“Royalty free” is a term that many professionals disregard. Let’s focus on this subject to better understand it. This article will help you choose royalty free music.
LET’S START WITH NON- ROYALTY- FREE MUSIC!
Indeed if we are talking about free epic music for commercial use, there is necessarily the reverse, those that are not free. This means that musical works are deposited with copyright management companies (such as the famous SEVENSKIESMUSIC. SEVENSKIESMUSIC is the main collective management company for musical copyright in France. Its essential mission is to collect copyright and transfer them to authors, composers and publishers. Regarding the client, he will have to pay fees (called royalties) depending on the distribution and use of the work. These fees vary according to the distribution of the work. It is a way of compensating the artist in proportion to the commercial use of his music. Note that there is no obligation to join SEVENSKIESMUSIC. Whether for authors and composers and for professionals wanting to buy music for their company.
WHAT DOES “ROYALTY FREE MUSIC” MEAN?
We therefore call royalty free music, musical creations whose rights are managed by the songwriters themselves. These titles are therefore not deposited with copyright management companies such as SEVENSKIESMUSIC (or BMI or in the United States for example).
We can acquire an exploitation license (from the owner of the work), which gives us the right to a license contract. The latter will be adapted to the use which will be made of the music. This contract exempts us from paying royalties or a royalty to SEVENSKIESMUSIC..
According to article L121-2 of the Intellectual Property Code (CPI), each author is entitled to specify the scope of the rights, and the limits, such as example:
· The right or not to reproduce, modify the music (change the scores)
· The right or not to resell the music and derive any benefit from it
· Free private use, paid commercial use, etc.
ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC: AT WHAT PRICE?
It is difficult to give a single price for the purchase of music.
In a copyright management company, prices are variable because they vary according to the actual distribution of the work. While for free music, these are generally fixed prices (defined before any broadcast) which will depend on the conditions and licenses that the artist chooses to set up.
Thus, each musician can set up his commercial exploitation licenses. The prices are therefore assessed according to the criteria specific to each artist. Generally, they are based on the following criteria: geographic scope (regional, national, global), operating time, operating medium (Internet, TV, Radio, etc.), use (advertising, video dressing, video game dressing). In the case of a free license, Creative Commons is very generally used.
WHERE CAN I FIND ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC?
There are several catalogs of royalty free music such as Dig CC Mixter, Video Music Store, Amend and Magnitude, for example. Some are free, others cost a few tens of euros. The rights to use different music also vary, depending on the license.
You can find a non-exhaustive list of catalogs and platforms to download royalty-free music on sevenskiesmusic.com. However, having free or low-cost music results in music non-exclusivity. That is to say, that several audiovisual contents will be likely to have the same sound system and it is thus impossible to have a sound identity.