Music License for Client’s Video Works
Nothing is more frustrating than putting all your efforts into a video only for it to get pulled down, muted, or blocked due to using copyrighted music. That’s why you’ll want to safely add music to your video projects without compromising yourself or your clients. In this article, we’ll help you learn everything you need to know about video music licenses.
Adding music to your video content makes it more engaging, exciting, and dynamic. It helps creators express the atmosphere behind the theme and motivate their audience. However, adding music to your video, short social media post, or vlog can get more complicated than you think. You’ll be required only to use music that you have permission to. Understanding music licensing will ensure your video has no audio copyright problems.
If you plan on using copyrighted music, we’ll show you how to get a music license for your client’s video works. Keep reading to learn more.
Why Do You Need a Video Music License?
When you’re a freelancer or run a business that makes videos for clients, you should never use unlicensed music. Without a proper music license, the video may run into various problems that may also affect your clients and your business. Here are the most likely outcomes of using a song without legal permission.
1. Legal consequences
Using unlicensed music in a video is a copyright infringement that may lead to legal actions from the copyright owner. This may lead to heavy fines and legal fees.
2. Limited exposure
Many platforms, including YouTube and Facebook, have strict copyright policies. Therefore, the video may get muted, blocked, or taken down due to copyright infringement.
3. Damaged reputation
Your clients will not be happy when you use unlicensed content in their projects. You’ll have negative reviews that may damage your reputation.
Avoid Free Video Music Licenses
Using music on your client’s commercial projects does not always mean you should pay a high licensing fee. Though not advisable, you can start with free music that won’t require you to pay anything. This includes:
- Public domain music: This includes music with their copyright expired. You should keep in mind that copyright laws and copyright expiration times vary. Therefore, the song’s recording may be copyrighted even if it’s in the public domain.
- Creative Commons music: Artists may provide their music under the Creative Commons license, which allows you to use them for free if you meet certain conditions. You’ll be required to give credit to the musician and, in some cases, not allowed to use the music in commercial projects.
Free music comes with various uncertainties; therefore not worth using in your client’s commercial works. You’ll also invest a lot of time searching through a vast pool of music before finding the right track that fits your needs.
Best Video Music License for Your Client’s Works
Negotiating a licensing deal with the artist can be very expensive, and free music has downsides. Therefore, the best way to legally use music in your client’s works is to use royalty-free music. With royalty-free music, you’ll only purchase the license once and use the music in your client’s works without limitations.
You’ll not have to worry about paying a fee whenever the video is viewed or broadcast. This makes it the easiest and most convenient option to purchase music licenses for your clients’ works. With many platforms offering affordable royalty-free music for commercial use, you’ll not have any problem finding the right track.
How to Get Royalty-Free Music License for Client’s Video Works
Various platforms source music from various artists and offer unlimited royalty-free music subscriptions. You’ll find hundreds of tracks to choose from and use in your next project. Some of these platforms include:
a) Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound simplifies music licensing. It offers a large premium catalog of stock music that grows daily and packages all the legal rights into one simple license. Among its many features is the Clear Videos feature available under the commercial plan. This feature allows you to license music for your client’s videos. You can do this by taking the following steps:
Step 1: Log into your Epidemic Sound Account
Step 2: Click on Me
Step 3: Select the Account tab
Step 4: Click on Clear Videos on the left pane
Step 5: Go to the Clearing Invitations tab
Step 6: Click on Create Invitation
Step 7: Enter the name of the project and then click on Create Link
Step 8: You can now share the link with your client
When the client clicks the link, they will be asked to clear a video by providing the URL to the video. It will be allowed to use Epidemic Sound music without any limitations.
b) Artlist.io
Artlist is another top platform offering unlimited access to thousands of songs. With licenses starting at a one-time fee of $199 per year, you’ll have full access to its catalog. The license covers all platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. By allowing you to filter your music search by mood, instrument, genre, and theme, you can easily find the right song for your client’s video.
c) Bensound
Bensound offers both royalty-free music and creative commons music. While free downloads are limited to non-commercial use, paid subscriptions provide copyright-safe music that you can use on your customer’s video works.
You can buy a single-track licensing for $38-$664 or subscribe to the standard licensing for $159 annually. Bensound has an extensive library that offers royalty-free music across different genres.
d) Premium Beat
Premium Beat offers a diverse collection of royalty-free music divided into various genres, moods, artists, and instruments. The website is easy to navigate, with multiple filtering options to simplify the song-searching process.
It also features music from its own artists and has the backing of Shutterstock. Therefore, Premium Beat ensures you get the highest quality music at a premium license costing $199.
Finding the Right Platform for Video Music Licensing
With so many available platforms, you may have difficulty settling for one. However, there are a few elements that you should look for in a platform before purchasing a video music license from it. They include:
- Quality of the music: The music should be sourced from reputable artists who deliver high-quality tracks. You’ll not want to use poor-quality music tracks on a project you dedicated all your time and efforts.
- Simplified interface: Most platforms have thousands of songs available. Therefore, it should have a clean and intuitive interface that makes finding the right song for the video easy.
- Pricing: Your platform should offer flexible and reasonable prices to accommodate your tiny budget.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a freelance content creator, an agency, or anyone who creates videos for other clients, adding music can make a huge difference in your content. After reading this article, we hope you understand how to add music to your client’s video works without violating copyright law. With a royalty-free music license, you can now safely use copyrighted commercial music in your client’s videos.
