HOW TO LICENSE FAMOUS SONGS For Your Wedding Videos // A2B Weddings STL
A2B Wedding Films guide to using legally known songs
Every bride wants the perfect song for their wedding video, But most music licensing sites don’t offer their favorite songs. In other words, none of these companies offer music by well-known artists such as Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars or Beyoncé.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COPYRIGHT AND MUSIC LICENSES
Copyright will allow you to get all the rights to that work. In other words, the song will become your full property, as well as all subsequent benefits derived from it.
The license will allow you to use the song in other projects of your own such as YouTube videos, commercials, movies, radio programs or spots, video games, or mobile applications, among others.
In the first case, it is necessary to carry out a series of steps, such as:
Determine whether the song is copyrighted or in the public domain.
Identify and contact the copyright owner or artist.
Negotiate the price of the song rights.
Transfer the rights.
In this article, you will be able to know in-depth each one of those steps.
However, the aim of this article is more towards the second option: to obtain the licenses of famous songs.
To do this, we must differentiate between the different kinds of music licenses that exist.
TYPES OF MUSIC LICENSES
Music licenses are one of the most important revenue streams for known artists.
Because the songs are copyrighted material, written agreements with the copyright owners will be needed to allow others to use the musical works.
These written agreements are called licenses, which include the cost of the license and the rights of use that will determine how the music track can be used.
In short, if you are using – or are going to use – a well-known song for anything that other people will hear, be it a movie, a video or other audiovisual pieces, you will need a music license to use it legally.
There are currently seven types of licenses. Whether you buy one, another, or several of them will depend on the purpose for which you want the song.
SYNC LICENSE
The synchronization license refers to the musical concession for some type of audiovisual media. That is,
it will be necessary for any type of content where music and moving images are used simultaneously.
Some examples of this are:
Television, radio or streaming advertisements (program tunings)
Studio or personal films (soundtracks)
Videogames
Internal Presentations
YouTube Videos
When a song is licensed for synchronization, the composer or editor of the song receives a commission for the use of the composition (score and lyrics).
In the same way, the owner of the rights – usually the record companies – will also receive a commission for the use of the original master recording.
To simplify it we will say that if you have composed a song and you have not sold the rights, you are the editor.
But if you have composed and recorded the song, you are the owner of the master recording and the rights. In this case, you would have to be paid both commissions.
MASTER LICENSE
The master license gives authorization to the person acquiring it to use the song in audiovisual projects.
As you can see, this license is quite similar to the sync license, because both are necessary to use the music in the media but, at the same time, they are slightly different.
Where the synchronization license allows the client to use the composition (score and lyrics) in order to re-record and re-version the song, the master license confers on the client the rights to the original master recording.
In most cases, recording companies usually control the rights to the master license, while authors, composers, and publishers control the sync license.
Therefore, in order to have the “full” usage rights of a song, it is often necessary to acquire both the master license and the sync license.
PUBLIC COMMUNICATION LICENSE
This license is perhaps the most common form of music license issued today, which allows you to publicly expose the work either on the street, television or radio among others.
In other words, every time someone plays famous music for an audience, they will have to pay for it.
The ones in charge of billing this payment are generally the Performance Rights Organizations (PROs) which will issue the royalties corresponding to the artists for each use.
REPRODUCTION LICENSE
This license enables the song to be reproduced through any media and under any circumstances.
It is necessary to be able to record the music on a CD or another device in which the musical track is going to be distributed.
DISTRIBUTION LICENSE
The distribution license -also called mechanical- is used to authorize other companies to commercialize the song, i.e. that it appears in different points of sale.
This distribution can be in two types of format:
Physical format (through CDs, vinyl records, etc.), which is produced in record labels or department stores.
Digital format (in MP3, WAV, etc), which will be given in platforms such as iTunes or Bandcamp.
In either case, the distributor takes a commission on the sales produced.
PRINT RIGHTS LICENSE
This type of license refers to the physical copy of the score that an artist has created, and is required when someone prints a compilation of scores or at any time they are reproduced.
THEATRICAL LICENSE
It is a type of license that is very common in theatrical performances.
Theatrical licensing is necessary whenever a copyrighted musical work is to be performed on stage in front of an audience.
WHAT LICENSES DO I NEED TO GET TO USE THE FAMILIAR SONG?
From the licenses you have seen above, there are two of them that you will need to purchase in order to use a certain song: the sync license and the master license.
You have already seen that both are very similar but slightly different.
On the one hand, there are the publishing rights (Sync License), i.e. the rights to the written song, which belong to the composer, lyricist and/or music editor.
On the other hand, there are the phonographic rights (Master License), in other words, those of the particular recording, whose owners are the record label and the interpreter or interpreters of the song.
For your better understanding, I’ll give you an example:
The record label Universal Music controls the publishing rights of the work “White Christmas”, which was composed by Irving Berling.
If you wanted to use the recording of “White Christmas” interpreted by Bing Crosby, you would need to contact Universal Music who, apart from having the editorial rights of the original song -the lyrics-, are also the owners of the phonographic rights -the master recording- of this version of the song.
In case you prefer to use this same song but reversioned by Gloria Estefan, you would need to contact Sony Music, which would have the rights of the master recording, but also Universal Music, which maintains the rights of the lyrics of the song.
That’s why you need both licenses to be able to use any famous song.
HOW DO I GET PERMISSION TO USE A SONG?
The first thing you should know is the copyright owner of the song you want to use. Sometimes it may be the same artist but usually, it is the label companies that have recorded the content.
The three most important worldwide are Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and Warner Music Group (WMG).
While this may seem like an easy task, it is not always.
A good practice to follow would be finding the contact details of publishers through PROs, as all professional composers and music publishers belong to one of these organizations.
Depending on the country you are in, the main copyright regulators of musical works are:
ASCAP, BMI and SESAC in the United States
SOSAC in Canada
PRS and PPL in the United Kingdom
APRA AMCOS in Australia
ACEMLA in Latin América
SGAE in Spain
Practically all of these PROs will be able to provide you with sync licenses for the famous songs you’re looking for.
This is because almost all artists, composers and publishers are members of these organizations.
However, as explained above, apart from the sync license you will need the master license and, to obtain it, you will need to contact the record companies of those songs.
Once you discover the copyright company of the song, the next step is to contact them for letting them know of your interest and find out the requirements and price of the licenses.
HOW DO I CONTACT RECORD COMPANIES TO OBTAIN LICENSES FOR A FAMOUS SONG?
Nowadays, the most normal and established way is to write them an email. Although if you’re old school, regular mail letters are also welcome.
The content of this email or letter would be:
Identification of yourself and the reason for the contact
The song or songs you want to use
Usage media (TV, radio, film, video, etc.)
The purpose for which you want to acquire the licenses (Commercial or non-profit)
The approximate number of expected views
The last two points are quite important because if you do not expect a large number of reproductions or have a non-commercial purpose, you could try to ask permission to use the song for free.
However, in order to avoid numerous return mailings, it is best to provide as much information as possible about your specific case.
WHAT CAN HAPPEN IF YOU DON’T GET PERMISSION?
In most cases, you will get the licenses you need. The problem is usually the money you need to pay for that permission.
However, if it happens that you are not allowed to use the song or the amount of money is too high for your possibilities, what you should never do is use the song without obtaining the licenses.
This is illegal, and you could receive harsh financial penalties, that can be followed by legal and penal liability in the worst-case scenario.
To avoid these legal headaches and costly fines there are three possible solutions:
Paying the amounts required for licenses
Use platforms that license famous music, such as SoundFreedom
Use royalty-free music platforms
Next, we’re going to go one by one looking at these solutions, so we’ll start by answering the next question.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO LICENSE A FAMILIAR SONG?
The simple answer is that there is no set cost. In other words, the cost of licensing a famous song can vary quite a bit.
If it is a song by a small independent artist, the cost of a license could be between $50 and $150.
However, if you’re looking to license famous songs by top artists, the price can skyrocket to several thousand dollars without any problem.
In fact, by acquiring some licenses from record companies, they could include in the contract a percentage of the revenue earned through that license.
For example, if a famous song is played in your film, it generates a million-dollar of turnover, and in the music license contract a 1% of the income has been established, apart from the cost of the license itself, an additional 10,000 dollars will have to be paid to the record company.
There are also cases in which there is a charge per second for the use of the song. That is to say, if the song costs $500 / second and you use 10 seconds for your advertising wedge, you will have to pay $5000.
Nevertheless, the cost will depend on the medium in which it is used, the seconds used, the agreement reached with the record company, and so on.
But remember that in all cases the fees are negotiable and not all publishers and record labels charge the same quantity.
Probably the amounts you are seeing may seem astronomical to you, but they are not only real, they can also be much higher.
It is for this reason that many people look for other alternatives that are much more affordable.
This is the case of FyrFly-SongFreedom.
FYRFLY-SOUNDFREEDOM, THE SOLUTION YOU NEED
Songfreedom –founded in 2010 and now called Fyrfly-SongFreedom- is a company that acquires, collects and provides the famous music sync licenses for different types of audiovisual use.
In fact, it is the first company to offer pre-authorized sync licenses from the world’s most representative record labels and publishers such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.
This platform makes it possible for anyone to legally use quality music in their projects, from new indie tracks to 40 of the best hits.
All without the hassle and expensive process of obtaining the licenses you already know.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
You’ll understand it better with the following example.
Let’s suppose you want to add one of your favorite songs – let’s say, “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5 – to your new YouTube video.
You go to FyrFly-SongFreedom and look for the song to learn more about its licenses. To do so, click on the “Buy” button.
Then you will have to answer a few questions to determine the use and size of your audiovisual project and, in this way, be able to establish the cost of the license.
OTHER ALTERNATIVES: ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC PLATFORMS
At this point in the article, maybe you’re considering that playing famous music is not as easy or cheap as you thought.
Luckily, there are other options that, while not providing familiar songs, offer premium music from independent artists.
Epidemic Sound: Specially created for Youtube and social networks. The difference between Epidemic and other similar services is that, in addition to being able to purchase individual licenses for each song, it is also possible to access the entire music portfolio through a monthly subscription that starts at $15/month.
Envato Elements: The simplest. For a subscription of only $16.50 per month, you can download unlimited music from their portal for use in videos and multimedia creations.
Audiojungle: With more than half a million songs and sound effects, it is probably the most complete marketplace with the best prices. It offers five different license types for all possible usage cases.
Artlist: With an extensive music library, it is very similar to the first two, however, the subscription is paid annually rather than monthly. ($199 a year in a single payment).
Premium Beat: This Shutterstock service offers more than 10,000 songs and sound effects for your corporate videos through two different licenses, which will vary in price and performance according to your needs.
Shutterstock Music: It is a simple and intuitive platform to obtain music licenses without copyright. You will have access to a library with more than 60,000 musical themes that you can filter by genre, tempo and environment.
TunePocket: This is a service focused on videos, movies, games and other projects that offers a library with thousands of music tracks, loops and sound effects, which is expanded daily.
CONCLUSION
As you’ve seen throughout the article,
licensing famous songs is possible as long as you have the necessary resources.
Doing so in the normal way – through the PROs and record companies – can be tremendously expensive and, in many cases, economically inefficient method.
However, if in the end, you decide to obtain licenses for a certain popular song, you have already seen what you will need:
Both the sync and the master license for that music track
Contact with the PROs and the record label of the song
Ask them for permission by email or ordinary letter, providing all the details of the use of the musical track.
Once the agreement has been negotiated, read in detail all the terms of the contract
Make the payment of the licenses, as long as you are in agreement with the agreement.
If you do it this way, even if it is a long, time-consuming and costly process, you will have no problems of any kind.
However, it is better to do so than to use the song illegally.
You know that if you do so, you will almost certainly have to face harsh economic penalties that could bring associated legal and penal responsibilities.
A Checklist for Using Music in Film or other Audio-Video Content
Are you a director or producer looking to use music in a movie, TV program, commercial, music video or other audio-visual content? If so, here is some information regarding what music copyright licenses you may require to do so legally:
What licenses must I get to use a song in my audio-visual content?
If you are using a pre-recorded song or another pre-recorded piece of music on your film, there are generally two main rights you need to clear; that is to say, you will likely need to get two different licenses to use the music (and may also need a third).
• Synchronization License: This is the right to synchronize a song or musical composition with your visual image. It must be obtained from the copyright owner of the musical work, which is usually the music publisher. You can usually find out who the publisher is, with appropriate contact information, using ASCAP's Clearance Express (ACE) at www.ascap.com/ace. Other organizations (such as Broadcast Music, Inc.) also maintain robust databases with information.
• Master Use License: This is the right to reproduce a specific recording of a song in your film or other audio-visual content. You clear this right with the entity (usually the record label) that owns the specific recording you would like to use. Alternatively, companies such as SoundExchange can provide this information online. You can obtain appropriate contact information for records labels by calling ASCAP's Film/TV department (323-883-1000).
• An ASCAP License (only needed if you are streaming or broadcasting the video via your own website, mobile app or station): If you make your audio-visual content available for streaming or broadcast on your own website, mobile/app or other distribution platform, you will be publicly performing the content, including the musical compositions in it. Therefore, you must also secure the necessary public performance licenses which are generally granted by performance rights organizations (PROs), such as ASCAP. You can determine which PRO license you require by searching the PROs' online databases. You can secure an ASCAP license agreement for a website/mobile app online. If you have trouble with the online form, you may live chat with a representative on our website or call 1-800-505-4052 to speak with a representative over the phone.
If you are only placing your video on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or another social media site, you will generally not be required to obtain a performance license for your use of ASCAP music, as such platforms obtain their own performance license. If you have any doubt, please call ASCAP at the number posted above to determine if you require a public performance license.
Note that ASCAP does not issue single song licenses. ASCAP offers only bulk licenses, which cover the entire ASCAP repertory. If you require the use of only one or two songs in your video, and require a performance license, please contact the publishers directly. To do so, please revisit the "Synchronization License" bullet point above for how to obtain this license.
What do license fees cost?
Synchronization and master use license fees are generally determined by various factors, including how the music will be used, the duration of the use, the number of times the music will be used and where the film or media will be performed. These fees are often negotiable and not standard. Reduced fees can often be negotiated for educational usage or for film festival usage by independent film producers. These film festival licenses may have numerous deal points, so you may wish to speak with an advisor to assist your negotiation.
If you require a public performance license from ASCAP for your digital platform, the fees may vary based on your platform's annual user sessions and annual revenue. Many of ASCAP's website and mobile app blanket licenses cost less than $1 a day.
What information should I include in my request for synchronization and master use music rights?
• Submit a synopsis of the film/media and the project's budget
• Provide as much detail as possible on how you intend to use the song: main title (opening credit) or end title (closing credit); feature (song is the main focus of the viewers' attention) or background (song plays in the background of a scene); number of times the song is used, duration and placement for each use.
• Specify where your film will be screened. For example, is your film a student film being viewed solely in an educational environment, or is it an independent film, which will screen at festivals?
• Ask how the fee will increase in the event of possible future performances in different types of media.
• If you are planning on securing soundtrack rights at the same time, ask how that affects your fees.
What if I hire my own songwriter or musicians to create the music?
If you are hiring your own songwriter to create original music and you are recording the music yourself, you can negotiate all these music license rights directly with the music creators you are hiring.
What are the consequences of screening or sharing my audio-visual content without securing music rights?
Use of a copyrighted work without proper license may be considered infringement under the U.S. copyright law, potentially subjecting you to statutory damages. Moreover, considering that you will hopefully work more often with publishing companies and record labels as your career matures, it is best practice to develop a good relationship at the start by, in part, ensuring you have cleared all necessary rights. Moreover, clearing necessary rights at the start will be important if you wish to have your audio-visual work distributed by third parties.