Oct 6, 2013

Music Licensing: Sync!


The business of music licensing:

With the increase of streamed TV channels, YouTube, and other social media platforms, the need for licensable original music is on the rise.  Anyone that has ever become familiar with media companies and the way they operate will also know that advertisements pay for the company’s sustainability.  Therefore, since the media world has turned into a web-based platform for a huge portion of the industry, advertisers have turned to the web and social media in order to increase the company’s market reach.   



A quick background on music licensing...the idea behind music licensing is that someone pays a music composer/writer for the use of his or her music.  This essentially comes in various forms.  However, in a commercial use, any music synched with visuals should fall in the category of a sync license.  The thing to remember is that whether the license is called “sync” or not, a music license is just: permission to use a particular music for a fee.   

It is pretty hard to imagine a YouTube (or traditional TV) commercial without background music appropriate for it.  Although there are great songs that will come in very appropriate for certain ads, it may not be in the best interest of the advertiser to use this music.  Why?  Usually seasoned, established music, and their creators, will not permit use (license) for a small fee.  Therefore, companies like Toyota, GM, Tide, etc., have been known to look and license outside/independent music.  This allows for two things, one on the business side and the other on the creative side:

1.     The advertiser will save on the license fees.
2.     The artistic appeal of an independent artist composing for a specific company may be better suited from an artistic perspective.

A great website that answers many questions in this matter of music licensing is located in Sarah Gavigan’s webpage.    

Ms. Gavigan is a seasoned music supervisor located in Nashville, full of great advises on the topic of music licensing and the independent artist.  She has a blog to which one could subscribe!

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