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Music licence/contract

I have a friend who is an independent artist and I wondering if anyone know if there is a site a can just print out a basic contract that just says that the artist agrees that the filmmaker can use their music for their project and just have it so that the artist and just signs the their name at the bottom.
 
I personally haven't seen any basic sample music contract online (I've seem samples but they are all complicated!)... And using a sample without reading it carefully is a very dangerous thing to do. You may overlook something very important stated in the sample contract (like "the Producer will pay the composer $10,000", which is a problem if you fail to delete it).

I've combined several complicated sample music contracts and re-written and added some parts... But the customised end result contract was nowhere near basic.

Since you are dealing with your friend and s/he's less likely to sue you should something goes wrong, if you need a very basic contract I think it might be easier and quicker to write the contract yourself.

Basically a Synchronization License, which is the right to synchronize a piece of music to your film and a Master Use License, which is the right to use the recording of the music in your film are two key music rights. Unless your friend's got a record deal s/he should be the owner of both rights.

Even if you're dealing with your friend I think it's also important to state that the artist will get credited in the film in return.

I find the process of copyright clearance etc very hard and I'm also still learning it. But if we are getting into filmmaking it's a path that we can't avoid and it pays us in the end if we sit down and make an effort to understand what it is...

Hope this helps in any way and all the best for your project.
 
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