Licensing Music to Film and Television
Author: Kedrick "Rick" Mahoney, MBA
Market
Research Overview
In the past five years, market trends
such as music piracy and the rise in digital downloading has caused the
music business to alter it processes in order to maintain leverage in the
industry. One opportunity that is beginning to receive more attention is music
licensing for film and television. This process has now grown to include music
licensing for the Internet. The key to successfully implement strategies for
licensing music is to ensure that one functions in one way or another as
songwriter for musical projects. By doing so, songwriting credits and support
from performing rights organizations such as BMI, ASCAP and SESAC will assist
an entity with their music licensing efforts. Technology has also begun to
capitalize on the music-licensing sector. Peoples (2012) stated the following
in Billboard magazine:
The arrival of OpenEMI's first commercial app is a sign of
licensing progress. Blue Note Records' iPad app, created with developer
Goldbug, is free to download and gives the user unlimited streaming for $2 per
month. It was downloaded 30,000 times in its first five days of release, Blue
Note president Don Was said during his FutureSound keynote interview. The
market for more services like Blue Note's iPad app clearly exists. The
necessary hardware already has a high adoption rate. In the last four quarters
alone, Apple has sold 125 million iPhones and 58.2 million iPads, and its
iTunes store has generated more than $7.5 billion in revenue worldwide, much of
that from sales of iPhone and iPad apps. Consumers are spending money. If
rights-holders inhibit innovation in the music industry, they will spend it
elsewhere. (p. 22-23).
Spotify
is another online based organization that has used technology to tap into the
music licensing market. “Spotify’s valuation outstrips companies with 18
times its annual revenue” (Peoples, 2012). Currently, the main leaders of the music-licensing
trend consist of cover song remix artist’s, social media sites such as YouTube,
and performing rights organizations (PROs).
YouTube. YouTube has started to take
advantage of this process. According to Mlot of PC Magazine, YouTube
announced a new deal being sealed with music publishers in June of 2012. The
deal includes top music firm BMG Rights Management among several
others. “The deal, announced on the YouTube blog, will more thoroughly
compensate producers and artists for the use of their music in user-generated
work on the video-sharing site, YouTube said” (Mlot, 2014). The value of this
system is that any musician or artist has the opportunity to have their music
published to accompany ads and commercials designed for Internet, film and
television. This will in turn bring additional income to musicians and
recording artists aiding in the constant production of new music.
Remix Artists. The number of remix artists using cover
songs and samples is also trending in the world of licensing. Anyone interested
in legally sampling or covering a previously published music must be certain to
obtain a mechanical license for that particular work. “One DJ learned about
this distinction the hard way when he made an entire album of Beatles remix and
was sued by the Beatles’ record label, EMI” (Vrana, 2011, p. 813). This process
is set forth to control the illegal use musical martial that has been
copyrighted. It also ensures proper payment for the use of published musical
works.
Performing Rights Organizations. Performing rights organizations, also
known as PROs, function to monitor how published musical works are used and
pays out royalties to songwriters and publishing companies. They work hand in
hand with the efforts of music supervisors, who seek out the right musicals for
use in film, television or commercial. These two sources are a great benefit to
the lives of career songwriters and musicians seeking to license the use of
their musical works. “Licensing music to the TV and film industry is a
lucrative business that employs a great many people, but to the outsider the
industry seems daunting and complex” (Knapp, 2007, p. 50). Nevertheless, the
collaboration of efforts allows films and other on-screen productions to be
brought to life with the use of music created from the hearts and minds of
songwriters.
Buyer
Persona
In an effort to identify the
specific buyer persona for YouTube’s music licensing process, the Rick Johnson
music project will be the point of reference. Rick Johnson is songwriter
affiliated with the ASCAP performing rights organization. He has been
performing as a singer-songwriter for the past twenty years which an
educational background that encompasses music, vocal performance and business.
Rick is in his early thirties and resides in Atlanta, Georgia, which has taken
on the name the Music Mecca of the South with a fast-growing film industry.
After following the proper music project release specifications which including
song production, protection, manufacturing and marketing, Rick was able to have
several of the songs from his Documentary EP release successfully licensed for
Internet soundtrack use during the last two quarters of 2013. During the
beginning of 2014, Rick was able to see the benefits of his music use and
licensing efforts on his ASCAP Publisher Domestic Distribution royalty
statement under the Southern Bay Records brand. At your leisure, review the
Appendix section for a view of the Southern Bay Records royalty statement. According
to the 2012 Edition of the Music Salary Guide, musicians and singer-songwriters
can realize an average songwriting income of around $40,000 per year, but can
see profits per license as high as the low $100,000 range depending on the
commercial use of the song. Therefore, Rick must maintain a sense of uniqueness
and creativity with his songwriting in order to maintain a competitive edge in
the industry. His lifestyle consists of consistent music engagements,
networking events, music rehearsals, live performances and musical project
collaborations.
Positioning
Statement
Overall, proper education on music
licensing is beneficial to struggling singer-songwriters and musicians because
it offers ground level learning on an often-overlooked aspect of the music
industry. Unlike many other outlets for aspiring singer-songwriters, the
Internet and advancements in technology have created vast levels of opportunity
for unknown career-minded music professionals to make a comfortable living.
Through effective collaboration with the music licensing leaders mentioned
earlier, one’s career can go from beginner to advanced levels in record time.
In addition to offering this opportunity, these music leaders also have
discussion boards; video trainings and step-by-step processes that make it easy
to get started with music licensing. The training tools and ease of access is
the primary factor that currently differentiates competitors in the field of
music licensing. It appears that user-friendly sites with easier access are
reaping the benefits as can be seen with companies such as YouTube. Their
service is entirely Internet based with automated calculating of analytics
requiring little to no work from music makers. Nevertheless, in the world that
we live in, information can be gained from so many different sources. At the
end of the day, it’s not about how much knowledge you gain; it's what you do
with it that makes a difference.
References
Knapp,
L. (2007). Licensing Music To The Film And Television Industries. Canadian
Musician, 29(5), 49-56. Academic Search Complete.
Mlot,
S. (2012). YouTube Inks Licensing Deal With Music Publishers. PC Magazine, 1.
Academic Search Complete.
Music
Salary Guide. (2012). Music Careers in Dollars and Cents. 2012 Edition.
[e-book] Berklee College of Music. Available through: The Career Development Center
http://www.berklee.edu/pdf/pdf/studentlife/Music_Salary_Guide.pdf
Peoples,
G. (2012). Licensing: Slow, Steady Progress. Billboard, 124(43), 22-23. Academic
Search Complete.
Vrana,
R. M. (2011). The Remix Artist's Catch-22: A Proposal for Compulsory Licensing
for Transformative, Sampling-Based Music. Washington & Lee Law Review,
68(2), 811-862. Academic Search Complete.
Appendix
