big name is demanding for one. Licensing deals with large labels can be a serious hassle
and many companies’ music supervisors just don’t need the headache.
Music Business and Trend Mongering blog author, Mike King, is the Director of Mar-
keting at Berklee Music, and author/instructor of Music Marketing: Press, Promotion,
Distribution, and Retail. He makes some interesting points in his post, How to Get Your
Music in TV and Film. In writing about the live events at well-known, SXSW Confer-
ence, Mike notes, “... the overall theme of the panels I attended this year revolved around
the ways that artists and music business companies can identify and optimize alternative
revenue models as the music business shifts away from traditional record sales. Music li-
censing, while nothing new, is a hot topic right now among content owners (songwriters,
labels), managers, and artists. Licensing offers the possibility of incredible visibility to
artists, and depending on usage, it could also provide a fairly solid revenue stream.” He
continued, “The panelists all agreed that it was a fantastic time for independent artists to
look for licensing deals, simply because of economics. Producers are more open to indie
music, as A) indie music is typically cheaper to license, and B) many producers consider
themselves tastemakers, and want to be known for breaking bands. Alicen Schneider
spoke about the fact that 75% of the music used by NBC is now independent music.”
King also added, “It’s important to also note that when a song is used in TV or film, two
licenses are needed: a synchronization license from the copyright owner of the music, as
well as master recording license from the copyright owner of the sound recording. These
are two separate agreements, and typically, artists that control both their master rights as
well as their publishing will do ‘All in’ deals that cover both ‘sides’ of the composition.
According to Jennifer from SubPop, artists can expect to receive anywhere from $1,500