What does a music supervisor actually look for?
Q&A
Jan 13, 2026
Music supervisors look for songs that complement the visual media they're working on while checking a few key boxes: professional production quality, clear rights ownership, emotional authenticity, and versatility. They need tracks that sound polished and unique but can still adapt to different scenes and moods. Most importantly, they want music that can be cleared quickly, which means you need to own or control both the master recording and the composition rights. Supervisors also prioritize songs that feel emotionally honest and fit naturally into the story they're telling, whether it's for TV, film, advertising, or video games.
Learning to create sync-ready music means mastering professional mixing, arrangement, and sound design. Futureproof Music School teaches you these exact skills through live mentor sessions and Kadence (Futureproof's AI music coach), who can analyze your tracks and help you achieve the polished, placement-ready sound that supervisors are searching for.
Should I send my music supervisor contact stems or just the final mix?
Always send the fully mixed and mastered track first. Music supervisors want to hear your best work immediately, and they'll request stems separately if they're interested in licensing your track for a specific project.
How long should my track be to catch a music supervisor's attention?
Keep instrumental sections under 30 seconds and aim for a total track length between 2-3 minutes. Supervisors need music that fits tight scene timings, so shorter, flexible arrangements with clear edit points work best for sync placements.
Do music supervisors prefer exclusive rights or non-exclusive licensing deals?
Most supervisors work with both, but non-exclusive deals give you more flexibility to license the same track multiple times. However, exclusive deals for major placements (like national commercials or film trailers) typically pay significantly more upfront.
Founder of Futureproof Music School with 20+ years in music technology and education. John combines technical expertise with a passion for empowering the next generation of producers.