How "sync music" is taking over the music industry

You may not know what it’s called, but you hear it everywhere. Sync music, also known as library music, is tailor-made to play in the background of advertisements, social media videos, and reality TV shows. And increasingly, it’s a path to middle-class stability for working musicians, who these days are less likely to make a living from touring and putting out albums.

“A whole lot of working musicians—even artists that you’ve heard of—either dabble or their day job is making sync music,” said Ryan Bradley, who wrote about sync music for the New York Times.

“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal talked to Bradley about his investigation into the world of sync music.

To listen to their conversation, use the audio player above