Music Clearance is the practice of obtaining permission to use music from the music’s copyright holders. Clearing or obtaining music rights can be a headache and a legal nightmare, especially if your project requires multiple tracks and rights holders. Luckily, Audiosocket can help. Music Clearance is a service we handle for clients who need a single place to turn for all of their music requirements. Our experienced team can save you time, hassle and money by clearing music for your projects. Let’s dive into what the process is, and how we can help!
How Does Music Clearance Work?
There are 2 main types of rights that you must purchase in order to use music in synchronization with any visual project:
- Copyright or Sync License aka rights to the song itself. This is usually owned by the songwriter, composer or publisher.
- Master License aka rights to a specific recording of a track. This is usually owned by the label, artist or person/people that financed the recording.
Music Clearance refers to the process of obtaining the licenses that allow you to use pieces of music in your audio/visual projects. For large companies that need to use lots of music, it can be a large and intricate operation. Sometimes there are even hundreds of tracks that require tons of work to acquire rights to. That’s where Audiosocket comes in!
Music Clearance Services: Audiosocket
Music Clearance is usually handled by lawyers, producers, production companies or music supervisors. However, Audiosocket can also help you clear rights to a track for your project.
Obtaining the Intellectual Property rights for music can be a tangled web with ambiguous pricing, and ever-changing third-parties. Instead of dealing with artist managers, publishers, co-publishers and record labels, you can deal with one organized funnel: Audiosocket! This saves you the hassle of navigating complex copyright laws and negotiating Terms which you may not understand with multiple rights holders and entities.
What Are Audiosocket’s Services?
Audiosocket’s clearance team are seasoned pros when it comes to navigating the confusing elements of the industry, and ensuring speedy delivery within rapidly shrinking timelines. Our team manages all phases of the Music Licensing Clearance process, administering music clearances from beginning to end. This includes:
Research: Identifying Master and Publishing rights owners.
Copyright Confirmations: Collecting the copyright and PRO information from all parties.
Negotiations: Many songs have multiple Master owners and/or publishers. Each party negotiates independently for:
- Term
- Territory
- Media
- Rights & Restrictions
- Fees
Agreements: Once Terms have been agreed by all parties, we draft and/or Review Label/Publisher Agreements
Execution: After final approval is received, we chase all parties for executed agreements as well as invoices and Tax Payee Information.
- Reporting and tracking payments to all parties.
- Ensuring accurate legal delivery of clearance documentation to all parties.
Performance Royalty Administration: Audiosocket generates the Cue Sheets and PRO reporting for producers and editors.
… Sounds like a lot of work, right? Luckily, we will handle it all for you, and you can just focus on getting great music and making magic in your projects. As well, Audiosocket carries the necessary Insurance to cover you if any information has been misrepresented. We have been doing this for 12+ years and are proud to say that we’ve never had a single copyright issue with artists or clients.
Get In Touch
If you’d like to learn more about Audiosocket’s clearance services, please email us with the song title and artist you’re interested in licensing. We look forward to hearing from you!
