Getting Familiar With the World of Music Licensing

It is important to pay something to buy the rights when someone wants to use a piece of music or a song

. This is when the concept of music licensing comes into picture. Here, it is important to mention that most people are not familiar with the world of music licensing, and that's why they come with certain misconceptions. Here is what you need to know about the world where you can buy or sell the rights to use music.

Who Needs a License?

Probably the most common question related to music licensing! Most people don't know they need a license to use an original piece of music, and those who do are completely unaware of the situations where there is no need to buy the rights. To keep it simple, just bear in mind that if you use a piece of music for commercial purposes, such as marketing and advertising of your business by using music in films, commercials, documentaries, gaming, or podcasting, you will have to buy the rights. In other words, getting a license is necessary in this case.

However, if you are interested in downloading a soundtrack from the internet to enjoy it as end-user or listener, there is no need to be worried about music licensing. So, just keep this simple point in mind and you will get the answer whether or not you need to buy the rights for a song or music file.

Public Performance Rights:

Imagine this: you have a restaurant or own a radio station where you want to play or broadcast music for public. Do you think you can do it without buying the rights? Probably not! You need to buy the rights, which in this case are called Public Performance Rights. Now, the problem is that when you intend to use something for film or commercial, you can buy it with ease, as you'd be buying one or two music pieces. On the contrary, you will be playing hundreds of songs in your restaurant or on your radio station everyday. In this case, buying the rights to play each track makes no sense at all.

This is when you get in touch with two companies - BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated) and ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers). Each of these companies maintains a catalogue of over 4,000,000 songs and you can purchase "Blanket Licenses" to play any of these songs throughout a year.

Conclusion:

These are some of the most important points you need to get familiar with before actually trying to buy the rights of using a piece of music. Paying attention to these points is important, but there are several other things that you need to keep in mind. For instance, you need to be very careful about different music licensing agreements because of difficult and unfavorable terms. So, first make sure you actually need a license and then find a right source to get it; and, never forget to check the licensing agreement twice before making a final decision.

Getting Familiar With the World of Music Licensing

By: robertfogartys

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