So you’ve got a great sound, you’ve done all the online promotion you can think of and your songs are really getting some traction! You might want to just sit back and watch the play count rise, but unfortunately, there’s still more work to do. The music industry has been notorious for alleged intellectual property theft right back to 1963 and with the rise of the internet, it isbe that much easier to get away with.
While I still believe that most people, in this industry or otherwise, are good, that does not mean you shouldn’t take the necessary precautions to ensure you are not one of those people left in the dust.
Why you should care about music licensing and copyright
Especially as an independent musician, it is paramount that you understand and use the legal system to protect you and your work. Regardless of if you plan on making this a career or not, getting money for something you’ve spent time creating is an incredible feeling, but all of that is gone if it's going to another pocket.
The word copyright is likely familiar to you, it is used for most forms of artistic expression, or any time there is an author/artist. This first legal term consists of two parts, 1. The Moral right, or recognition of ownership and integrity of the work (important to note that the USA does not recognize the moral right) and 2. The Economic Right, the exclusive right to exploit the work through reproduction or performance for economic gain.
Music licensing comes in once you have the copyright, and essentially allows certain entities to perform the work on your behalf. Every time a recording or performance is made of a work a license must be obtained from the songwriter or publisher (whoever owns the copyright). Furthermore, this agreement is not exclusive (usually) therefore as the owner you still have the right to reproduce, or perform the work yourself and the right to decline a licensing agreement with anyone in the future. Finally, depending on the nature of the reproduction a different license is required.
As you might imagine, for large artists, selling an individual license every time someone wants a reproduction would be an incredibly large task in and of itself. For this reason, Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) and Collective Management Organizations (CMOs) have been set up that offer blanket licenses for each reproduction method. Allowing for blanket licenses saves a lot of time for the owner of the copyright itself but does introduce yet another middle man in the whole process. The expertise and specialization of these organizations can be invaluable to the upcoming artist, especially when it comes to understanding the nuances of mechanical, and performing rights, and sync licenses (yeah, of course there is even more to it), which we will go into more detail on later.
How to copyright your songs
One interesting piece of trivia regarding these legal terms is when a copyright is actually obtained. In reality, all you need is to have recorded your song on paper or digitally and bam, copyright gained! The problem is, of course, that no one else knows what you own and when it was created! This can cause some very tricky legal situations of: he said she said, so the real test is the copyright registration. Once you register your copyright with the United States Copyright Office (or your national copyright organization ex. Canada) for example, you’ll have undisputable “prima facie” (another fancy legal term basically stating the other party has to prove the work is not yours, as opposed to the other way around) evidence you created it and on what date.
Registering for a copyright can usually be done directly on the organizations website however there are now more middleman organizations willing to copyright it for a fee, in case the very unfriendly user interface scares you too much.
Metadata
Making sure your work and it’s corresponding owner can be identified is the whole point of this whole exercise, and today, that relies on accurate metadata. Metadata is essentially all the background information on a piece of work including the sound recording data (International Sound Recording Codes), and publishing data (International Standard Work Codes) however coordinating all of this information is still extremely difficult. Combine that with the thousands of new copyrights register every day and some songs never get properly identified. As an artist, you must register your song with as much transparency, consistency and volume of information as soon as you can to avoid identification problems down the line.
Getting licenses
On the other hand, getting the license to cover, remix, or sample a song depends entirely on how you are going to use it but it will comprise 2 categories. Mechanical license, Master licenses, and performing rights.
Mechanical licenses cover the right to distribute, record, or manufacture a musical work or sheet music therefore they are mostly for download stores.
Master Licenses are similar to mechanical licenses however they focus on the actual recording of the song as opposed to the elements (composition, melody, lyrics) that make up the whole.
And finally Performing rights, you guessed it, are the right to perform a song in a public place. These rights are only important for venues, radio stations and for playing the song on TV, so as independent musicians, you shouldn’t have to worry about it.
Cover Songs
Rerecording a song with your own unique performance without altering the melody or arrangement of the original allows you to avoid the Master license and Mechanical License in all streaming platforms however you still require the Mechanical license in some select countries download stores like the USA and Canada.
Remixes
Remixing a song takes the original elements and spins them to alter the melody or any other song element. To release a remix worldwide, no matter the platform or country, you just need a Master License.
Sampling
Getting the license for a song you’ve sampled is the most complicated of the bunch. Despite its prevalence in modern music today, sampling is not recognized as a completely original art form. Due to the vast differences in sampling techniques and the fact that song elements may still remain, both a master and mechanical license is required for worldwide distribution.
Who to contact
Now that you know what kind of legal right you need to obtain, the next step is finding out who can actually provide that to you.
As stated previously, registering for a license is usually done through a national Performing Rights Organization or Collective Management Organization. These differ by region but a quick internet search can usually direct you to the right place.
Registering your song for copyright is also typically done through a national organization therefore, again just a quick search will set you right on your way.
Getting the licenses for your own reproduction can be a little more difficult though. Although registering is done centrally, those rights are still owned by individuals or publishing companies therefore identifying the original songwriter, owner or label should be the first step. This is actually made much easier through copyright databases like Songfile but again, going back to those copyright offices will help as well.
The various different licenses can cause some confusion here as well, so reaching out and just asking will save a lot of headache down the line but in general, the label will own copyright to the sound recording but the publisher will own the composition. If you’re trying to recreate the song, not play it in public (like those tv channels, and venues) then the composition license is the only one you’ll need.
When making contact it is again important to be absolutely clear about what song you are inquiring about and what your intention is for it. Sending an explicit letter of intent is the final step to the whole process, so everyone is clear just what is being recreated and how much everyone owes. Make sure to do this at least 30 days before your release date just in case there is any confusion or problems through the whole process.
Conclusion
Music copyright and licensing is one of those behind the scenes parts of this whole industry that can be extremely daunting to the up-and-coming independent musician. One of the big draws of signing to a label can simply be the wealth of experience they have in this respect, so if you’re really seeing a lot of momentum and are willing to invest in that way, it might be a good idea to see if there’s anyone else out there who wants to support you. For anyone else, this blog should be a great first start to the wide world of music licensing. In all cases, make sure you know what the laws and organizations are for your region and if you’re looking for a license to recreate, just contacting the owner directly will never hurt.
For plenty of more amazing information on music production and promotion, be sure to keep up with our blog and if you’re interested in what Jony Studios can do for your music career have a look at our services page.
As always, stay creative!
- By Erik Steiner
