Today’s post is the result of both recent client
assignments, and two articles that I came across; one by Neil Gillis on
Sonicbids.com extolling the benefits of sync licensing, and the other by Jason
Blume on BMI.com discussing how you might actually score that elusive song
placement. These articles can be found in their entirety at the following
links:
The motivation is simple. “Sync” is short for
“synchronization”, and means that your song (and probably your master) will be
synchronized with a visual image. Song placement in a TV, movie or commercial
is obviously a great piece of resume material. It can also generate two income
streams.
The first income stream is the possible payment of an
up-front licensing fee. The fee may be split between use of the composition
(i.e., the songwriter and his/her publisher) and use of the master recording
(i.e., the record company). Both must be licensed if the master recording is
utilized (versus re-recording a new master). The fee is usually split in equal
50/50 shares between the two licenses. A typical DIY indie artist may own
everything (i.e., his/her publishing and the master) thereby streamlining this
process.
The amount of the up-front fee can depend on several
factors, including the overall project budget, the length of the scene, and the
overall importance of the scene (such as over the opening or closing credits,
as opposed to coming out of the jukebox and being barely audible during the bar
fight scene). Of course, it helps if the song is not easily replaced. In low
budget projects, an artist might be asked to license music without an up-front
fee. Because of the second income stream, such deal may still make sense,
depending on the facts.
That second stream consists of performing rights society
royalties; through BMI, ASCAP or SESAC; and is often referred to as “back-end
money.” For TV and movie placements, royalties are generated each time that the
episode or movie is broadcast. As a result, even a placement with no up-front
fee can generate some money, as can a movie that ends up being released
straight-to-DVD (assuming it eventually ends up on TV.)
For example, a client here previously licensed a song in a
movie that had a very limited theater run, but it’s available on DVD, and it
gets shown on TV occasionally. The movie’s budget was spent on a couple of
high-profile song placements. My client was offered use of his song in a
jukebox scene. If you don’t know what to listen for, you’ll never make it out
over din of conversation and beer bottles. The fee was $1 dollar.
However, the deal was laid out in advance; it gave the
client a nice piece of resume material at a key stage in his career; and, to
this day, it continues to show up on BMI quarterly statements. No one is
getting rich. It is a few dollars here, and a few dollars there, but it’s a
perfect example of sync licensing in action.
Even if the “why” is clear, the “how” of sync licensing is a
bit more complicated. The goal is to get your music in front of a project’s
music supervisor, who in turn has the ear of the director. It’s the music
supervisor’s job to determine what music is needed, including “source music” to
be used in the background, coming out of car radios, etc.
Unless you know a music supervisor, as a songwriter you may
end up pitching your material to music libraries, sometimes called sync houses.
These businesses have vast quantities of music available to them and can
fulfill any request that might come from a music supervisor: a track about
sunshine, something sung in Russian, death metal instrumental, etc. Music
Dealers is just one example of this type of middle-man licensing business. http://www.musicdealers.com/#!/
An artist working with (for example) Music Dealers typically
licenses songs to MD on a non-exclusive basis, leaving the artist free to shop
the song elsewhere. This process allows MD to pre-clear the song, putting it in
a position to approach music supervisors with the necessary rights and
authorities (from the songwriter/master owner) already secured.
Assuming that a song placement is scored, the typical arrangement
splits any up-front fee between the artist and the sync house, allots the
publisher’s share of performing rights royalties to the sync house, while
allowing the writer to retain his/her writer’s share of any performing rights
money. The song is generally given a new title, and re-registered with the
artist’s performing rights society, allowing income to be traced from that
specific placement, as opposed to, say, spins on the radio where the sync house
had no involvement.
If you are either licensing your own songs, or are a music
publisher actively engaged in the process, some good online sources offer
general education on the topic, and possible pitching opportunities. Examples include Music Library Report and Cue
Sheet. You can find them at the links below:
As always, this is meant as general guidance, and not specific
legal advice. If you have a specific sync license question, feel free to
contact me at lmeyer@mdpwlaw.com. Happy licensing!
