You may have heard a song on the radio, and you want to use it in your video. You might be thinking that as long as you give credit for using the song, then it’s okay. This is not true! In order to legally use a song without permission from the artist or copyright owner, you will need to get written permission from them first. It can be tricky because there are different ways of getting permission depending on who owns the rights to the music and how they want their songs used.
Identify the Owner
The first step in clearing a song is to identify the song’s owner. If you are unable to find out who owns the song’s rights, then it’s best not to use that piece of music for your own project. It may be better just looking into another piece entirely than trying to get permission when you don’t know who controls those rights. There are several ways that an artist or their label will go about assigning ownership over their work. Sometimes an artist opts only for name recognition and doesn’t care whether they actually own copyright on any given track (they probably still do but there isn’t much point worrying about this). This means “no credit needed; no money paid.” Split Rights – when multiple writers are involved in a song, they may have agreed to split ownership between them. This is very common with co-writers on an original composition for TV or film, where there are equal splits of rights between each writer. If all writers were not able to be contacted then other individuals who could sign off on the use would include lyricists and composers. A work made “for hire” means that the person hired owns copyright automatically because it was created as part of their job description (often referred to as being employed). The term “licensor” is a bit of a misnomer as it really means the “rights owner.” In other words, if you want to use their work then they must give permission for its use.
Identify the Rights You Need
If you plan to sell what you create, there are a few rights that you need. These apply if your work is going to be distributed digitally or physically, and whether it’s for commercial purposes or not:
- Rights Managed – There will be an additional fee associated with this use. The owner has been contacted directly by the licensee and negotiated terms of usage based on specific criteria such as geographic territory/audience demographics, product category sales statistics, etc. In other words we don’t have any clue how much it costs because we’ve never gotten permission before! You can read more about these licenses here.
- Synchronization – You can synchronize your song with moving images like video, film, etc. If you would like to use the instrumental part of a track in commercial audiovisual media or distribute it on physical products , this is the right that most often applies. This means that if you are using my music for an ad campaign and want my original recording they’ll need to pay me again as well as whoever owns the master rights (usually record labels). However, if you’re making homemade videos/slideshows with your footage set to any pre-recorded songs there’s no fee necessarily required so long as I’m credited somewhere.
- Master Use – There will be an additional fee associated with master use rights. This is usually for TV shows, commercials, films etc… If you plan to distribute your finished work on television or through streaming services then this right applies to what we’ll call the “post production” uses of a song: using it in a commercial/film that’s going to appear online; playing it under video footage shot by someone other than yourself.
- Public Performance – There will be an additional fee associated with this use. This applies if you plan to perform a song in public, whether that’s playing it live or using pre-recorded music at your wedding/bar mitzvah for dancing! If you’re going to play the original recording of a song I wrote anywhere outside my house then we need permission from me and whoever owns the publishing which is usually record labels since they own all rights not specifically mentioned here.
- Mechanical – This applies if you plan to distribute your finished work on CD, Vinyl or any other physical format. The fee is usually very low and publishers/songwriters get paid every time their song gets purchased/played even for personal use like karaoke! Do not confuse synchronization rights with mechanical ones; these are two different things that cover two separate types of uses: one’s commercial the other’s private.
These are just some examples, for a full list is much longer. Keep in mind these rules only apply when there’s money involved. So long as we can agree on how its going to be used without involving payment then everyone will have an easier time getting permission–and hopefully still get paid!
Final Words
If you want to cover a song, that’s generally okay as long as you’re not selling it or changing the lyrics. For example if I’m going to make a recording of myself playing my original arrangement on piano and upload it online there would be no fee involved since this is considered private use. In comparison, if I needed permission from an artist for any commercial project like producing sheet music/tabs for their track then we’d need two separate licenses: one from them (the publisher) and whoever owns the label publishing rights which usually ends up being the same people!
Remember, mechanical royalties are paid out every time someone buys your work so they really add up over time – think about buying CDs in vs. paying $0.99 for your favorite songs on iTunes! If you need help figuring out what kind of license applies to which project please feel free to contact me directly and I’ll try my best to answer any questions.