Licensing agreements give certain rights for the use of musical works, and can also limit usage in other ways.

Typically, music is licensed for use in broadcast media including films, radio, TV, commercials, webcasting, podcasting, and theater productions. (There are separate licensing agreements for printed music, like sheet music used in collections).

Music licensing covers any public performance of a work — playing a recording in a place where people are gathered, like a bar, restaurant, or amusement park is also considered a “performance.” Music licenses are the main way that artists earn royalties for the use of their work.

So, who needs to obtain a license for music?

Anyone who wants to use someone else’s song or composition for a project that others will hear needs a music license. The license grants permission for use from the copyright owner and dictates how the song can be used and for how long.

There are at least six different kinds of music licenses:

1. Mechanical
2. Synchronization (i.e. sync)
3. Master
4. Print
5. Theatrical
6. Public performance licenses

Mechanical licenses apply to any tangible reproduction of an artist’s work (i.e. a recording), such as the manufacturing of CDs or the distribution of recorded music in any physical form.

Mechanical licenses cover agreements with labels, distributors, and publishers and usually stipulate a certain payment for each copy sold.

A mechanical license is also required when recording a cover song for a release, even if the song is changed or adapted, or when just a small fragment is used.

This type of license is for music used together with visual media.

Uses range from commercials on TV to streaming ads, YouTube videos, films, training videos, and video games.

The rights to the master belong to the owner of a specific recording. Master licenses are commonly issued together with a sync license.

The master license allows the use of a specific recorded version but does not allow the user to re-record the song, for example, make a cover of the song, or edit it.

Since some record labels and music companies fund recordings, they might own all or part of an artist’s master recordings.

As the name implies, the print rights refer to printed copies of sheet music.

It applies to printed sheet music compilations, and whenever printed copies of sheet music for a song are created or reproduced, including in a book or collection.

Widely used in the theater industry, allows for an onstage performance of a song with an audience present.

One of the most common types of music licenses, is used for any broadcast of an artist’s work. This includes concerts, but also music played in businesses or any place frequented by the public, such as a restaurant, bar, or store.

Most public performance licenses are administered by performing rights organizations (PROs) such as BMI, SESAC, and ASCAP who collect music royalties and distribute to artists based on the number of plays of their songs.

Now that you have an idea of the types of licenses commonly issued today, what can you do to take advantage of the opportunity music licensing offers to earn money from your music?

Here are some immediate action steps…

Get your music copyrighted. This means you need to fix it in a tangible medium, either a recording, or a written version (or preferably, both).

Start your own publishing company or sign with a publisher.

In order to get licensing deals, get paid sync fees, and collect royalties, you must have your music published.

Join one of the Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) and register your songs. As a member of BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC, you will have use of their blanket licenses, and they can collect your fees and pay you for use of your music.

Compare the PROs by reading the info on their websites, and talking directly to their member services people. Then choose the one which seems best for you.

Choose some tracks from your catalog to export into high-quality MP3 (preferably 320kbps) and WAV files (preferably 24bit, 48kHz).

You should also create instrumental stems of your songs in case the lyrics don’t fit with the intended use.

When you are uploading your tracks to music libraries you will be asked to provide a description for each track.

It’s important to have accurate and clear descriptions because this is what clients often use to search databases.

Embed all tracks with complete metadata. Metadata is crucial so that prospective licensees can contact you, get your permission to use the song, and use the correct kind of license.

Metadata includes: The title of the album and track, composers/writers, contact info, date of recording or release, length of the track, genre, and sample rate.

Get a spreadsheet together with notes about each song, description, and possible keywords that will be useful for anyone searching music libraries.

This will also allow you to track song placements and payments.

Now it’s time to submit your music to libraries and sync agents. Make sure the places you submit could use your type of music — you can tell if they have already placed similar music or if they don’t have your type of music on their roster.

You should do your own research to find out what kinds of shows may want your kind of music.

These websites may help:

• iSpot.tv
• Tunefind
• Tunestat

Below is a list of places you can submit your music to. This is obviously not a comprehensive list, but these are a handful just to get you started:

• 411 Music Group — exclusive license
• A&G Music — exclusive license
• Crucial Music — non-exclusive
• Musicbed — usually exclusive
• Music Vine — non-exclusive and exclusive
• Tracks & Fields — non-exclusive and exclusive

These are the most important and useful terms you will likely encounter when researching music licensing, with brief definitions included:

The agreement by which the copyright owner gives permission for someone else to use their musical work in a broadcast, recreation, or performance.

There are different kinds of licenses, which can be based either on a flat fee for a specific time period of use, on royalties based on unit sales of physical copies or tickets sold, or on total revenues resulting from distribution (more on this later).

Some licensing agreements provide for additional royalty payments when a film in which the music is included earns above a predetermined threshold.

The person or company to whom the work is licensed; the purchaser of the license.

The owner of the copyright for the musical work, usually the artist, songwriter, or composer. The individual or business entity issuing the license.

As provided for in the U.S. Constitution, and the laws made by Congress, literally the “right to copy.”

Copyrights confer exclusive rights to the creator or owner of a work to reproduce (copy), prepare derivative works (adapt), distribute copies to the public, and perform the work publicly.

A song can have two copyrights, one each for the publishing and the specific recording. The latter is sometimes called the “master license” (see more on master license below).

The playing of live or recorded works, including radio; TV; webcasting; podcasting; streaming; etc., including to multiple listeners in a setting such as a restaurant, nightclub, or retail store.

A public performance of a musical work, whether live or recorded. A performance could be an adaptation or changed version of a piece (e.g., a “cover”).

Playing a music recording (tape, CD, streaming, etc.) in public is considered a “performance” of the piece, as is a song played on the radio. A license is required even if using only a small part of the song.

A publisher is considered the owner or administrator of the copyrighted work.

Many songwriters form their own publishing company to hold the rights to their work, and others sign a deal with an established publishing company.

Before the advent of commercial recording, most music was sold as printed sheet music, or on player piano rolls. Hence, the term “publisher” is still in use today, though it’s perhaps an outdated term for our digital world.

Companies that represent artists’ performance rights for copyrighted musical works.

The largest in the US include the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), and the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC).

These companies use a blanket license to collect and distribute performance royalties to the copyright holders, usually based on a complex formula of how many times a song was played. (More on this below)

When music is licensed to be synchronized with moving pictures in a movie, television program, video, DVD, cartoon, or video game.

This applies to theme songs, source music (music heard playing on a radio in a movie, for example), and background music.

Relates to the use of a specific recording to be used in a movie as a soundtrack, or background music in a film.

An agreement between a music user and the owner of a copyrighted composition that gives permission to release the song in an audio-only format (interactive audio streams, digital downloads, CDs, vinyl). This permission is sometimes referred to as “mechanical rights.

The answer to this is that it depends.

On the low end, I’ve seen deals that paid $1,400 for a 3-month song placement in an online video, and I also know songwriters who have made their living for decades from sync rights for a single song placed in a television series or used repeatedly in advertising. In my view, $1,400  is much better than nothing.

An established songwriter once told me that it required wheelbarrows to bring all the money into his house from a famous song he wrote! He was joking, but there are certainly songs that have earned millions of dollars for their writers or performers, usually over many years. The same songwriter told me that his songs are like his children: “…because they will take care of me in my old age.”

As with so many things in life, luck certainly plays a role in achieving a high level of financial success with music licensing. If your song just happens to get chosen for a high-earning placement, you will be one of the lucky ones.

However, I do believe that there are things you can do to increase your likelihood of having incredible luck.

In addition to being prepared by educating yourself on music licensing, you should network avidly, and consult with other established music industry professionals, like:

• A&Rs
• Music supervisors
• Agents
• Publishers
• Songwriters
• Producers

It’s up to you to make sure you are promoting yourself and your music properly.