curvedarrow.co.uk

What It Is

Curved Arrow is a UK-based music supervision and sync licensing company focused on managing the music licensing process for commercial projects. Its services cover advertising, film and television, radio, podcasts, games, and more. Case studies on the website include Virgin Atlantic, Netflix-related programs, Martin Scorsese Presents ‘Made in England’, Tinder, Quaker Oats, and Dolly Parton documentary programming.

Core Capabilities

Its core offering is not a self-service music library, but consultative music licensing. Curved Arrow can conduct creative music searches, selecting tracks based on a project’s tone and budget, while investigating the required rights costs, track availability, and previous usage history. When a client already has target tracks in mind, the team can confirm rights ownership, negotiate fees, push approvals forward, and advise on timelines, budgets, and the different rights that need to be cleared. If licensing the original track is too expensive or the creative direction changes, it can also work through its sister company Mcasso to quickly produce cover versions, adaptations, or re-recordings, reducing overall licensing costs or creating a new musical expression.

Pricing and Copyright

The website does not disclose fixed pricing or packages, and the service is clearly customized on a per-project basis. Since sync licensing fees are typically affected by a track’s popularity, usage territory, medium, term, and rights holders, its pricing transparency is limited but in line with industry norms. In terms of copyright, Curved Arrow’s value lies in helping clients identify and clear complex rights, rather than simply selling royalty-free music.

Pros and Cons

The main advantage is the team’s depth of experience: Oliver Jay has over 10 years of licensing experience and specializes in music copyright, while Lisa McCaffery has more than 30 years of industry experience and is especially skilled at tracking down rights for obscure tracks. Their industry contacts and cross-era music knowledge make them well suited to complex or demanding projects. The downside is that the website lacks information on pricing, turnaround times, deliverables, and music library size, and it does not show online collaboration or self-service search capabilities. For small and midsize creators who simply want to buy low-cost background music quickly, the service may be too service-heavy and customized.

Who It’s For and Access from China

Curved Arrow is better suited to advertising agencies, film and TV producers, branded content teams, documentary and program production teams, and projects that need to legally use well-known music or handle licensing for multiple tracks. Access from China cannot be determined from the main text and is marked as unknown; for cross-border projects, it is recommended to confirm the service scope, licensing territories, and payment methods by email in advance.