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Obtaining Rights to Artists and Content For Use in Music-Driven TV Productions
The producers of music-driven television programs, such as variety specials and music-based TV series, typically must negotiate with several key parties to obtain the rights to use the music and the services of the artists in the show. These parties include: music publishers that own, control and/or administrate the music compositions performed 'live and in concert' and/or on sound-recording masters included in the program; the record labels that own, control and/or administrate the masters; and the labels that are entitled to the exclusive recording services of the artists performing the music in the TV show. The program producer, who will likely have created the concept and format for the TV production, usually undertakes all of the production's associated risks and is responsible for the program's financing.
In the following interview coordinated by Entertainment Law & Finance Editor-in-Chief, Stan Soocher, Santa Monica, CA-based entertainment-attorney Henry Root discusses key aspects of the clearance process involved in music-driven TV productions, as well as producer/label negotiations and how they may affect the artist. Root has over 25 years of experience in the music and TV industries. He has overseen the delivery of programming to every major TV network. His institutional clients include the MTV Networks. He also represents record and TV producers, a mini-major music-publishing company, numerous award-winning songwriters and recording artists signed to nearly every major record label. Root began his legal career in the Business & Legal Affairs department of MCA Records after several years of international touring with major acts as a lighting designer and production manager.
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