In deel II komen de Amerikaanse  Buma's (openbaarmaking) Ascap en BMI aan bod en wordt nader ingegaan op muziek in commercials en films. Zie voor dit laatste ook: www.buma/stemra.nl.

ASCAP and BMI

Music, May I?Here are just a few examples of the establishments covered in the forms section of the BMI Web site: Airport Amusement/Theme Parks Athletic Clubs/Dance Classes Bowling Centers Colleges and Universities Competitions/Shows Eating and Drinking Establishments Festivals/Special Events Hotel / Motel Local Governmental Entities Local Television Meetings, Conventions, Trade Shows, and Expositions Musical Attractions - Promoters/Presenters Radio Station Interim Retail Establishments RV Parks and Campgrounds - Multiple Use Shopping Center Skating Rink Symphony Orchestra Web Site

A radio station will typically purchase from ASCAP and BMI what are called blanket licenses to broadcast music. A blanket license lets the station play anything it likes throughout the year. ASCAP and BMI decide how to divide up the money among all the rights owners.

Any establishment that wants to play music that will be heard by the general public needs a license as well. If you go to the Forms section of the BMI Web site, you can find a list of dozens of forms to cover every different type of establishment that you can imagine.

Let's consider this example -- a skating rink that wants to play music for its skating patrons needs to fill out this form. The schedule of fees is right on the form. If you own a rink that has 15,000 square feet of skating area and you charge customers $5.00 to skate, you own a class 6B establishment and you need to pay BMI $205 every year. You would need to do the same thing for ASCAP.

Technically, anyone performing music publicly anywhere has to pay:

• If you are in a marching band playing in a parade and the song you are playing is an ASCAP or BMI song, the band or the parade organizers have to pay.
• If you are an aerobics instructor using music in a class, you have to pay.
• If you are a street musician, you have to pay.

If you do not pay and you get caught, you can be sued. Beware, the fines are pretty steep -- sometimes thousands of dollars.

Commercials and Film

If you want to use a song in a TV or radio commercial, you need a Master Use license from the label (unless you are re-recording the performance) and a Synchronization license (TV) and/or a Transcription license (radio) from the publisher.

Photo courtesy DaimlerChrysler Internationally renowned Sony Music recording artist Celine Dion is appearing in five new commercial spots for Chrysler. One spot has Dion singing Cyndi Lauper's last Top 40 hit, 1989's "I Drove All Night." The song was written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg.

According to the book "All you need to know about the music business" by Donald Passman, "The fees for synchronization licenses are really all over the board, and they vary with the usage and the importance of the song." For example, Passman's book mentions some fee ranges:

• Low-end TV usage (e.g. -- music is playing from a jukebox in a scene, but no one in the scene is paying any attention to the music) -- free (for exposure) to $2,000 for a 5-year license. In a film, the fee would be $10,000 in perpetuity.
• A more popular song is worth more, perhaps $3,000 for TV and $25,000 for film.
• A song used as the theme song for a film might get $50,000 to $75,000.
• Commercials fetch even more money: "a song can command anywhere from $25,000 to $500,000 plus per year. The typical range for a well-known song is $75,000 to $200,000 for a one year national usage in the United States, on television and radio."

Generally you would obtain the licenses you need through some sort of clearing organization that handles licenses on a daily basis. For example, see LicenseMusicNow.com.

Image courtesy Amazon.com With songs from Faith No More, the Violent Femmes, David Bowie and The Clash, the music licensing fees for the film "Grosse Point Blank" and its CD soundtrack were probably fairly pricey.

Bron: HowStuffWorks.com.