What is Library / Production music?
Library or Production Music is ready to use short pieces of music, specifically for use together
with video, film, documentaries, images, web pages and other media productions. This is a far quicker,
cheaper and easy way to use music legally, rather than using commercially released music or commissioning
a composer to create the music for a project.
It has been around almost since the beginning of publicly screened talkies or talking movies (films
with sound) - about 1925.
Can I use someone else's music in my film, documentary, video, media production
or on my website legally?
Only if you have licensed the music from the rights owner, publisher or composer and have a very clear
legal agreement giving you permission. This can often be an expensive, long and complicated process,
hence the huge proliferation of production music libraries, that usually give you immediate "synchronization,
mechanical and performance rights" upon purchase.
What does "synchronisation rights" mean?
A synchronisation license is a license to dub or add music to visual media, typically a film or TV
show.
What does "Mechanical rights" mean?
A mechanical license is a license to duplicate the track onto another physical media such as a CD
or DVD, but in the UK it has also come to mean the same as synchronisation rights.
*These days the above two licenses are often combined for a one-off or "buy out" fee.
This system is now often referred to as "Royalty Free".
What does "Royalty Free" or "Buy-out" really mean?
There are no clear legal definitions of the above terms, so both parties (seller and purchaser) should
always enter into a clear and legally binding agreement that sets out exactly what these terms mean
if at all used.
What does "Performance rights" mean?
"Performance rights" means the legal right to publicly broadcast a production that contains
a piece of "synchronized" music (see above).
Most libraries require the end-users (licensees) to submit a cue sheet to the PRO (Performance Royalty Organization)to which the licensor, rights
owner, publisher or composer belongs. The Cue Sheet, lists all the details of the production - the
title of the music, duration, how it was used (theme, underscore, diagetic/non-diegetic etc.) This
is so that the composer / creators and publishers can claim a share of blanket royalties paid by the
main big broadcasters to the PROs.
However, there has recently been a huge growth of online sellers of library music, who do not require
the purchaser (licensee) of the music to report how they have used the music - the purchase and download
of the music gives the synchronisation rights and there is no legal requirement to report how or where
the music was used. This business model is often referred to as royalty free or buy out.
This means that the creator or composer of the music will never receive any further royalties and
for this reason, Dave TV Music does not use this business model, we require all purchasers of
our music to report how and where they have used the music.
As a composer / creator of music for film, TV, websites and other
media, how can I ensure that I get paid royalties when my music is used?
Most countries around the world have music royalty societies or organisations (PROs) that collect
royalties on behalf of their members.
These organisations track usage, receive payments and eventually pass on the payments to their members.
Many of the larger organisations are affiliated and will pass on royalty payments they receive in
their countries to the other affiliated organisations if they find that music of a member of an affiliated
society from another country has been used in a commercially broadcasted production.
So we strongly advise our licensors to register with the PRO's of their country and to register with
them any tracks that they have licensed.
What does diegetic / non-diegetic mean and how do these terms affect royalty
payments?
Diegetic means sound or music that is actually part of a scene. A good example would be a scene where
there is a band playing in the background which the actors are dancing to.
Diegetic music usually collects more royalties than non-diegetic.
Non-diegetic means music or sound that is incidental to the scene. A good example would be soft romantic
violins underscoring a romantic love scene and the orchestra would obviously not be present in the
room.
MECHANICAL / synchronisation (SYNC) LICENSE (in the UK usually called a "mechanical
license" and in the USA a "sync. license")
Mechanical/Sync : the copying, dubbing or transferring of a piece of music from
any media to any media.
PERFORMANCE LICENSE:
A license for "The right to show, play, perform, broadcast, stream or deliver to the public."
When a program maker delivers a production to a broadcaster, it must be accompanied by various bits
of documentation, among which will be a cue sheet
CUE SHEET:
This document will list all the scenes using any music, giving details such as the composer's name,
track title, duration, scene number etc. The broadcaster then passes on this information to the relevant PRO (Performance Rights Organization)
who in turn, pass on a share of the royalties paid by the broadcaster to the composers, copyright owners,
publishers and sub-publishers.
BLANKET ROYALTY PAYMENTS:
To simplify the process, large broadcasters in most countries such as the BBC in the UK, pay a yearly blanket payment to various PROs.
PRO:
Performance Rights Organization. These are organisations who collect and distribute royalties from various
sources and distribute them to their members. These members (publishers, composers, arrangers and performers
of music) will have already registered their music titles, catalogues etc. with the various PROs.
The PRS or ASCAP / BMI for example, will then pass a share of them on to their members such as Amazing World Music.
EXCLUSIVE / NON-EXCLUSIVE LICENSING:
An exclusive licensing contract is when a composer / creator (licensor) of a piece of music "licences" or gives a single and unique right to the user (licensee) to use the music in their production. The licensing agreement will state that the composer / creator (licensor) can not license that specific music again to anyone else. Sometimes it can be for a "term", meaning that the exclusive nature of the agreement is only for a given period, for example a 5 year agreement. After the 5 year period, the rights revert back to the copyright owner and they will be free to enter into a new agreement to license the music.
A non-exclusive licensing contract is when a composer / creator (licensor) of a piece of music "licences" or gives a limited license to the user (licensee) to use the music in their production, but the composer / creator (licensor) is allowed to also license the music to anyone else they wish at any time.
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