In order to use any of my music in your films, trailers, documentaries or other audio-visual productions, you will need to purchase a license (or buy the Royalty Free collections which include a license – see below). You can buy the track on its own (e.g. if you want to download and try the music in your production first without committing to a license), buy the license on its own (e.g. if you previously bought the track and now decide you want a license), or buy the track and license at the same time (don’t forget to add the mp3 & the license to your cart for this). The fee for the license is a separate price, and is in addition to the mp3 price, so you’ll need to buy both the mp3 & the license (by adding them both to your basket) if you wish to use the music in any audio-visual projects or films.

I also sell Royalty Free music collections for film & documentary makers – with these music collections, the license is included in the price and allows the music to be used in an unlimited number of projects (see below for more info).

Please note that using music in any production without a license, whether for commercial or non-commercial use, is an infringement of copyright and prosecutable by law – my licenses are not expensive and I’m always happy to negotiate prices for bulk licenses if you would like to license multiple tracks.

Download mp3 only (no license)

If you just want to buy my music tracks to listen to on your computer, iPod or other mp3 player (i.e. without using them in any films or projects) or to try out the music in your productions without committing to a license, select “Download mp3 only (no license)” from the shopping cart options. My tracks come as CD-quality freely playable mp3s with no restrictive digital rights management so you’re not limited to how or where you can listen to them. If you then decide you’d like to use my music in your film, you can always opt to buy the license at a later date (the price of the mp3 is not included in the license cost).

License A: Non-commercial home/student license

This type of license covers use of the music in any non-commercial (i.e. not for sale), non-broadcast audio-visual productions for distribution to friends and family, educational establishments (i.e. schools, colleges, universities etc.), film festivals, film trailers, church productions, personal websites, podcasts and user-generated content aggregators and social networking sites (e.g. Myspace/Youtube/Facebook etc.) Specifically, this license covers the use of the music in any of the following types of non-commercial production:

• Personal non-commercial home video
• Personal non-commercial wedding video
• Student film (for performance in schools/colleges etc.)
• Non-commercial independent or short film
• Non-commercial documentary
• Non-commercial film trailer
• Film festival submissions
• Theatrical production with non-paying audience
• Personal/not-for-profit website
• Personal/not-for-profit podcast
• Church productions
• User-generated video site (e.g. Myspace/Youtube/Facebook)

This license covers the music use in one production only (but includes all related promo & trailers), so a separate license would be needed for each new production/film that uses it. Note: This license does not cover any productions which are made available for commercial sale or for corporate/television/cinema/radio broadcast use.

Please note: the license cost does not include the mp3 track as well, so make sure you add both the track and the license to your cart if you don’t already have the music. This allows users to buy the track separately before deciding whether to by a license as well.

License B: Commercial non-broadcast license

This type of license covers use of the music in any commercial non-broadcast audio-visual productions in up to 1,000 physical copies. This covers distribution to all audiences listed in the non-commercial license displayed above as well as commercial retail or corporate productions and sales of up to 1,000 copies of physical media (e.g. DVDs, video, flash drives etc.) Specifically, this license covers the same productions listed above for non-commercial products, and additionally also includes license cover for:

• Commercial (for sale) films, shorts & trailers (up to 1,000 copies)
• Commercial (for sale) documentaries (up to 1,000 copies)
• Commercial websites (as background music)
• Commercial (for sale) podcasts (as background music)
• On-hold telephone music
• Corporate/business presentations
• Trade shows/live presentations

This license covers the music use in one production only (but includes all related promo & trailers), so a separate license would be needed for each new production/film that uses it. Note: This license does not cover any productions which are intended for television/cinema/radio broadcast use.

Please note: the license cost does not include the mp3 track as well, so make sure you add both the track and the license to your cart if you don’t already have the music. This allows users to buy the track separately before deciding whether to by a license as well.

Royalty-free music & license

‘Royalty-Free’ is an often misunderstood term; in terms of the music listed in the Royalty-Free music section of my shop, it essentially means that you only need to pay the one-off price listed in the shop which gives you the music downloads plus a pre-cleared sync license to use this music in an unlimited number of film or documentary projects.

That means you can legally use the music in your short films, features, documentaries, dramas, trailers, home videos etc. Whether your show is for broadcast on national TV or your personal website, Youtube, Vimeo, Myspace, Facebook, you won’t have to pay anything extra. And if you want to sell your film in physical format (e.g. video/DVD), the license covers up to 1,000 physical copies of each individual film/project (for sales of over 1,000 units, you can get an extended retail license – see below).

All royalty-free collections include the music mp3s plus the license to use them, so you can start using the music as soon as you’ve bought a collection.

The Royalty-Free license means you can use the music in an unlimited number of productions (for TV broadcast, internet sites and sales of up to 1,000 physical copies) including:

• Home videos
• Wedding videos
• Student or commercial films, trailers and documentaries
• Film festival submissions
• Theatrical productions
• Personal/commercial website background music
• Podcast background music
• Church productions
• User-generated video sites (e.g. Myspace/Youtube/Facebook)
• On-hold telephone music
• Corporate/business presentations
• Trade shows/live presentations

If you plan to sell your film in physical format (such as video/DVD), the included license covers up to 1,000 physical copies. If you plan to sell more than this, please contact me for an extended retail license depending on the amount of physical copies you intend to release (note: this is only if you plan to sell more than 1,000 physical copies and is not necessary for any other use):

• 1,001 – 10,000 units: £200
• 10,001 – 50,000 units: £250
• Over 50,000 units: £500

Although ‘Royalty-Free’ means that you (as the filmmaker) don’t have to pay any further license fees to use the music, it doesn’t mean that broadcast (or ‘performance’) royalties for the composer are being forfeited. Broadcasters (such as TV channels) pay a fixed blanket fee to the various music collection agencies (e.g. PRS, GEMA, ASCAP etc.) who in turn ensure that these broadcast royalties are channeled correctly to the original composer.

So if your film or documentary does get picked up for broadcast, you will still need to fill in an appropriate ‘cue sheet’ with my details and membership number for the broadcaster whether the music is Royalty-Free or not. But this requires no additional payment from you and is just a matter of ensuring the paperwork is correct. If you know your film is going to be broadcast, please contact me to ensure you have the correct details for any cue sheet submissions.

If the license you need for your film or production is not covered here, or you have any other questions regarding licensing my music, please get in touch here. I’m also happy to discuss prices for bulk licensing of multiple music tracks.