Mechanical Licenses For Covering Songs - How Do They Work, Exactly?

[JSngry]

I get that there's a per-song flat fee, but doing research, it looks like there's also (or is it instead of?) a per-copy charge based on, I guess, planned manufacturing run.

So let's say that I wanted to cover Bob Lob's "Throw It In There Easy" and it's owned by Mraeros Music and it's with ASCAP and I want to make up a run of 500 copies of an otherwise all-original album that will also include Maestro Lob's magnum opus. I know I need to get a mechanical license first. But more than that, I am confused, and have questions.

The questions now are:

• Harry Fox first, right? Or someplace similar.
• What am I going to pay, exactly, and for what exactly? A flat fee plus a per-copy rate?
• If my 500 copies exceed expectations and I need 50,000 more copies made STAT, do I need to go through the process again?
• The mechanical license only covers front-end, right? Any and all royalties on sales go through different channels?

Mr. Lob and I want to know these things. Can you all help us? Please?

Thank you!

[jeffcrom]

I had a similar situation - a small-run CD that was all original material except for one Steve Lacy tune. I didn't go through Harry Fox - I did internet research to find the publisher. I actually didn't contact the right publisher; I found Lacy's European publisher, who kindly directed me to the firm who handled the rights for North America. For 300 copies, it cost me something like thirty bucks. And that was it for that 300 copies - no further payments needed. But yes, if you press more copies, you'll need to fork over more money. The publisher did all the math to come up with that figure.

I would try to contact Mraeros Music directly. If you can't find them, you could try Harry Fox, who might be nice enough to steer you in the right direction if they don't deal with Mraeros.

 

Oh, I should add that you need to tell the publisher how long your recorded version is in addition to how many copies you plan to press. I think they emailed me a form to fill out.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Goodness! So the LICENCE fee depends on sales, as well as publishers & composers royalties. Good Lord, they get paid twice! No wonder so many record companies followed BMI's advice to set up their own publishing companies and publish their artists' music!

MG

[JSngry]

The license fee depends on copies manufactured, not sold. You pay that before you even start trying to sell copies.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

So it's pretty much like the Senegalese system, but that includes royalties as well as (or perhaps instead of) a license fee. In the West, I guess licences are a lot less money than royalties. Or maybe it depends on what you're trying to license.

MG

[JSngry]

Need somebody with experience here...do royalties also get paid after items are sold, or is that what the licensing fees cover, and why they're based on manufacturing #s?

[jeffcrom]

I thought I answered this question in my earlier post, but I guess I wasn't clear. From your end, the mechanical license covers the royalties you owe, based on how many units you are manufacturing and how long your rendition is. You pay it and you're done, unless you press more copies.

Any further royalties to the publisher would come from airplay, use in a soundtrack, etc., not from you.

[JSngry]

51 minutes ago, jeffcrom said:

Any further royalties to the publisher would come from airplay, use in a soundtrack, etc., not from you.

Ok, thanks, that's the last piece of clarity I was looking for. I knew there were post-sale royalties, just wasn't 100% about who was on the hook for them.

What this means, then, is that the publisher gets/should get "paid in full" before an item even goes on sale. Sweet deal. especially on a small scale pressing, even if it's not a lot of money, at least it's money paid, not money owed. No wonder they say that publishing is where the "real" money is.