![]() On the Mac, I use Soundstudio to open the track, go about 30 seconds in (when the first verse or chorus has ended), and fade the track out to about 10% of its original volume. Whether you are planning on using a copyrighted piece of music or something you’ve composed yourself, you’ll want to make a special version of the track that automatically fades out at the point at which you’ll start talking in your show. Many podcasters begin their shows with a piece of music, or music with spoken information about what their show is about. Having a few shows’ worth of music prepared ahead of time will allow you to ensure that you have plenty of content for future shows, and will shorten the amount of time it takes to cement your podcast’s style or “feel.”įor consistency, you might want to have a theme song at the beginning of your show. Group your songs into playlists based on individual shows, so you can see which songs sound good together, and so you can make sure the total time will be close to the show length you decided on earlier. Gather your music in a folder or playlist in your music program where you can see track length and artist information. For compatibility across the board, I recommend that you keep your music in MP3 format, encoded at a bit rate that balances good quality with small file size: 128 kbps to 192 kbps. For the most part, it’s a good idea to be consistent with the file format of the tracks you’ll be playing. Once you’ve determined your show’s style and content, you can begin the fun process of gathering your music. Keep in mind that it’s still essential to ask for permission to play independent artists’ music in your podcast, and permission will likely be granted more freely. Several good resources for independent music are available on the Web, including GarageBand ( ). An immeasurable amount of excellent music is available in all styles, released by independent artists. I appreciate your time! I look forward to hearing from you.īrian the best in cover songs since…well… last year.Ī simple way of avoiding the licensing problem altogether is to focus on independent artists. Of course, I would also include links to your site as well as to locations where your music can be purchased. I’m writing because I was hoping to be able to acquire permission to play your music on my show. I invite you to listen to my archives at. I have about 11,000 subscribers, and I’ve been featured recently in BusinessWeek, the New York Times, USAToday, and Time magazine. ![]() My name is Brian Ibbott, and I host and produce an Internet radio program called Coverville that showcases the best in cover versions of songs. With an eloquent letter of introduction, in many cases the artist or recording company will be happy to grant permission to play their music in your podcast. Again, you can find this information in the CD liner notes, or on the artist’s web site. In these cases, your best bet is to get permission from either the artist that performed the song, or the recording company that the song is licensed to. Both of these hold the mechanical licensing keys to a large number of popular artists. For specifics, please consult the web sites of each agency.Īcquiring the mechanical license is a bit more difficult, as no license models are available through the RIAA or the Harry Fox Agency ( ) that address the technical issues associated with podcasting. These figures are based on the assumption that you are making less that $12,000 per year on your podcast. ![]() As of this writing, the annual royalty costs for each of these three agencies are roughly $288 for ASCAP, $275 for BMI, and $170 for SESAC. If you won’t be playing any music licensed to SESAC, for example, you won’t need to pay them royalties. Look in the liner notes of the CDs containing the music you’ll be playing to see which of those three agencies the music is licensed to. Usually you can acquire the composition license by paying royalties to ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC. To play a piece of music in your podcast, you must meet the requirements for both the composition license and the mechanical license. The mechanical license for a song is owned by any combination of the artist, the recording company, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA ). ![]() A mechanical license is based on that performance of the song. A copyrighted piece of music will be registered with one of these three agencies, which will distribute royalties to the writer of the piece of music whenever it is performed. In the U.S., three agencies hold these licenses: ASCAP ( ), BMI ( ), and SESAC ( ). ![]() A composition license is the license that the musical piece’s writer or composer holds. A copyrighted piece of music has two licenses: a composition license and a mechanical license. This is a huge topic among music-based podcasters right now. A major factor that you shouldn’t overlook is licensing. ![]()
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