“One of the things we’ve discovered in the IDC is to dive into the problems we have as film directors the same way we dive into a movie,” said IDC-West Chair Stephen Gyllenhaal in his introduction. “You should use this not just as a way of educating yourselves, but to play with this idea of us as a community of directors.”
The evening featured a discussion entitled Licensing Music for Indie Films, with panelists Spring Aspers of Island Def Jam Records; Jackie Fuchs, VP of Business & Legal Affairs, Music and Home Video, Miramax; Evan Greenspan, President of EMG Music Services; Jill Meyers of Jill Meyers Music Consultants; Jonathan Palmer, Director of Sony/ATV Music; Joe Rangel, Creative Director Film and Television, EMI Records and moderated by DGA member Penelope Spheeris, director of several music-themed indie films such as The Decline of Western Civilization and We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n Roll.
The seminar was a brief but informative primer on how to get the proper licensing to use previously recorded music in independent films. “Most music you can negotiate, but the music business has changed so much that musicians don’t make money the way they used to,” said Spheeris. “More and more they have to depend on licensing music and that’s one reason why it’s become so complex.”
The panelists also gave the participants a list tips that might save them time, effort and money. (See information below)
The normal fee for the use of a song in a movie can be easily $20K but the panelists were divided on the use of ‘step deals’ where a reduced fee is negotiated for the initial use of the music, with the proviso that greater payments can occur based on the box-office success of the film. While these deals might make it possible to license a song that was previously financially unobtainable, distribution companies are not fond of them because of their complexity. If you’re forced to use a step deal, try to negotiate a consistent formula for every song to avoid a paperwork nightmare down the road, and be wary of “most favored nations” clauses where if you pay publishing company “A” more, you have to do the same for publishing company “B,” etc.
The final item of discussion was the use of music supervisors to help you pick music for your film. The panelists all agreed a good music supervisor should also know how to clear music, and may be able to accomplish a lot more, even to the point of negotiating record deals that help underwrite the costs of licensing music in your film.
The floor was then opened to questions from the audience and after the final question was answered, Spheeris thanked the panel and said, “Events like these are one of lots of reasons it’s good for independent directors to be in the Guild. We really hope that this panel has helped you with some of the problems you’re having right now.”
Music Licensing Tips from the Experts
- Be brief in your presentation on the request for a price quote letter, or it may go to the bottom of the pile.
- Get options for reuse of the music in arenas outside domestic theatrical distribution or else you may find yourself saddled with a film you are unable to distribute internationally or on DVD, or by whatever new transmission media that the future may hold like satellite and bluetooth technology.
- Working with a single publisher’s catalogue can result in a win-win proposition where filmmakers get a deal on music rights and the publishing companies can promote lesser known artists or songs.
- Filmmakers need to be especially careful in the licensing of hip-hop music because of the use of “sampling” in the genre, which may mean multiple clearances could be required before the cue can be used.
- There are companies who create “library cues,” original music where you can license the song and the master recording for next to nothing. The caveat is you’ll have to wade through a lot of music to find what you’re looking for, which is where a music supervisors can be handy.
