What a YouTube sync licence actually costs, the five things that move the price, and where the big four-figure numbers come from.
Yes, and the reasons people think they do not (credit, 30 seconds, fair use) are the four most expensive misunderstandings in online video.
One is a payment structure, the other is a permission. Why "royalty-free" does not mean free, and the one clause to read before you rely on a subscription.
Why podcasts are the harder case, the five clauses to check on any podcast music licence, and what the standard licence does and does not cover.
Every term that appears on a music licence, defined in one sentence each, then explained in the one sentence that actually matters.
Several big libraries added AI music generation in 2026. Most catalogues do not label it. How to check what you are actually licensing, and the three situations where it genuinely matters.
Business accounts only see the Commercial Music Library. What that licence covers, why it stops at the edge of TikTok, and when you need a licence of your own.
Instagram matches audio automatically. Why professional and business accounts lose tracks that personal accounts keep, and the fix that survives repurposing.
Direct, agency, or marketplace. The three routes to licensing an Australian independent track, what each actually costs in time and money, and how to check a licence is real.
Epidemic Sound and Artlist are subscription catalogues, not marketplaces, so the licence you hold depends on an active plan. cadential. sells one track at a time, with no subscription, no AI, and 80% of the fee going to the artist.
Soundstripe is a subscription library: pay for ongoing access to a commissioned catalogue. cadential. is the other model: one real, independent-artist track, one fee, no plan to keep paying.