Upright Music
Upright Music is a Copenhagen-based music supervision and licensing firm, founded in 1999, providing music search, sync licensing, clearance, and bespoke composition services to film, television, advertising, and digital-production clients across the Nordics and Europe.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersCopenhagen, Denmark
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Upright Music does
Upright Music is a Copenhagen-headquartered music supervision and licensing company founded in 1999 by Jeppe Kaltoft, who remains CEO and Executive Music Supervisor. The firm delivers music for film, television, advertising, and digital productions, with a stated 25+ years of operating history and a customer base spanning fashion brands (Reserved, Han Kjøbenhavn, Vero Moda, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, Baum Und Pferdgarten), large enterprises (IKEA, Motorola, Under Armour, Lenovo, SAS, Etisalat, Audi Norway), broadcasters and producers (TV 2, "Omerta 6/12", "Bordertown", "Margrete - Queen of the North", Fantastic Machine), public-sector and tourism clients (Visit Norway, Det Kongelige Teater), and consumer-goods and healthcare brands (Chr. Hansen, Achmea, Koskenkorva, COOP Naturaplan).
The core technology is search.upright-music.com, a proprietary music search and licensing platform providing access to a repertoire of nearly one million tracks sourced from sync labels worldwide. This platform is paired with professional services covering music supervision (creative search and selection), synchronization licensing (rights management across media types, territories, and durations), commercial music clearance (approvals, estimates, backup tracks), and, via sister company Silverdrum, bespoke composition. The firm has added a Head of Product & Engineering, suggesting ongoing productization of the search platform, though no AI/ML capabilities, APIs, or SDKs are currently disclosed.
The go-to-market is sales-led, with dedicated music search and licensing teams organized by territory across Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Finland, the Baltics, and Poland (Warsaw office). Pricing is quote-based, governed by media type, territory, duration, and exclusivity, and structured around multi-year client relationships. Revenue is derived from licensing royalties and professional services fees. The company is founder-owned and privately held, with no disclosed venture capital or private equity investment. It has not pursued acquisitions, public listings, or material restructuring events.
Upright Music firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Upright Music
- Legal name
- Upright Music
- Website
- https://upright-music.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Upright Music is a Copenhagen-based music supervision and licensing firm, founded in 1999, providing music search, sync licensing, clearance, and bespoke composition services to film, television, advertising, and digital-production clients across the Nordics and Europe.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Upright Music industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Music Licensing Services
- NAICS
- Music Publishers (51223), Music Publishers (512230), Sound Recording Studios (51224)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Music Supervision Services (MPAIALAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Brand Partnerships & Music Placement Services (Non-Exclusive Brand Deals) (MPAIALAM), Music Rights Administration & Royalty Processing (Admin, Accounting, Statements) (MPAIAKAD), Public Performance/Neighboring Rights for AV Uses (Cue Sheet & Reporting Services) (MPAIALAK)
Keywords
Where Upright Music is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Copenhagen
- HQ country
- Denmark
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Upright Music business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Music Licensing: Synchronization licensing of music tracks for use in film, television, advertising, and digital content. The company works with sync labels worldwide and manages the licensing process for clients.
- Music Supervision: Professional music supervision services including music search, selection, and creative consultation for productions.
- Music Clearance: Commercial music clearance services including obtaining approvals, providing estimates, and finding backup options to meet production needs.
- Bespoke Composition: Original music composition services through sister company Silverdrum for film, TV, and advertising.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom music licensing solutions tailored to client needs |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Upright Music product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Upright Music is a music supervision and licensing firm that finds, licenses, and clears music for film, advertising, TV, and digital productions. It operates a searchable online repertoire of nearly one million tracks and provides professional music search, synchronization licensing, commercial clearance, and original composition services through its sister company Silverdrum.
Product overview
Upright Music operates as a music licensing and supervision company offering an integrated suite of services. The core product is the Search Music platform (search.upright-music.com), a proprietary music search and licensing tool with access to nearly a million tracks. This platform is supported by complementary service offerings including music search and supervision, music licensing, music clearance, and bespoke music composition through sister company Silverdrum. The company serves film, advertising, TV, and digital media productions across Scandinavia and Europe.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Search Music Platform Online searchable music database (search.upright-music.com) enabling clients to browse and license from a repertoire of nearly one million tracks across all genres. Designed for music supervisors and creatives working on film, advertising, TV, and digital productions.
- Music Supervision Professional music supervision services that find the right track — from earworms to hidden gems to timeless hits — to support productions within budget and deadline constraints for film, advertising, TV, and digital media clients.
- Music Licensing
- Music Clearance
- Bespoke Music Composition (via Silverdrum)
Companies that use Upright Music
Customer profileNamed customers20 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Upright Music technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Upright Music partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- SilverdrumcoreSister company and strategic partner for bespoke music composition. Silverdrum represents talented composers from the Nordics specializing in original scores for film, TV, and advertising. This partnership extends Upright Music's service offering from licensing existing tracks to creating custom compositions.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Upright Music competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Artlist: Subscription-based music and sound effects licensing platform serving filmmakers, advertisers, and content creators globally. Comparable to Upright as a music licensing provider for film, advertising, and digital content, differing in its self-serve SaaS model versus Upright's supervision-led service.
- Marmoset: Music licensing agency and platform serving brands, agencies, and filmmakers with curated independent music. Comparable to Upright as a boutique music supervision and licensing firm in the same advertising and film segment, also operating agency-supervision plus search platform motions.
- Musicbed: Music licensing platform focused on film, advertising, and content creators with a curated catalog of independent artists. Closely comparable to Upright Music in serving the same enterprise advertising and film production customer base with sync licensing plus music supervision.
- Epidemic Sound: Subscription music licensing platform built for content creators, brands, and agencies, with cleared rights for YouTube, social, and advertising. Comparable to Upright as a music licensing company serving advertising and digital content customers with cleared catalog.
- Songtradr: Music licensing marketplace and rights administration platform for brands, agencies, and media companies. Comparable to Upright as a B2B music licensing provider with catalog aggregation and enterprise sales motion.
Broad incumbents
- Audio Network: Global production music and sync licensing company serving film, TV, advertising, and digital media. Comparable to Upright in the sync licensing space, but with a larger owned-catalog footprint and broader geographic reach.
- Universal Production Music: Major-label-owned production music library serving film, TV, advertising, and digital content globally. Comparable to Upright as a sync licensing source, but operates at much larger scale with owned rights versus Upright's third-party-label aggregation model.
- BMG Production Music: Production music arm of BMG, offering pre-cleared music catalogs for broadcast, advertising, and digital use. Comparable to Upright as a production music and licensing provider for enterprise media customers.
Others
- Synchtank: Music rights administration and metadata platform for publishers, labels, and sync teams. Comparable to Upright as an adjacent ecosystem participant in music rights and licensing operations, though serving rightsholders rather than brand clients directly.
Emerging players
- Uppbeat: Subscription music licensing platform for content creators and brands offering royalty-free tracks with cleared rights. Comparable to Upright's licensing motion for digital and content customers, particularly in the mid-market segment.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Upright Music social profiles
Digital presenceUpright Music financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Upright Music leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Upright Music funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Upright Music M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Upright Music
What does Upright Music do?
Upright Music is a music supervision and licensing firm that finds, licenses, and clears music for film, advertising, TV, and digital productions. It operates a searchable online repertoire of nearly one million tracks and provides professional music search, synchronization licensing, commercial clearance, and original composition services through its sister company Silverdrum.
Is Upright Music a public or private company?
Upright Music is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Upright Music founded?
Upright Music was founded in 1999. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Upright Music based?
Upright Music is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the Europe region.
How does Upright Music make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Music Licensing is the primary driver. The others are music Supervision, music Clearance and bespoke Composition.
Who are Upright Music's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Artlist, Marmoset, Musicbed, Epidemic Sound and Songtradr. Broad incumbents are Audio Network, Universal Production Music and BMG Production Music. Synchtank is listed as an others. Uppbeat is listed as an emerging player.
Does Upright Music have an API?
No public API is recorded for Upright Music.
What industry is Upright Music in?
Upright Music's product category is Music Licensing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAIALAB, Music Supervision Services, with a secondary code of MPAIALAM, Brand Partnerships & Music Placement Services (Non-Exclusive Brand Deals). Its NAICS code is 51223 and its SIC code is 7370.