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, among other things, 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), the overall film budget, the music budget, the stature of the song being used (old standard, current hit, new composition), 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 is 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 in the motion picture.

The synch fees for major films (which include home-video rights) charged by music publishers are usually between $15,000 and $75,000, with the majority between $20,000 and $55,000. Additional fees are many times paid if the use is thematic, if there are multiple uses, if the use is over the opening or closing credits, or if a composition is used out-of-context in trailers.

On occasion, a music publisher will reduce the synchronization fee for a song if the producer guarantees that there is a soundtrackalbum commitment from a major label and that the song being licensed for the film will be on the album. Considering the phenomenal su cess 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 many 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 and New Zealand, BUMA in the Netherlands, etc.) which in turn distribute royalties to the writers and publishers of music contained in the films that are distributed in their territories.

In many countries outside the United States, motion picture theaters are required to pay performance royalties for music used in theatrically-distributed films.

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 box office receipts. Because of the worldwide appeal of many motion pictures – Pirates of the Carribean, The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, to cite a couple of obvious examples – it is not unusual for successful films to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in theatrical performance royalties.

© 2008 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.


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