Exclusive Licensing
How Exclusive Licenses Work: Terms, Renewals, and Waitlists
By the Starchild Music team · September 15, 2026 · 5 min read
The short answer
Exclusive licenses on Starchild run 3, 6, or 12 months ($60/$100/$150): the song leaves the marketplace during your term, you get renewal reminders before expiry, renewing extends from your end date (never from today), and if you lapse, the song relists automatically and waitlisted buyers are notified.
Exclusivity on Starchild is a window, not a purchase of the song itself. You buy time — 3, 6, or 12 months — during which the song is yours alone: delisted from browse and search, unlicensable by anyone else, visible only to you, its writer, and anyone who licensed it before your window began.
The lifecycle, start to finish
The moment your exclusive purchase completes, the song leaves the open marketplace automatically. Interested buyers who find its page see an "under exclusive license" notice and can join a waitlist. Your term runs; you record, release, promote.
A week before your term ends, you get a renewal reminder by email; a last-call note arrives the day before. Renewing before expiry extends your window from the current end date — never from the day you pay — so there is zero cost to renewing early. Past and current holders also get a renewal discount at checkout.
If you let the term lapse, two things happen without anyone lifting a finger: the song relists on the marketplace, and everyone on its waitlist gets an email that it's available. Exclusive rights then go to whoever moves first — which may be you again, since lapsed holders keep their renewal discount.
What it costs and when it's worth it
Terms start at $60 for 3 months, $100 for 6, and $150 for 12 — priced so an independent artist can actually own a window around a release. The decision framework is simple: exclusivity pays for itself when the song anchors a moment you're investing in. For everything else, the standard license leaves more budget for the recording.