Know AFM (American Federation Of Musicians) “New Use” Fees Before You License A Track

Music is a great source of relaxation. At the same time, it is a powerful storytelling tool. It can convey and heighten the emotion in a scene. When filmmakers decide to reproduce pre-recorded music on the soundtrack of their films, they have to be ready to invest time and money in getting the synchronization right of the music. These licenses are known as ‘synch licenses.’ This investment is time-consuming because it needs contacting and making negotiations with different parties.

Side by side, it is also costly if you want to secure the rights to pre-recorded music. It is important to pay fees to the record company and publisher. You also need to pay the fees related to American Federation Musicians New Use. Before you want to license a track, this fee is necessary to pay. Here is the complete description of AMF New Use Fees.

What are AMF New Use Fees?

The American Federation of Musicians or AF of M needs a fee to be paid by the filmmaker or anyone who wants to use prerecorded music in a film in terms of ‘New Use Fees.’ This fee is the equivalent of a session fee for each musician who participated in the recording at the time of the original recording. This fee is supposed to vary according to the number of musicians who performed on the recording. The size of the budget of a film is also an important factor that impacts the calculation of this fee. Along with this fee, filmmakers will also need to pay a 10% pension fund contribution.

New Use Fees can expand the budget of the music. The American Federation of Musicians prefers those films, which are non-profit. This is the main reason why they do not charge this fee to films, whose only venue is film festivals. Apart from that, this fee will also be waived for those filmmakers whose projects are non-profit.

Moreover, singers on the prerecorded music (needs to be licensed) may be members of SAG or Screen Actors Guild and/or AFTRA or American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Filmmakers will have to pay this fee to these unions as well. It is not easy to calculate the American Federation Musicians New Use fees. Make sure not to pay this fee unless the AF of M provide the original session sheet.

Seek professional help

Filmmakers should contact the American Federations of Music, SAG or AFTRA once they identify the music they wish to license and they have to pay the New Use Fees. Michael Welsh Productions is the right place where you can seek help with licensing.

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