A quick note about Royalty Free Music Agreements
Music Licensing is a complicated subject and as such, there is not a standard Royalty Free Music agreement for the music industry. This means that the terms (the small print) of a Royalty Free Music license may vary considerably from vendor to vendor. This can make it difficult to understand what is and what is not covered in the license. Knowing exactly what you have paid for can avoid any nasty suprises later.
Media Music Now has provided an easy to understand table to ease the pain and can be contacted anytime if you have any further questions.
| Background music use |
Covered by our standard license? |
Do I Need an Extended license? |
Are performance royalties due? |
Detailed Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A New website |
Yes |
no |
no |
|
|
Exisiting website |
Usually |
Only if a high profile website |
no |
|
|
YouTube / social video site |
Yes |
no |
no |
|
|
Viral Campaigns |
Usually |
Only if a high profile campaign |
no |
|
|
Podcast / Videocast |
Usually |
Only if it is a high profile podcast / videocast |
no |
|
|
Web TV |
Usually |
Only if it is a high profile Channel |
no |
|
| Background music use |
Covered by our standard license? |
Do I Need an Extended license? |
Are performance royalties due? |
Detailed Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Trade shows, Events, Seminars |
Yes |
no |
no |
|
|
PowerPoint Presentations |
Yes |
no |
no |
|
|
On-Hold Marketing |
Usually |
If over 1000 daily calls |
no |
|
|
Corporate Video / DVD |
Usually |
If over 1000 units |
no |
| Background music use |
Covered by our standard license? |
Do I Need an Extended license? |
Are performance royalties due? |
Detailed Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Audio Books |
Possibly |
If you create more than 1000 units |
no |
Explained > |
|
Computer Games |
Possibly |
If you create more than 1000 units |
no |
|
|
Novelty Products |
Possibly |
If you create more than 1000 units |
no |
Explained > |
|
Mobile phones |
Unlikely |
If you create more than 1000 units |
no |
|
|
Kiosk / Vending Machines |
Possibly |
If you create more than 1000 units |
no |
| Background music use |
Covered by our standard license? |
Do I Need an Extended license? |
Are performance royalties due? |
Detailed Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Low Budget / |
Yes |
no |
Sometimes |
|
|
Cinematic Release |
Usually |
If more than 1000 DVD's are created |
Yes |
|
|
Radio |
Yes |
no |
Yes |
|
|
TV |
Yes |
no |
Yes |
|
|
Pilot / Competition Entry |
Yes |
no |
Sometimes |
| Background music use |
Covered by our standard license? |
Do I Need an Extended license? |
Are performance royalties due? |
Detailed Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| School / College |
Yes |
no |
no |
|
|
Long running Production |
Usually |
no |
Yes |
If you feel that we have not covered your usage or if you have budgetary constraints or wish to license in bulk, please do not hesitate to contact us . As an authorised distributor of the music in our library we have some flexibility within our license structure and may well be able to accommodate your needs.
This section is designed to help you understand what our license provides you with. Licensing is a complicated area, if you need any help with this section or feel your question is not answered here please contact us directly for assistance.
Our licensing policy provides an affordable source of quality checked music for media use whilst making the revenue worthwhile for our composers / producers. We believe that giving value to our composers music keeps the music quality high which in turn provides you with the best possible music resource.
Selecting our standard license (indicated by the green arrow in the diagram below) allows you to create up to 1000 duplications of your project containing our music or expose it to up to 1000 people per day. See the chart to the left for explanations on individual uses.
Our extended license is any selection from ‘up to 2000’ to ‘unlimited’ (indicated by the long red arrow in the diagram above). This licensing option allows you to create projects with over 1000 duplications or allows you to expose it to over 1000 people per day. See the chart to the left for explanations on individual uses.
In short, performance royalties are collected by many organisations globally on behalf of composers when their music is used in a broadcast situation. Although its relevance to royalty free music is subject to many interpretations there are situations when the possibility of receiving performance royalties becomes advantageous to the composer and this does not cost the royalty free music buyer any additional money.
As all of our composers control all of their royalties, we only exclude performance royalties from a few of our music uses. See the chart to the left for explanations on individual uses.
A copy of our license agreement can be downloaded and an explanation about how it is applied to your Media Music Now purchases can be found here >
Our selection process is very important in sourcing, promoting and licensing the highest quality royalty free music – click here for more info >
It is not essential to credit the composer or Media Music Now, but it is highly appreciated and it helps to spread the word about our service. More about this >
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