The Myriad World of Music Licenses
Entertainment and Sports Lawyer
Author: Cydney A. Tune

Part 1 in this series contained a discussion of the basic copyright principles that are important in licensing music and the unique layers of rights that are involved. Part 2 included a discussion of the initial considerations for both the potential licensor and the potential licensee of music. Here, in Part 3, I discuss the primary types of music licenses, with a description of each type of license by which rights in music are granted along with a brief discussion of some of the key terms and issues concerning such licenses.

The type of license needed to use music depends on the specific use that will be made of the music and often more than one type of license must be obtained in order to make the intended use of the music. As was discussed in the prior parts in this series, the type and number of licenses required depends on the layers of rights that are involved with the specific music and the way that the licensee intends to use the music.

The discussion below is based on present practices. Because there are so many different types of music licenses and so many unique issues that pertain to each, only the most common type of licenses are included here and only the basics are discussed with respect to each type of license. Hopefully, this discussion will be sufficient to enable you to determine what type of license or licenses your client needs to obtain and will give you a "snapshot" understanding of each type of license.

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