Learn how to license music for your projects, and why it matters.
In order to obtain a music license, you need to receive permission from a legal entity that represents the artist’s work. This can be the artist themselves, a publisher, record label, performing rights organization or music licensing company. After terms and conditions have been agreed upon, the licensing entity can issue the legal paperwork for the license.
Licensing Copyrighted Music
Copyrighted music requires different types of music licenses to be used for any sort of project, whether it’s set to film, public performances, or reproduction. Traditionally, the person needing permission would have to approach the artist or their representative (i.e. record label, performance rights organization, publisher) to get permission to use their work.
Now, with Musicbed, we’ve created a new way to license music that takes the burden off of the artist, their representation, and the person needing the license. By building relationships with artists and their labels, we’ve done much of the legwork ahead of time, making the process simple and fast. By doing this, artists can now get their music into the hands of filmmakers, creative agencies, and more, without having to draft paperwork or negotiate terms directly.
Our unique platform allows customers to obtain licenses in two ways.
How to License Music
Micro Licensing (Single song Licensing)
We’ve built Musicbed to be as useful and convenient as possible for our clients. By negotiating terms with our artists and their labels, we’ve come to predetermined agreements with hundreds of them. Depending on the types of music licenses, the size of your company, and the type of project, many of our licenses are available directly on the site.
For Wedding filmmakers, Non-Profit organizations, and Businesses, oftentimes licenses are available for purchase at the click of a button. Follow these steps to license music:
- Browse to find a song you like.
- Click the 'Shopping Cart' icon on the song page or in the song row.
- Follow the license builder to select who the license is for and the kind of distributions are needed for the project.
- Add the license to your cart, and enter your billing and payment information.
- An email confirmation will be sent to you with a receipt.
- Go to 'Licenses' from the Account on the top right-hand corner of the page. Select 'Single Song' and initiate a download to complete the license.
Traditional Licensing (Enterprise Licensing)
Sometimes a license requires more detailed attention from our Account Executives. This can be for several reasons. Some of the artists in our catalog prefer to review all of the ways their music is being used, or their songs can only be used for certain purposes. Other times, the scope of a project (broadcast TV, wide-release films, etc.) or the size of a company (major corporations and organizations) requires an Enterprise license from our team. This is considered “traditional” licensing, or “custom” licensing, because it reflects a nuanced negotiation between the artist and the person needing the license.
Our team will facilitate the process of negotiating terms, usage, music licensing fees, and types of music licenses as quickly as possible. Many of our artists are pre-cleared for certain usages and oftentimes we can have a quote in as little as 24 hours for your project. If you’re not sure if you need an Enterprise license, begin the licensing process on the site, answer the appropriate questions for your project, and it will direct you to fill out a request for a quote if need-be, which will be sent to an Account Executive upon completion.