Music Licensing 101
How to secure a license to use a song in your project
A couple of weeks ago, Blokur released a new Licensing Messenger that allows music users to request licenses from music publishers quickly and easily. Since then we’ve had licensing requests on the platform ranging from audiobooks to movies to lyric videos — as well as plenty of questions about what types of licenses are required and how to get licensing requests approved. To help people have the best possible chance of getting their license request approved, I thought it might be helpful to set out some music licensing basics. So here it is — a music licensing 101.
What is music licensing?
Music licensing is the process by which the users of music, like TV and film producers and streaming services, get permission and the contractual right to use one or more pieces of music from the owners of the rights. It is intended to ensure that the owners of copyrights for musical works and recordings are compensated for their work. It is also one of the primary revenue sources for most writers, publishers, labels and artists.
Types of licenses
There are many different types of licenses that are needed based on the licensee’s purpose for the song, however these are the current ones that are available to request through our platform:
- TV
- Film
- Video Games
- Online video
- Advertising
- Live events
- Live stream
- Compilations
- Physical
- Digital Download
- Podcast
Note: A frequently asked question we’ve gotten from music users, is if a license is needed to upload videos with music to YouTube. If there is music in your YouTube video that you do not have copyright ownership of, and you are not trying to monetize content, a license is NOT needed. If you are trying to monetize that content, a license IS needed.
Pitching and fees
When requesting licenses such as syncs, which are licenses that pair music with visual media, approval must come from both owners of the publishing (meaning composition) and master (meaning recording) side. Currently our Licensing Messenger puts in you touch with publishers and we are hoping to eventually have mechanisms in place to request master approval as well.
When pitching usage for a song, offering the right fee is important to even be considered for approval. The range can vary based on the type of usage, number of territories, size of audience, timeline, project budget, the song’s importance to the project etc. When a publisher considers an offer, they compare it against past approvals, certain minimums the company might have internally and the data points presented in the pitch.
Fees range from the low hundreds of dollars for a song by a new band in a podcast, to millions of dollars for a hit songs used as the theme song for a blockbuster movie. To give you a couple of data points, a three-year license for an online video for a retail brand might cost you $500 for each of the publishing and the master, and a license for a livestream with an audience of 10,000 to 25,000 people might cost $1,000 for each side.
On occasion, a gratis (meaning free) license will be considered. However it has to be demonstrated that no revenue will be derived from the license approval. Even then, there’s a low likelihood that it will be approved if there is no exposure pay-off or personal relationship.
If you are interested in learning more about Blokur’s Licensing Messenger function or learn more about what Blokur does, feel free to reach out at derek@blokur.com
To sign up for your free Blokur Search account that gives you access to over 10 million songs, sign up HERE.
