License Definitions for Royalty Free Music

 If you work in the media production world, whether with audio, video, film, or internet, you have likely seen the term Royalty Free Music.  Surprisingly, many professionals don’t actually agree on how to define it.  Even many Royalty Free Music Library companies differ in their definition.  This article endeavors to answer some questions regarding this subject, and to the authors best ability, take a legal and factual approach to many of the challenges and questions that production professionals face.

What is Royalty Free Music?

Also known as Buyout Music, or Lifetime Synchronization Music, Royalty Free Music in its most simple definition, means music that has a single ( one time ) synchronization license fee. This one time fee grants the licensor (user ) the ability to re-synchronize the music in other productions without additional synchronization license fees.

Some Important History on the term Royalty Free Music

The term Royalty Free Music migrated somewhat erroneously from our sister industry - Stock Photography.  The two dominate licensing terms used in the Stock Photography world are “Rights Managed” and “Royalty Free”. These are sometimes seen as RM and RF.

Rights Managed simply means that you purchase a license to use a photo for one single application. If you wish to use it again in a different application, you pay again. Royalty Free however means that you pay “One Time” and can use the photo over and over in as many different applications as you wish.  **Understand, that the Stock Photography industry does not have the clear and rigid legal guidelines of Publisher, Composer, and Performing Rights Societies ( ascap and bmi ) that our industry does.

This is the key to understanding the confusion.  The term “royalty” doesn’t mean exactly the same thing in the Stock Photography world as it does in the Stock Music or Production Music Library world.  The term “Royalty Free” probably should have never  been adopted by the Production Music Library industry to begin with.

A better and less confusing term may have been “Lifetime Synchronization” license.  This is because legally, there are other “royalty” related issues such as Performance Royalties.  Many times music library consumers think that Royalty Free means no Performance Royalties are to paid, or that the music is already cleared for Performance.  This is not true.  A simple and clear understanding of a few aspects of our nation’s copyright laws will go a long way in keeping you on the up and up.

License Definitions

It is important to understand that the following definitions come from U.S. copyright law and are true of all published music, not just production music.

Synchronization License:

The right granted by the Publisher of a copyright, to allow the copyright to be Synchronized with other audio or visual production.

This is the primary license that a Production Music Library grants to a customer.  Library customers never ‘buy’ or ‘purchase’ the music, they are simply paying a license fee that allows them to utilize it in time relation within a production that includes other media. This is called Synchronization.  A Synchronization license is required regardless of the finished production ever being broadcast or presented in any form or fashion.

There are 3 primary methods that a Music Library company will provide a Synchroniztion License.

NEEDLE-DROP  -  Also called Laser Drop or Per Use License.  This means you can Synchronize the song One Time only.  For every time you utilize the song, you must pay the Synchronization fee again.  To the true letter of the law, this even applies within a single production.  For example if an editor uses a song at the intro of a video, a couple of times in the middle and then once again at the end ( regardless of how much of the song is used ), then the customer must pay for 4 Needle Drop fees.

ANNUAL BLANKET - This type of Synchronization license allows the user to synchronize any and all of the songs affiliated with the Annual Blanket agreement, as often as they wish until the term of the agreement is expired. Typically these are set from 1 to 3 years in length.

ROYALTY FREE - Also called Buyout or Lifetime License.  This type of Synchronization license allows the user to synchronize the licensed songs as many times as they wish, in as many different productions as they wish, in perpetuity.

Mechanical License:

The right granted by the Publisher of a copyright to allow the copyright to be duplicated in a physical or virtual product.

Outside of the Production Music business, this would typically apply to a record company that wishes to include a song on an album, manufacture copies, and sell the copies.  Within the Production Music Library business, this would include situations such as an Aerobics or Yoga DVD that is mass manufactured and sold in stores that utilized Production Music tracks within the production itself.  Another and common example would be of a successful cable tv program that decided to start selling episodes on DVD.  In both of these cases, a Synchronization license would not cover the ability to duplicate and sell a product containing the copyright(s).

** Many Music Libraries call this a Mass Duplication License.  It means the same thing.  Additionally, many Music Libraries allow for up 10,000 units of duplication as a part of their Synchronization license and do not require additional Mechanical Licenses until duplication needs go beyond that amount.  The amount varies from company to company.

Performance License:

This license applies to Broadcasters ( TV, Radio, Cable etc..), Live Venues such as concert halls, music clubs, and dance halls, and also public places of business that ‘air’ copyright protected music within that building(s).  This license, and its fees, do not apply to producers, editors, post houses, production companies, etc…..all of the typical Music Library marketplace.   These licenses are paid to Performing Rights Societies ( PRS ) -  ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. The fees paid “Clear” the songs to be “Performed”.   -  Much more on this subject later.

Direct Performance License:

Occasionally, a broadcaster will choose not to pay for Performance Licenses with one or more Performing Rights society.  If so, the broadcaster then does not have legal clearance to perform musical copyrights that are affiliated with that PRS.  Thus, the individual copyrights must be cleared directly from the publisher to allow it to be performed….or broadcasted.  Many times such a broadcaster will put the burden of obtaining this Direct Performance License on the production company that is creating the program to broadcasted.  This license and its fee is separate from any other license.