What Terrorbird Media does

Terrorbird Media is a privately held, Brooklyn-headquartered music marketing agency founded circa 2005 that serves independent artists and independent record labels with five interlocking service lines: Radio Promotion (College, Non-Commercial, Triple A, and Commercial Specialty formats across North America), Publicity (national and regional campaigns plus a dedicated UK Publicity offering), Digital Advertising (paid campaigns across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook), Sync Licensing (placement of master and composition rights into TV, film, ads, trailers, promos, video games, web content, and podcasts), and Publishing Administration (in-house North American royalty tracking, copyright protection, and creative services). The company also operates Terrorbird Originals, a custom music composition sub-brand for advertising projects, and runs an internship program.

The company is built on a curated catalog of 40+ independent record labels — including A24 Music, Domino, Epitaph, Sacred Bones, Kill Rock Stars, Carpark, Captured Tracks, Merge, Warp, Sub Pop-affiliated Hyperdub, and others — and a deep artist roster spanning Bikini Kill, Mitski, LCD Soundsystem, Big Thief, Tame Impala, Solange, Aphex Twin, Sade, Bjork, and many more. Distribution is delivered through a distributed team of 20+ members across 12 city offices in the US (Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Chicago, Seattle, Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Jersey City), Canada (Toronto), the UK (London), and France (Marzens).

Commercially, Terrorbird operates a professional services model with project- or campaign-based fees, complemented by licensing commissions and royalties from sync placements and publishing administration. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and services are quote-based. The publishing division reports a 95% client retention rate and has recovered 'millions' in previously unpaid royalties for songwriters worldwide. The company has achieved 'thousands' of sync placements across major brands and platforms including Apple, Walmart, Netflix, Pixar, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Universal Pictures, Ford, Under Armour, Fortnite, and The Sims 4. Ownership is founder-controlled (Jess Caragliano, CEO/Founder; George Corona, Co-Founder/Head of Publicity), with no disclosed institutional investment. The 2025 Tiger Bomb Promo partnership consolidated the radio promotion department, with Tiger Bomb founder Shil K. Patel joining as Radio Department Head.

Name

Terrorbird Media

Legal name

Terrorbird Media, LLC

Website

https://terrorbird.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Terrorbird Media is a Brooklyn-based independent music marketing agency offering radio promotion, publicity, digital advertising, sync licensing, publishing administration, and custom music services to indie artists and 40+ independent record labels across North America and Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sync Licensing Services: Licensing of master recordings and compositions for TV, film, ads, trailers, promos, video games, web content and podcasts. The company negotiates and clears rights to maximize revenue through licensing opportunities for their artist and label clients.
2. Publishing Administration: Publishing administration services for songwriters including seeking new opportunities for compositions, protecting copyrights, tracking royalties, and facilitating creative opportunities. They administer directly in North America with in-house royalty administration.
3. Radio Promotion: Radio promotion services covering College, Non-Commercial, Triple A, and Commercial Specialty campaigns across North America, driving airplay, rotation adds, chart results, tour promotion, and live sessions.
4. Publicity Services: National and regional campaigns for albums, tours, and festivals through relationships with media outlets including The New York Times, NPR, Pitchfork, Stereogum, and Bandcamp Daily.
5. Digital Advertising: Digital advertising campaigns across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook to increase views, drive streams, grow engagement, and improve playlist chances.
6. Custom Music (Terrorbird Originals): Custom music composition for advertising projects where licensed tracks won't do, creating music for global brands and agencies.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Terrorbird Media is an independent music marketing agency that provides radio promotion, publicity, digital advertising, sync licensing, and publishing administration services to independent artists and record labels. The company earns revenue by securing airplay, media coverage, advertising performance, sync placements in TV/film/ads/games, and royalties for its clients, while also offering custom music composition through its Terrorbird Originals division.

Product overview

Terrorbird Media is a music marketing and promotion company offering a suite of interconnected services for independent artists and labels. The company operates as a unified portfolio of specialized divisions including Radio Promotion (covering College, Non-Commercial, Triple A, and Commercial Specialty), Publicity (national/regional campaigns) and UK Publicity (targeting the British market), Digital Advertising (across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook), Sync Licensing (for TV, film, ads, video games), Publishing Administration (with in-house royalty management and song camps), and Terrorbird Originals (custom music creation for advertising). Founded by music industry obsessives, the company also runs an internship program for aspiring professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Terrorbird Originals: Custom music house focused on creating original music for advertising and brand projects, operating as an extension of the sync licensing team.

Products and services

• Radio Promotion Radio promotion service covering College, Non-Commercial, Triple A, and Commercial Specialty campaigns across North America, driving airplay, rotation adds, chart results, tour promotion, and live sessions through relationships with Music Directors and Programmers at hundreds of stations.
• Publicity National and regional publicity campaigns for albums, tours, and festivals through relationships with media outlets including The New York Times, NPR, Pitchfork, Stereogum, and Bandcamp Daily.
• UK Publicity UK-focused press campaigns designed to introduce and break artists in the British market, working across key tastemakers including The Guardian, Dazed, and The Line of Best Fit.
• Digital Advertising Digital advertising campaigns across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook using bespoke targeting to increase views, drive streams, grow engagement, and improve playlist placement for artists and labels.
• Sync Licensing Sync licensing services representing record labels and independent artists for licensing opportunities in TV, film, ads, trailers, promos, video games, web content, and podcasts, with a focus on left-of-center voices and a catalog spanning 40+ independent labels.
• Publishing Administration Music publishing administration including copyright protection, royalty collection, creative services, and song camps, with in-house North American royalty administration and artist-friendly contracts achieving a 95% client retention rate.
• Terrorbird Originals (Custom Music) Custom music house creating original music for advertising projects where licensed tracks are not suitable, featuring a roster of professional composers who write music for picture for global brands and agencies including Ford.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% client retention rate for publishing services
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers31 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Tiger Bomb PromocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025In 2025, Terrorbird partnered with Tiger Bomb Promo to unify two powerhouse radio departments into one team with shared values, vision, and taste. This partnership expanded their radio promotion capabilities across North America, combining their 20-year reputation with Tiger Bomb's expertise.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• BMG Rights Management: Major music publisher and rights administrator offering publishing, sync and recording services globally — a much larger incumbent across Terrorbird's publishing and licensing verticals.
• Create Music Group: Large independent music company providing distribution, publishing administration and rights management at scale — a broader incumbent in the same services space as Terrorbird.
• The Orchard (Sony Music): Full-service independent music distribution and artist services company owned by Sony Music — a broad incumbent serving indie labels and artists with marketing, distribution and sync capabilities similar to Terrorbird's.

Direct peers

• Marmoset: Boutique sync licensing agency and platform focused on independent artists and labels, serving brands, agencies and productions — directly comparable to Terrorbird's sync and licensing model.
• Kobalt Music Group: Music publishing administrator and rights management platform serving independent songwriters and labels — overlapping with Terrorbird's publishing administration and royalty collection services.
• Downtown Music: Music services company offering publishing administration, sync licensing and royalty services to independent artists and labels — directly comparable to Terrorbird's publishing and licensing stack.
• United Masters: Distribution and artist services platform for independent musicians offering marketing, promotion and brand sync opportunities — overlapping with Terrorbird's indie artist marketing and sync services.
• Sentric Music: Independent music publishing administrator offering royalty collection, sync and creative services to songwriters and labels — directly comparable to Terrorbird's publishing administration offering.
• Songtradr: Sync licensing platform and agency representing large catalogs of independent music for placement in film, TV, ads and games — directly overlapping Terrorbird's sync licensing business with a similar indie-leaning catalog.

Emerging players

• TuneCore: Self-serve distribution and artist services platform owned by Believe — competes with Terrorbird at the indie artist marketing and promotion layer, particularly for emerging artists who might otherwise engage a boutique agency.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/terrorbirdmedia
• Instagraminstagram.com/terrorbirdmedia
• Facebookfacebook.com/terrorbirdmedia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/terrorbird-media-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Terrorbird Media