Decoding Digital Publishing:
A breakdown of today’s sound publishing landscape
https://medium.com/@Vinylmint/decoding-digital-publishing-ed56262c3260
Intro to the Music Industry: Course Readings
Dr. Stan Renard | Fall 2019
Decoding Digital Publishing:
A breakdown of today’s sound publishing landscape
https://medium.com/@Vinylmint/decoding-digital-publishing-ed56262c3260
Music is about networking. With a breakdown of the chart in the article you can understand the complexity of how the business of music works. There are many steps that are involved to completing one product. One of many is licensing. Some common music license include: mechanical, synch, master etc.
Here is an article that goes into dept of the different types of licensing.
https://www.easysonglicensing.com/pages/help/articles/music-licensing/types-of-music-licenses.aspx
One thing that I found interesting about this article was that it mentioned the Copyright Act of 1976. This Act is significant because it forms the basis of current copyright law in the United States. This Act was also the first to incorporate the concept of fair use in copyright law. The article explained that the Copyright Act of 1976 provides two different copyrights for sound recordings: the copyright that protects a song’s notes and lyrics, and the copyright that protects the performance of an artist or artists of a song.
For more information about the Copyright Act of 1976, click the link below:
https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1072/copyright-act-of-1976
Overall this article had plenty of useful information if you’re interested in learning more about different licenses, copyright protection, and even who can grant a license. One interesting fact I didn’t know about was the Harry Fox Agency which is known as the LARGEST mechanical rights collector in the United States. This agency has more than 36,000 mechanical licenses in current use for publishers! I was also glad it mentioned the multiple licenses used for apps and video games. This section stated that the use of existing recorded sounds from any video game or app needs two requirements which are master license and sync license. The master license needs the license from the record label that owns the recordings while the sync license is for the composition recording. Although, if you do a work for hire and recorded a new version of the song for a video game or app the developer does not require a master license.
Here is a link for the Harry Fox Agency https://www.harryfox.com/#/
and a link for licensing Video Game music https://iconcollective.com/license-music-for-video-games/
Ownership of music is the main idea discussed in this article. These rights to ownership are granted in the form of licenses and copyrights. There is a license for every use of a song from Sample Licensing to Sync Licensing. I agree that taking precaution in licensing and copyrights is always necessary in receiving a fair amount of credit for a creation but I also believe these formalities and this focus on ownership hinders the creative process and depreciates the content of the song. The link attached below discusses how copyright law can technically hurt music.
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/04/how-copyright-law-hurts-music-from-chuck-d-to-girl-talk/236975/
This article is a whole perspective on the music network aspect and how you are going to get everything that you will need to succeed in the music industry by making sure you have all the right licenses. It contains the “do’s and don’ts” basically its a lot of you are going to have to see if your going to need a licenses foe different things in the music industry. this also talks about where to get them. For example if you wanted a Preforming licensing you can go to one out of three of them. Which are American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers(ASCAP), Broadcast Music, Inc (BMI), SESAC, Inc.
I found an article to help explain the world of music licensing a little bit more.
https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/music-licensing.htm
This article does a great job of simplifying the complexity of music licensing. This made me think of the copyright situation that came from the hit song blurred lines. I think that situation is a accurate example of copyright infringement on sheet music/arrangement. This article by Forbes explains the breakdown of the law governed over Marvin Gaye’s sound and how it played out in court.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jesscollen/2018/03/21/damages-in-blurred-lines-court-says-you-got-to-give-it-up/#1b3d9aae43b4
Reading this article has really opened my eyes to how varied and specific licensing is in the music industry. The two main classifications in licensing are for use of the composition and the actual sound recording; within these are even more specific licenses like “sound recording sample” license where it grants the use of a portion of music in a different piece.
This article has a typical road map of how samples get cleared/licensed. –> https://djtechtools.com/2013/11/28/a-guide-to-clearing-samples-in-music-production/
It is interesting to me just how many different types of licenses there are. For example, I was under the impression that if a band or artist covers another artist’s song live, nothing happens or has to happen. Yet, it appears that they would have to obtain a Public Performance License in order to do so. Here is an article about licensing a cover song: https://www.tuneregistry.com/blog/how-to-legally-record-and-sell-a-cover-song-in-3-steps
This article talks about music licensing, and it is quite impressing to see just how diverse and deep the world of licensing can go. I thought I understood the concept of copyright in the music world, but this article showed me that there is a lot more to it — because it is a very complex topic. The most interesting part for me was the discussion on print licenses, because you don’t think about a license being needed for the creation of a karaoke version of a song. An interesting article I found talks about the creative commons, and why it is key to used licensed music — from a both moral and professional standpoint.
Article: http://soundcommunication.holdcom.com/bid/96828/everything-you-need-to-know-about-music-licensing
Learning about synchronization licenses (also called sync license) appealed to me in this reading because I’ve always wondered the process for movies, websites, and ads go through to have certain songs playing. Sync licenses allow the users to have their own work with the song, most of the time this is visual. The fees for these songs vary based on how much popularity the song already has, estimated audience, if the work will be played for a limited amount of time or perpetual, and a few others. I learned through the balance careers that sync licenses are beneficial for up and coming artists because their music being heard in commercials or soundtracks to a movie can attract new fans and streams on other platforms. Another benefit is this continues generating revenue for artists while they focus on other things.
Reading this article was overwhelming because of the different kinds of licensing you need for just about anything. I didn’t realize that malls, nightclubs, restaurants and etc had to pay blanket licenses, which gives authorization for people/places to use all the songs in their catalog. Most of these places need to get a license from at least two, if not all three, performing rights organizations (BMI, ASCAP, SESAC). I read more on how the copyright laws has given an artist the right to take back ownership of their music, after 35 years of course. It is a brief explanation on artist’s legacy planning.
Here is the link to the article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielscott1/2018/04/18/how-copyright-laws-affect-artists-legacy-planning/#57513ea62f16
This article was definitely a great read, yet a bit of an information overload. It was fascinating to see how the legal system tries to define such a broad industry. The concept of joint ownership stood out to me the most. Even though it may seem obvious, I never really considered the ides and how ownership and copyright may work amongst multiple songwriters. I also found it interesting that the joint owners will usually settle on the percentage of the song that they control. I can definitely see how tension may arise from such copyright laws.
Here’s some more information on joint ownership for music: https://www.ipfilings.net/music-copyright-guide/joint-works
This article has a lot of information about licensing from what kind you need to what it’s for. It is nice to know what kind of license you need for the specific kind of work that we plan on doing. Something that drew my attention was about the ASCAP, BMI and SESAC and how two are bigger than the other. If ASCAP and BMI own a vast majority of the US public performance rights why do we still have SESAC? Do majority of people go through ASCAP and BMI because they are related to a court system or what do they have to offer that SESAC doesn’t?
Heres more information on how they compete with each other.
https://www.royaltyexchange.com/blog/ascap-vs-bmi-vs-sesac#sthash.BE2Ky1Q1.dpbs
You have a wonderful question and the link is absolutely a good read. The link does a great job on breaking down the differences between all 3 of the Performing Rights Organizations. The article is very straight to the point and does a wonderful job at explaining each one of he organizations.
Music is always around us, whether we know it or not, in things like commercials, movies, or even just playing in the background of your favorite restaurant. This article breaks down and outlines specific guidelines which protect the rights of musicians and consumers through music licensing. Reading this article made me think of a video I had watched for my Digital Music Production class about sampling. The video discusses the idea of originality, pointing out that everything builds off everything else, thereby negating originality in today’s age of digital production. The article briefly discussed sampling, but I wonder how one would regulate idea sharing as a form of sampling?
Here is the video: https://vimeo.com/14912890
Copyright and Licensing is a very important topic nowadays because a lot of different industries and people in them are trying to protect their content. In reading the article, one thing I found interesting is the sample licensing and copyright. A lot of people now are using a lot of old music to incorporate into their stuff, but with that comes with the “permission” to use these samples. Many of times when artists are set to put out a project they can’t because they have to get some songs approved; that usually means that they used some samples and now they have to get it approved or sorted out by the people who make or own those said samples. With this, this allows the people who owns the samples to be protected and gain the appropriate rights and money from they artist using the samples.
Here is a link to learn more about needing permission when it comes to sampling.
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/permission-sampled-music-sample-clearance-30165.html
Before this article I never fully understood the copyright laws. I honestly thought it was just a few documents that were written as a problem came up and solved on the spot. There is much more to it can I can fully grasp in one article, this is what amazes me about the music industry. There are different rules for different types of music and the usage. The rules change just for how the music was composed to the length of the song.
Here is a short article on a hoe to copyright beats
https://beatproduction.net/how-to-copyright-beats/
This article is very useful as it goes into detail about copyright laws and licensing. I see how important it is to abide by them, and how costly it is if you don’t.
Here’s an article I found about how to avoid copyright violations. https://www.copyrighted.com/blog/copyright-infringement
This article is really informative and clear about exactly what license needs to be obtained to be able to play music in certain places. While learning more about licensing, I find it interesting that there may need to be more than one music license that needs to be obtained to be able to use the music without any consequences. establishments that play music must obtain the right to do so by getting a blanket license from a performance right society. There are different performance right society that you can use to be able to get blanket rights from, but it is ideal for the establishment to obtain blanket rights from all societies so that no music is off limits. I spent more time researching blanket licensing and how they are used. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/blanket-license-in-the-music-industry-2460916
To someone who knows only the basics of licensing, this article was very informal for learning more about the specific kinds of licensing. It puts in to perspective all the things you need to consider if ever managing an artist or band. Copyright laws have increased ways to keep your work protected, this article did a very good job of showing exactly what kinds of licensing you would need for most scenarios an artist would go through.
here is an article giving insights from a music licensee that I found really interesting: https://airmedia.org/music-licensing-secrets/
This article gave me better understanding of copyright laws, something that I didn’t know much about until this class. These laws are extremely important to know if you will be working in the music industry because it can be very costly if you make a mistake. Music licensing is very complex and this is because there are so many types of music and it is everywhere. I found it very interesting and a little overwhelming just how many different types of licenses there are. I also really liked how the article broke down what was on the chart given in detail which made it a little more complex but gave me a better overall understanding of the whole concept.
Here’s an article about music licensing for film:
https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/the-filmmakers-guide-to-music-licensing/
This article explains the different copy right licenses and what they can protect. This article drops a lot of information on licensing and music usage which can be used as a useful reasource. I think its very interesting that every part of the musical process can be copyright protected.
Heres another article I found that explains copyrights: https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/how-to-copyright-music
This article truly lays down the facts of the copyright system and how complicated it can be. For instance, before reading this article, I was under the impression that cover artists simply performed another artist’s song without any specific “agreement”. As it turns out, they also need special licenses to do so. Personally, I feel it is a little too complicated and unfair to require that of cover artists because it hinders the them from exploring and growing with their talents. Additionally, I did not think that copyright licenses or or fines could cost up to a few million dollars. This reminded me of the copyright case involving Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” in which the similarities turned out to be insignificant. All in all, I agree that some laws should be set in place to prevent transgression, but I also believe that they can be overwhelmingly harsh.
To learn about some of the most famous copyright infringement cases, click this link.
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190605-nine-most-notorious-copyright-cases-in-music-history
This article consists of the many explanations of music licensing and how it contributes to the sound publishing landscape. An interesting idea I took away from the article is how any work before 1989 does not need a license due to the Copyright Act. In addition, recording tracks from 1972 or earlier are not protected under the Copyright Act, but rather under state copyright. Included is an article I found that explains in further detail what copyright laws protect, as well as the legal aspects of it.
https://blog.reverbnation.com/2018/04/25/music-law-101-what-does-copyright-law-protect/
I appreciate how this article goes into depth about how licensing works in the music industry. The multiple licenses for one song, if needed, is something I do not necessarily like. I understand that royalties are supposed to be paid towards an artist, but licensing shows how capitalistic the music industry can be. I feel like licensing benefits the artist and anyone who is linked to the artist of the song; which allows more people to receive profit. In summary, licensing shows how music transforms into a commodity with the aid of the extraneous amount of music licenses.
Here is a link to an article that explains the commodification of music. http://www.cultureunbound.ep.liu.se/v9/a11/cu17v9a11.pdf
This article explained many things that I did not know about licensing, for instance the copyright law of 1976. That law established and founded the modern way of licensing as we know it in America. I learned that there are many different types of licensing and that overall it is a very complicated topic and can go into depth and detail. Music licensing is different from every other type of licensing because each composition is different and valuable and is subject to change from artist to artist, and publisher. From sheet music to the year the song was written, different licensing is necessary.
This online page gives examples of 6 different music license types
https://www.musicbed.com/knowledge-base/types-of-music-licenses/28
This article did a nice job differentiating the different ways to license and copyright music. I didn’t realize how many different types of licenses there were for music prior to reading this article. I found it interesting that pre- 1972 sound recordings are not protected under the Copyright Act. This site does a good job also breaking down the different types of licenses. https://www.easysonglicensing.com/pages/help/articles/music-licensing/types-of-music-licenses.aspx
I don’t think most of the general public understand that not all music is free to do as you please. As I was going through the copyright and licensing article, I was most interested in the music synchronization license. I found an article that states why the particular license is valuable to up and coming artists and how it will help them achieve future success in the music industry. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-a-sync-license-2460940
I feel that it’s crucial for artists to be at least a little familiar with music licensing, because not only does it determine whether or not they receive revenue for their music; it also determines whether or not they can keep ownership. Music licensing is used in everything such as film and composition. Music licensing is one of the reasons big music labels hold such power. Anyone who strives to work in music, let alone artists, should know the basics so they’re aware of how their music will be handled. For those who are looking to become performers, here’s an article on the things you should for sure be aware of:
https://edm.com/features/music-licensing-importance-artists-careers
Music is such an intangible product that the copyright laws themselves are honestly very impressive. It makes sense that there are so many different people involved with the industry on the publishing and copyright side, because there are so many different ways that someone can use another persons work without permission. This being said, I believe that at least half of the times that people prosecute others over copyright infringement is a money grab, which explains why copyright laws are only really enforced when the infringement makes enough money. Most people who break copyright laws either do it unknowingly or simply with the intention of joining the music-creating community and they lack the guidance or knowledge to do so without starting with other people’s music. I found this link showcasing some of the most common copyright violations:
https://info.legalzoom.com/frequent-copyright-violations-20181.html
One topic discussed in this article that I was drawn to was the mentioning of the composition sample licenses. This license refers to a license in order to use a specific portion of work in another composition. This license allows for the licensee to be able to reproduce, distribute and create a composition similar to the one they got the licensed. A popular example that I can think of is Ariana Grande’s recent song titled “7 rings”. In this song she used the lyrics “these are a few of my favorite things” from Roger and Hammerstein’s song from The Sound of Music’s “My Favorite Things”. Due to this, Concord, which owns Roger and Hammerstein’s catalog, receives ninty percent of royalties from Grande’s song. Here is a link that provides further information of this royalty paid to Concord.
https://pitchfork.com/news/90-of-ariana-grandes-7-rings-royalties-go-to-rodgers-and-hammerstein/
This article really opened my eyes to just how big and diverse the music licensing business really is. When you ask a random person about music licensing, they’ll probably think that it’s just a few jobs that go into it, not a whole network with different varieties. For example, I didn’t realize that there was a specific license for sampling. Here is a link to an article about how they may start cracking down on unlicensed music being used in podcasts: https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8529825/podcasting-licensing-music-challenges
This article gave me more insight to all of the types of music licenses and how you come about one. The part that I found most interesting was the section on sync licenses. Basically everything we hear online throughout the day has some sort of sync license, like tv ads, movies, video games, mobile app audios, etc. This also made me recognize just how much money an artist can make if their song is used in a major motion picture soundtrack.
Here is a little bit more information on sync licenses: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-a-sync-license-2460940
As the article focuses on music rights and who controls those rights, along with how the music will actually be used; what I found most interesting was how copyright in composition protects the rights of music, like reproduction, creation of derivative works, distribution, and public performance. What was also interesting to examine was how an licensee identifies who licenses which rights which can be challenging because of the licensor for a composition of music or sound recording may vary based on the proposed use or some uses of compositions may require multiple licenses from different licensors. Another point the article examines is on who can grant a license like compositions which requires multiple licenses from a separate licensors, which depends on the uses, like one or more song writers or music publishers, the Harry Fox Agency, and performing rights organizations.
Here is a link on more information about copyrights for music.
https://www.tunecore.com/guides/copyrights-101
Here is a link on more information about the Harry Fox Agency.
https://www.harryfox.com/#/
This article had me interested in learning more about sampling music in different types of songs. Many people don’t realize that now a good majority of the music has a sample of other songs and how expensive this is. After doing a bit a research, I learned that sampling music can actually increases music sales but it can’t because of how outdated the Copyright Act of 1976 is. Here is the link to American Business Law Journal article that I found discussing how the Copyright Act should be updated to fit in today’s society.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ablj.12137
This article talked about licensing and I think this was very important because the legal side of the music business is something to know in any music career path. I became more aware of the laws around music and copyright which is something I did not really have knowledge of before this class. It is easy to just see the final product of the music and forget about all of the behind the scenes work that goes in to it. I found the section of the article about mastering interesting because I know a lot of musicians who sample other songs and I always wondered how they were able to do this. I now understand that mastering a song is not something you can just do unless you have paid a fee with permission or else legal issues will occur. I added an article below about how to master songs correctly.
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/master-license-for-music-recordings-2460595
Licensing is a very important aspect in the music industry. If you do not attain the proper licensing, you can get yourself into some serious trouble. I am still shocked that the song by Vanilla Ice called “Ice Ice Baby” was one of them! He completely copied Queen’s “Under Pressure.” This caused a very big lawsuit. There are all different kinds of licensing so, it is very important to become familiar with it all so that you do not get yourself in hot water.
Here is an article on how to avoid copyright lawsuits: https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/how-to-avoid-copyright-infringement
Like the article said, we hear music almost everywhere we go. It has never occurred to me that the music playing in the background of the mall would require a license, and after reading the article I discovered that there is a lot more that goes into music copyrights and licensing than I thought. For example, performing rights licenses are required for malls to have music playing in the background, and depending on the music that is being played, this can require a license from up to three different performing rights organizations. Additionally, even when trying to get a license for a single song, that song can have multiple owners and therefore require multiple licenses from each of the joint owners. Acquiring music licenses and copyrights is a complex process and this article did a great job of breaking it down.
Here is an article that provides tips on licensing for businesses that would like to add music to their marketing:
https://www.copyright.com/learn/6-things-companies-need-to-know-about-music-licensing/
I had no idea how many different licenses there are in the music industry. A lot of people may mix or use a sample of a song they love and upload it to the internet and some goes unnoticed. But if it gains popularity then it creates a copyright problem. These are several big cases involving copyright lawsuits. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190605-nine-most-notorious-copyright-cases-in-music-history
There are a large amount of people that go into making music. That also means there’s a large amount of people that need to be paid. Luckily music is something people want, so you can sell it. In order to sell it without letting other profit from it you have to license it to get it out into movies, malls, ads, and the radio, Being able to profit from songs like this led to the trading of music copyrights.
Here is an article about how a brand would go about getting a hit song in their advertisement – https://www.ascap.com/Home/Music-Career/articles-advice/ascapcorner/corner14.aspx
I really enjoyed reading this article and learning about the many avenues of music licensing. One of many things that have really stuck with me is the fact that the Copyright Act of 1976 provides copyright protection for music in 2 separate forms, protection of the composition and protection for an artist’s recording of a performance. When I read this article I started thinking about the situation with Taylor Swift and her losing the rights to her Masters. Here is an interesting article about that situation: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/07/236739/what-are-masters-taylor-swift-music-record-label
This article discuss the idea of music licensing and what legal work someone must go through to use a music composition or sound recording which fascinates me because I feel its common knowledge that legal work is very thorough and tedious as it must be protective over money and the rights to a musical composition. However, this article breaks down the multiple different types of licenses that are issued for different scenarios such as mechanical licenses, sync licenses, composition sample licenses, public performance licenses, and many more which provides a lot of knowledge that I did not know before. What I find most interesting is that the more I read these assigned articles, the more I hear about the Harry Fox Agency which I had no prior knowledge of before this class, but I now realize how significant this company is to the music industry as it issues numerous mechanical licenses for music publishers issuing more than 36,000 of these in the US. This article mentions however, that more and more music publishers are not using the Harry Fox Agency and handling their music licenses directly, which begs the question if there will be a change in the industry soon, due to the fact that a powerhouse company such as the Harry Fox Agency is becoming more and more obsolete.
Below is another article I read about the step to step process of copyrighting a song:
https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/how-to-copyright-a-song
Licensing is obviously a very leveled process but is worth learning if you want to make money with your content. This article I’m sharing is a link to ASCAP Licensing as talked about in the blog and in class. The information here is invaluable for running the business of branding yourself and paying the people around you (including yourself). Please take some time to explore ASCAP’s website for a comprehensive insight into the facets of licensing.
https://www.ascap.com/help/ascap-licensing
I remember talking about Harry Fox Agency in class. We learned that Harry fox agency owns a lot of other private companies like Sesac. Harry fox is the “largest mechanical rights in the US” states the authors of A voice.
Here’s another helpful article that gives more info about the Henry Fox agency : https://www.harryfox.com/#/
There is so much to agree upon copyright law protection and how serious they are. Although the years lapse back within 1972 and 1989 with recordings not having any protection, the situation is imaginably chaotic—don’t you think? Everyone would be able to claim, use, and steal everyone else’s intellectual property with little to no credit to he or she entitled to the piece. In which is of great importance that even when music is being played or sung recreational like karaoke, authorization for the music and proper credits are given to original composer. As shady as the music industry is, anyone as a musician wouldn’t want to get ripped off by someone else with your own music.
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/03/11/music-copyright-basics/
This link is a detailed list of differentt licensing and permissions necessary to (re)produce music, and proved to be a great resource for our first homework assignment. I appreciate how it gave explanations and different scenarios where what kind of permission is needed for each kind of product or step in the process, and from who it had to be aquired. Wwhat I found interesting was the vague coverage of video game music, and how sometimes they write “soundalike” music in attempt to bypass acquiring rights. As video games have developed, so has their music.
Attached is a link where the original soundtrack to ‘Cuphead’ was competetive, and eventually ranked no. 1 on the Billboard Jazz chart.
https://www.gamesradar.com/cuphead-has-the-first-video-game-soundtrack-to-hit-number-1-on-billboards-jazz-charts/
In the music industry, licensing the most cruel thing there are. Many things in the music industry require some sort of copy-rights not only to protect the owner and also the buyer. There are complex and conflicts within the contract and licensing, so you have to read them carefully and be careful on what it is about and the clause within those contract and licensing, there are little things in it that could cost you a lot of money.
here is the website related to this topic:
https://musicgoat.com/importance-of-music-licensing