Has it ever happened that your favorite music track suddenly surfaces in the commercial of a successful brand? Or you go to a restaurant or cafe and immediately recognize that the song being played there is the new release of some popular artist?
Welcome to the world of Music Licensing. Music has always been known to bridge the physical barrier and reach audiences wide and large. The hottest trend in the advertising market is to carry out music licensing so as to bring in more people and build brand loyalty. But what is actually music licensing and what all it involves?
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Music licensing is basically the process that allows you to legally use pieces of a musical track or in some cases, the entire track. Music licensing ensures that no music track is used in an illegally used. It also ensures that artists are provided a certain composition whenever their songs are used depending upon the terms of their contracts and the purpose of usage of the song.
For example licensing processes involved in the usage of a track for TV advertisements, for playing a track in front of a public gathering and playing that same track on the radio, are all different.
The most common types of music licenses that exist in the industry at this age are as follows:
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Royalty
Whenever a particular song is used commercially, the singer of the song or the recording label would be paid a certain amount as mentioned in their contract. This is known as a royalty. The royalty agreement does not put any time restriction on the use of the song; it can be used as long as the royalty is being paid.
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Limited-Term
This kind of music licensing is preferred by brands for successful product promotion. Such licensing allows any music track to be used for a fixed period of time, in any form pertaining to the ones mentioned in the contract.
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Public Performance
Such musical licenses allow the songs or tracks to be played in music festivals or any such similar public gathering. This licensing is particularly useful to avoid copyright claims when a different artist is performing songs of some other artist.
Why licensing is so important?
In this technical age, when piracy is as easy as counting on fingers, licensing offers blanket protection against illegitimate use of a particular track.
Any song or album is the culmination of months and days of the toiling and hard work of artists. Therefore it is necessary that these artists are respected and paid their dues whenever their composition is used in any manner.
Music licensing is also important for any person who wishes to utilize a successful musical track for their track. Without signing any agreements, usage of the track is counted as cheating and tarnishes the image of the organization as well as the person. Further illegal use of any song or track can lead to a lawsuit filed against the concerned people and they might end up behind bars.
Music licensing is a way to ensure that the interests of artists and musicians are protected whenever their compositions are used for commercial use. It is a strong tool that promotes fair dealing in the Musical industry worldwide.
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