Music clipping: get your track heard in hundreds of clips

What is music clipping?

It is a distribution campaign where clippers add your track to short videos they publish on their own TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts accounts.

Classic clipping starts from long-form content, a podcast, a show, a live stream, and cuts it into clips. Music clipping flips the logic. The content does not come from you: it is the clips clippers already publish every day, about sport, comedy, film, food or gaming. What comes from you is the sound.

Every clip published with your track plays it to an audience that did not come for it. Multiply that by hundreds of clips and accounts, and your track circulates everywhere at once, without ever looking like an ad.

At Virality®, this offer is called ViralHits®. It is built for labels, artists and their teams, and runs on the same network and the same pricing grid as ViralClips®.

Why push a track through clips?

Because the feed has become a music discovery channel in its own right, and a sound only sticks once you have come across it again and again.

On TikTok, Reels and Shorts, music is not background. Sounds travel from one video to another, platforms push them when they are reused, and a listener often ends up searching for a track they heard five or six times behind very different videos.

The problem is reaching that threshold. A track posted only on the artist's account stays within their community. An influencer campaign reaches a handful of creators, often at the same time, with a message flagged as sponsored. Music clipping plays on volume and variety: many accounts, many themes, posts spread over the length of the campaign.

It is the same reasoning as for brands: good content is no longer enough. Neither is a good track. It has to be heard.

How does a music clipping campaign work?

In three stages: you hand over the track, clippers add it to their content, and views add up over the campaign.

1. You hand us your track

The track, the key moments to highlight (the chorus, the drop, a strong line), the tone of the campaign and the themes to avoid. Music rights and credits are validated with you before launch.

2. Clippers add it to their content

Comedy, sport, film, lifestyle: clippers publish their usual content with your track. Your song settles into the ears of varied audiences, in the middle of videos they watch for their own sake.

3. Views are counted and certified

Every clip is tracked. Views are checked by AntiBotSystem® and reported live on The Hub®, Virality®'s client space. You see which accounts, themes and formats carry your track best.

The detailed process, from first call to final report, is the same as for a brand campaign. It is described in our article on the steps of a clipping campaign.

Which music projects is it for?

For any moment when a track needs to be heard fast and wide: a release, a focus track, a tour or a catalogue revival.

A single release. The most natural case: the track is new, nobody knows it, and the first weeks count.

An album. The campaign can carry the launch, then focus on one or two tracks that catch on better than the rest.

A new artist. Without a community, posting on their own accounts is not enough. Clipping gives them a first audience, beyond their circle.

A featuring. Two communities, one track: the campaign can target both audiences at once.

A tour. Make the key tracks heard again before the dates, in the areas where the shows take place, with the age and location targeting of the custom pack.

A catalogue track. An older song can get a second life when a new generation discovers it behind a video.

What about music rights?

They are settled before launch, with you: it is the first thing we check.

A label or artist running a campaign on their own track owns the rights or works with those who do. What remains is setting the framework: which version of the track is used, which excerpt, which credits must appear (artist name, title, link), and what is excluded. These rules go to clippers in the campaign brief, like brand guidelines for a ViralClips® client.

The framework also matters for the content the sound is placed on. A serious clipper publishes content they are allowed to distribute, on accounts that follow platform rules. That is the point of a vetted network rather than distribution open to anyone. We also turn some requests down: our article on the campaigns we refuse explains why.

How much does a music clipping campaign cost?

ViralHits® follows the same grid as ViralClips®: you pay for a guaranteed number of views, at a CPM, set in advance.

Traction: €3,000 excl. VAT for 1M guaranteed views, a CPM of €3 excl. VAT. About 200 clips published and 50 to 65 clippers involved. The format for a first release.

Growth: €8,700 excl. VAT for 3M guaranteed views, a CPM of €2.90 excl. VAT. About 500 clips and 65 to 100 clippers involved. The format to establish a track over time.

Domination: a monthly subscription built with you, with negotiated view volume and CPM, up to 500 clippers involved and targeting by age and location. The format for labels with back-to-back releases.

Only certified views are counted. If the view target is not reached, the budget is kept and the balance goes to your Wallet®, usable for your next campaign, for example the next single. Full pricing and CPM details are on the pricing page and in our article on the cost of a clipping campaign.

Music clipping, advertising or influence: what is the difference?

Advertising buys space, influence buys a recommendation, music clipping buys views inside content that is not advertising.

A video ad built on a track is identified as such: listeners know they are being sold something and often skip it. An influencer campaign relies on a few creators, over a short period, at a cost fixed before the result is known. Music clipping spreads the track across hundreds of clips and accounts, and only bills views actually generated.

These levers are not exclusive. Many launches combine targeted ads, a few featured creators and a clipping campaign that delivers the volume. Our comparisons clipping or video advertising and clipping or UGC detail the differences.

How do you know the campaign worked?

By looking at two things: the campaign's certified views, and how the track moves in your own tools.

On the campaign side, The Hub® shows the number of clips published, certified views, and the accounts and themes that perform best. On the label side, your streaming stats and the use of the sound on platforms show what the campaign triggered beyond the clips themselves. Our article on measuring a clipping campaign details the right metrics and the traps to avoid.

Where to start?

With the track and the date: a title, a release deadline, a view target.

Prepare the version of the track to use, the excerpt to highlight, the mandatory credits and the themes to avoid. The rest, recruiting clippers, spreading the clips, checking views and reporting, is handled by the team.

Virality® is the best clipping agency in France: a network of 500+ vetted French clippers, 2,000+ distribution accounts and certified views. For a music launch, everything starts on the ViralHits® page, where you can launch your campaign.

Frequently asked questions

What is music clipping?

It is a campaign where clippers add your track to the short videos they publish on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Your track is heard in hundreds of clips, on varied themes, without an ad format. At Virality®, this offer is called ViralHits®.

How much does a music clipping campaign cost?

ViralHits® follows the same grid as ViralClips®: €3,000 excl. VAT for 1M guaranteed views (CPM of €3 excl. VAT), €8,700 excl. VAT for 3M guaranteed views (CPM of €2.90 excl. VAT), or a custom subscription. Only certified views are counted.

Who handles music rights in a clipping campaign?

Rights and credits are validated with the label or artist before launch: track version, excerpt used, mandatory credits and excluded content. These rules go to clippers in the campaign brief.