Acquiring rights to music for commercials? at DVinfo.net
DV Info Net

Go Back   DV Info Net > And Now, For Something Completely Different... > Taking Care of Business
Register FAQ Today's Posts Buyer's Guides

Taking Care of Business
The pen and paper aspects of DV -- put it in writing!

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old October 8th, 2009, 05:17 PM   #1
Major Player
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Zanesville OH
Posts: 205
Acquiring rights to music for commercials?

Hey, everyone. I've just recently decided I want to start shooting commercials. I'm getting everything underway, and it's going smooth... Except one thing. Music. Stock music, to plainly put it is absolutely horrible. I can't find any. So my question is, how do I go about acquiring good, mainstream music? The commercials I'm shooting are mainly going to be broadcast locally. Is there a way to just pay for a licensing fee, and be able to use a band's music legally? I was told to check out BMI. I'm kind of up on the air with that website. So, if anybody could help me out here, that'd be so, so great. I'm completely lost. Haha.
__________________
"Warriors... Come out to play..."
www.importexporthd.com
Douglas Joseph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 8th, 2009, 05:37 PM   #2
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Woodinville, WA USA
Posts: 3,467
Tons of info on this over in the TCB forum...which is where this should probably be.
Adam Gold is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 8th, 2009, 05:52 PM   #3
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 2,109
Harry Fox Agency HFA
Dan Brockett is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 8th, 2009, 05:56 PM   #4
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: services world-wide
Posts: 118
dewolfemusic.com is yer buddy. Great tunuge and they haggle. They'll negotiate a flat rate per production with you. I haven't counted needle drops in shows in years. I love em.
Grinner Hester is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 8th, 2009, 06:54 PM   #5
Obstreperous Rex
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: San Marcos, TX
Posts: 27,368
Images: 513
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Gold View Post
Tons of info on this over in the TCB forum...which is where this should probably be.
Moved to TCB and merged with a duplicate that was cross-posted to ATA.

Please search first before starting new threads -- this is a frequently discussed topic.

Please don't cross-post. Thanks,
__________________
CH

Search DV Info Net | 20 years of DVi | ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!
Chris Hurd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 8th, 2009, 07:49 PM   #6
Major Player
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Iowa City, Iowa
Posts: 670
Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas Joseph View Post
Hey, everyone. I've just recently decided I want to start shooting commercials. I'm getting everything underway, and it's going smooth... Except one thing. Music. Stock music, to plainly put it is absolutely horrible. I can't find any. So my question is, how do I go about acquiring good, mainstream music? The commercials I'm shooting are mainly going to be broadcast locally. Is there a way to just pay for a licensing fee, and be able to use a band's music legally? I was told to check out BMI. I'm kind of up on the air with that website. So, if anybody could help me out here, that'd be so, so great. I'm completely lost. Haha.
If you're defining 'mainstream' as famous, platinum-selling music acts, don't get your hopes up- it's prohibitively expensive, esp. for local TV commercials. The good news is that there are many alternatives.

Have you tried Pump Audio or Shockwave Sound, places like that? They have very high quality music from most any genre you can think of there you can get quickly with minimal hassle.
__________________
youtube.com/benhillmedia
linkedin.com/in/benhillmedia
Benjamin Hill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 9th, 2009, 01:15 AM   #7
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 5,742
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Brockett View Post
FYI Harry Fox handles mechanical licensing to allow one to record and distribute music specifically as audio recordings, ie, cover songs on CDs and or distributed through downloads, but they're not involved with the sync and master use licenses necessary to use the music itself and existing recordings of music in film and video soundtracks, including in commercials.
__________________
Good news, Cousins! This week's chocolate ration is 15 grams!

Last edited by Steve House; October 9th, 2009 at 02:03 AM.
Steve House is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 9th, 2009, 01:50 AM   #8
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 5,742
Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas Joseph View Post
Hey, everyone. I've just recently decided I want to start shooting commercials. I'm getting everything underway, and it's going smooth... Except one thing. Music. Stock music, to plainly put it is absolutely horrible. I can't find any. So my question is, how do I go about acquiring good, mainstream music? The commercials I'm shooting are mainly going to be broadcast locally. Is there a way to just pay for a licensing fee, and be able to use a band's music legally? I was told to check out BMI. I'm kind of up on the air with that website. So, if anybody could help me out here, that'd be so, so great. I'm completely lost. Haha.
Check out the Smartsound royalty free music library and SonicFire Pro software for working with it. Excellent music without the hassles.

BMI, along with ASCAP and SESAC, is a performance royalty collection service. If you play a piece of music on-air in radio or TV, in a club or concert venue, use it in an elevator or on-hold or on your website, even play it as background music in a dentist's office, the composers, publisher, etc gets a royalty each time it's played and that's what BMI and the others collect on their behalf. But a public performance of the song is not the same thing as using it a film or video soundtrack such as in your commercials. To incorporate the words and melody of the music into a soundtrack alongside the images, you need what's called a synchronization license from the music publisher. To use an existing recording, you also need a master use license from the recording's copyright owner, usually the record label that recorded it in the case of a commercially released CD. If you're going to make a fresh recording yourself, all you need is the sync license. BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, the aformentioned Harry Fox Agency do not deal with sync or master licenses at all - for those you need to identify the copyright owners and negotiate directly with them, there is no one-stop shopping. If you want to go that route instead of the royalty free library music, your best bet is to hire a music rights clearance agency to do the legwork for you. A google on "music rights clearance" will turn up a number of them. ASCAP, BMI, etc eventually do get involved - each time the film or commercial is played on the air that counts as a "performance" of the music and a royalty is paid but that's handled by the broadcaster, usually covered under the blanket licensing fees the broadcaster pays to the rights societies m each year. You're not involved with that part of it beyond providing a "cue sheet" for their reporting purposes.
__________________
Good news, Cousins! This week's chocolate ration is 15 grams!
Steve House is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 9th, 2009, 10:11 AM   #9
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Willmar, MN
Posts: 1,400
Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas Joseph View Post
Stock music, to plainly put it is absolutely horrible. I can't find any.
Keep looking, or lower your expectations. I've never had a problem finding good royalty-free buyout music. There are at least 1,000 vendors selling it, someone has something you'll like.
Chris Davis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 17th, 2009, 04:16 PM   #10
Major Player
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Zanesville OH
Posts: 205
Thanks everyone for your help. This is exactly what I needed. Sorry for cross posting, Chris!
__________________
"Warriors... Come out to play..."
www.importexporthd.com
Douglas Joseph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 19th, 2009, 01:26 AM   #11
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK
Posts: 3,531
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve House View Post
Check out the Smartsound royalty free music library and SonicFire Pro software for working with it. Excellent music without the hassles.
Seconded!

The Smartsound system allows for a lot of variation in the arrangements & very clever matching of music length to sequences so is far more than just a tune playing in the background of your video. We used Smartsound with most every video in our portfolio Barkers | Video Portfolio
Nigel Barker is offline   Reply
Reply

DV Info Net refers all where-to-buy and where-to-rent questions exclusively to these trusted full line dealers and rental houses...

B&H Photo Video
(866) 521-7381
New York, NY USA

Scan Computers Int. Ltd.
+44 0871-472-4747
Bolton, Lancashire UK


DV Info Net also encourages you to support local businesses and buy from an authorized dealer in your neighborhood.
  You are here: DV Info Net > And Now, For Something Completely Different... > Taking Care of Business


 



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:43 PM.


DV Info Net -- Real Names, Real People, Real Info!
1998-2024 The Digital Video Information Network