Music Licensing

by Kim Brenner

Music licensing is something most people of the 21st are by now at least somewhat familiar with. We hear about the enormous sums of money paid to purchase rights to a song, or set of songs, by a company for their commercial, or to be used in a movie. One famous example was Microsoft's 10 million dollar purchase of the Rolling Stones song Start Me Up that they then used to introduce their Window's 95 operating system. For many people, this exorbitant fee was a wake up call to the realities of music licensing in today's society.

The truth of the matter is, however, that music licensing happens every day, all around us, on both a small and large scale. Every time a restaurant, movie theatre, radio station, super market, or mall plays a song that they themselves didn?t produce, there was a music licensing agreement that allowed them to do so legally. From the perspective of the parties involved in making the music, these licensing agreements are the only things that protect what they spent so much time and money making.

In the United States, music licensing draws on the protections offered by U.S. copyright law. When anyone produces anything original, their work may be subject to these protections, and this includes music. There are actually a number of things about a song that can be copyrighted. Firstly, there are often written lyrics involved, and like any other form of writing, these are original works that fall under the rights offered by copyright law. Then there is the written music, the notes and sheet music, that the musician designed to represent his or her work. Lastly, the actual sounds used in the song can be copyrighted.

There are usually a few different parites involved in with the more popular music today, ie; music you hear on the radio, on television, or in movies. The recording Label, as the name suggests usually owns music recording. These labels often own and operate the studio in which the song was recorded in the first place. The song's composer and songwriter (if there were lyrics involved) typically owns the right to the song itself, and then a publisher represents them in their dealings. Therefore, it is often the publisher of the song that is involved with any music licensing agreements and not the song writers themselves.

With so many different aspects, and different entities involved, it is easy to see how music licensing can become a complicated issue!

Recently Composed Music Licensing Resources:

Music Licensing Agreement Form - ASCAP PDF file for licenese agreements

Music License Agreements for Local Government Entities - cost-effective blanket license agreements with ASCAP and with BMI

New Zealand Law - Kiwi Law Blog