Yes, I know that the prevailing wisdom is to not specify music in a screenplay. But I've got one that revolves around a three-day music festival and in certain spots, specific music is needed to express the message or give counterpoint which helps to express the message. And in other spots I think it helps to set the tone. I know you have to pay rights fees, of course. What I don't know is if there are additional fees for showing someone onstage such as, say, Lynyrd Skynyrd. There are, of course, several ways to do it: hire the band, which would be prohibitively expensive, stock footage or have somebody portray the band. Does anybody out there have experience with this? Specifically, would there be a different level of payment to the band depending on which of the above methods is used?
Screenwriting : Music rights by Bob Wagner
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oops. didn't mean to Like myself. Although I do.
Thanks, Dan. That's the kind of information I was looking for.
While Dan's information is all accurate, if you're writing this on spec it's important to note that there is no legal problem with using a specific song. My philosophy has always been: Don't strain yourself to come up with an appropriate song if the type of music/lyrics is all that's important, but if you've got the song in your head, and the specific music/lyrics will help the reader imagine what's going on, go for it. For all the obstacles Dan mentioned above, it's a crapshoot whether the songs will make it into the final product anyway.
Thanks, David. That IS my situation. It's a spec I've written that revolves around a Woodstock-style music festival. It started out as the festival being the story, but through multiple rewrites the festival became the backdrop for the story. One paid coverage by a writer/producer with IMDB credits describes the festival as another character with its own voice. I've used specific music of bands that were at the festival for atmosphere and at certain points as counterpoint to the action. Feedback I'm getting is pretty uniform that it would be a nightmare to produce because there are 24 songs by a dozen or so artists that are mentioned by name or with a sentence or two of the lyrics. My thinking was "they're going to have to buy some music rights for this thing anyway, why not tell them what songs were sung at the festival?" I thought I was being helpful, but evidently that's not the way it would be perceived. So now I've got to either wrestle with my soundtrack or hope to find a producer who appreciates this kind of detail.
Who are the people giving you that feedback? Sounds like the same sort of people who might say "Never include something the audience can't see," or "The inciting incident HAS to happen on page 12" - in other words, aspiring writers who've never had something produced. I have a hard time believing that an experienced producer would say something like that. Another option would be to include a note to the reader, either on the title page, the top of page one, or the first time a song appears, saying something to the effect of: "The songs that appear in this script are for example purposes only. The author makes no claim to any of the song selections and understands that they will change for the final production." Depending on how that's done, it may or may not come across as amateurish. But it's an idea.
Great info, guys. I wasn't really worried about being sued because I know I'd read somewhere in one of the many blogs that you don't need to acquire rights to stuff like that until it's time to make the movie. And I do only use snippets of lyrics, song titles and band names. I don't think there's a single song where I use even a full verse. As far as the crowd scenes, I envisioned them shooting a small section where the action is with, say 30-40 extras, then filling it in digitally or with stock footage of outdoor concert scenes.
If you'd like to see it, I could e-mail you a copy in PDF format.
Dan, I can do that. Where do you want me to send it? And thanks for the offer.