drivers such as the rise of content creators, improved production music quality, artists seeking post-DSP income, and the growing independent sector
• For sync players to take advantage of the rapidly expanding use cases for sync, licensing processes must become much more dynamic and turnkey

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Adobe, Artlist, BeatStars, Bopper, Canva, Dua Lipa, Epidemic Sound, Euphoria, Facebook, Freshsound, Getty, Glass Animals, Instagram, LANDR, Lickd, Lightricks, Lofi Records, Meta, Monstercat, Myspace, Netflix, Peloton, Pretzel, Snapchat, Sony Music Group, Sony Music Publishing, SoundCloud, Splice, SyncFloor, Thematic, TikTok, Track Club, Twitch, Universal Music Group, Universal Production Music, Warner Chappell, YouTube