SOME FUNDAMENTAL TERMS USED IN MUSIC IN
ENTERTAINMENT
(A short list of some common terms and definitions)
All of the following information can be found on the website below. It is a great
informational site with more information than is listed here.
http://www.state.tn.us/film/music.htm
A. F. of M. (American Federation of Musicians - also known as the Musicians Union) In the United States, this is the national Musicians Union. They have contract agreements
with film and television production companies which cover the performance of their
musician, orchestrator, and copyist members on recording sessions for film and television
scores. The A. F. of M. also oversees contracts for musicians working in live
performances, album recording, demo recording, and radio and television jingles and
commercials.
Arranger - Works with existing musical material and creates a custom version for a
specific kind or size of musical group. For example: an arranger might be asked to take a
piece of film music originally written for a large orchestra and create a version for a
smaller musical group. Arrangers can also create versions of music in different styles,
like arranging traditional music for a contemporary music group such as a big band or
rock group.
Assumption Agreement - (U.S.) An agreement that a production company must sign
with the A. F. of M. in order to use the services of union members on a film or television
music recording session. The agreement covers various issues including who is
responsible for paying potential future payments to the musicians based on any new uses
of the music. The agreement also specifies any special payments to the musicians that
may be required in the future based on the success of the film.
Blanket License - A license issued by a performing rights organization that authorizes
the public performance of all the songs in the society’s catalog.
Buy-out - Used to describe a deal or arrangement where no future royalties or income
will be paid to the person being hired. This term is sometimes used when a musician is
hired for a non-union recording session and will not be paid any royalties or future
payments.
Composer - Person who works closely with the Director or Producer to create and write
the music, or song to enhance and help tell the story.
Compulsory Mechanical License - An exception to the copyright holder's exclusive
rights of reproduction and distribution that allows anyone to record and distribute any
commercially-released, non-dramatic song as long as the mechanical license rates
established by copyright law are paid to the copyright owner of the song.
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Contractor - A contractor works with the composer for a film or television project to
hire the musicians who will play on the recording sessions. The contractor also interfaces
with the A. F. of M. when appropriate to ensure that the proper paperwork and forms are
completed and filed for union recording sessions. A good contractor also knows how to
hire skilled, professional musicians, how to work with the musicians to ensure that the
composer's needs are met, and knows how to hire musicians who work well together. The
contractor is usually hired or designated by the composer. In England, a contractor is
known as a "fixer."
Copyright - A bundle of exclusive rights granted by law to the creator of an original
literary, artistic, or other intellectual work - including songs and sound recordings.
Derivative Work - New work based on or derived from one or
more pre-existing works.
Exclusive Rights - For purposes of copyright law, the privileges
that only a copyright owner has with respect to the copyrighted
work.
Fixed in a Tangible Medium of Expression - A term
coined by the Copyright Act meaning that an original literary,
artistic or intellectual work has a valid copyright as soon as it is
written down or recorded in a manner sufficiently permanent or
stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced or communicated for
a period of more than transitory duration.
Intellectual Property - The ownership of ideas and control
over the tangible or representation of those ideas. Use of another
person's intellectual property may or may not involve royalty
payments or permission, but should always include proper credit to
the source.
Mechanical License - Authorization from a music publisher or song writer to record and
distribute a song. Compare to compulsory mechanical license.
Most Favored Nations - Refers to a specific phrase which can be included as language
in a contract or sync license. It essentially means: "This is my price and terms unless you
give another company in my position a better deal. If you do, you agree to automatically
revise my price and terms to be equal to the better price and terms." This language is
often requested by publishers or recording companies when you are negotiating with
more than one company or publisher on a project. Each company wants to make sure they
get as favorable prices and terms as are being given to others for the project.
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Music Cue Sheet (or Performing Rights Cue Sheet) - The document prepared after a
film or television project is completed that specifies information about each cue and how
it was used. Payment of performing rights royalties is only possible if a cue sheet is filed
for a production. The cue sheet indicates the composer, publishing company, performing
rights affiliations of composer(s) and publisher(s), title, length as actually used, and usage
for each cue. This document is filed with the performing rights organizations (ASCAP,
BMI, SESAC) that the composer(s) and publisher(s) are affiliated with, and is the basis
for payment of performing rights royalties. The Cue Sheet is usually prepared by the
Music Editor.
Music Editor - Works with the composer and production company to organize,
document, and time the music cues for a project. The Music Editor works very closely
with the composer during the early phases of a production to document the decisions of
the director and composer about the placement, timing, length, and type of music to be
used throughout a project. The Music Editor is usually present during the recording
sessions to document each cue as it is recorded. The Music Editor is also present at the
dubbing sessions where the recorded music is inserted into the film at the correct time
code locations.
Music Publishing - The commercial exploitation of songs through the issuance of
mechanical licenses, synchronization licenses, performing rights licenses, print licenses
as well as other licenses authorizing various uses of the songs.
Music Supervisor - An executive who manages the licensing of music for a film or
television production. The Music Supervisor handles music clearance and rights licensing
of existing music, and also may be involved with supervising the score composer.
Choosing appropriate music, especially Source Cues and Songs is usually the
responsibility of the Music Supervisor.
Performing Rights License - Authorization for the public performance of a song
frequently granted by a performing rights organization through a blanket license.
Performing Rights Organization - The associations or companies that issue performing
rights licenses, track public performances, collect performing license revenues and
distribute those revenues to song writers and music publishers. The performing rights
organizations in the United States are ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
Performing Rights Royalties - (U.S.) Royalties that are charged for the public
performance of music, including music used in television programs, bars and restaurants,
and non-U.S. theaters. These royalties are collected by performing rights organizations
and are paid to the songwriter, composer, and publisher members of these organizations
based on various factors including how often the music is played and the historical
popularity of the music.
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Print License - Authorization from a music publisher or song writer to reproduce and
distribute a song in printed form.
Public Domain - The status of a recording or composition that is free of copyright
protection or that is no longer owned by a Publishing company, and available for
unrestricted use by anyone. The U.S. copyright statute gives an author control over a
copyrighted work for a certain period of time (see “Term of Copyright”). After that time
is up, the work is considered public domain. For example, a piece by Beethoven would be
considered Public Domain; however, in order to be used in a film or television project a
sound recording of the music must be licensed. In this case, the appropriate license would
be a Master Use License. Existing recordings of public domain music generally may not
be used without the permission of the owner of the recording.
Publishing - Music Publishing is a major source of revenue for songwriters. There are
four methods of generating income through publishing: mechanical rights income, public
performance income, sheet music income, and synchronization income.
Mechanical Income is earned from the manufacture and sale of the recording. In the
United States the royalty rates are set by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal. The mechanical
income is paid to the publisher of the composition by the record company that
manufactured the recording, usually on a quarterly basis.
Public Performance Income is compensation for the copyright owner for the public
performance of their music. The majority of this income is collected by the Performing
Rights Organizations since it would be difficult for an individual to collect from all radio
and television stations, concert halls, nightclubs and other venues.
Sheet Music Income comes from the sale of the printed form of the music. It too can
create substantial earnings for a songwriter.
Synchronization Income is generated by having the composition placed into film and
television productions. Normally the additional exposure from being featured in a
production such as this will generate more popularity and income for the song.
Licensing - By licensing your work you are granting permission for someone to
incorporate your creative idea into their own new project, normally in exchange for a flat
fee or a percentage of their profits. Licensing is closely related to publishing because it
essentially means that the author or owner of the copyright has agreed to let someone else
use the work, and the methods used to generate income are virtually identical for both.
It is important to understand that if you own the rights to a song, it is your decision to
license your material or not. Most requests are typically granted, but there are many
reasons why a rights holder will deny a request including but not limited to: temporary
contractual restrictions, creative issues over certain topics (alcohol, violence, etc.), and
the most common is probably that the song owner may feel that a usage warrants a higher
fee than you have offered.
Score: Is the background music that helps enhance and create emotions, Music the
audience hears but the actors do not hear.
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Source: Is any music that the actor can hear within the Scene. (IE: A radio playing in the
car, music playing in the bar or even the actor singing a song.)
Two major organizations that protect the Composers rights (definitions from Wikipedia):
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) is an
organization known as a collecting society that protects intellectual property, ensuring
that music which is broadcast, commercially recorded, or otherwise used for profit, pays
a fee to compensate the creators of that music. It competes with Broadcast Music
Incorporated (or BMI). Official site: http://www.ascap.com/index.html
Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) is a collecting society that protects composers'
intellectual property in the communications business, especially radio. It was founded by
the broadcasters as a rival to the American Society of Composers, Authors, and
Publishers (ASCAP), which was boycotting radio at the time in 1944.
BMI has historically been more open to composers of rock and roll, jazz, folk music,
blues, and country music who sing and play their own music, while ASCAP has been
more identified with non-performing professional songwriters from Hollywood,
Broadway and Tin Pan Alley. BMI's officially site : http://www.bmi.com
Both BMI and ASCAP, as well as other organizations like SESAC monitor performances
of the music to which they control the rights, and collect and distribute royalties.
Royalties
If you are interested in affiliating with an agency to collect your mechanical and/or
synchronization royalties, contact:
National Music Publishers' Association
475 Park Avenue South, 29th Floor
New York, NY 10016-6901
(646) 742-1651
(646) 742-1779 fax
The Harry Fox Agency
711 Third Avenue, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10017
(212) 370-5330
(212) 953-2384 fax
Association of Independent Music Publishers
P.O. Box 1561
Burbank, CA 91507
(818) 842-6257
Country Music Association (CMA)
1 Music Circle South
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 244-2840
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Recording Engineer (or Scoring Mixer) - The person who
records, mixes (adjusts levels, effects, and tone), and has overall
responsibility for microphone placement and recording the
musicians at a recording session. Also known as a Scoring Engineer.
Score Supervisor - A person who assists the composer at
recording sessions by watching the printed score and listening to
the performances of the musicians to aid the composer. The Score
Supervisor often communicates with the composer or orchestra
conductor through a private headphone mix that only the
composer/conductor can hear. The composer/conductor then
makes comments to the musicians as he/she deems necessary. The
Score Supervisor may occasionally make comments to the Scoring
Engineer about the volume levels of different instruments and other
technical aspects of the recording process.
Signatory - A signatory is a business or individual who is
authorized by the American Federation of Musicians to act as an
employer of musicians. In certain A. F. of M. contracts and
agreements such as the Assumption Agreement, the signatory
becomes legally responsible for possible future payments to the
musicians.
SMPTE (or Time Code) - stands for The Society of Motion
Picture and Television Engineers, and usually refers to time code,
for which this organization developed various standards. The terms
SMPTE and time code are often used interchangeably. SMPTE is
recorded as an audio signal, and is also usually shown in a window
on the screen for reference purposes. An example of a time code
location might be 02:00:44:22, which refers to a time code location
of “Two Hours, zero minutes, forty- four seconds, and twenty-two
frames." SMPTE is used to refer to specific locations in a piece of
video or audio product, and comes in several types including Drop
Frame and Non- Drop Time Code.
Sub-Publisher - A foreign agent retained by the original music
publisher of a song to exploit the song in the foreign agent’s
geographic territory.
Synchronization License - Authorization granted by a music
publisher, or song writer to use a song with visual images (as in a
motion picture or television program or commercial).
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Term of Copyright - The amount of time for which a copyright
is in effect. For songs created after December 31, 1977, the term
lasts from the moment a song is written until the death of the
songwriter, plus 50 years. If more than one person is involved in
writing a song, the copyright on that song will last until 50 years
after the death of the last living songwriter. If a song is written as
work-for-hire, anonymously, or under a fictitious name, the
copyright will last 100 years from the date the song was written, or
75 years after the date it is first published, whichever is shorter.
Copyright owners also have the right to assign their copyrights to
their heirs or any other person or business, and it is the right and
responsibility of those persons to arrange ways to exploit the song,
should previous publishing contracts or licensing agreements
expire.
Work For Hire - A form of copyright that removes ownership
from the actual author of a work. According to the Copyright Act, in
the case of work-for-hire, the work belongs to the employer of the
actual author, since the work was done within the scope of his/her
job. Copyright cannot be legally assigned to the employer without a
signed, written contract stating that the author relinquishes the
copyright; verbal agreements will not hold up in court.
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