Filmmaking / Directing : Rights for Songs in Short Films by Trey Alessio

Your right about how it works, you can license the song - music and lyrics, and the performer separately, which allows you to have an unknown artist which costs less. How much it costs depends on the use and distribution of the film. So for a. short film that goes to festivals, I think a special rate for festivals, but if you sell to a streamer, a lot more! I would suggest getting in touch with the music publishers yourself and do a deal, then decide if you want to go with the famous name artist or a lesser known artist. Whatever they ask for knock them down of course it's good PR for them! No idea of how much, all depends on the above. Geoff

Thanks, Geoff Harris!

You DO NOT need a license for the master unless fir odd reason you need access to the original master media. You likely don't. You DO need a synchronization license negotiated with the copyright owner to the recording you will be using. If you are recording your own version, you will need sync license from all copyright holders - composer, arranger (unless you have a new arranger), lyricist, etc.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg So, if I just wanted to put a song in my film, all I'll need is the sync license?

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg Isn't that what I. said but in a more complicated way? True enough though, if you sung it yourself or had a singer friend, plus a band of course, you wouldn't need to pay performer rights, just the music publishing rights, which may be called a sync license in the US?

There is also the issue of how long the song rights last. Will the length be sufficient to support your intended festival or streaming run?

There was this low profile band named Foltin in Macedonia in early 00's...I was looking for a music for my first short and stumbled upon their pilot album...loved the stuff and went to sign in with them so everything's in place...price was beer...some 20 years fast forward and the same guys did music for two time Oscar nominated "Honeyland"...they can come strong now to me demanding more, but the beers are already served...point is, always have it on written...

This is from the Copyright Alliance website.

This is from the ASCAP website.

Geoff Harris That's my only hesitation with just dealing with the sync license. Both of these sites are telling me I need both the sync and master-use licenses.

If you don't like the quote you get, you could reach out to a songwriter/composer on this site... or I've used Pond5 and been happy with it.

Ballpark in the low $25K - and yes, will need both licenses.

There seems total confusion here as to the purposes of the different licenses. 1. Synchronization - if you are going to sync a piece of existing music to moving pictures, you need this. 2. Master - ONLY if you need access to the actual masters, you need this. Sometimes the copyright holder overvthe recording is different than who owns the music. So you may need both. The master is a holdover from the days where you had to access the originals. Now, in the digital world, you don't usually. But the owner of the master may still cry for some money. YOU DO NOT NEED A MASTER USE LICENSE IF YOU ARE RERECODING YOUR OWN VERSION OF THE MUSIC, regardless of what anyone else might say. 3. However, if you are rerecording your own version, you DO NEED a Mechanical license. This, however, is a compulsory statutory license, at least in the USA and Canada, so you just fill out a form when you release the piece to the public.

Trey Alessio Is this the link to ASCAP you posted? https://www.ascap.com/help/career-development/How-To-Acquire-Music-For-Films

It;'s very simple and useful, everything u need to know. I wasn't sure what was meant by 'Master License' in the US but I do now. For example, if you wanted to use a song by Taylor Swift you would need a licence for the song from the music publishers, which it seems can be found on ASCAP and if you wanted to use the Taylor Swift version, you would need a license from the record company, the Master Licence. Expensive!

However, if you used a version by an unknown singer, even a Karaoke singer maybe, you would still need the publishing license, but the singer's recording would cost a lot less.

As someone said, you can get, Festival use, which would be reasonable I guess, just for the festival circuit, but if it was sold to a broadcaster/ streamer or I guess YouTube, all kinds of other things come into play, what broadcaster, what countries will it be. shown in,, for how long do you want the license for etc.

For now, I would just enquire about the publishing rights as you need that whatever and remember when negotiating, you're giving the song publicity which will likely lead to downloads.

Geoff

@treyAlessio Having said all that, if Taylor Swift and her people liked how you were using the song on your film, they might let you have it very cheaply indeed!. (As an example!)

Thanks for all the thoughts, opinions and advice!

Great advice throughout. To Phillip's comments, we're partners with Pond 5. Here are the deets:

https://www.stage32.com/blog/Pond5-and-Stage-32-Join-Forces-to-Bring-Val...

Richard "RB" Botto I'll definitely check out Pond5. Thank you!

Most welcome.

I would reach out to a relatively unknown unsigned band or artist - do a genre search on spotify or apple music for example to find something you like - and strike a deal with them. They'll appreciate being in your short and you will have some great music. You will need to check that they are the rights holder and also get permission from who owns the sound recording (hopefully them too) - and that keeps the licensing simple - so that all you will need is a sync licence agreement with them that allows you to use it anywhere forever in any format for your agreed fee.

Trey, I've found Pond5 really easy to use and sort through specific genres.

Lots of good ideas...

I found this incredibly helpful. According to this Film Independent link, you only really need a sync license if you're using an original song in your film. If you wanted a popular cover, you'll need the sync + master-use. Do I have that right?