Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with license and Music

How does licensing for the music work on these contest shows?

sbutler — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 14:18:22 -0800

How does licensing for the music work on these contest shows? The Voice, American Idol, X Factor, America's Got Talent, et al. Especially during the audition process where they might now know what people are going to sing before they're on stage. Even though they're not using the artist's recording, I imagine there has to be royalties owed to composers, lyricists, musicians on the instrumental tracks, etc. So how do they manage it? I've imagined some situations:

1. Contestants aren't actually free to sing whatever song they want. There's a long list of pre-licensed material and they have to choose one of those. I could believe this, because if you watch enough of these shows you hear the same songs over and over again.

2. Contestants sing what they want and the producers license it post facto. So if a contestant's audition ends up on the editing room floor, maybe they only have to license for a live audience instead of a live audience plus television. But is there some material that's just too expensive to license in any situation, and the producers tell the contestant "No, you just can't sing that song"?

3. Every one of these shows is in bed with the RIAA and the RIAA takes a predetermined % of the show profits, no matter what songs are used. But surely some of the material isn't licensable through the RIAA; is it then verboten or do the producer just license it separately?

Again, I'm particularly interested in music used during the open auditions. I imagine after that phase it's much easier to figure out ahead of time what's going to be sung on the next show.

Where to find a music teaching job with an alternative/provisional license?

vilolagrl — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:49:38 -0800

Advice on which school districts in Virginia specifically, but other states in general, have a shortage of music teachers and would be more willing to hire someone eligible for an alternative or provisional teaching license. I have taken and passed the Praxis II content test for music, and the VCLA test. I dropped out of a graduate performance program this past spring and have been subbing as both a regular and long-term music substitute in the northern Virginia area. During the past seven or eight months, I have interviewed for six music teaching positions, and have been offered two jobs by principals, only to have HR call and rescind the offer based on the fact that (due to budget concerns - their federal funds are affected by how many certified teachers they have - that's their explanation any way) I am only eligible for a provisional license and am not fully licensed.

I have the following:
A undergrad degree in music
A transcript that has been reviewed and approved by the state for a provisional license
Half a grad degree in performance (strings)
About 10 years of private lesson teaching experience and ensemble leadership (since I was 15)
A performance certificate from a prestigious conservatory
An undergrad GPA of 2.9 and a grad GPA of 3.6
Loads of scholarships/interships/etc in the music biz and music performance fields
I'm basically flat broke - I don't get called to sub too often - (wait, make that 60, 000 in the hole)... and the bills are coming due

I have also contacted several career switcher programs and because I've been in school for most of the time I've been gigging in orchestras, subbing, doing studio work, etc they aren't giving me credit for the required "5 years of work experience" necessary for their programs. I'd also rather not spent 6, 000 more to get certified with no guarantee of a job.

I'm willing to move any where, but I need to be teaching music, I'm not qualified to teach any other subjects.

Right now I'm living with my parents in NOVA, so a district within commuting distance would be ideal, but obviously I've been basically unemployed for the past year (since undergrad graduation) and am getting increasingly desperate (I have tried and tried to get an office or assistant job but my resume is so focused and there's so much competition that I'm barely getting interviews for part time 8/hr jobs) I have no real preference. I'm currently teaching private lessons in the area as well. If necessary, I will move nearly anywhere.

It's frustrating because I do have a passion for teaching music and I also have a ton of professional experience but I'm out on a technicality in most areas.

Thank you!

Free use music

white_devil — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:37:39 -0800

I’m trying to find some creative commons or free use music for my GF to use on the video she did for Facebook as a fund raising tool for her Susan G Komen 3 day walks in October. She originally wanted Lady Antebellum’s “I was Here” but couldn’t because of license issues. I’m trying to find something in that same vein. Any suggestions of online resources or magic Google-fu would be appreciated. I read this previous question but had little luck and I have tried using the CC search engine but with crappy results.

How can my friend get the rights to sell mp3s?

racecar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:41:47 -0800

Who can license music for download/sale? A friend came up with a wicked cool idea for selling music using the internet, but it can't be done through some affiliate mp3 link (like Amazon). We're just a couple of college guys, and we don't know any rockstars or label executives. Are there smaller labels out there who can sell us the rights to offer downloads of their music? Is there typically some money we have to pay up front when signing up to sell a band's music? Will I need a lawyer?

We just want to sell music in this cool, immersive context on the internet, and would be willing to give the label/artist a bigger cut than other people do, because we think we can make money on other things, and even take a loss on song sales. (That's what Apple does with iTunes right? To sell iPods?)

Do we need to sign contracts with our school friends who are pretty good musicians? Or is it just enough to have them send us their mp3s and we give them money. (tax rules?) We can't afford lawyers, and we probably wouldn't want to talk to them.

It'd be good to have hip hop, or other music that specifically teenagers would like, but it'd be even better to have a broad collection.

Googling yields ASCAP, Walmart and other companies that might not talk to little old me.

My parents say that an idea isn't enough, that we have to build the application.

We're free this summer and could probably build something for musicians and record labels to see.

Whatever we do, we want to do it legal, we don't want to be oink or allofmp3 and get shut down.

I know people can't give me official legal advice, but anything at this point is helpful. We thought about just calling the record labels main numbers, but that sounds like a waste of time.

Why are there no music CD rental outfits?

pwb503 — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 12:54:23 -0800

This question got me thinking... Why is it that there are video and game rental outlets (Blockbu$ter, Hollywood, etc) but not CD rental outlets here in the US? Anyone know anything about the license agreements video rental outlets sign and in turn what license agreements one accepts when they purchase a CD from a store? Why wouldn't I be able to rent out my CDs? You'd think in this day of iPods, CDRs and such large hard drives, this would be a killer busines to get into.