I work for a video production that is just starting up in Winnipeg, MB Canada. We are trying to figure out how things work with using copyrighted music in our videos.
I have heard that you can contact the record label and purchase the rights but it seems pretty unefficent to have to do that for each song.
Is there a license that we can purchase to be able to use copyrighted music in our videos?
Any help in figuring this out is much appreciated!
While I can't answer your question, exactly, I can tell you what I use. I use a program called Sonicfire Pro by smartsound software, along with customizeable music I bought the license for.
Here's a link to their website: http://www.smartsound.com/
Here's an example of how I used one of their tunes:
I wish you the best of luck!!!
Can't speak for Canada, but here in the UK we have two agencies, PPL and PRS who collect fees for using music. One deals with the composer's right and the other the record company/performers rights. The let you license most music for various uses. Cost depends on many things, but more exposure means more cost in most cases. They do not represent every piece of music, and sometimes you do have to deal with individual tracks on a one by one basis. This is how it is. Certainly the US has a similar system for US artistes and composers. I'd expect Canada to be similar. It is a pain and you just have to balance the real track you want vs something cheaper and maybe not quite so good. Here, because there are two interests, we often re-record popular music tracks and then pay the composer rights, having the performer rights covered under a simple buyout.