FAQ+: Tunefind Talks Official vs. Unofficial Music Sources

Do you ever wonder how songs get verified on Tunefind? Are you curious how Tunefind knows exactly what songs are licensed for your favorite TV show or movie? In this FAQ+, Tunefind will break down the Official vs. Unofficial resources used to populate our expansive database.


Official

Tunefind does extensive research to find verified placements if lists aren’t provided. But the most official and authoritative entries come directly from those who select the music. Sometimes, it’s as simple as official soundtrack or score albums being released and streaming end credits.

Tunefind leans on reliable sources to continually update our database coverage of popular TV shows, movies, and video games that feature licensed music and sometimes original score. The most accurate way to credit sync placements is through the people who select and license those tracks personally, the music supervisors. Tunefind has relationships with hundreds of music supervisors who we check in with to provide official song lists and verify user entries on the site. 

In addition to direct communication with music supervisors, many music supervisors, networks/streaming services, and artists share their song placements on social media. Tunefind follows many accounts to keep up with the fast-paced entertainment releases across multiple social platforms and Spotify for official playlists.


Trusted 

Tunefind administrators have the ability to enter tracks with a boosted vote, somewhere between an authoritative entry and a non-authoritative entry. Tunefind uses this option to submit sync placements provided by agencies, labels, and publishers. 

Labels and publishers post song placements on company Twitter and Instagram accounts, which Tunefind monitors. There can be various levels of legitimacy so, when in doubt, Tunefind admins will remove the authoritative score from entries and give it a slight score boost to enhance the speed of voting verification. 


Unofficial

Your personal playlists are wonderful, but they are not considered official resources. Unless a playlist comes from a reliable, industry source, they are treated as unofficial. YouTube is another unreliable source. Often, YouTube includes unofficial song titles that are made up by the person who has ripped clips from a show or movie. Tunefind does not promote the sharing of these ripped YouTube links because it’s harmful to the music teams and artists who work tirelessly to create the songs from your favorite content. 

Another red flag for non-authoritative resources includes competing websites. No one we’ll mention by name, but we see you. 

On Tunefind, user entries are submitted with a user’s corresponding user weight attached to them. Tunefind admins also have the ability to remove all weight from an entry if it comes from an unofficial song list from various resources. Then songs are left open for voting so fans can help get song placements verified on Tunefind.


It’s official!

We hope this FAQ+ is helpful and informative! If you have any questions left unanswered, please feel free to reach out. Check out Tunefind’s FAQ and About sections for more information on the inner workings of Tunefind. Check out Tunefind News for more information about Tunefind and popular content.

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