Screen media - television, film, video games, online video and social content - uses enormous amounts of music. For producers and composers, it offers two distinct opportunities: licensing existing music to productions, and composing original scores.
Licensing existing music
As with advertising, using an existing commercial recording in a TV show, film, game or video needs:
- A sync licence for the composition, from the publisher(s).
- A master use licence for the recording, from the label or whoever owns it.
Fees vary enormously - by the fame of the song, how it is used (background, featured, opening titles), the length of the clip, the territories and media, and the duration of the licence.
Music supervisors
Music supervisors choose and license music for productions. They balance the director's creative vision against the budget and the clearance process. Getting your music to supervisors - directly, through a publisher, or through a sync agency - is how most placements happen.
Production music libraries
Production music (library music) is written specifically to be licensed easily. Libraries own or control both master and composition, so a producer can clear a track with one quick, affordable licence - ideal for television, corporate video and online content.
For composers, libraries are a steady route into screen music:
- You write tracks to the library's briefs.
- The library usually takes ownership or long-term control of the tracks.
- You may receive an upfront fee, and you normally keep your writer's share of performance royalties when the music is broadcast.
Successful library composers build large catalogues that earn steadily from broadcast royalties.
Composing for screen
Original scores are commissioned for films, series, documentaries and games. The composer writes music to picture, working closely with the director or producers.
- Spotting - deciding with the director where music goes and what it should do.
- Writing to picture - hitting cuts, building tension, supporting emotion without overwhelming dialogue.
- Delivery - stems, mixes and timings in the format the production requires.
Composers are often paid a fee, which may be a "package" covering recording costs. They usually keep their writer's share of performance royalties.
Games
Game music adds technical challenges: music that loops seamlessly, adapts to gameplay (adaptive or interactive music), and is implemented using audio middleware such as Wwise or FMOD. Game audio also includes sound design - a closely related career.
Cue sheets and royalties
When music is used in broadcast television, the production company files a cue sheet listing every piece of music, its writers, publishers, duration and use. PROs use cue sheets to pay performance royalties when the programme is broadcast. If your music is placed, make sure the cue sheet lists you correctly - mistakes mean lost income.
Online video and Content ID
YouTube's Content ID system identifies music in uploaded videos and lets rights owners block, track or monetise them. Distributors and publishing administrators can register your music with Content ID so you earn from videos that use it. Be careful when licensing non-exclusively: a track registered with Content ID can trigger claims against your own licensees.
Do this now
- Watch an episode of a TV series and note every piece of music: what kind, how long, and what it is doing.
- Research two production music libraries and their submission requirements.
- Score a two-minute film clip with the dialogue in, keeping the music out of the dialogue's way.