Most music library platforms are built for volume — maximum catalog size, maximum subscriber count, minimum friction. Top Shelf Music was built for a different problem: finding music that actually fits a brand, in a catalog where your competitor isn’t running the same track this quarter. Here’s how they compare for advertising use.
| Factor | Top Shelf Music | Artlist | Epidemic Sound | Musicbed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalog size | 4,700+ hand-curated tracks | ~500,000+ tracks | ~40,000+ tracks | ~40,000+ tracks |
| Curation approach | Hand-picked by working music supervisors for cultural fit and brand utility | Submissions-based; algorithm-sorted | Submissions-based; broad genre coverage | Curated, quality-focused; more editorial than Artlist |
| Covers paid advertising? | Yes — built specifically for commercial brand use | Not on standard plan. "Business" plan required, cost varies by revenue. | Not on standard plan. "Commercial" plan required. | Not on standard plan. "Brand" license required. |
| Rights structure | Both sync and master pre-cleared. Single-transaction licensing. | Both sides covered on appropriate plan | Both sides covered on appropriate plan | Both sides covered on appropriate plan |
| Exclusivity available? | Yes — category exclusivity negotiable per project | No | No | Limited; case-by-case |
| Competitor collision risk | Low — catalog is curated specifically to avoid overexposure | High — same tracks used widely across brands | High — platform optimized for volume use | Medium — smaller catalog reduces collision somewhat |
| Artist economics | Artist-controlled terms and equitable revenue splits | Flat buyout model in most cases | Revenue-share model; criticism about artist compensation | Better than Epidemic; artist-friendly positioning |
| Search capability | Prompt search, MP3 audio-match, editorial playlists | Genre/mood filters, playlist browse | Mood/genre filters, stem preview | Mood/genre filters, editorial curation |
| Built by | Elad Marish and Michael Frick — music supervisors who built the library they wished existed while doing supervision at campaign level | Founded as a creator/filmmaker platform | Founded as a YouTube creator platform | Founded by a filmmaker for film/video use |
| Proven brand placements | Nike, Meta, Amazon, Obama Foundation × Jordan Brand, Golden State Warriors, Dunkin' | Broad use across YouTube, social, and corporate video | Broad use; strong in content creation | Film, TV, advertising; quality-focused clients |
Every major music library platform has a standard subscription tier and a commercial/brand tier. The standard tier typically does NOT cover paid advertising media. If you’re running paid social, paid digital, or broadcast advertising on a standard Artlist, Epidemic Sound, or Musicbed subscription, you are likely underinsured — and using the music without the correct license, regardless of how good the track is.
Top Shelf Music is built specifically for brand and agency use. Licensing is scoped to your actual media plan from the start. There is no standard-vs-commercial tier confusion.
Artlist and Epidemic Sound are excellent platforms for content creators, internal video, social content without significant paid media budgets, and projects where music is background texture rather than a brand voice element. If your agency is producing high-volume content where speed and low cost matter more than cultural specificity and exclusivity, mainstream platforms do the job efficiently.
Top Shelf Music is built for projects where: the music choice matters to the brand’s cultural positioning; the brand can’t afford to sound like everyone else; exclusivity needs to be a real option; the license needs to clearly cover paid advertising; or the creative team wants to discover music that nobody else in the category is using. Explore the Top Shelf Music platform.
