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What is a commercial? How does one license music for it?

What is a commercial?

The Proud Music Library offers music titles for its use in commercials, such as, for example, in promotional films. A commercial is usually, in a nutshell, a promotional production that advertises a product or service. The target is the end user. This happens generally through media such as TV, radio, websites, and mobile phones, commercial spots on DVD or the like. Data carriers are rarely found.

Music tracks for commercials — Searchmaschine for music that is perfect for commercial use!

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In this respect, licensing for the use of music titles from the Proud Music Library is paid in lump sum. This means that the use does not depend on the frequency with which a spot is projected or on its length. There are standardized commercial licenses (for example, for TV or online advertising), which limit the use to one year. The Proud Music Library also offers the so called “buyout” licenses. Just send an individual license request indicating the area of use (worldwide, across Europe, or individual territories), the period of use (one or 2 years), and the degree of dissemination or type of use (TV, Websites, third party site, etc.). License combinations are also possible, which, for example, include only TV/radio, TV/Internet, or Internet/radio.

completely royalty free music means free music for commercial us?

With the use of so called “completely royalty free music” from the Proud Music library there are no charges to pay to any collecting society like ASCAP, BMI, PRS, GEMA, etc.. It means not music for free or gratis music. This is valid also in the case of buyout licenses for royalty-free music! Should the commercial spot be inserted on TV and radio, there would be likewise no charges for the repertoire, as long as the TV or radio station has a flat rate contract with a collecting society. This also proceeds in the case of cinema advertising, depending on whether the movie theater operator also has, in this case, a flat rate contract with a collecting society.

Royalty-free music and production music for commercials on TV, Radio or Cinema — Royalty-free music for commercials on TV, Radio or Cinema

Does the standard license also include the use of educational videos?

The standard license from our Proud Music Library makes possible the use of music in educational videos as well. This includes the manufacturing rights. It also comprises up to 1000 units of video duplicates. The license is from a temporal and spatial point of view unlimited and is valid for music that doesn’t require, as well as for music that requires copyright.

Royalty-free Music and production music for educational films

What do we understand under the term game soundtracks?

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Game soundtracks refer to the soundtracks for computer games. It usually deals with musical scores for film material, and hence, orchestra compositions. An exception are, for example, racers with so called source music, in which, for instance, one has a choice among different radio stations with various musical styles (e.g. GTA-Games). More and more, game soundtracks are always produced lavishly and played partially by real orchestras.

Hybrid productions have reached higher standards with the accompaniment of music recordings of live solo instruments, because the audio range in the game scenes acquires a higher place value. Soundtrack CDs with music from and about well-known game titles are also available; individual composers and their game soundtracks have earned international cult status. In the live concert scene, game tracks have also been successful and gain more and more attention. There are a series of worldwide game music concerts around the world that originated in Japan. The Proud Music Library can give you, together with its offer of individual commissioned composers and complete soundtracks of game audio designs, the possibility to purchase a license to our orchestral music library tracks for video game soundtracks. Also royalty free!

May I show an Image Film at a fair with a standard license and at the same time present it on its own website?

Yes. The standard license is tied to the use. Under use we differentiate – except for the limit of 1000 copies – the type of use, and not volume. That means that if the music is inserted in a Image Film, it does not matter whether the film is shown at a fair or streamed on the Internet, be it on its own website or that of a third party such as YouTube, Vimeo, or Facebook.

It does make a difference, though, if the film is inserted with commercial purposes. In this context commercial means “to promote the sales of a product (good or service).” The corporate film does not usually have the sales of a product in mind, but rather serves to improve the image of the company. The fact that in this context of the film the company products can be shown is self-evident. But the film’s purpose is not commercial use, as for example, a TV spot. Image spots are an exception. An image spot is an Image Film in the style of a commercial spot, which serves primarily to strengthen a brand. The focus of an image spot is not the company itself; rather the brand is positively emotionally charged through the film/spot. The company’s products may be advertised better through the upload, since the brand already conveys a positive image.

What is and what makes a performance rights organization?

As in the case of the American ASCAP or the Canadian SOCAN, a performance rights organization is responsible of administering and protecting the rights of all composers, performers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers from all walks of life. How do they do this? They do it by collecting licensing fees from people who want to perform the music of a particular artist publicly. In other words, the organization collects royalties on behalf of its members. The members of these organizations make a living by doing one or more of the aforementioned. Even though the main purpose is to collect licensing fees, these organizations may also offer workshops and health and instrument insurance.

What is the difference between an online advertising license and a standard license?

The standard license differs from an “Online Advertising” license in that it does not cover advertising use. The “Online Advertising” license is intended for this purpose, namely when it comes to combining a video with music and then uploading and publishing this video on online platforms such as Youtube, Vimeo or Facebook. Advertising is any measure taken to promote the sale of a product (good or service). For questions please send us an e-mail or simply call us at: +49 (0)6132 43 088 30.

How many music titles does the Proud Music Library include?

Every week, Proud Music Library adds 40 to 100 tracks to its collection. If you click on the search button under the menu tab, you can see how many we offer at this time. Through this search, you have access to all titles available, and may also verify the actual number of titles. Here, you may also obtain a general idea of which titles are licensed as completely royalty free music.

What license do I need for a trailer?

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In order to enjoy a music title from the Proud Music Library for a trailer, you need an advertising license. Depending on which media you choose to advertise the trailer, there are online, radio, movie, and TV licenses. Each license type offers separate rights. Online advertising, for example on Yahoo!®, requires the issuance of an online advertising license; for TV advertising, for example on NBC, MTV or a local channel, requires a TV advertising license.

What is a trailer?

Who has not watched a movie preview (lasts between one and three minutes) before, and awoken his curiosity to run to the cinema’s premiere once it was released? How many TV spots (lasts less than a minute) of the latest video games have not lured fans to the store? How about those commercials advertising the newest car, event or dish on a restaurant menu? Whichever form it takes, or whatever its purpose, trailers or teasers are extracts from films, video games, or TV shows such as sitcoms and dramas, which are intended to promote the same.

What is Royalty free music?

Is it free music?

The definition of royalty free music denotes a onetime licensing fee. This form of licensing differs from the traditional one in that earlier, licensing was paid for every minute, second and moment of use of a particular work of music. But the term can be misleading. Royalty free does not mean that broadcasting time, for example, is completely free.

It helps you achieve your goal

Networks and radio stations pay for a license that allows them to broadcast that music at particular times and at particular moments. They are required to keep track of the number of broadcasts on a cue sheet so that music broadcast can be recorded properly and then, royalties are distributed accordingly to the musicians, composers, and music publishers. In other words, royalty free music means that you pay in this case a onetime licensing fee, but to use in your own productions regardless of how often you use it. Still, in this manner, royalty free music is made more accessible to the common public. Whether you are a teacher in a classroom who would like to make presentations more dynamic, a student working on a project, a friend working on a special present, or if you are trying to find the right way to propose by creating the appropriate mood, royalty free music helps you achieve your goal.

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It is not free music

Royalty-free means not that the piece of music is free to use. The most royalty-free music tracks are registered with a domestic or foreign collecting society. This means that the use of a piece of music must be reported with a registration form (=cue sheet) to the local collecting society, e.g. ASCAP.

When using royalty-free music in commercials or advertisements, although the use of the license price is often limited but already clarified, so that there will be no complicated negotiations with rights holders muß (pre-cleared music). That’s why this is called rather Production Music. or Stock Music. But Stock Music is often music where the composer is not registered with any domestic or foreign collecting society. In the Proud Music Library you find this music under the label “completely royalty-free music”.