For a low-budget film, the music supervisor’s salary could be anywhere from $4-10k but that is, like everything else, negotiable.
When licensing a pop song, there are two sets of rights to deal with. First, there are the master rights, sometimes called the sync license. This allows you to play the performance. Next, you have to acquire the publishing rights. This allows you to perform the song. Confused? Let’s use “All Along The Watchtower” as an example. Bob Dylan wrote the song so you need to secure the publishing rights from him. But let’s also say you want to use the Jimi Hendrix version so you need a sync license from his estate.
Sometimes you can acquire rights as a step deal where you pay a small fee for each step (festivals, theatrical, DVD, etc.). According to Dan, this is almost always a bad idea. You’ll end up paying more in the end and distributors will treat you as if you have the plague.
Expect to pay 30-50% more if you’re using the song over the opening or closing credits.
Two sites you should become acquainted with: BMI and ASCAP.
Some labels/publishers/ariststs have a “most favored nations” clause in their contract. This basically says that everyone gets paid the same. Try and talk folks out of this if you plan on using one super popular song. Imagine your film features 9 songs by unknowns. You agree to $5k for each song but there’s a “most favored nations” clause. Now, for your 10th song, you license a Rolling Stones track for $500k. Guess what? Suddenly you’re paying $500k per song for each of the 10 songs.
Truth is, I knew most of this stuff from previous attempts to license pop songs. Those experiences were so painful I’ve had an aversion to licensing popular music since. But who knows, maybe with this next movie I might try it again. There’s this one song I feel I gotta have and, well, what the heart desires, right?
On a final note, let me leave you with one of Dan’s sets.
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