How much to charge for use of original music?
August 25, 2008 6:31 AM Subscribe
How much should an unknown band charge an acquaintance to use one of their songs in a podcast? Podcast is highly targeted and may initially be heard by 80-100 people.
I would ask for payment in the form of the band and song being identified during the podcast.
posted by ill3 at 6:38 AM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by ill3 at 6:38 AM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
If it's a for-profit podcast and the song is instrumental to the theme of the podcast -- i.e. if I were doing a paid podcast for students on solar physics (!) and I wanted to use They Might Be Giants "Why Does The Sun Shine?" as the theme song -- I'd think money would be in order. Otherwise, I think mention by the podcast hosts, with URL or MySpace address, and a link on the podcast home page would be a good trade-off.
posted by Shepherd at 6:45 AM on August 25, 2008
posted by Shepherd at 6:45 AM on August 25, 2008
I was in a few bands at bass and our biggest problem is that no one ever heard of us. I would not charge anything. I know it is tempting and bands rarely make any kind of money but make sure that your name gets out, your show schedule gets out, and a link to your website if you have one. Also get your contact info out as well. Promoters could be watching this and if they like your sound it could lead to future shows. Good luck! Also do you have a link that we could listen to? All this "Hype" has me wondering what you sound like.
posted by Mastercheddaar at 6:48 AM on August 25, 2008
posted by Mastercheddaar at 6:48 AM on August 25, 2008
As someone once said, the biggest problem for artists isn't piracy, it's obscurity. I would highly recommend, as others have, $0, with the express conditions that the band get a plug, at the bare minimum of name, song title, and (here the important bit) the URL where fans can find more. Should also get mentioned on the blog for the podcast, or the show-notes.
posted by griffey at 6:53 AM on August 25, 2008
posted by griffey at 6:53 AM on August 25, 2008
Gotta agree with Griffey -- I work for an indie label and deal w/ podcasters quite a bit. When someone requests to use a song, I'm more than happy to let them use it, usually in exchange for a band credit w/ a URL. And it works. Our CDs are still packed with "bounce back" cards, and from time-to-time in the "How did you hear about this artist?" section, it will have a name of a podcast.
posted by pfafflin at 7:31 AM on August 25, 2008
posted by pfafflin at 7:31 AM on August 25, 2008
Ditto the charging nothing. The publicity to get heard by 100 is worth much more.
FWIW, I've managed a couple of bands who were featured on over 20 podcasts of 1000+ listeners, and we've never charged a dime. You'll be much more profitable if you sell ONE cd because of a free spin than wanting to charge a podcaster and immediately alienate potential play (most podcasters won't [or can't] pay for music).
posted by chrisfromthelc at 7:33 AM on August 25, 2008
FWIW, I've managed a couple of bands who were featured on over 20 podcasts of 1000+ listeners, and we've never charged a dime. You'll be much more profitable if you sell ONE cd because of a free spin than wanting to charge a podcaster and immediately alienate potential play (most podcasters won't [or can't] pay for music).
posted by chrisfromthelc at 7:33 AM on August 25, 2008
Echoing the others: Nada. Attribution is all you can really expect in a situation like this.
posted by saulgoodman at 7:47 AM on August 25, 2008
posted by saulgoodman at 7:47 AM on August 25, 2008
Not only would I not charge anything, I would provide the podcast with a couple CDs to give away, or a promotional code for a free download of the CD. Then I would find other podcasts that might like to use my music and do the same. The band could then write of the transaction as a marketing/promotional expense.
posted by IndigoSkye at 8:19 AM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by IndigoSkye at 8:19 AM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
I agree with the 1st 3 posters. That pretty much sums it up.
posted by bitterkitten at 8:30 AM on August 25, 2008
posted by bitterkitten at 8:30 AM on August 25, 2008
That's a freebie. Make sure they prominently mention your name and a website where people can reach you. And that will only be useful if something happens in the future to get way more listeners to that podcast.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 8:51 AM on August 25, 2008
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 8:51 AM on August 25, 2008
Are they going to be using your music as their theme song or something, to be played on every episode? Or is this a music podcast and they're going to play your track on a single episode? If the former, $50-$100 could be reasonable. If the latter, asking them for money would be ridiculous.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:03 AM on August 25, 2008
posted by ludwig_van at 9:03 AM on August 25, 2008
I run a business doing music for podcasts, and I usually charge between $100-200 or so to do up custom theme music for shows. The client gets to tell me what they want, and after the first version is done we work together to tweak it until it is exactly right. I know of other people doing the same thing for about the same price. I also know that a lot of people tell me that they can't afford that much for their show, since they are doing it for fun. That is why I also have free music available, with the stipulation that they include my website name and url in the show and on their website.
If someone is asking to use your song as the opening theme to their show, it might be possible to get some money out of it, but keep in mind, they can get custom music done at a reasonable cost, so it will be hard to get any significant money out of it, especially if it is as small a podcast as you say. I would suggest you look at this as a marketing opportunity, and make sure they include a mention of the band as well as your website.
posted by markblasco at 9:22 AM on August 25, 2008
If someone is asking to use your song as the opening theme to their show, it might be possible to get some money out of it, but keep in mind, they can get custom music done at a reasonable cost, so it will be hard to get any significant money out of it, especially if it is as small a podcast as you say. I would suggest you look at this as a marketing opportunity, and make sure they include a mention of the band as well as your website.
posted by markblasco at 9:22 AM on August 25, 2008
Response by poster: Thanks for all the answers, everyone. To clarify, it's a not-for profit, hobby-type podcast, and it's not a "music" podcast. I'm sorry, I can't link to the music itself until the group is in agreement about allowing its work to be available on the internet.
posted by Area Control at 10:21 AM on August 25, 2008
posted by Area Control at 10:21 AM on August 25, 2008
Disclaimer: I am in a band. We are very much on board with the creative commons. Our philosophy sort of goes: "we wish that more people would 'pirate' our music".
You should charge nothing. This is the kind of promotion that will change your band from "unknown" to "known by 80-100 people."
If this was a gig playing a live session at a local radio station, would you charge them for it?
Also, you should put as much of your music onto Limewire, Bearshare, internet websites, wherever you can get it. Email it to thousands of people. Give away free cds. Dump your music in the noosphere until you develop fans. This is how it works. Then, you have done the work, you get the money.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 10:38 AM on August 25, 2008
You should charge nothing. This is the kind of promotion that will change your band from "unknown" to "known by 80-100 people."
If this was a gig playing a live session at a local radio station, would you charge them for it?
Also, you should put as much of your music onto Limewire, Bearshare, internet websites, wherever you can get it. Email it to thousands of people. Give away free cds. Dump your music in the noosphere until you develop fans. This is how it works. Then, you have done the work, you get the money.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 10:38 AM on August 25, 2008
n-thing the charge-nothing + visible band credit. :)
posted by Artful Codger at 11:54 AM on August 25, 2008
posted by Artful Codger at 11:54 AM on August 25, 2008
Response by poster: Thanks again to everyone who weighed in on this. I was a bit surprised by the alignment of the responses. I had hoped that some outside perspective might help change the mind of one band member, and allow us to proceed along the paths outlined above. Despite all the real world arguments presented here, his position remains firm, and we will not be able to give away music in exchange for exposure.
Here's some stuff I made all by myself. Feel free to enjoy, steal, and redistribute.
http://inkman.googlepages.com/home
Thanks again for the responses.
posted by Area Control at 2:12 PM on August 25, 2008
Here's some stuff I made all by myself. Feel free to enjoy, steal, and redistribute.
http://inkman.googlepages.com/home
Thanks again for the responses.
posted by Area Control at 2:12 PM on August 25, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
If the unknown band's music uses a traditional copyright license, then they should charge $0, because they are unknown, and should be willing to do just about anything to become better known.
I'm not a part of the music biz, but I do pay attention to it.
posted by bryanjbusch at 6:36 AM on August 25, 2008