General Copyright and Licensing Issues

This page will help you if you're looking for basic information about music copyright and the licensing of music.

At AudioSparx we supply royalty-free music to clients that generally end up using it within the broadcasting industry, such as TV, radio, motion picture and corporate video production companies.  However we also supply music to people who use royalty-free music on the internet, on DVDs, within software, and probably a thousand other ways.  We get a lot of questions about these topics and the information we provide here attempts to answer them, so if you use music in any of these ways, this page will be helpful. 

Here's where we are coming from - we are based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and we license our music around the world, particularly in the USA and the UK, so most of our advice is geared around these two  countries.  However, there are many general principals here that apply throughout the world.

Here are some of the questions and topics we get asked about...

Is all music protected by copyright?
The broad answer for all practical purposes is 'yes'.  Generally speaking, as soon as a composer writes a song, they automatically own the copyright to their composition.  Also, when a musical artist (or band) records a song, they automatically own the copyright to their song recording.  Composers and musical artists typically formally invoke their copyright of their song by recording the song and then registering their sound recording with the U.S. Library of Congress (in the US) or the appropriate copyright registration agency in the country in which they reside. 
 

How do I legally use music in my commercial production?
So you've decided on the song you want to use, and you want to stay legal.  Here's what you need to know.  When you include a piece of music in any kind of commercial production, you need the appropriate license(s).  Here's the different types of licenses that may be needed or used depending on your intended use of the song:

Master Use Licensing - Master use licensing is the licensing of a copyrighted sound recording (i.e. the "master" recording) for use in any commercial project or production.  Licensing of an actual sound recording is different than the licensing of the underlying composition embodied in the sound recording.  The master use license is granted by the owner of the master recording (i.e. the artist that recorded the song), or their designated agent (in many cases, a record company). 

Mechanical Licensing - A mechanical license grants the rights to reproduce and distribute copyrighted musical compositions, to the public for private use, on CDs, records, tapes and some digital configurations such as Internet digital downloads.  This is how the songwriter ultimately gets paid for your use of their song.  A mechanical license typically grants the right to manufacture and/or distribute a specific amount of product for a set royalty fee structure.  It is important to distinguish between the use of a "composition" and a "sound recording" (i.e. master) here.  To clearly illustrate the point, here's some examples:

Mechanical Licensing Example 1:  Say a band wanted to include on their next album their own cover version of a song originally written and recorded by the Rolling Stones.  They would need a mechanical license for the composition in order to do this; the mechanical license gives them the right to use the underlying composition, not the actual original sound recording as done by the Rolling Stones themselves.  So the band could record their own version of the song and then, with the proper mechanical license, manufacture and distribute CDs containing their version of the song.  The band does not need to license the Rolling Stone's original sound recording since they are not doing anything with that, they are just using the underlying composition that exists in the song.  So they need only a mechanical license, not a master use license.

Mechanical Licensing Example 2:  Say an entrepreneur wants to create and sell a "60's Psychedelic Flashback" compilation CD that includes a variety of classic rock hit songs from the 1960's, and one of the songs they want to include on the CD is an actual song written and recorded by the Rolling Stones.
The entrepreneur would need a mechanical license to use the song's underlying composition, and they would also need a master use license since they also intend to use the actual sound recording as produced by the Rolling Stones.

Synchronization Licensing - Synchronization licensing, also known as "synch licensing" or "sync licensing", is the licensing of both a copyrighted sound recording and its underlying musical composition for use in combination with visual images such as motion pictures, television shows, television commercials, leaders, trailers, videos, video games, software and other visual imagery. 

Synch Licensing Example 1:  Say a TV production company wants to use an actual Rolling Stones sound recording in the first episode of a new show they are working on.  They would need a synch license from the publisher that controls publishing for Rolling Stones' compositions.  Additionally, the production company would also need a master use license from the Rolling Stone's record label to have the rights to use the actual recording as created by the Rolling Stones.
 

So where can I get a mechanical, sych and/or master use license in order to use a song legally in my production?

In the U.S. the principal provider of mechanical licenses is the Harry Fox Agency, and in the U.K. it is the MCPS (the Mechanical and Copyright Protection Society).  However, neither Harry Fox nor the MCPS provide master use licensing.

In the U.S., a master use license must be secured from the copyright holder of the sound recording, which is typically either the musical artist that created the sound recording or the record company that produced the sound recording. 

In the U.S. a synch license must be obtained from both the copyright holder of the composition (i.e. the composer or their publishing company) and the copyright holder of the sound recording (i.e. the artist or their record company).  In the UK you can obtain a synch license from the MCPS directly.

Neither Harry Fox and the MCPS maintain any music on their web site for instant listening and download, so their services are neither comprehensive nor easy for a client looking to integrate a song into their commercial production. 


So how can AudioSparx help?
This is where AudioSparx shines!  AudioSparx has a large online library of music that is immediately searchable, browsable and listenable, and we provide immediate master use licensing, mechanical licensing and synch licensing for all of the music tracks on our site, making it EASY for our clients to find, preview, price, license and download exactly the music they need immediately!

Music at AudioSparx can be licensed for many many different types of uses, including all of the following:

• Soundtrack for motion picture production, trailer, preview, intro, extro or header
• Soundtrack for TV show production, trailer, preview, intro, extro or header
• TV and radio advertising content (for ad, intro or content)
• Soundtrack for radio broadcast production
• Backing music for an Internet Web site or webcast or other streamed content
• Soundtrack for video game, electronic game and computer game (whether
  distributed online, CD-ROM, DVD or any other media)
• Soundtrack for software application (online, CD-ROM, DVD or any other media)
• Music-on-hold (for music to play while someone is on-hold on the phone)
• Embedded in a toy or product for musical backing purposes
• Embedded in an electronic device for musical backing purposes
• As a sound effect or sample embedded in original music composition
• Soundtrack for home video production
• Soundtrack for student film, project film and other short video production
• Theater production, competition, sporting event
• Corporate use in trade show, live performance, presentation, meeting or seminar
• Small business professional local use (massage, therapy, dance studios or similar)
• Personal-use only (i.e. download and burn to CD for personal listening)

What are performance royalties, and how is the use of music in my commercial production affected by this?
There is also a right included in copyright that's referred to as the "Performance Right".  Without going into the exact technicalities, this means that the copyright holder has the exclusive right to decide how their music is "performed" publicly.  A "performance" can be thought of as whenever the music is played publicly - this means to anyone other than yourself.  It includes, for example, motion pictures, radio, television, nightclubs, trade shows, telephone on-hold, in-store music systems, Internet broadcasts, theatrical performances, competitions and similar.

As with the mechanical and synch licenses, if you had to track down each individual composer and copyright holder would be a nightmare, so out of this have come Performing Rights Organizations (PROs), which represent the copyright holders (composers, record labels and publishers).  In the U.S. the biggest of these are ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SoundExchange, and in the UK it's the PRS.  For a comprehensive list of PROs worldwide, click here.

The person or company who actually does the broadcast (i.e. public performance) pays the PROs a fee for the privilege.  This can be good news - because if you are a TV production company for example, you don't pay.  Why not?  Because you don't actually do the broadcast, the TV station does, so they pay!  No matter what music they play, they still have to pay a fee.  The rate they pay is scaled sensibly according to how many people hear the music, and generally the TV & radio stations pay one big fee to cover all their music for a year at a time.  However, they still need to report exactly what music they are broadcasting, so when you (as a TV show producer for example) give the TV station the final video, you also give the PROs what's known in the industry as a "cue sheet" containing the exact details of the copyright holders of the music used in your production.  The PROs then calculate how much money each copyright holder should get, and they pay them directly.  So, the PROs do a good thing - they do all the administration so that you don't have to!

AudioSparx instructs and advises its clients of the requirement to file cue sheets when licensed songs are used in any kind of public performance.

Summary
AudioSparx is an excellent resource for licensing sound effects and music for use in commercial projects of all kinds.  We've done the work to bring online an incredible selection of pre-cleared audio content that can be searched, browsed, previewed, licensed and downloaded immediately for virtually any type of commercial or personal use.  So, don't waste time chasing down some obscure publisher or composer when you can get the content you need here now and license it immediately!

Links
Below are links to various external sites that you may find contain additional helpful information regarding copyright and licensing.