Page 37 - Mar_Apr23

The Business

of Composing

Part 2

Licensing

Dan F orr est with

J ak e R unestad

his is Part 2 of our articles on revenue for composers. In
Part 1 we discussed commissions, publishing, and selling
T sheet music, and appearance fees/residencies (see pages
24-32); here in Part 2 we will discuss Licensing. We (Dan and Jake)
have both had to sort through a wide variety of licensing situa-
tions, and in our conversations we’ve realized just how complicat-
ed these licensing issues are, both for composers and publishers.
Many composers (both in traditional publishing and in self-pub-
lishing) accept revenue if it comes in but have no idea how “the
system” works, and feel frustrated when it doesn’t seem to work
as expected. Similarly, there are no substantial resources to help
choral conductors understand the system.
If you publish music with a traditional publisher, and don’t
care about all the inner workings, you don’t have to understand all
the details of licensing; you can trust your reputable publisher to
handle all this for you. However, as more composers self-publish,
the number of questions keeps increasing, especially regarding
choirs making audio and video recordings of their music, and it’s
extremely difficult for composers (and conductors) to find a com-
prehensive overview of licensing. So, we’re going to try! This ar-
ticle will explain the various revenue streams from licensing, with
an emphasis on the complicated world of digital audio and video.
Our goal is to share the things we’ve learned, in hopes that we
can clarify terms, processes, and issues for our entire choral com-
munity. We want to educate and empower composers, and enable
conductors to support the composers and publishers of the music
they love! Ready for a deep dive?

CHORAL JOURNAL March/April 2023 Volume 63 Number 7 35