I get asked a lot of questions about my music and the licenses needed to use the music in films, documentaries and trailers etc; these FAQs should answer some of the more common ones but let me know if you have a question that isn’t answered by contacting me here.

Can I use your music in my film/trailer/documentary etc?

The majority of my music that you hear in this shop is available to use in your film, documentary or other project but you will need to purchase a license before using it. You can buy and download a track without a license to listen to in full and try out while editing against your film – if you then decide you want to arrange a license, you can also buy a license to cover your type of production from the shop. The exceptions to this are the Royalty Free Music collections which already include a license as part of the purchase price. More details on the types of available licenses can be found here.

How much does a license cost?

The cost for a license to use my music in your project is often much less than most people assume. For example, the most common type of license is for use in student films/non-commercial projects and this starts at just £9.99 per track. Commercial non-broadcast licenses are also available to buy instantly from the shop. For any other type of license that isn’t specified on this site, please get in touch giving me as much detail as you can about your project and I’ll be happy to arrange a suitable license.

Can I buy your music without obtaining a license?

Of course – my music can be bought and downloaded to listen to just as you would from any other online music retailer like iTunes or Amazon. Play it on your PC, put it on your iPod, burn it to CD and listen in the car or however you like to listen to your music. But if you want to use it in any visual or other project, you will need to obtain a license from me authorising you to do so. Arranging a license can be done quickly, easily and at low cost; please note that use of my music in any audio-visual production without a valid license is prohibited and a prosecutable infringement of copyright, even if you’re not selling or making money from your production.

What is the Royalty-Free music listed in your collection?

Any music listed in my shop as “Royalty-Free” can be bought and used in productions by the original purchaser without the need to obtain any further license. The license is included in the cost of the purchase of the download and entitles the purchaser to use the tracks in his/her projects at no further cost. This isn’t typical ’stock’ or ‘library’ music and the one fee you pay to download & license the music for use in your projects is all you ever need to pay to use it – so even if your production takes off and is hugely successful, you won’t need to ever pay any further costs for using the music. So after buying and downloading my Royalty-Free music, you can start using it immediately in your projects. There is no restriction on the number of projects this music can be used in, but it must be only be used by the original single-user purchaser and cannot be transferred to any third parties.

I can’t find the type of track I want here – can you write me a specific piece of music?

Custom composition of a specific style of track can be done depending on what you need. Please contact me with details of the type of track you need, including as much information as possible. For example, do you have a budget in place; is it one track or several pieces of music; when is your deadline for completing the music; what style(s) do you need the music in; are you looking for complete ownership of the track or just the rights to be able to use it in your project? Any info you can give will help me to work out a quote and timeframe.

Do you offer any discounts on your music?

I offer discounts to registered members on my mailing list by sending out discount codes from time to time. If you’d like to be eligible to receive these offers, you just need to subscribe to the mailing list by filling out your details in the box on the right. Your email address won’t be given out to any third parties and will only be used to occasionally notify you of new music tracks, news, special offers and discounts etc. Discounts are valid against all music tracks and licenses and you can unsubscribe at any time.

How can I pay for your music and is it secure?

This shop uses Paypal exclusively to handle payment for my music and licenses so all transactions are handled securely by Paypal with no payment details ever being stored by/passed to this site. Thebluemask.com is a Paypal-verified business seller so you can shop with confidence. Even if you don’t have a Paypal account, you can use your credit card with Paypal to carry out payment when you reach the checkout. After Paypal has processed the transaction, you’ll instantly receive the download link to your music/licenses along with download instructions. If you’d prefer to pay by another method, please contact me to arrange the transaction.

Your prices are in £ but can I pay in my own country’s currency?

While the prices in the shop are all displayed in British Pounds (£ – GBP), Paypal automatically converts the amount into the currency of your country (with no additional charge to you) during payment processing. If you want to see how much an amount will be in a different currency, please use the currency converter here.

What format are the music downloads in?

The music downloads in this shop are high quality mp3 files encoded at 192kbps which provide the ideal solution for CD-quality sound while maintaining reasonable download file sizes. I am starting to include wav options in the dropdown selections for some of the music but these will be larger file sizes and will take some time for me to do for all pieces. In the meantime, if you’d prefer to receive the music in another format (e.g. wav or aiff files to use in your video editing application), just place your order as normal, then let me know what format you’d like. You can order and download the mp3 instantly and I’ll send the file(s) in your required format, usually within 24 hours.

Why does someone keep saying “thebluemask.com” over the previews – are you an egomaniac?

I am, but that’s irrelevant. The voiceover you hear when listening to the music in the shop is only present on the preview tracks, and is there for copyright reasons. When you buy and download any music, this will obviously not be present!

If you have any other questions or comments not answered here, please contact me here.