Adding Clearance Rights to Your Metadata
Song and master recording copyrights can be pretty complicated, and it is important to spell them out if you want to expedite sync opportunities.
The Comments field is the best place to list this detail, since it is a large field that expands as you add more info.
- The general layout starts with the copyright splits that you can clear, plus your contact information.
- List writer names, splits, PRO, publisher, contact info, and whether or not you control that split.
- List master owners and splits, contact info, and whether or not you control that split.
- Below that, you can add more descriptive information about the track.
Let's take a look at some different examples.
One Stop
Let's start simple: this example shows a track that is written by Benny Smith and recorded by his band Benny and the Bandits.
There are no labels, publishers, or agents representing this track.
Benny has control of all the rights. This is a "one stop" clearance!
"One stop" means you can clear 100% of the master recording and 100% of the song publishing for sync licensing opportunities.
Cover Recordings
You re-recorded a famous track and can license 100% of the master recording, but NONE of the publishing.
- Make it very clear that it is a cover, and ideally, who made it famous originally.
- If you don't know the original writers or publishers, that's fine - just add what you do know.
Published Co-Writers
A publisher's job is to represent and administer the song copyrights and revenue streams on behalf of the writer/composer.
Find out if any of your co-writers have publishing deals, and add those details into the metadata. Music Supervisors will love you for providing this extra detail.
Any license requests have to go through the publisher, if a writer is in an exclusive deal.
If you don't know other writers’ publishing details, just list their names and splits; NEVER claim ownership of rights if you're unsure.
Other information worth noting:
- Names of additional writers
- Splits, PROs, and publishers
- Master ownership!
Note: Since you are the composer sending this out and repping yourself, you only need to put your name in the composer field - even if there are other writers/composers.
Metadata regarding featured artists, instrumentals, remixes, explicit vs clean, etc. should be added into the title field.
What if all the co-writers allow me to rep their splits?
- List all the writers, publishers, master owners, splits, etc.
- The master is split between two producers in this example.
- Write "[Control]" next to each line that you can clear.
- This is a One Stop clearance scenario because you are the only person the Music Supervisor needs to contact to license the track.
Ideally, you have a sync representation agreement signed by all co-writers.
A Note About Year and Release Date Fields
Suppose a recording is from 1975, then remastered and released in 2023. The original year of release goes in the Year field, but with a new release date.
This helps to surface the track when Music Supervisors search for music from 1975 (assuming they saved it to their DISCO when you sent it to them).
Wrap-Up
Adding detailed clearance information to your metadata demonstrates your understanding of the licensing process. It shows that you respect the Music Supervisor's time, and are likely a trustworthy source of licensable music.