licensing Fees

[andygabrys]

that's a pretty good idea.
if you have no idea - ask them.

If you don't know, you don't know. So you have to ask....somebody.

the most important things here are:

1. the song is pre-written / produced - you could be dealing with typical library rates
2. the clients budget. If they have stated "keep it reasonable" - then reasonable relates to a number they have in mind - so I think its pretty reasonable to ask them what their concept of "reasonable" is. They might have a $ range. You can negotiate within that.

There are some music libraries that have their rate cards posted on their sites. Here is one. not the gospel, just one point on the graph.

http://freeplaymusic.com/licensing/ratecard.php#ppu

good luck.

[sedge]

I'm realy in danger of being the bad dude here, if not already

Yes somebody, but be daft to go asking Bernie Taupin what a good ballpark fee is for example yeah?

That somebody should be ourselves or the customer as you say Andy, to find out the budget.

Don't know about anyone else, but my fee to licence for KFC is gonna be in the millions - really not at all, where as I may licence to my local breadmaker to run an advert for 10 quid, because I want to support what he is doing. (both exaggerations that may not be real, just to show what I mean)

its up to us, working together with the customer budget, depends on all sorts of stuff.

Ok I said too much , best I have a break from the forum coz I get a bit over passionate it looks, and feel like Im starting to sound like a know all, I deffo aint. Just urges me if I feel us music makers are such conformists some times and seek norms.
Its completely and absolutely us to us to charge what we are happy with and what works for the customer too.

[andygabrys]

hey Rob,

no worries!

[sedge]

: D

[T&V Marino]

Hi Joe,

Congratulations on your opportunity!

We've gotten several radio spot placements over the years and the fees vary a LOT. We usually get in the range of $75 to $250 if it's for local radio.

About two weeks ago, we got an opportunity to write a song that will be used in a national commercial from a Music Supervisor we met at the TAXI Rally a few years ago. He said we'll be getting a "production fee" ($1,000 to $1,500) just for composing it and, if the ad agency ultimately decides to use our song, we'll get several thousands of dollars plus some back-end (royalties) from our PRO.

So, it really does vary, depending on the use and the market.

Good luck, and let us know what happens!

~ Tracey & Vance Marino

[mojobone]

The size of the market and the station's signal strength are probably the most significant variables, unless the spot will play across a network of stations. I was told not to expect backend royalties on tracks placed in radio ads, but I forget who said it...maybe you'd see some from SoundExchange if it were on satellite radio. It also matters a great deal whether their use will be exclusive and for how long a term.


You really have to learn to estimate the budget for the entire spot and figure twenty or twenty-five percent for the music, but you haven't provided many clues. Fees for a year, exclusive can vary widely from as little as $500 for local, (one station) around $1k-$4k for regional, (multi-state area) and I've no real basis, just guessing, but I'd expect a national would top out around $8k unless you're an established classic rock act that's never done a commercial and it's one of your classic hits in question, or if you're one of those flavor of the month/year indie 'buzz' bands like Foster The People.

If the ad sponsor and the agency are separate entities, you can ask the agency what you should be charging; they may take pity on you. The best way to do an estimate is to find out what they paid the last gal. Failing that, get 'em to throw out a number and add twenty-five percent to whatever it is; that'll usually please them, but if the reaction's bad, start negotiating-without backpedaling. Find a way to sweeten their deal, (maybe discounted renewals, if they decide to continue to use your track for branding purposes) if you get a sour look.

Or you can look at it from the angle of how much you have invested in the track and what you'd need to be paid to make it worth your while; is there a possibility of a continuing relationship? If so, you can maybe afford a loss leader to generate some goodwill. Does the use enhance your copyright or weaken it? If it raises your song's profile, thereby making it more 'employable', you could offer to discount your rate. These issues are pretty fully explored in Randall Wixen's The Plain And Simple Guide to Music Publishing, though I'm aware of no sources that provide specifics on the going rate$; there are just too many ways to skin this particular polecat.