There is no price range. Each piece of music is priced based on many
factors including the whims of the rights holder. So the range is from
free to millions.
There are two rights you need to clear; that is to say, you need
to get two different licenses to use the music.
--Synchronization License: This is the right to synchronize a song
or a piece of music with your visual image. It must be obtained
from the copyright owner of the music, which is usually the publisher.
You can find out who the publisher is by using ASCAP's Clearance
Express (ACE) at
http://www.ascap.com. Songs that are
not represented by ASCAP might be found at the National Music
Publishers' Association "Songfile" website
http://www.nmpa.org.
You will be provided with a contact at the publisher's Business Affairs
or Licensing Department.
--Master Use License: This is the right to reproduce a specific recording
of a song in your film. You clear this right with the record label who
owns the specific recording you would like to use; see the liner notes
of the recording to find out which company this is. Alternatively, you
can get contact information for record labels by calling ASCAP's Film/TV
Department. You will be provided with a contact at the record label's
Business Affairs Department.
Festival Rights Licensing. Not always the best idea. If you know you will
never show your movie outside of a film festival - that includes the
internet - then you might ask for these rights. Some copyright owners
will grant these rights, but it severely limits what you can do with your
movie.
