Music Supervisors Are Essential to Syching Music to Visual Media, and Demand is Rising Behind every piece of music we see on-screen is a music supervisor who worked to make it happen.
By
Michael Blanding
December 11, 2024
Illustration by Eric Palma
Josh Sutherland BM '19 was up against the clock. A music supervisor for the NFL, he was working to clear a package of songs that would accompany players as they walked out for the draft. The one he really wanted to license was a new song, TEKA -a catchy electronic track with a driving beat by DJ Snake and Peso Pluma.
Josh Sutherland BM '19
Image by Jeff Lewis
The only problem was that the track was so new that not all of the rights for it were settled. So many artists have friends, producers, and managers that are involved in the writing process, Sutherland says-in this case, 11 writers and seven publishers just for this one song. With the draft days away, Sutherland set to work, negotiating separately with each rightsholder. One owned just 0.5% of the song. In the end, he was able to clear the song in the nick of time.
It wasn't the first time Sutherland had to play detective and diplomat in the name of getting the rights to a track. More often than not, you find out people own a certain percentage of a song, and you have to do the digging, stalking them to get them to respond, says Sutherland, who helped oversee music for Max's Euphoria and Rap Sh!t. And they may want a little more money, so you've got to put your budgeting and negotiating skills to use.
Invisible but Essential Sinking into the couch and flicking on the latest movie or show on Netflix or Amazon Prime, we may take for granted the soundtracks that lilt or pump behind the action on-screen, but every bit of music that appears on our screens is there because of a music supervisor, who both consults with the director or showrunner to choose songs and then performs the painstaking behind-the-scenes work to clear the rights to use them.
A music supervisor is a bridge between the creative and administrative, says Christopher Wares, assistant chair of Berklee's Music Business/Management Department. They have to have an encyclopedic knowledge of music and genres, as well as a deep understanding of who controls the publishing rights.
Abbey Hendrix BM '13
Image by Bianca Poletti
Also known as sync, music supervision includes overseeing the synchronization between music and some form of visual media. With the increasing number of shows on streaming channels such as Apple TV+, Hulu, Paramount+, and Peacock, music supervisors have become highly sought-after, and the field is increasingly attractive to those who love both music and visual media. As music proliferates into more and more forms of media, the field has expanded into advertising, sports, video games, social media, virtual-reality experiences, and even exercise equipment. If you are on a bike watching a class and music is playing in the background, a music supervisor was involved in making that happen, Wares says.
While a director sometimes has a clear view of the music they want, and only needs the supervisor to clear the rights, for others a supervisor is a true collaborator in coming up with the musical signature of the project, says Thomas Golubic, a veteran who has worked on shows including Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and The Walking Dead.
Professor LaMarcus Miller
Image by David Christopher Lee
We are brought in by the network to essentially build out the soundscape for a TV show or film, says Professor LaMarcus Miller, who worked as a music supervisor for The Wonder Years and RapCaviar Presents, and recently for a documentary on Jim Henson and the Muppets. He also served as head of operations for the Guild of Music Supervisors in 2023.
For Six Feet Under, Golubic made playlists for each of the characters to help him get inside their heads. The process really helps you think deeply about a character-what is it that really moves them, he says. Sometimes the task of a music supervisor can get quite complicated, as with a recent episode of the show Poker Face, a crime procedural with a case-of-the-week structure. Showrunner Rian Johnson created a plot involving a band with a hit song ripped off from the theme of the '80s sitcom Benson. We had to figure out how to clear the existing copyright, and then hire a band to write a new song similar to it, but also viable as a hit, says Golubic, who has come to Berklee several times to present to students.
Assistant Chair Christopher Wares
Image by Kelly Davidson
Copyright comprises two separate parts: the publishing rights to the composition and the performance rights to the recording. While sometimes a supervisor can go to a label for one-stop rights, more often they need to play sleuth, first scouring databases such as ASCAP or BMI and then branching out to internet searches and phone calls to track down owners. I've made some insane Sherlock Holmes moves-for example, calling someone's second cousin's church-because I'm looking to clear an arrangement, says Sami Posner '13, a freelance music supervisor with Blue Lily Music.
After tracking down rightsholders, music supervisors then need to negotiate rates, which can vary wildly depending on how long the song will be used and in what context, as well as where the broadcast will air. Sometimes, Miller says, music supervisors need to square a creator's lofty ideas with the reality of how much the desired music actually costs. A lesser-known artist used in the background might cost $5,000 all-in. But a recognizable artist can cost between $40,000 and $60,000, while a major-label artist such as Michael Jackson, The Beatles, or Beyonc can easily run six figures.
Sami Posner '13
Image by Josh Solomon
Ma
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture -Zac Fields, Fox Sports, SVP of Graphic Technology and Integration...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
Music Supervisors Are Essential to Syching Music to Visual Media, and Demand is Rising Behind every piece of music we see on-screen is a music supervisor who worked to make it happen.
