Anyone know how could I get permission to use a Neil Young song without ruining? It's for my next short film credits. Thank you!
Composing : How to get rights to use a Neil Young's song without pay it with blood? by Katixa Silva
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My suggestion would be to contact the regional ASCAP/BMI office in your area and ask them and explain its use. They can help you. You will probably have to pay something. Even if it's just a general licensing fee.
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Go to HarryFox.com and find out what it will actually cost. When I produced and published my first CD I had "covered" some Jazz Standards. It was amazing how reasonably priced a lot of the songs were. You can find out the cost for you to record another artist on that song without committing yourself. You should know that when someone hears a song used for other things - they will no longer be thinking about your film - just an FYI.
Thank you very much! I will try both suggestions! Have a nice day ;)
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It cost us £100 to secure rights to the music we wanted for our short film. Anything else wasn't near good enough, so we had to pay up. Well worth it though.
You can always ask a good composer and use the song as a brief, I've done this before, you can hug the song and let it inspire a new one that is unique to your project.
this stuff is good to know... when I did a cable access show in NY, I asked the musicians to sing their own unique songs... and sign the release. It was a win-win. I didn't make money but we all have copies of the shows for our resume. Sometimes, I think a certain song is perfect and musicians WILL work with you. It never hurts to ask...
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Just a small suggestion... Find out who actually owns the rights to the song, do a little research and give them a personal call to explain your project. I know several singer/song writers that have let people use their works for shorts, etc, simply to give back to the art community.
Actually i have licensed a song from India Arie the easiest way is to look on ascap's website and find the song. Once you find it click on the publishers it will list their contact info. ex https://www.ascap.com/Home/ace-title-search/index.aspx then you will be required to complete a Theatrical license request document. and send it back to the publisher. Once it is approved you can pay the fee and use the song.
If you go to Harry Fox harrfox.com you can easily find out if the PRO for the composer and/or publisher is ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. A song can be owned by both a publisher and a composer (song writer). The publisher and composer could be members of different PRO's. US law is written so that "not knowing" isn't an excuse - so please protect yourselves and handle both publisher and composer. Harrfox.com is a great resource that helps you handle both easily.