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MONEY FOR YOUR MUSIC:
The cold-cash facts about music licensing
A Special Report by Scott G (The G-Man)
 By
Scott G (The G-Man)
Scott G, president of G-Man Music & Radical Radio,
is a creative
director of the National Association of Record
Industry Professionals
(NARIP) and writes about music for
MusicDish.com and
the Immedia Wire Service.
Where music meets licensing, there's money to be
made. How much money? "I have synched quite a few
thousand songs into productions over the years,"
states Peter Jansson of Janssongs, Inc., "and have
charged anywhere between $1.00 and $250,000 for each
one."
That's correct: he said a quarter of a million
dollars. And there are a great many places to earn
money from music. For example, there are more TV
shows on more cable channels than ever before. There
are oodles of commercials. There are tons of
electronic games and toys. There are corporate video
productions galore. There are big movies, little
movies, and direct-to-DVD movies. And they all are
potential places to put your music, if the rights
can be cleared.
Goldmine or Minefield.
The world of music clearance can be a goldmine
or a minefield. We heard about the
quarter-million-buck goldmine. "Having said that,"
Jansson adds, "I think an average fee is usually
between $4,000 - $6,000 per side (i.e. Master &
Synch). It depends on how badly they want to use the
song and how big a hit it was." Those two words,
"Master" and "Synch" indicate part of the problem
for the average singer/songwriter who hopes to have
a song appear on a soundtrack. Before you can start
earning money, there's a lot to know.
The facts are so important that NARIP, the National
Association of Record Industry Professionals, has
Stacey Powells lead workshops on the topic. Powells,
currently clearing music for On-Air With Ryan
Seacrest, says "This is a much more complex part of
the business than most people realize, but it can be
extremely lucrative for artists, so there's a great
feeling to passing along this information."
A Little Tech Talk.
Music can be used in four broad categories under
copyright law: Adaptation, Recording, Reproduction,
and Public Performance. Depending on where and how
someone is going to use a song, there are mechanical
rights and synchronization rights that have to be
negotiated, and the various parties involved may
include the songwriter, publisher, and record
company, usually holder of the master rights.
Well, that last part doesn't sound so complicated.
Oh really? Consider that there may be multiple
songwriters, each with their own publisher for their
share of the song. Song copyrights are held by music
publishers (which may be the artist, but more often
is a third party), while sound recordings (the
masters) are controlled by record companies (which
also may be the artist, come to think of it).
The Facts of the Matter.
So what, exactly, is "Music Clearance"? Simple:
getting permission from rights holders to use music
in your production. But what rights? The song's
copyright is held by the writers (or the estate of
the artists, or whoever was sold the rights). The
master recording is held by whoever controls the
recorded version of the song. Ah, but which version
of the song? The one the singer/songwriter recorded?
The one recorded with Russian lyrics? The jazz
instrumental? The one recorded by the metal-reggae
band?
Consider this: you can get permission from the
publisher without permission from the record company
-- if you record a new version of the song. But
without the publisher's permission, the master
recording license does you no good at all.
The field is very competitive. Don Grierson, former
head of A&R at Epic/Sony, Capitol Records, and
EMI-America, and often a music supervisor,
consultant, and executive producer, notes that
"nearly everyone in the music industry seems to be
aiming at the film/TV and commercial licensing
markets. There is intense competition. It can come
down to relationships on some occasions, but often
it is determined by the ease with which you can
obtain the clearance."
Negotiating the Fees
Janssongs' Peter Jansson quickly lists some of
the variables: "When it comes to Synch Licensing,
there are a number of factors that determine what
the fee is going to be, such as: territory (USA?
World? Provincial?), media (Theatrical only? Radio?
Television? DVD/Video? New technology?), usage
(Featured Instrumental/On Camera? Background
Instrumental? Background/Vocal?), length (Entire
composition? 30 seconds or part thereof?), version
(re-record or original recording), to name just a
few."
But even once you have sorted out who owns what and
where something is going to be used, there's the
legal terminology, with contracts likely to contain
such phrases as "World excluding the BRT's," "Rear
Window," "now known or hereafter devised," "MFN,"
"Pro Rata Share," "Third Party Payments," and even
"Audit."
True, you don't need to know all of these things if
you're a songwriter, recording artist, manager,
agent, record executive, film/TV production
professional, or advertising agency executive. But
the more you know, the better. Not only will you be
more comfortable with the business side of the music
business, you'll be in a better position to guide a
career -- your own or your clients' -- to more
rewarding choices.
"Just knowing a little about these topics allows you
to follow the conversations these clearance guys
have with my clients and all their other
representatives," says one manager of several
musical acts. "And knowing a little can help a lot."
Real-life Examples.
Sometimes you learn by doing. "The very first
time I licensed a song on my own," says Marc Ferrari
of MasterSource Music Catalog, "I never got paid for
the license. The production company released the
movie (Son of Darkness 2) then went bankrupt. What a
way to start a business!! I have had better luck
with nearly 1,600 licenses since then!"
Don Grierson, when acting as a music supervisor for
motion pictures, says "Those who represent songs
often call me and ask 'What are you looking for?'
and it's amazing how rapidly that can change. The
music requirements for any given project, or even
any given scene in a film, can change depending on
the director, the producer, etc. And whatever mood
is being established in the scene may change in
postproduction, requiring a change in the music."
Mistakes to Avoid.
Where people are involved, there can be errors.
"Publishing and record companies sell and sublease
and assign rights, some of which they did not own to
begin with," points out Janet Fisher of Goodnight
Kiss Music. She quickly lists a few more potential
problems: "New companies file new cue sheets and
suddenly a song is attributed to the wrong writer, a
title is changed, a publisher forgotten; or
sometimes a copyright holder just stops filing all
paper work, including change of address forms."
One indie artist who has had several compositions in
TV shows says, "Being an indie artist can be a huge
advantage. Music supervisors are always looking for
quality master recordings. An indie artist can sign
off on a master synch music license in a day. Time
is always an issue, and TV supervisors love indie
artists because of the lack of major label red tape
which often leaves them without clearance in time."
Goodnight Kiss' Fisher agrees: "Obviously dealing
with an indie catalogue is going to be more
affordable, and easier to work with. The large
entities are not as hungry as the small, and our
songs are no more than once-removed from the
source."
Another who agrees is music supervisor Frankie Pine,
who has worked on all the Steven Soderbergh film and
TV projects in the past decade. "I have had at least
one indie recording in every film," she states, "and
it is often much easier to get them to sign off on
an agreement. In a business that is so
time-intensive, that is a real plus."
Helping out indie musicians is Barry Coffing of
Uprising Entertainment. "We go searching for great
independent music," he notes, "and the great thing
about this business is that there is so much
excellent music being made in so many categories."
Musician vs. Music Supervisor.
Nancy Luca is a musician who plays so often on
both coasts, she has an L.A. band, a New York band,
and a Florida band, and does session guitar work
(her solos were on two Heineken commercials during
the Super Bowl broadcast). She observes that "There
are people who make a lot of money writing music for
television that 'sounds like' other artists. It
would be great if they would use the real artists
like me who have great songs but no break with a big
label. I am for licensing just to let people hear
the real music -- the stuff that was written with
heart and mind, not just for a paycheck."
Joel C. High, Vice President of music and
soundtracks for Lions Gate Entertainment, displays
the excitement that many of us have for making music
work with images. "We often have directors who are
greatly inspired by music and who may be passionate
about acquiring a song that wouldn't normally fit in
the budget of that film or television project.
That's when we, as music supervisors, have to try to
bring that same fervor to the negotiating process.
We try to go to bat for our filmmakers in such a way
that it benefits the picture and gives the best
possible exposure for the musical artist. We want to
get the absolutely perfect music for the scene and
often the only way that can happen is by getting the
recording artist to see the merits of having their
song in a film ? to consider the way their song is
used so they will see benefits beyond just the
financial one."
A Director of Copyright and Licensing at a major
independent publishing company had this to say:
"Obviously, licensing music in film/TV is a
wonderful way to get exposure, although for new
artists, it will probably not be lucrative. And of
course, there are things writers/artists should take
into consideration when someone requests to use
their music: Avoid giving broad rights away for
free! This sets a bad precedent in the community,
especially for new artists/writers, and it de-values
their work."
Did this person have any ideas for working out a
compromise? Certainly: "If a writer is eager to be
involved in a project, and the producer wants the
use for FREE, here are a few suggestions when
negotiating. First, try and reduce the terms (e.g.
instead of perpetuity, reduce the term to 10 years;
instead of all media, reduce to all TV or theatrical
only; and instead of worldwide rights, try and
reduce to U.S. only). If the producer is not
agreeable to this, then the writer should request
some sort of 'step deal.' Very little money (if any)
is paid up front, but should the production be
successful, they are obligated to compensate the
writer at certain 'milestones'." The feeling is that
"if the producer starts making money, so should the
writers of the musical works involved."
Music supervisors Frankie Pine and P.J. Bloom
(Angels in America, among many others) have the best
piece of advice for artists placing music: "When you
get the call, say Thank You!" says Bloom. "There are
so many people trying to get songs onto soundtracks,
that it is important to get in the door and create a
relationship."
The Bottom Line.
Fisher has a lovely metaphorical summary for
this story: "Like any part of the music business,
licensing can be feast or famine, goldmine or plain
old shaft -- but like any part of any business, the
best protection resides in employing those with
experience and integrity. If I were looking for a
goldmine, I'd find an experienced miner who had
found gold before." The G-Man's albums are released by Delvian
Records and are on
Apple's iTunes. He can be reached via
www.gmanmusic.com.
URLs of principals in this story include:
www.goodnightkiss.com
www.janssongs.com
www.mastersource.com
www.nancyluca.com
www.narip.com
www.sladjana.com/pages/don_grierson.htm
www.uprisingent.com
www.gmanmusic.com |
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