The cost to license music can vary from $0 to a million for a song. As a director, I prefer using music that’s already been made rather than working with a composer. There’s something special about musicians who created from their own inspiration and passion and whose music can also help my movie. Working with a composer has a time and a place, but generally, my first option is to place music and learn how much it costs, so that is what this article focuses on.
The legal side of things
I’m not a legal professional, but I’ll explain what I've learned in the simplest terms possible.
For movies, you need two licenses to use a recorded song:
The publishing rights to whoever wrote the music.
The license to the recorded track. This is known as the master license or synchronization license.
Typically, when you pay for the licensing, the cost of the publishing license and the synchronization license is equal. Sometimes, they’re owned by the same person. We call each of these licenses“sides.” So you have to pay for both “sides.”
Pricing
To get an idea of pricing, consider how famous an artist or song is and whether or not they’re represented. Very few artists release songs for free, but they do exist. Kevin Macleod, who I use a lot, releases his music for free but accepts donations. The reason he releases music for free is to expose more people to his work to get composing gigs. But this is very rare. Another way to get free music is to find a musician who loves your work and who you know intimately. Maybe you can do an exchange.
What’s another thing to consider when you are negotiating a price? If you’re showing on television, likely the artist will suspect you have a higher budget—the same thing for feature-length movies.
What You Need To Know Before Approaching an Artist
It’s essential to know your overall music budget and how many tracks you need to license. Musicians rarely give a rate upfront when you ask. They always ask about your budget first, as they don’t want to say a number that is too high that may scare you off, nor do they want to say anything too low where they can’t maximize their profits for their assets.
You also need to know the length of the license. Most artists will always suggest a license of about a year and for only one type of media. This means you’ll have to go back to them if you want more licensing. One year is a common length, which could work for a film festival run or a commercial. This can give you time to raise more money for a more extended license because the ideal licensing length and platform you want in your contract is “worldwide and in perpetuity.” Perpetuity means forever, and worldwide means you can use it in any format existing or to be created, though it’s wise to include those words and be specific in your contract.
Photo by Ricky Rosario on set of Frames of Reference
Who To Contact
Often the most annoying part about licensing is getting hold of the owners. Sometimes many people own a song because they purchased parts of it, or maybe it was written and recorded by an entire band who no longer work together. If this is the case, getting in contact with everyone can be a lot of work. Oftentimes the synchronization license is owned by the record label who may have paid for the recording, and the songwriters own the publishing rights. But it can vary, and everyone can sell the rights to their songs.
Mid-range artists sometimes charge around $500 for both sides if they’re not on a label. But I’ve found this to be more true if I know the artist or at least have met them. If they’re a friend, I may get songs for around $100 for both sides.
From our award-winning short drama, Prologue
As for represented artists, more people are taking the pie, and they have a middle person negotiating for them. For example, I licensed from a lesser-known independent artist, Emika, who Ninja Tunes represented. Ninja Tunes wanted a cut and negotiated with me for a worldwide license in perpetuity. They argued for $2000 per side after I had already paid them $750 for the first year of theatrical release. So, in the end, I ended up paying $4000 for the song at the end of my movie Prologue. I also paid the same amount for a more famous composer who represented himself, Goran Bregovich, for the same short movie. Goran’s people made a deal with me because Prologue is an independent short movie, and they knew I wasn’t making money on it.
For a feature film or television show, you may be able to negotiate a royalty deal where they take less money upfront but will receive some of the profits from the movie their art is helping to create. This is generally only an option for features and content made for broadcast.
Negotiating Price
Marcellus Hall an Artist in New York City played around the world including in at Seoul Webfest.
I’m an independent filmmaker but have gotten a deal with a famous artist. I licensed Woody Guthrie, who, if you don’t know, wrote: “This Land is Our Land” and “America the Beautiful.” He is one of the most respected American Folk composers of all time. He is deceased, and various people own his songs, but I wanted to use a cover song performed by the artist in my documentary, Marcellus Hall an Artist in New York City. I had a meager budget for the series–$10,000 for 31 minutes of an independent web series. But the featured artist in my documentary, Marcellus Hall, is a similar artist to Woody Guthrie, and admires him greatly. So it was important to me to use “Hard, Ain't It Hard,” which was owned by Woody’s kin. Luckily for my team and me, the owner was taken by the documentary and gave me a deal for $500 in perpetuity for the publishing rights, but this is not common.
When making feature films, a lot of these prices go up. I’d say from a short or web series to a feature or a television show, expect a price hike of 2-4 times.
Every single contract is unique and negotiated by both sides. It’s always wise to have options because you never know what an artist will say. I’ve had artists who would not license their music to me after seeing my movie. They wouldn’t even give me a price. Why? I’m not sure. They wouldn’t say.
A common question is, what do famous artists cost? Well, I keep my ears open. For a news television show I worked on, we licensed the publishing rights to an early 1900’s composer’s most famous song. We played it safe because the copyright holders are trying to make as much money as they can in the final years they have the rights to the music’s copyright. This ended up costing $10,000.
How about Pop artists? I’ve heard Brittany Spears’ songs go for around $20,000 for both sides, which seemed low to me. Then I’ve heard almost everyone say The Beatles’ and Radiohead’s songs are around $1 million dollars for both sides.
Myself (Justin Joseph Hall) playing bass for my senior photo
A mid-range price I’ve heard was $80,000 for the Grease soundtrack because the musicians (bass player, guitar player, all the singers) are all union, so many people are getting a slice of the payment. In this case, the team I was working with ended up cutting costs by licensing a song that only uses the original vocals of the cast with alternate instrumentation. This wasn’t ideal but was likely unnoticeable to the average audience member, and it saved tens of thousands of dollars in licensing fees.
Ordering more from the same artist and agency also helps you negotiate, especially from independent artists. So try to use songs from the same artist, writer(s), or publisher. For example, it may help to take songs from the same album. Or get to know the artist by offering to share your work with them before you ask to license music. You never know; a little legwork can go a long way.
Don’t forget about your trailer!
In the past, I’ve been successful at asking to include publicity and advertisement use when I’m licensing an entire album or multiple songs from an artist. If you have a lower budget, is there a band that’s not as known or a singer who wants to get a song to a broader audience? They may be willing to let you also license for publicity and advertising.
If you have any questions, please contact us at info@fourwindfilms.com We’re happy to answer a few of your questions or work at licensing music for you for hire.
Copy Editor - Piper Werle