Sync License vs Performance License: Does an ASCAP or BMI License Cover Your Video?

Many people hear "music license" and picture one thing. In practice it is several separate permissions that come from different places. The most common mix-up is between a performance license, which is about playing music for an audience, and a sync license, which is about fixing a song to a video.

If you have wondered whether a venue's license, a TV station's license or a platform's deal covers the video you are making, this guide sorts it out. It is general information about U.S. practice, not legal advice.

The law treats these as separate rights

U.S. copyright law lists an owner's exclusive rights one by one. Section 106 of the Copyright Act includes the rights to reproduce a work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies and "to perform the copyrighted work publicly." Public performance is its own right. Sync is not named at all.

The Ninth Circuit described how courts handle that gap in a 2008 karaoke case: "Though it is not explicit in the Copyright Act, courts have recognized a copyright holder's right to control the synchronization of musical compositions with the content of audiovisual works and have required parties to obtain synchronization licenses from copyright holders."

Four permissions, four sources

ASCAP's licensing glossary and its checklist for video makers are a clear way to see the split.

• Public performance. Playing or transmitting music to an audience. ASCAP says a user who wants to perform a work publicly must get performance rights from the copyright owner or a representative. Many do it through a blanket license, which lets the user perform a whole repertory "as much or as little as they like."
• Synchronization. Using a recording of a musical work in audio-visual form, such as a film, a TV program, a music video or a commercial. ASCAP says sync rights are licensed by the music publisher to the producer.
• Master use. The right to reproduce a specific recording in your film or video. You clear it with whoever owns that recording, usually a record label.
• Mechanical. The right to copy and distribute a song "without visual images," such as a cover song on a record or as a digital file.

What a PRO license does and does not do

ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR are the four major U.S. performing rights organizations, or PROs, according to BMI. ASCAP's checklist says performance licenses are generally granted by PROs. They collect fees for public performance and pay royalties to their members.

ASCAP's own checklist for video makers says it "does not issue single song licenses." It offers only bulk licenses that cover its entire repertory. So a PRO blanket license does not give you permission to use one chosen song in one chosen video. That permission comes from the song's publisher, plus the recording's owner if you use an existing recording.

Four places this goes wrong

• "The venue has a license, so I can film the night and post it." A venue's license is about music performed in the room. ASCAP counts live or recorded performance in a bar, restaurant, hotel or store among the public performances it licenses. Your video is a recording with the music fixed to picture. That is the sync right, and ASCAP says the publisher licenses it.
• "The TV station has a license, so my ad is covered." ASCAP lists songs or background music performed as part of a movie or TV program among the performances it licenses, which is what lets a broadcaster air the program. The producer of the program or ad still gets sync permission from the publisher.
• "YouTube and Instagram pay for music, so my upload is fine." ASCAP's checklist says that if you only post your video on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or another social site, you will generally not need a performance license of your own, because those platforms obtain theirs. That is only the performance part. It says nothing about whether you may put a particular song in your video. Our guides to YouTube intros and TikTok and Reels cover how platform libraries differ from music you pick yourself.
• "A sync license is all I need for my own site." If you stream or broadcast the finished video on your own website, mobile app or station, you are the one publicly performing it. ASCAP says you must then also secure public performance licenses. It is the one case where the sync side and the performance side both fall to you.

If you are the songwriter

Joining a PRO does not make it your sync agent. It collects performance royalties when your song is performed, including when a show airs, and passes them to you and your publisher. The sync fee itself is a deal between you, or your publisher, and the production. After broadcast, those royalties depend on the production filing a cue sheet, which we explain in cue sheets for songwriters.

A quick way to decide

• Playing music for guests in a shop, bar or at an event: public performance, normally covered by the venue's PRO licenses.
• Putting a song into a video: sync from the publisher, plus a master use license if you use an existing recording.
• Streaming that video on your own site or app: sync and master, plus performance licenses.
• Releasing your own recording of a song as audio only: a mechanical license for the copies. See mechanical licenses, explained.

Three questions to ask before you pay for any music

Whoever is selling, ask these in writing and keep the reply with your project files. Clear yeses are what a ready-to-use license looks like. A vague answer is a reason to ask again.

• Does this cover putting the music in a video, which is sync, or only playing it?
• Does it include the recording as well as the song?
• Does it cover every place the video will be shown, including my own site, paid ads or broadcast?

What to do next

Work out which of those situations you are really in. For a song in a video, follow the steps in how to get a sync license, or pick music that is already cleared. For a larger project, ask a music lawyer to read the deals.

Where Starchild fits

On Starchild, a standard license covers your own recording and release, your own videos (music videos, lyric videos, Reels and YouTube, monetized too), live performance, and promoting yourself and your music, including your own ads. Those uses are covered by the license itself. Ads for a brand or product, film, TV, brand deals and other commercial placements need a sync license. Every license comes with a certificate naming the writers, and starchild.music/verify checks it.

For picture projects, start at the sync licensing page. Adaptive sync licensing for film, TV, games and ads launches in fall 2026.

Sources

• ASCAP: A Checklist for Using Music in Film or Other Audio-Video Content
• ASCAP: Common Licensing Terms Defined
• U.S. Copyright Office: Title 17, Chapter 1, Subject Matter and Scope of Copyright (section 106)
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: Leadsinger, Inc. v. BMG Music Publishing (2008)
• BMI: Songview and BMI Repertoire search
• Tracks & Fields: Glossary of terms, P (Performance Rights Organisation)
• Tracks & Fields: Glossary of terms, C (Cue Sheet)