How do you get licensing or rights to the music you perform to?

[Rebecca Danger]

I don't know the first thing about getting music for performances- so please- if you could help me out, I would certainly appreciate it.

Also, what kind of range can you expect to spend for songs that *aren't* major hits?

Oh, and can you get royalty-free music?  So you don't have to pay for each time you use the song?

I'm actually specifically looking to make a video, if that makes any difference.  But I am a bit interested in performing burlesque one day... in the distant future... so it's something I'd like to keep in the back of my mind for that as well.

Thanks for your help!!

[The Trousseau]

LaLaleRouge,

Here is a link explaining why what you wrote is not correct Copyright and making videos

And another general article on it: more on copyright law 

And an article on how to obtain permission: Get permission

[La La Le Rouge]

This leads into my hot tip though: a good way to work out whether you can use music/video/images in a video or not is to again ask if you could honestly put a credit at the end for the music/video/image with its creator saying ‘Used with permission‘.  Placing this kind of credit at the end is a good practice anyway as it acknowledges the creators work, keeps you accountable, and helps the viewers to recognise that there are legal obligations.  Maybe if more of us did this, it would help others to be more aware of how they use other people’s media.

I guess this is what I meant, I know several people who post there performance videos on you tube & facebook, they have not gotten any licences to be dancing to the music. Nor "technical" permission to use it, BUT they are also not selling these videos either.

[The Trousseau]

I am confused. Are you placing the credit at the end, and you actually have permission?  That is a good thing.  If you are not, your disclaimer can make the consequences worse, should you be cited for using music that isn't yours.   

Uploading music that doesn't belong to you is one reason we had that nightmare called SOPA a few months ago.  If we don't want something like that to shut down the internet, we have to start following copyright laws. 

[Rebecca Danger]

From what I've read so far (and thank you, Trousseau, for posting those links- I'm about to check them out), there are three types of licenses you can get for using copyrighted music: synchronization rights, mechanical rights, and performance rights. 

1)Synchronization rights permit you to put a song in a video clip, film, power point presentation, or in sync with a photo slideshow (this is what I need for what I'm doing). 

2)Mechanical rights permit you use a song in any kind of "hard copy" like a CD, DVD, etc.  So if I decided to put my video out on DVD, I'd have to get synchronization rights AND mechanical rights. 

3)Performance rights permit you perform or perform to a song in public.  Like if you were in a band and covering the song, if you're a DJ or karaoke DJ, dancing to a song (like burlesque, belly dancing, etc), doing sideshow acts with the song playing in the background, or playing music in your store or restaurant, or anything of that sort, you have to have performance rights. 

So there's basically nothing you can do with a song that you don't have to purchase rights for besides listening to it in private settings.

[Auburn Hills]

Hi Rebecca.  I don't have a clue for music used in a video.  But... I have danced/performed in clubs and restaurants in the past.  The places I performed asked that all my music be licensed by ASCAP.  (the ASCAP logo is usually in the credits section of the cd)   The clubs made payments to ASCAP directly as a regular part of their business.  

Try here  http://www.ascap.com/ for more information on use and permission.

Some music may also be public domain.  The ASCAP site does have a search section that may help with that.

 

[Rebecca Danger]

Oh, and I also wanted to give an update for anyone that's also looking into this- I found an amazing resource for getting licenses.  You can get a free account at www.YouLicense.com and obtain licenses through them.  You can search for music by genre, mood, tempo, artist, song title, and a lot of other options, and play full versions for free to pick songs out.  For most of the songs, you have to contact the artist or record label (or whomever), to get price quotes, but you do it by filling out some form on the site and you don't even have to look up the contact information.  A lot of songs, though, have a feature called "Quick License" in which you pay set price point, depending on what you're using the song for (which determines the type of license you get).  For what I'm doing, a commercial video, the license is a whopping $6.  So that's awesome.  :)

For all you burlesque performers out there, the "Quick License" fee for commercial live events (where people have to pay to see you) is only $25.  "Indie" live events are only $13.  All of these prices are for unlimited use of the song.