So I was half-watching So You Think You Can Dance? tonight and I noticed that there was a wide variety in the music that played as the dancers auditioned.
As they show hundreds of auditions, how can they possibly legally clear all this music for broadcast? My first thought was that they have pre-cleared tracks and each person has to choose from those, but I thought of a couple objections to that theory. First, there were joke auditions with guys dancing to thrash metal, which I assume they wouldn’t have on tap. Secondly, many of the dance routines were probably choreographed for a specific song, so using a different song at the last minute would screw up the choreography.
My second thought was that they strip out the original music and dub in some music that they have cleared, but again, this would seem to throw off the choreography.
Do they really go through and clear every bit of music after the fact? Do they make the dancers tell them what track they’re playing, so the lawyers can track down who has to get paid? Or does all this music not even need to be cleared?
(I couldn’t decide if this was more suited to CS or GQ, so mods feel free to adjust as necessary.)
Since we’re still in CS, I’ll hazard a WAG. They could have something like a site license, which gives them legal access to a library of music for a set fee. Bars that book live music do this, and it covers them.
I don’t know how they handle auditions (I assume the dancers bring their own music), but I do know that in past seasons of this show, they did at least one choreographed number that they were forced to replace the music that we TV viewers heard, since rights for using the original song didn’t clear. I remember really hating that piece…I think they used “Amazing Grace” or something similar, since it synchronized with the beat. Yuck!
It’s simple – you go to ASCAP and BMI and pay for a public performance license. Then nearly all songs are covered. After the show, you give ASCAP and BMI a list of what was played and they deal with distributing royalties.
This is the same sort of thing that allows radio stations or live venues to play music without clearing in advance.
I’d be surprised if there was any song not covered by ASCAP or BMI. If the substitution happened because of licensing, it could be because the songwriter wasn’t a member, or worked with a different licensing group (I think there’s a third, but it doesn’t have many artists).
You can use any music you want, you can’t say “you can’t use my song.” You just have to pay royalites for it.
This is why anyone can do a cover version of anyone else’s song. You just have to pay royalties on it. Most people try to get permission, like “Weird Al” does and other who perform “correct” remakes do it too, because nothing kills a remake faster than the original artists going around saying “The new version sucks.”
But as long as you pay royalites it’s fine. BTW this is for the USA only. This is not so in other countries.
Part of the issue when you hear things like “WKRP in Cincinnati” can’t use the original songs isn’t they CAN’T but it is too much money or to complex.
When you have extended copyrights and these are decades old, the original owners sell their rights, the original companies go out of business or they merge, and it becomes very difficult to determain just WHO owns the copyright.
So let’s say I am in charge of new DVD releases for “WKRP in Cincinnati.” Anyone can sue me, claiming I infringed on their copyright. If I examine each episode and cannot be 100% sure of who owns that copyright, it makes sense to omit the song and put a new song in. One where there is no doubt to who owns the copyright. This way I avoid lawsuits.
Remember you don’t have to win a lawsuit, all you have to do is cause enough trouble so the company settles out of court for less.
Nice analysis, but it does not apply to Dancing with the Stars. They don’t have to ask anyone permission – they buy a blanket license from ASCAP & BMI and they’re covered.
The issue with WKRP wasn’t exactly asking for permissions; it was due to the fact that their blanket license made no provision for DVD sales (since there were no DVDs). Thus everything had to be renegotiated.
Dancing with the Stars is of the era where DVD sales are big, so you can be sure that they have a license that lets them put the music on DVD without further negotiation. Once they give a list to ASCAP/BMI of what songs they played, ASCAP/BMI takes care of the rest – finding the songwriter, determining payment, sending the check, etc.
It wouldn’t surprise me if, for the music that they can’t clear, they don’t televise the particular audition. They always do a “and twenty other dancers got their ticket to Vegas” montage of people running out the doors and celebrating, that we never see dance.
Keep in mind that there are different kinds of rights – the songwriter/publishing company-owned rights, plus the rights for a specific recording if you are trying to use such. In addition, live performance rights, rights to RECORD a song, and rights to use recorded music are all different types of rights. So, it’s never a case of one-answer-fits-all.
I used to work in the music industry – specifically, as the administrator of a music publishing company – and a large part of my job was fielding rights requests. A songwriter (or performer) absolutely can say, “No, you can’t use my song.” It’s not all that frequent, but it can happen. It’s the publishing company’s job to evaluate requests and say yes or no, every little request doesn’t go to the songwriter. But, a good publishing company will understand the songwriter’s general wishes/attitude, and will negotiate the rate. There are standard rates, and sometimes the group making the request isn’t willing to pay the standard, and unless the pub company caves, that can be an impasse.
Wash, rinse, repeat with a record company if you’re trying to use a recording.
P.S. There is a third rights org besides BMI and ASCAP – SESAC.
I went through Harry Fox a good 15 years ago to have my dad’s album from his big band days transferred to CD. There was one tune on the album that was written by the band leader and I had to beg, plead and cry before the transfer dude would do it without permission.