Sour Notes

     Today while face-timing my brother Tyler he asked about the film opener and more or less if he was going to be the one creating our short musical piece. After looking around for free use music nothing has stood out to me, and I would like Julie and me to play a role in the creation of our score, therefore, I told my brother I would be very honored to have him create it. 

Rejection:

    I won't share the exact response I received from Asthmatic Kitty Records/the record label that has the rights to the Sufjan Stevens song "Fourth of July" I wanted to use. Basically, they said they were happy we were interested in using the song but I would need to pay money in order to even be considered to gain the rights. Now I do not have the five hundred dollars they required to be considered, but they were nice in sending a link about music licensing so I looked into the website. 

Research:

    Licensing is the process of an artist/company allowing a person to use their material for a fee/sometimes no charge. Licensing earned money goes to both the writer and publisher or in some cases just the writer as they are the ones publishing their own music. To license you must have a publisher/become someone who can publish. 

Types of License:

    Sync License- Allows music to be used with visual media. Example: Chevy wants to use Olivia Rodrigo's song "Driver's License" in their upcoming car ad. 

    Master Recording License- Gets permission to obtain a recording of a song. Example: Chevy getting Olivia Rodrigo's version of "Driver's License. This license would not be needed if Chevy got Harry Styles version of "Driver's License" Note- If Chevy obtained a Master Recording License Chevy would also need to obtain a Sync License.

    Fees depend on company and usage. If a song is used in a show/movie the film's music budget will determine how much the license fee will be. Music supervisors deal with licensing. Popular songs cost more than unpopular songs. Fees also depend on how long and when the song will be used. The more important the content shown/heard while the song is playing; the higher the license cost will be. If it is just a source cue, which is a song just in a club, car, etc. the cost will be minimal. 

Research Impact:

    This research led me to the belief that I for sure should have prepared better when emailing the company, and probably should not have even asked, but I guess I would have not had any answer at all if I had not asked. 

Source:

https://www.themusickitchen.com/music-biz/music-licensing-sync-licenses-master-use-licenses/

APA Citation: 

Benghiat, M. (2016, November 23). Music Publishing and Licensing 101: Sync Licenses and Master Use Licenses. The Music Kitchen. Retrieved March 5, 2022, from https://www.themusickitchen.com/music-biz/music-licensing-sync-licenses-master-use-licenses/

Moving Foward:

Our script and storyboard will soon be done! Julie and I will be deciding on a date to go out this week and find any props and costumes we believe we need, but the majority of items we already have and I will blog about tomorrow!!