Certain songs and artists will be expensive for a production to licence...
Cover recordings can be a more affordable way to use popular music but publishing will still likely be expensive so be mindful when pitching covers to briefs with smaller budgets.
As you own the master recording, you will receive the master fee for a placement (minus Music Gateway’s commission). The sync fee will go to the original publishers.
Placements for original songs are usually done on an MFN basis (Most Favoured Nation) which means the master fee is equal to the sync fee, however, cover recordings are often licensed non-MFN for a smaller fee since they’re not the original artist.
The more unique a cover is then the more likely it is that clients will pay more.