Music Licensing: What is It and Why Royalty-Free Music is the Smart Option

If you have a sudden interest in music licensing, then it’s fairly likely this is about your need to make sure that your use of music on a film or video project is legal and not something that will blow back on you in the future.

The issue of music licensing can be something of a headache, especially for those who are new to the industry. Basically, if you wish to use music on any of your projects, you’ll need to obtain the relevant clearance to do so, even for a single second of output.

Failure to get permission or a license could result in severe penalties, and that’s why you need to make sure you know as much about the matter before you make a mistake that could cost you a small fortune.

Music Licensing

If you wish to use existing mainstream music for any project, you should be aware that the costs are extraordinarily high. Using a great track you heard on the radio or one that is a personal favorite will more than likely blow your entire budget in a matter of seconds.

On top of the issue of costsת, there is also the very likely scenario that the rights holder, or the production house or individual who owns the rights to the recording, won’t give you permission anyway. After all, unless you are a famed filmmaker, there is little reason for them to allow you to use their property to enhance yours.

In order to secure the relevant license, if you wish to proceed down this route, you’ll have to find out who owns the license for the song or track, and that can be tricky in itself. You’ll then have to contact the relevant parties and hope that they accept your proposal and then you’ll have to meet the relevant costs.

You should also take into account that the clearance you receive may only be for a single use or perhaps not for commercial projects or those hosted on social media channels. Basically, there are many caveats that will be added that could greatly impinge on your creative freedoms.

‘Free’ Music

There are some, albeit rare, occasions when music is free of copyright. By this, we mean there are examples of musical pieces being available without the need for payment. This happens when either a piece of music has seen its copyright expire or because the musical output is in the public domain.

In each of these cases, the music is likely to be upwards of 75 years old and, as such, won’t really work on modern productions. Similarly the size of the field of music of this type is very small, a fraction of what’s available by other means.

Royalty-Free Music is the Smart Option

So if you feel that opting to license existing mainstream music is too costly, which is likely, and that music that’s without copyright is just too niche, which is also likely, then there is a smart option that is, for many, the perfect solution.

Royalty-Free Music, sometimes inaccurately termed copyright-free music, is an entire tranche of music available for an inexpensive one-off fee and offers you a near-endless supply of top-quality tracks that will be ideal for your project.

This type of music is offered by royalty-free music providers who you subscribe to, and in doing so, you get to access and use large databases full of content. The music is split into helpful categories based on several factors. These can be divided by music type and genres that relate to the project you need it for.

The quality of the music files is top of the range and breadth of what’s provided means that you’ll always find just what you need.

Where Does Royalty-Free Music Come From?

Talented artists, musicians and bands align themselves with the relevant royalty-free music service, and in doing so, they receive the relevant income from them. This is crucial because many of these individuals had previously banked on the revenue they made from live performances, an area of which has become severely strained by the restrictions placed during the coronavirus pandemic.

As well as this, they get the exposure from being used on your projects. This can prove very effective if, for instance, a track is used on a TikTok video that goes viral or in a film that gets seen by the right A&R man.

Royalty-Free Music is Always the Right Answer

When searching for great music for your needs, be that for a small indie film you are shooting or a social media post you are hoping will really bang, you ideally want to have a large amount of material to pick from. You don’t want to have to worry about excessive cost, and perhaps most importantly, you want to avoid any accidental legal transgressions that come from using licensed music without permission.

Royalty-free music covers all these bases so effectively that the industry itself is booming, meaning that the quality of music offered and the size of the libraries they give you access to are not unparalleled.

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About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.