INTRODUCTION
Music is an important part of how stories are told and how the audience engages with visual content shown. From the background music in a film to the soundtrack of a commercial, or even that of a video game, music plays a significant role in shaping how visual content is perceived and experienced. With this frequent use of music across the various forms of visual and digital content, opportunities emerge for musicians, songwriters, composers, and other rights holders to generate revenue from the use of their music, and one of the ways to capitalize on these opportunities is synchronisation licensing, commonly referred to as sync licensing.
Sync licensing is the vehicle through which music can be incorporated into visual content legally. For music creators, the sync license presents an opportunity to earn additional income while simultaneously reaching audiences through different platforms, while for production companies like the filmmakers or advertisers, it provides a means of obtaining the legally necessary rights to use music in their productions.
Now, to appreciate how this sync licensing arrangement works and why it is important, it becomes necessary to first understand what exactly sync licensing entails and what the different rights involved are.
UNDERSTANDING SYNC LICENSING: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The term synchronisation in this context describes the act of combining music with moving images so that the music forms part of an audiovisual production. This can involve the use of a song in a film, advertisement, trailer, social media content, or other audiovisual content. Easy-to-connect examples are when a movie incorporates a song during an important scene in a movie, or advertisements for products that incorporate a popular song. In such instances, sync licensing undoubtedly must play a role for conflict-free commercial success and use of such songs.
Upon understanding what sync licensing means, an appreciation of the different copyright interests that may exist in a music track is the step to capturing the holistic process. This is because in a music track, there exists both the underlying musical composition of the track as well as the actual sound recording of that composition. These are generally treated as separate works, which can have potentially different owners.
Two Sides Of Music Rights: Musical Composition and Sound Recording
The musical composition refers to the underlying musical work, including its melody, lyrics, and other elements usually created by the songwriter or composer. The rights in the composition are commonly referred to as publishing rights. Where a song has been written by more than one person, the rights may also be shared among several songwriters or other contributors, depending on their respective arrangements.
There is also the sound recording, on the other hand, which refers to the actual recorded version of a musical composition. It is the particular recording that listeners hear when the song is played on platforms such as streaming services. The rights in this recording are commonly referred to as master rights and may belong to a record label, an independent artist, a record producer, or another person or entity that owns the recording under the relevant contractual arrangements.
To better understand how these two sets of rights operate in practice, we can consider a scenario where a songwriter writes a song, its lyrics and melody, then a recording artist performs and records the song. Here, we have two parties as well as two existing rights in the track. The songwriter who wrote the song would generally own the rights to the underlying musical composition, while the recording artist who performs would generally own the rights to the particular sound recording. While this scenario paints a picture of two rights, it is possible, depending on the arrangements between parties, that there can exist other third parties in a song, such as that of co-writers, music publishers or even record labels.
Now, if for instance a filmmaker wishes to use the song in the scenario discussed above in his movie, two separate permissions are required. One will be from the songwriter, being the owner of the musical composition, which will allow the filmmaker to make use of the lyrics and melody, and the other will be permission from the artist as the owner of that specific recorded version of the song.
These distinct rights sit at the heart of sync licensing and explain why identifying the relevant rights holders is an important part of the licensing process.
HOW DOES THE SYNC LICENSING PROCESS WORK?
Having established the rights involved, the next question is how the sync licensing process and obtaining permission actually work.
The first step is perhaps the easiest and most obvious, which is identifying the track intended for use. Once a suitable track has been identified, the next step is to determine who owns or controls the rights to both the musical composition and the sound recording. Here it is necessary to pay attention to whether there are multiple rightsholders involved such as songwriters, publishers, record labels or such other persons whose consent may be required. After identifying the relevant rightsholders, a licensing request seeking permission to use the track for the intended production can then be made to the relevant persons. Once a sync licensing request is approved, the parties then proceed to negotiate the terms under which the music will be used, and this is the foundation of the ‘sync licensing agreement’.
The sync licensing agreement defines the scope of permission granted and the conditions under which the music may be used; it is the documentary evidence of what is agreed and the key to conflict-free usage. While the terms may vary depending on the nature of the transaction, there are generally some of the key matters which the agreement is expected to envisage.
First, the agreement identifies the track and explicitly identifies the relevant rights holders who grant the permissions for the use of the track. The agreement also defines the purpose and scope of the licence, for instance, what type of audiovisual content the music will be used in and the manner in which it will feature. Whether it is simply background music in a film or the theme song for a series or maybe the jingle of an advertisement. The agreement will also typically state how seconds or minutes of the track will be used.
Closely connected to how the track is used and just as important is the duration and territory of the use, which determines how long and within what geographical area the licence to use is granted. This is important because a licence can be limited to a particular country or extend worldwide, may be granted for a specified period or, may be granted in perpetuity.
A well-structured sync licensing agreement will also typically specify the media and distribution platforms for the content in which the music is used, whether the production containing the music can be distributed through cinemas, television, online streaming services, or perhaps only on specific digital platforms. This helps establish the extent to which the production company can make the production available to the public and can also influence the licensing fee, which is the amount payable for the use of the music.
CONCLUSION
Essentially, sync licensing has become an important part of the music industry, creating opportunities for additional income and a means to reach a wider audience. It only takes a song to be featured in a popular production to create a viral movement for the track with new listeners and perhaps renewed interest in the artist.
Beyond benefiting the rights holders, sync licensing is also an avenue to strengthen the relationship between the music industry and other creative sectors by opening opportunities for collaboration between musicians and filmmakers, game developers, or production companies.
Ultimately, it is important for both music creators and production companies to understand the rights involved in a track and the necessary legalities surrounding permissions required before a track can be incorporated into an audiovisual production. A proper understanding of the sync licensing process therefore allows music creators to maximise the commercial value of their works while enabling production companies to use music lawfully in their productions.
