Tag: print license

In this Part four of this blog series on songwriting revenue, I discuss synchronization, print, and foreign licenses.

Synchronization Licenses

Through a synchronization license, you authorize someone to use your song with visual images. The visual images might be from a
commercial, film, video, television show or other audiovisual production. Synchronization fees are subject to negotiation and vary according
to the popularity of the song and the importance of the song in the visual piece. For example, the synchronization fee to use an entire song
in a major motion picture might be in the $50,000 to $75,000 range while the synchronization fee for use of a song as background music in a
television show might range from $1,000 to $2,000.

Print Licenses

A print license authorizes the sale of your song in printed form. Printed music is sold as single song sheet music or as part of a folio, which
is a book containing a collection of songs by one or more songwriters. Print licenses are generally issued to a company that manufactures and
distributes printed music. The manufacturer then pays a royalty to the songwriter or his music publisher for each unit of sheet music and each folio
that is sold.

Foreign Licenses

The same licenses discussed in this blog series – mechanical, performance, synchronization and print – are also issued in foreign countries.
Songwriters or their music publishers typically retain an agent located in each of the foreign countries where the song is exploited. These
sub-publishers – as they are frequently called -collect royalties generated in their country, retain about 15-25% as their fee, and pass the
remainder along to the songwriter or U.S. music publisher.