Month: October 2011

What is a commercial? How does one license music for it?

What is a commercial?

The Proud Music Library offers music titles for its use in commercials, such as, for example, in promotional films. A commercial is usually, in a nutshell, a promotional production that advertises a product or service. The target is the end user. This happens generally through media such as TV, radio, websites, and mobile phones, commercial spots on DVD or the like.  Data carriers are rarely found.

Music tracks for commercials
Searchmaschine for music that is perfect for commercial use!

 

commercial music library

In this respect, licensing for the use of music titles from the Proud Music Library is paid in lump sum. This means that the use does not depend on the frequency with which a spot is projected or on its length. There are standardized commercial licenses (for example, for TV or online advertising), which limit the use to one year. The Proud Music Library also offers the so called “buyout” licenses. Just send an individual license request indicating the area of use (worldwide, across Europe, or individual territories), the period of use (one or 2 years), and the degree of dissemination or type of use (TV, Websites, third party site, etc.). License combinations are also possible, which, for example, include only TV/radio, TV/Internet, or Internet/radio.

Proud Music Library
Music tracks for commercials
completely royalty free music means free music for commercial us?

With the use of so called “completely royalty free music” from the Proud Music library there are no charges to pay to any collecting society like ASCAP, BMI, PRS, GEMA, etc.. It means not music for free or gratis music. This is valid also in the case of buyout licenses for royalty-free music! Should the commercial spot be inserted on TV and radio, there would be likewise no charges for the repertoire, as long as the TV or radio station has a flat rate contract with a collecting society.  This also proceeds in the case of cinema advertising, depending on whether the movie theater operator also has, in this case, a flat rate contract with a collecting society.

Royalty-free music and production music for commercials on TV, Radio or Cinema
Royalty-free music for commercials on TV, Radio or Cinema

Proud Music Library Update: Currently more than 17,000 tracks online

The Proud Music Library has grown again. 1,500 new tracks have been added since July 2011. Right now, there are 17,212 songs online, of which 5,449 are royalty free titles. Through the expansion of production music content, the variety in common genres increased exponentially. In numbers: 1,600 songs in the pop category, round 1,200 tracks in the rock category, or plentiful 2,160 music titles of world music. The subgenre has also gained certain attractiveness. For example, there are currently 171 Christmas songs in the program.

Royalty-free music and production music
Proud Music Library (Royaly-free music and production music)

In the meantime, many music titles are delivered with loops and edits. In addition, the different loops and edits (15-60 seconds) are provided for the client as a zip file. Music to be proud of!

Does the standard license also include the use of educational videos?

The standard license from our Proud Music Library makes possible the use of music in educational videos as well. This includes the manufacturing rights. It also comprises up to 1000 units of video duplicates. The license is from a temporal and spatial point of view unlimited and is valid for music that doesn’t require, as well as for music that requires copyright.

Royalty-free Music and production music for educational films
Royalty-free Music and production music for educational films

What do we understand under the term game soundtracks?


Game soundtracks refer to the soundtracks for computer games. It usually deals with musical scores for film material, and hence, orchestra compositions. An exception are, for example, racers with so called source music, in which, for instance, one has a choice among different radio stations with various musical styles (e.g. GTA-Games). More and more, game soundtracks are always produced lavishly and played partially by real orchestras.

Hybrid productions have reached higher standards with the accompaniment of music recordings of live solo instruments, because the audio range in the game scenes acquires a higher place value. Soundtrack CDs with music from and about well-known game titles are also available; individual composers and their game soundtracks have earned international cult status. In the live concert scene, game tracks have also been successful and gain more and more attention. There are a series of worldwide game music concerts around the world that originated in Japan. The Proud Music Library can give you, together with its offer of individual commissioned composers and complete soundtracks of game audio designs, the possibility to purchase a license to our orchestral music library tracks for video game soundtracks. Also royalty free!


May I show an Image Film at a fair with a standard license and at the same time present it on its own website?

Yes. The standard license is tied to the use. Under use we differentiate – except for the limit of 1000 copies – the type of use, and not volume. That means that if the music is inserted in a Image Film, it does not matter whether the film is shown at a fair or streamed on the Internet, be it on its own website or that of a third party such as YouTube, Vimeo, or Facebook.

It does make a difference, though, if the film is inserted with commercial purposes. In this context commercial means “to promote the sales of a product (good or service).” The corporate film does not usually have the sales of a product in mind, but rather serves to improve the image of the company. The fact that in this context of the film the company products can be shown is self-evident. But the film’s purpose is not commercial use, as for example, a TV spot. Image spots are an exception. An image spot is an Image Film in the style of a commercial spot, which serves primarily to strengthen a brand. The focus of an image spot is not the company itself; rather the brand is positively emotionally charged through the film/spot. The company’s products may be advertised better through the upload, since the brand already conveys a positive image.