Whether you’re somebody that writes music or somebody that uses music in their creations, you’ve probably heard the term “licensing” at least once before. What does it mean? Why should you care about it? This simple guide will answer both those questions.
Licensing a creative work (like an image, video or piece of music) means that one entity (the “licensor”) is giving another entity (the “licensee”) the rights to do certain things with that work, usually in exchange for some form of compensation (ie. $$$). That is the concept at its most basic level, so here’s an example.
Ex.1 – George, a filmmaker, needs a techno song for a club scene in his movie. He talks to Jon, a member of the Drexel Composers Group, who happens to write that kind of music. However, George’s project is due in three days and Jon doesn’t have time to write a new piece of music. So, Jon licenses an existing song he wrote months earlier to George. The license allows George to use the song in his film as long as he puts Jon in the credits. It does not allow George to sell the film or otherwise make money from it; if this happens, he has to get another license from Jon.
As you can see, a license can have any number of terms and conditions, or it can be very simple. It is up to the two parties involved to determine exactly what those terms are. To be safe, it is a good idea to get into the practice of actually using written contracts when money in involved, but for a non-commercial, student project, a simple oral understanding is all you need.
Licensing is very prevalent in the world of television. When serious productions are involved, it is usually not two people making the licensing agreement, but two companies. A company that has a large catalog of music for the sole purpose of licensing it to other companies for money is called a music library. Almost any given show on TV today extensively uses music from libraries (as they are often called, for short) due to budget and time constraints. Here’s an example:
Ex. 2 – The Food Network is looking to produce a new series about “extreme cooking” and they need hardcore metal music to accompany images of people grilling steaks on top of mountain peaks. They have plenty of time to produce their pilot, but not a lot of money since no advertisers are on board yet. They approach FreshMusic, LLC, a music library, and end up licensing 25 songs for $1,500. The Food Network can use these songs as much as they want in their new show, but they’ll also have to pay royalties when the show broadcasts.
Licensing is also very common for commercials. Have you noticed all those Apple ads that use popular songs in them? The only way they can do this is by licensing those songs from record labels. Apple can expect to pay tens of thousands of dollars (if not more) due to the popularity of the music and the ‘penetration’ of the commercials, which are being broadcast all over the country!
If you’re working on a project that needs music, whether you’re a student or professional, it is almost always preferable from a creative standpoint to get custom music – after all, licensed music (by definition) is not really yours, and it is not perfectly fit to your video, show, or game. Nonetheless, licensing can be a valuable tool in many situations!
If you’re a composer and want to read more about how you can make money from licensing, as well as more of the technical details of earning and collecting royalties, check out “How to Make Money from Music Licensing” on zirconMusic.
