Somebody want to use my song in a tv show! What do I do?

[Professor T]

We've got some interest in using a couple of our songs in a tv show as incidental background music. Or maybe a theme song, I'm not sure.

Our songs are available through Pump Audio, so I could just direct the TV people over there and let them license the music through them, or we could deal one on one via a lawyer.

I'm not sure what to do. What experience do you all have with music licensing for television?

Thanks!

[Gentleman Jim]

I have no first hand experience in this, but I do know a few people who have done it, and on different levels. I also know tv producers and a woman who does music clearances for tv in Canada. Here's what I think they would say if they were asked.

First: be realistic about what the show is. If you're talking about a production for a local tv station, that's going to be different than a syndicated show, which is different from something for PBS, which is different from a cable reality show, which is different from a major network sitcom or crime drama... You get the idea.

Second: if the production is large and it's a show that could reasonably go into reruns and syndication, you might want to consider bypassing Pump Audio and getting a lawyer. If it's a one-shot incidental use on a cable reality show about a muffler repair shop, then maybe Pump Audio can get the job done without making everyone crazy. (I once lost a small record deal for a band I was in by hiring a lawyer who made everyone crazy. Not every contract has to be negotiated like a war crimes trial.)

Third: the checks are nice, but don't go buy a yacht anticipating a huge payday. From what I've seen of smaller, independent bands' experiences, you'll make enough that it helps, but not so much that it will change your life. A friend's band had some stuff on one of the Jackass related shows on MTV, and they still get an occasional check for a few hundred dollars even though the episodes their songs were in were made 4-5 years back. Since it's MTV, which plays repeats all the time, I imagine they have a better situation than most.


Congratulations, and good luck.

[rocky]

I've had songs used for things like Ugly Betty, Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, Nike, Fujifilm, some MTV shows and as themes for BBC programmes.
I've also written a fair bit of music for commercials and for corporate use.

Most times with the band we had a label or a publisher to do the negotiations.
I'm not really sure of Pump Audio or what they do.

In my experience:

A TV series will usually have budgets and you either want what they offer or you don't. They usually also have standard enough deals and contracts for licensing tracks, with different things kicking in:

for example show x offers $9,000 with a further $9,000 kicking in when it goes worldwide, gets released on DVD etc...

Also be aware if prices are "per side" or not (one for publishing/song owners and one for the recording master) It can catch both parties out.
We had an ad agency sign a contract for a song, only to realise afterwards that they had only licensed with the publisher and had to pay the same again for the master. It usually doesn't fall that way!

Getting a knowledgeable and understanding lawyer to look over it and make sure that it's sound might not be a bad idea. However, the other thing in my experience is that TV moves FAST! They can want things to move at a moments notice, if you're not around when they need it, they'll pick something else. I've found ads move slightly slower than tv shows, as there is time between meetings. The BBC
move at a nice slow pace, it must be all the tea breaks they live by.

It's a side of being a musician that I've really enjoyed exploring, it's how I first moved from being an engineer to being a full time musician, as I started writing music at a post production facility I worked at.

It's led me down a much different path, but it's been great!

Also, make sure you are signed up with PRS/IMRO/ASCAP/BMI or whatever is
applicable, as the royalty payments upon broadcast are nothing short of exciting and if the show is repeated in Japan for 10 years, you'll keep on earning, even if the fee has been long since spent.

Good Luck!

[Professor T]

Thanks for the information, guys. Very helpful. We've sent over our stuff, and we're waiting on a reply, so I'll keep you posted.

[JGriffin]

How'd they find you, Prof? Did you get contacted through your website? Facebook? Myspace?

[T-rex]

Yes, I would be inerested in that also. We were contacted through myspace a few years ago to submit music for the last season of Scrubs. We thought it was a joke, but when I checked out the adress and it was truly the production company that did the show. I also have a friend in LA that ran it down. Alas, we weren't the next Shins apparently. . .

Good luck!!!

[garysun]

Definitely don't direct them to pump audio unless you want to give away 65% of the $ you'll receive. It'd be much better to just hire a lawyer. This is a pretty standard contract. I think you need to grant mechanical and synch rights for the song. A lawyer looking over the contract is good. You provide the contract to the licensor.
good luck. The first time is usually the hardest.

[Professor T]

It seems as though they found us through google of all things and landed on either our myspace site or our official site. I haven't spoken to the person myself, our percussionist handles the PR stuff; I like to hole up in a studio and write songs.

A good lesson in making sure your website text is relevant and loaded with searchable content, I guess.

[Professor T]

Sigh. A week later and still no news. It's like when that hot girl that's way out of your league likes you for 3 days. I was so ready to sell out, too.

[Brian]

Did you do the first thing you should do, contact an entertainment (not a war crimes lawyer) lawyer first to handle the details?

Or did you make the first deal killing rookie mistake and not call a lawyer?

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I've done lots and lots of TV and film licensing and can say that 99.9999% of the time the terms of the deal are the same. They'll want to pay X amount of money for master and synch licenses (using the song and using the recording of the song), they'll want it in perpetuity (forever), the territory will be the world, they'll want rights to distribute your song synched to their picture through any media (TV, internet, DVD, etc). Basically they want to do 1 deal that will cover whatever comes up - be that syndication in forien markets, DVD release, internet broadcast, etc, etc.

You want to make sure that the deal states that they can only use the song synchronized with the picture, that it's not an exclusive deal (meaning you can license the song to other film and tv shows or use it however you'd like without having to clear it through them), that they spell out what the usage will be (ie: is it background or is it a theme song? how many times is it used in the episode? how much of the song will they use?) If it's TV you want to make sure that the contracts states that the deal is only to use the song in one episode (the contract should state the episode #). You'll want to make sure that the contract states that you will be properly credited in the production and on the cue sheets so that you will receive your royalties.
As a general rule themes or music played over credits will pay more than other uses and if they want to use the song in advertising for the show they should be paying more.

Other sections of the contract are there to cover the producers asses in case of law suits. These sections basically spell out that you own the copyright for said song, that it doesn't contain uncleared samples and if they get sued for copyright infringement they'll hold you responsible.
There will also be a section explaining what the legal jurisdiction of the contract is ie: if there is a legal dispute it will be settled in New York state under New York state law.

Don't expect an unrealistic pay cheque. Most productions are almost out of money by the time they get to music. If they could afford to pay lots of money they'd be licensing from Coldplay not you. Remember in addition to the license fee you will get royalties every time the show airs. Sometimes it's worth taking less money up front if you know you're going to do alright on the back end. Films don't pay royalties unless they're broadcast on TV (so it's worth asking for more money for the license).

It's also worth stating that lots of times they will have edited the film or show to the song before they seek clearance to use the music. If you know this it's easier to hold out for more money because up to a point it's cheaper to pay you more than it is to find new music, recut the scene and go through a licensing deal with someone else. It's kind of like playing chicken and you should only do it if you are prepared to lose.

If this is you're first license deal you should hire a lawyer to walk you through it. Once you've done it a few times it's pretty straight forward and you'll know what to look for. These days I handle most licensing myself.


Sorry for the long post. Hopefully it's helpful.

[T-rex]

Thanks that was an incredibly useful post!

If you don't mind a slight hi-jack of this thread - since you do a lot of licensing, can you give any pointers on how to get your foot in the door? We really never considered it till we were contacted about it and we have been contacted by a few other productions but nothing solid yet. Is it just a case of putting your music out there and seeing if someone bites or is there much more to it than that?

THanks!

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Most film and TV placement goes through an agency of some kind. Here in Canada it's very often a company called Vapor Music (although there are lots of others). The agency will often find a bunch of different songs for each scene and then see what the director likes, what they can afford, etc, etc. Every time I finish a record I send it to the agencies.
I'd advise getting to know who does this kind of work in your area, introducing yourself to the main players and sending them your records. You'd be surprised where it can lead. I just spent the last 3 months scoring a film. I got the gig through my music placement contacts.

[Professor T]

Thanks for the info Dave-

I got the contracts today. I'll have our lawyer look over them, but what does this part mean?

At the moment I am able to offer fees of (for each song use):

Options:
A) $xxx all in ($xxx per side)
B) $yyy all in ($yyy per side)
C) $zzz all in ($zzz per side)

Of course, the xxx, yyy, zzz are actual numbers, but what does "all in" and "per side" mean?

The contract does say the episode number and the scene, so that's cool.

Thanks so much for your help everyone!

[A.David.MacKinnon]

A license is usually broken into two parts. One side covers the synch ie: synching the song to the picture and the other is for master use ie: using the recording of the song. If you have a record company then they usually take the master fee and you (as the writer) take the synch fee.

So if the offer is $1000 all in it will break down to $500 for the synch license (use of the song) and $500 for the master license (use of the recording of the song).