All You Need to Know About Music Licensing

Any time you want to use a specific piece of music either as your message hold on program or to play in your facility, you will need permission. Every piece of music that has been composed comes with a license agreement that explains the way that music can be used. Click here to understand what kind of legalities and fines apply to the use of music.

The type of license you require depends on how you are going to use the music. For instance, if you want to perform the song in public there is a different license for it. If you want to play the recording in your store or use it in your marketing video the license you would require is different.

There are two types of licenses that are based on use of music. A limited term license comes with a specific time period during which the music can be used. A royalty on the other hand is paid to the composer of the music upon sale or use of the work. It doesn’t involve any time period.

Apart from the above two categories there are also other types of music licenses you should know about. These include:

Broadcast License: This kind of license specifies the medium that you can use to share the work. Mechanical License: You would need this license if you want to reproduce a particular recording in order to sell it. Music distribution companies would need this license.

Single Use License: If you need to use the music only for one time in one particular way, you can get a single user license.

Public Performance License: As the name suggests, this license gives you the permission to perform the music publicly. You can also broadcast that performance via radio or television.

Sync License: If you want to synchronize a piece of music with something else, such as visuals, voice or another track, you would need a sync license. All those users who want to use music as message on hold program or for video production will have to obtain this license.

Music licenses are generally non-transferable. So although a radio station can play a particular music through a broadcast license, you won’t be allowed to play it in your store or to put your callers on hold. The license that the radio station has doesn’t apply to you.

There is also a special type of licensing called the creative commons licensing. This is used by people who work in creative industries. Through this license they will be able to share and use their creative property in certain specified ways.

Such a license might also specify the way in which the original author needs to be credited if the song is used.

That’s not all. You will need proper license even to upload music on YouTube. If your use of the song and credit doesn’t match with the particular artist or group’s specifications, YouTube might decide to remove your video or at least mute its audio.

Using unlicensed music can cost you money and reputation. If you want to skip the embarrassment and the courtroom procedures use only that music that has been legally licensed.