Recording cover songs for a promo CD

[Robtoons]

Hey ya'll smart people!
I was thinking about putting together a couple of CD's to sell at gigs, one of originals and one of covers (mostly older classic tunes) Can I do that ? Or do I have to go thru some process of paying compulsory license fees to the songs owners at 9.1 cents per song on a monthly basis or some such thing.
Anybody know about this stuff? 'Cause I don't have a business bone in my body...
Thanks! -Rob

[andygabrys]

contact the Harry Fox Agency. They oversee a lot of the administration for this kinda thing.

Most likely you will figure out the number of units you are likely to sell (digital, CD's etc)and that will fall into a pricing scheme that they have pre-arranged.

a friend of mine did a cover of Riviera Paradise on an album and I think because he was in the 2000 units and less he paid somewhere in the order of $300 - 400, For the one song. Don't quote me on the absolute number, I am sure it varies depending on a number of different things.

Only thing that I know for sure is that he had to pay ahead.

[Kolstad]

I think you also can choose a service like Limelight to clear the covers https://songclearance.com/clearance
There are others too, but it slips my mind at the moment.

[rdance]

andy's correct, just go to harry fox agency and buy the license and royalty fee. if you don't expect a lot of sales, i believe you can pre-buy any number of units you want...it's not much money.

if harry fox has the song, you are clear on permission from the copyright owner. if not, you have to contact the copyright owner and request permission, which is usually given. and then you pay them the license/royalty. i covered a few hendrix tunes over the years and they do not associate with harry fox...so i got permission from jimi's niece or something. they charged me about the same money per unit as harry fox.

[Robtoons]

Thanks guys!
I looked at limelight, looks super easy to use ( which is great for me) but I wonder if you are paying a premium for convenience. I'll check out Harry Fox next.
Thank you, you well informed bunch of awesome type dudes!
Ciao! -Rob