What is Music Licensing?

My very good friend took delivery of a new jeep recently and he came to my house to take me out for a ride in the new wonder on wheels. This has become a custom among close knit friends whenever there is a new acquisition. One of Jay-Z’s best albums, Blue Print was blaring out from the speakers in his car. The album used to be one of my favourites in those days. I later requested for the CD but he refused and in the course of our discussion, he proceeded to say that he has the right to do whatever he liked with the album (the songs inclusive) since he bought the original CD. We argued over the rights he professed for a long time before he finally succumbed. The argument brought about today’s topic- Music Licensing.
Music licensing is the certified use of copyrighted music as it prevents the unauthorized use of musical works. It ensures that the creators of musical works get compensated for their work. The fact that you purchase a 2Face Idibia or Black Tribe’s album does not give you any right over the songs. The only property of yours is the disc on which the music is stored and not the songs. You have limited rights to use and reproduce the recorded work. It is important for a musician to preserve his civil liberties, and that means licensing and copyrighting his work properly because this could mean big bucks for them if they wrote a particular successful song and someone wants to license it from them. Imagine if all the songs we listen to in Nigeria today on radio; hear in restaurants & clubs and other public places are all licensed. Our artistes would have sure made mega bucks. Before we go further, I will love to explain some terms in music licensing. License is the right approved by the copyright owner to broadcast, recreate, perform, or listen to a recorded copy of a copyrighted work, licensee is the person or entity to whom the work is licensed and licensor is the owner of the licensed work Pre-cleared music is the music that has been pre-negotiated for price; distribution and legal use, copyright is literally the right to copy, Synchronization Licensing is the licensing of musical works to be performed as a soundtrack or background to a motion picture, Master Use Licensing is the licensing of the recording of a musical work to be performed as a soundtrack, bumper, lead-in or background to a motion picture and a publisher is the owner of the copyrighted work. It is now standard practice for songwriters of even the slightest prominence to form a 'publishing company' who actually owns the rights to their work; the reasons for this are matters of legal finery and largely not of value to the scope of this article.
This is the world of music licensing; a world where the rights to use music are bought and sold every day. It turns out; however, that music licensing is something that happens constantly, all around us but the laws are not well enforced in this part of the world. Corporate bodies use musicians’ songs to promote their brands and get away with it here in Nigeria . An example of this is the case of Daddy U Turn and MTN and the artiste sued the company. It is in the same industry that artistes pay to get their songs aired instead of them getting paid for their songs.
Radio and TV stations pay fees for the rights to broadcast music. Fees are paid to licensing bodies. Radio stations calculate payment to license holders by periodically auditing the music being played. The audit results are submitted to the licensing relevant body for the station's territory. This information is used to calculate the average number of plays each artist has received. I don’t think there is any station in Nigeria now that obeys these laws but if there is, I would love to be corrected. I interviewed the CEO of Nigezie ( a 24 hours music and lifestyle channel) Femi Aderibigbe popularly known as Kwame in South-Africa in 2008 and he said they don’t know who to pay to. He said there is conflict of interests between the two collection societies in Nigeria whose fundamental job it is to keep track of every single performance or broadcast of all works protected under copyright. These bodies have the right to license, as well as the right to perform songs and musical works created and owned by the songwriters, composers, lyricists and music publishers who are their members.
Music licensing in the United States is made possible by the protection that U.S. copyright law provides for artistes. According to an article, the copyright code of the United States (title 17 of the U.S. Code) provides for copyright protection in sound recordings. It defined sound recordings as "works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work." Common examples include recordings of music, drama, or lectures. Technically, the registration process with the copyright office is not officially necessary in order for you to own the copyright. You actually own the copyright as soon as you create the song and write it down. However, to enforce the copyright in court, registration is required. Once you have the copyrights, you can sell rights to the song if you choose to, and you can also prevent anyone else from using the music, the lyrics or the actual performance of the song. You own the whole song and all the rights to it. You can license the song in any way. That is why the ranting of Konga made me laugh when he claimed the song 04Kasibe was his idea before Zeez recorded it and it became a hit. Another desperate young act looking for fame at all cost- Baba Nee claimed 9ice has been stealing his lyrics and so many other frustrated acts. If they are actually true to their words, they should present us with the documents.
There are several things that can be copyrighted in any sound recording for a song. There are the actual sounds themselves; the performance of the work. The notes that the musicians play to create the song too could be embodied in sheet music.
Several parties are involved in song licensing. The label owns the actual sound recording (the performance of the song as recorded in the label's studio). The publisher works on behalf of the song's composer (the person who arranged the music) and songwriter (the person who wrote the lyrics). The composer and songwriter probably own the actual copyrights for the song, and the publisher represents them in all business dealings.
If you want to use a song for any reason, you have to somehow obtain rights at least from the publisher, and possibly from the label as well (if you are planning to use a specific performance).