A production music library, also referred to as a catalog company, collects music and the rights to music from different sources to license to various tv shows, films, commercials, artists, etc.
For struggling yet talented artists unsigned to a major, or those who are uninterested in being signed by a major label, production music libraries can be a great way to gain notoriety amongst potential fans and production studios. They can also help struggling artists make a consistent living doing what they love. “The music you put in a music library may outlive you,” said Jonathan Firstenberg, Senior VP of Musicbox, LLC. and a speaker on the Production Music Libraries: A One-Stop Shop for Placement Across All Media panel. Continue reading…
“Creative minds are stubborn!” This is true for about 99% of musicians (bless their creative souls). Creative souls are notoriously difficult and complicated; most express their emotions either through their art or by throwing and breaking things.
What do you call 4 or more of these complicated souls stuffed in a single garage or a bassment???
There are 2 types of copyrights a band/artist receives when they record a song:
Section 102 of the Copyright Act provides that “Literary Works” and “Sound Recordings” are copyrightable.
Therefore when you look at a CD cover you see two symbols, one will be a circled “C” and one will be a circled “P“. The “C” represents ownership of the copyright in the lyrics, notes, and the musical composition. The “P” represents ownership of the copyright in the master recording or phonorecord. Generally, when you sign a record deal the record label will own the master recording, or the “P“, and the artist/ songwriters/ musicians/ publishing company will jointly own the “C” (before the advent of the 360 Deal).
This piece is for my sophisticated and unsophisticated, producers and artists, creating groundbreaking new music. This will be useful for those using chopped up Lil’ Wayne verses or scenes from Belly on their hooks. Not to forget the garage bands and techno producers using those Jimmy Hendrix guitar riffs or lines from Scarface on your masters. These are a few examples of what has been termed “Sampling.”
“Sampling” = taking a previously recorded copyrighted sound, taking a sample of it, and inserting it into your own creative work. Continue reading…
