How sync music became the soundtrack to our lives

A song used on Love Island — “Love’s a War,” by Hendric Buenck — resisted identification on streaming services, a mystery that led to a broader realization: the same kind of music was turning up everywhere. Once noticed, it popped up behind YouTube videos, TikTok tutorials, commercials and podcasts, so commonly that it felt less like background and more like an omnipresent soundtrack.

Called sync, library or production music, this is not a genre but a category defined by function: music made to be paired with video. Its ubiquity follows the rise of video across screens of every size. Some cues are deliberately unobtrusive, like Bensound’s “Sunny,” while others have shifted toward more electronic textures; an APM Music playlist even carries the blunt title “Music for Corporate and Technology.” The economic landscape has pushed many musicians toward sync work.

Dylan Callaghan, a songwriter and producer who moved from indie bands into production music, described it as steady work and a reliable revenue stream.

sync music, production music, library music, love island, hendric buenck, streaming services, youtube, tiktok, apm music, dylan callaghan