La Dee Da! Music Rights.
Monday, July 13, 2009 So I got some cool news on Friday...I'd filed an application to be granted the music rights to a Killers' song for my next book, an application for which I figured I had NO shot, but figured, what the hell, and guess what? So psyched! I got rights approval. I was shocked but thrilled.
So I tweeted the good news and got asked a slew of times how to go about getting music/lyrics approval, so I thought I'd talk a bit about this today. Now, keep in mind that I'm not an expert. In fact, I sort of learned how to do this via my pal, Laura Dave. For Time of My Life, I really, really, really wanted to use a verse from the song Waiting for My Real Life to Begin, so, because she's a pro at everything, she told me how to go about it. Basically, the deal is this:
First off, start off by asking your editor to put you in touch with your publishing house's rights dept. They'll probably point you in the correct direction. But in my case (and thus likely in yours), after that, the heavy lifting still falls on my shoulders. Actually, rewind a bit: it's my understanding, and I don't know the exact limitations, but if you're using just one line from a song (anyone know the specifications?), you don't need permission. But anything more than that - and I wanted more from The Killers - you need approval.
So, from there, you have to find out who owns the rights to said song - often times, it's more than one person, if more than one person has written the song. You can go to sites like ASCAP or BMI to assess who/what you need to contact next.
Once you have this info - in this case, for The Killers, Universal Music - you call them/log on to their website, and then contact the person THERE who handles rights. In my case, I found the right person, shot off an email to said person, who then referred to ANOTHER site, Hal Leonard Music. (Is anyone still following this?) From there, I had to fill out a request form - stating my print run, how the lyrics would appear in the book, the background of the book, etc. I was told that I'd have to wait about 3 weeks to hear anything, but voila, I heard back (with a few further questions) the next day, and once those were answers, I was told that I could, indeed, have the rights for a designated fee, which I am happy to pay. Yes, this is standard: you likely will have to pay for rights usage, and from what I understand, these fees can vary widely, from hundreds of dollars to thousands, depending on your print run, your usage, and well, just how badly the band/artist wants to give 'em out to you.
I have no idea if The Killers themselves were asked about this or if it's a decision that Hal Leonard makes, but I'm grateful to whomever okayed it. I know that in some circumstances, artists will never, ever give approval (and while I don't think that was the case with Waiting for My Real Life to Begin, I never did hear back, and thus, the fabulous Laura Dave again came to my rescue and suggested an even more perfect epigraph), and I was prepared for this with my little quest this time around. But, nope, as if I didn't think so beforehand, The Killers, well, they really do rock! :)
Okay, so as I noted above, I'm not an expert on this...this is only my path and my experience. I'd welcome other people chiming in with their own.
Craft, Life as a writer
Reader Comments (3)
Fantastic news! Which song (or is it a surprise :) )?
Swishy - Hello! It feels like ages since we've chatted. I'm keeping it under wraps, but if you email me, I might spill. :) (Not that this will keep you up at night if you don't.) Hope you're doing great!
That is so cool! Just learned something new today, I love it when that happens :) Thanks for sharing such great advice.