Licensing

Wise Music Creative Iceland handles licensing for commercials, film, television, advertising, and games. Our unique office offers a one-stop shop for music professionals, providing a full range of publishing services as well as music supervision. 

Licensing FAQ

  • What is Synchronisation Licensing?

    Synchronisation Licensing is licensing of musical works to be “synched” over visual media including motion pictures, television programs, videos, commercials, etc. 

  • What permissions do I require to use a song in my project?

    It is your responsibility to clear 100% of the publishing and 100% of the master recording for a song before using it. In many cases, there are multiple copyright owners for a given song and it is your responsibility to ensure you have cleared all rights before using it.

    There are two copyrights that need to be cleared in order to license an original song for use - the publishing copyright and the master recording copyright.

  • What is the publishing copyright?

    The publishing copyright covers the musical work, the lyrics and music written by the song's composer/s. A composer's publisher usually controls rights to the song.

  • What is the master recording copyright?

    The master recording is the actual recorded performance of a song, whose main exploitation usually appears on a recording artist’s commercially released album. The recording artist's record company usually controls rights to the recording.

    For more information, please refer to your local performing right society (PRS/ASCAP/BMI/APRA etc.)

  • I am re-recording a song. Do I need a master recording license?

    No.

    If you are planning on re-recording a version of a song with your own musicians, you do not need to obtain a master use license.

  • What does "MFN" stand for?

    MFN stands for Most Favoured Nations, meaning the synch fee is the same as the master recording fee. Publishers are also MFN with each other.