Mechanical License: Get It and Cover Your Favorite Song
A mechanical license is an agreement secured from the copyright owner and the songwriter for an original song to be covered, distributed, and sold.
The covering recording artist pays royalty money to the parties involved in making his or her cover for the song available commercially.
If you are a recording artist or an aspiring one, being familiar with the steps you need to take to start is important.
Know that if a song is in public domain, meaning, it is no longer protected by copyright, you are not required to obtain a mechanical license.
The same applies to original materials that you have written.
Here are the steps to obtain a mechanical license.
1.
Keep a list of the songs you wanted to cover.
Get its publisher and songwriter information.
You may get publisher information through existing organizations like Broadcast Music, Incorporated.
2.
Categorize the song you wanted to cover.
Songs from opera, movie soundtracks, and musical scores are licensed under a different agreement type.
3.
Submit a request for a mechanical license request.
This can be done electronically online or in writing.
Instant, online mechanical licensing, is handled by companies.
You simply fill in a few basic fields about the song you want to license and you are on your way to license a cover song instantly! 4.
Note that a mechanical license is only valid for audio form only.
If you wish to use your cover song for a public performance or have it incorporated in a visual medium, you will be required to get a different license.
5.
Get a compulsory mechanical license if you want to make your own creative arrangement of the musical piece you are covering.
Keep in mind that a compulsory mechanical license does not allow you to make changes to the basic melody or character of the original song you are covering and getting a mechanical license for.
A fee is also required per song you want to cover.
6.
Pay the corresponding mechanical royalty to the licensing agency for distribution to the publisher and the songwriter.
Do not forget to give credit to the original recording artist of the song for goodwill.
7.
If you wish to perform your cover of the song in public, you may get in touch with a performance right group to provide the license for you.
- 9.
10 cents for musical pieces five minutes or less - 1.
75 cents for musical pieces longer than five minutes Any number of seconds in excess will be rounded to the next minute.
The rates above are called the statutory rate, which is multiplied by the length of the song multiplied by the number of manufactured copies.
But when licensing online instantly you wont need to handle fees as the licensing agency handles it for you.
Also when you are working with the online mechanical licensing agency in getting to clear your cover songs, they offer separate accounts depending on the number of copies you wanted to be made from your cover song.
Whether it's more or less than 2,500.
00, this will give you a rough estimate of the revenues you will generate and the amount of mechanical royalty you will be paying.
The covering recording artist pays royalty money to the parties involved in making his or her cover for the song available commercially.
If you are a recording artist or an aspiring one, being familiar with the steps you need to take to start is important.
Know that if a song is in public domain, meaning, it is no longer protected by copyright, you are not required to obtain a mechanical license.
The same applies to original materials that you have written.
Here are the steps to obtain a mechanical license.
1.
Keep a list of the songs you wanted to cover.
Get its publisher and songwriter information.
You may get publisher information through existing organizations like Broadcast Music, Incorporated.
2.
Categorize the song you wanted to cover.
Songs from opera, movie soundtracks, and musical scores are licensed under a different agreement type.
3.
Submit a request for a mechanical license request.
This can be done electronically online or in writing.
Instant, online mechanical licensing, is handled by companies.
You simply fill in a few basic fields about the song you want to license and you are on your way to license a cover song instantly! 4.
Note that a mechanical license is only valid for audio form only.
If you wish to use your cover song for a public performance or have it incorporated in a visual medium, you will be required to get a different license.
5.
Get a compulsory mechanical license if you want to make your own creative arrangement of the musical piece you are covering.
Keep in mind that a compulsory mechanical license does not allow you to make changes to the basic melody or character of the original song you are covering and getting a mechanical license for.
A fee is also required per song you want to cover.
6.
Pay the corresponding mechanical royalty to the licensing agency for distribution to the publisher and the songwriter.
Do not forget to give credit to the original recording artist of the song for goodwill.
7.
If you wish to perform your cover of the song in public, you may get in touch with a performance right group to provide the license for you.
- 9.
10 cents for musical pieces five minutes or less - 1.
75 cents for musical pieces longer than five minutes Any number of seconds in excess will be rounded to the next minute.
The rates above are called the statutory rate, which is multiplied by the length of the song multiplied by the number of manufactured copies.
But when licensing online instantly you wont need to handle fees as the licensing agency handles it for you.
Also when you are working with the online mechanical licensing agency in getting to clear your cover songs, they offer separate accounts depending on the number of copies you wanted to be made from your cover song.
Whether it's more or less than 2,500.
00, this will give you a rough estimate of the revenues you will generate and the amount of mechanical royalty you will be paying.