How to get song license?

[Zelle Olson]

I have a client that wants to do is a staff video with the staff lip-synching to a song. Does anyone know how to go about getting rights to use an older popular song that they are going to publish online?

[John Estcourt]

Realistically, unless you have a very large budget I don't think you will be able to. Try writing to the record company and anyone else who owns the rights and ask nicely. The best answer is to use royalty paid music. Try song freedom. Com although I think there is still some question about how legal this is for certain uses.

[Zelle Olson]

Thanks for your reply! I usually do use royalty paid music for all my productions but my client does have a big budget and specifically wants to do the lip-sync thing possibly with an older popular song.

[Jeff Harper]

I think you need to start at ASCAP or BMI. Go to the ASCAP website and investigate there first.

[Zelle Olson]

Thanks Jeff! I'll do that.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by John Estcourt

Try writing to the record company and anyone else who owns the rights and ask nicely.

When you have to deal with the music industry you better cover your butt and have everything in a very clear contract so you don't end up having to pay more then once. Some years ago a company wanted 15 seconds from start me up - the rolling stones to be used in a trailer I made for them to be projected onto a cinemascreen as a curtainraiser for a business event. I had to ask EMI for licensing cost and when they said 15K the organisation who hired me agreed to just use some 30 dollar song from themusicbed instead :D

I have seen a UK videocompany who only does these kind of videos with known songs and they just publish it on their website as demo and I can't imagine they pay a license for each song, it also baffles me they can get away with it.

You better have a license for the music if the video goes online, even if the licensing costs are outrageous, if the company can afford it should be no problem, if they can't, the musicbed amongst others offers some nice songs as well for a very cheap price.

[Chris Harding]

There are literally millions of music videos on You Tube so it might be worth a shot to see if the song is used on there. If it is and has ads on the video then the publishing company probably have an agreement with YouTube to get the revenue from the ads. If you can live with the ads then that might be a solution but also check with YT and get their policy on using it.

If it's an old popular song it's highly unlikely that it will be on any free music site and these guys have already made up their minds they want it. Do some research and put the ball firmly in their court ... you don't want to be sued! Publishers are normally totally un-reasonable with pricing and huge asking fees seem to be quite normal .... It would be no issue if you were doing a video with the song for Microsoft as they could easily afford the cost but normally it's just not economical to get licencing especially if the rights sit with a big publisher!!

Chris

[Clive McLaughlin]

SongFreedom have some popular songs. Thats about your only hope. Trying to get the industry/labels to even respond to you about your little fun project will prove near impossible, nevermind the fee you will pay.

[Peter Rush]

It's very difficult to get permission to use such a song - you would need permission from the songwriter, the artist/band who is performing it and the label that puts it out - I tried it once for a couple and after dozens and dozens of frustrating emails it came to nothing.

Stick to songfreedom/music bed type productions IMO

Pete

[Don Bloom]

The Harry Fox agency in NY used to handle that as a clearing house but I think they closed down or at least stopped that practice some years ago but it might be a place to start.
Believe it or not SOME artists, writers, publishers etc. are pretty easy to work with when it comes to licensing and are willing to release the song without a lot of BS.

[Robert Benda]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

There are literally millions of music videos on You Tube so it might be worth a shot to see if the song is used on there. If it is and has ads on the video then the publishing company probably have an agreement with YouTube to get the revenue from the ads. If you can live with the ads then that might be a solution but also check with YT and get their policy on using it.

Just because a company allows the song on YouTube doesn't mean we, as the common folk, have permission to use it. This is primarily a concern for a commercial use (like us or a company lip-synching, I suppose).

To get permission I believe you'll have to find the specific rights holder and negotiate. There will be a department for licensing (though I'm blanking on the name). It will cost thousands of dollars, and easily five figures if the song was popular at all.

[Steven Reid]

You'll need two licenses. The first is a master license that permits use of the original recording or karaoke/instrumental version. The licensor is usually one of the big music publishers if your song is very popular.

The second license is a synchronization license that permits the synchronizing of moving pictures (video) to the performance of the song. This is not a mechanical license, which pertains only to audio recordings of the song. The same or different music publisher is the typical licensor.

Two licenses, two fees, and two sets of communications with publishers who you hope will give your small, insignificant, low or no-profit project the time of day. ;)

Addendum: forget all the noise about YouTube. They don't control or administer rights because they have none. It cracks me up to see all the YT videos saying that no copyright infringement is intended. Little do they realize that that is an admission of infringement. Will anyone care? Maybe not, but one doesn't have to invite trouble...

[Zelle Olson]

I want to Thank everyone for their great advice!

[Marcus Martell]

How did you end up?

[Marcus Martell]

What Are the best sites where you can purchase this kind of songs for wedding videography?
Thx a lot