Motion Pictures

When a movie producer wants to use an existing song in a theatrically released film-the producer must negotiate with the music publisher for the use of the composition. Once an agreement is reached, the producer will sign a synchronization license which will give it the right to distribute the film to movie theaters, sell it to television, and use the song in "in context" TV promos and theatrical previews.

The amount of the motion-picture synch fee depends upon a number of factors: how the song is used (sung by a character in the film, background instrumental, vocal performance of a recording from a jukebox, etc.), the overall budget for the film and the music budget, the stature of song being used (old standards, current hits, new compositions), the actual timing of the song as used in the film (45 seconds, one minute, two minutes), whether there are multiple uses of the song in various scenes, whether the use is over the opening or closing credits, whether there's a lyric change, the term of the license (normally life-of-copyright), the territory of the license (usually the world or the universe), and whether there is a guarantee that the song will be used on a soundtrack album or released as a single. So there are lots of variables. A separate license, known as a Master Use License, also needs to be negotiated with the record company if the original recording of the song is also being used.

The synch fees (which include home-video rights) charged by music publishers are usually between $15,000 and $60,000, with the majority between $20,000 and $45,000. On occasion, a music publisher will reduce the synchronization fee for a song if the producer guarantees that there is a soundtrack-album commitment from a major label and that the song being licensed for the film will be on the album. Considering the phenomenal success of some movie soundtracks -- and the royalties that are generated from all sources -- such a reduction in the synch fee may substantially benefit the publisher and songwriter in the long run, but each situation must be decided on its own merits.

In most countries outside the United States, motion picture theaters are required to pay performance royalties for music used in theatrically distributed films. These fees are collected by the local performing-rights society in each country (PRS in England, GEMA in Germany, JASRAC in Japan, SACEM in France, SOCAN in Canada, APRA in Australia, BUMA in the Netherlands, etc.) which, in turn, distribute royalties to the writers and publishers of music contained in the films distributed in their territories. The foreign societies will remit the writer's share of such monies directly to the performing rights society that a writer is a member of (i.e. ASCAP in the U.S.), which will then pay these theatrical performance royalties as a foreign distribution. In simple language, what this means is that, if you managed to get a song in a movie that is released outside the U.S., you'll get checks from your performing rights society that they in turn have received from the foreign performing rights organizations that collected the money for you in the first place. In contrast to the handling of writer royalties, the music publisher normally allows its representative in each foreign territory to directly collect its publisher royalty share in the local country.

Theater license fees vary by country and are usually a percentage of the theater's box office receipts. Because of the worldwide appeal of many motion pictures - Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, to cite a few obvious examples -- it's not unusual for successful films to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in theatrical performance royalties.

© 2007 Todd Brabec, Jeff Brabec
For more information, check out the book Music, Money and Success: The Insider's Guide To Making Money In The Music Business (Schirmer Trade Books/Music Sales/502 pages) available for sale at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Music Sales Group and www.musicandmoney.com.