How to
License
Music
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a leading global music publisher with 48 offices in 41 countries. Headquartered in Los Angeles, UMPG represents music across every genre from some of the world’s most important songwriters and catalogues.
With an unparalleled roster
and iconic catalogue of over three million songs, UMPG has the industry’s premiere global creative and synchronization team. We connect the best music to film, tv, advertising, stage, video games and digital content.
m emerging artists and songwriters to global superstars,
we create opportunities for our talented writers to include worldwide sync placements, networking opportunities with studios and music supervisors, and facilitating original music creation for projects. With a deep knowledge of the UMPG catalog our music experts provide a personal service and advanced tools to help you easily find and license the perfect track for your project within the scope of your budget.
We provide free music supervision, including song searches, creative and licensing
services, as well as one stop solutions. For more information, you can visit our Music Search. Or to request a license for a song, go to our Request License Quote page or email umpg.licensing@umusic.com. Check out some examples of recent synchs we’ve licensed for major advertisers, films, trailers, games and more below.
FAQs
What rights do I need to clear to use a song in my video? Publishing vs Master?
When you are looking to synchronise a song with any visuals there are two separate rights that you need to clear:
The first are the Publishing Rights which are for the composition and lyrics and can be licensed from the music publisher(s) who represent the writer(s) of the song.
The second set of rights you need to clear are the Master Rights which are for the actual sound recording and can be licensed from the record label who represent the artist who recorded the song.
Let's use the song 'White Christmas', written by Irving Berlin as an example. Universal Music Publishing control the publishing rights to this song but if you wanted to use the Bing Crosby recording of 'White Christmas', as well as approaching Universal Music Publishing, you would also need to clear this with Universal Records who own the master recording. Or if you were to you decide to use Michael Buble's version, then his recording is owned by Warner Records so you would need their permission.
Whichever recording you used, you would always need the publishers permission i.e. UMPG in this case.
How can I check who owns Publishing and Master Rights for a song?
When you are looking to synchronise a song with any visuals there are two separate rights that you need to clear:
The first are the Publishing Rights which are for the composition and lyrics and can be licensed from the music publisher(s) who represent the writer(s) of the song.
The second set of rights you need to clear are the Master Rights which are for the actual sound recording and can be licensed from the record label who represent the artist who recorded the song.
Let's use the song 'White Christmas', written by Irving Berlin as an example. Universal Music Publishing control the publishing rights to this song but if you wanted to use the Bing Crosby recording of 'White Christmas', as well as approaching Universal Music Publishing, you would also need to clear this with Universal Records who own the master recording. Or if you were to you decide to use Michael Buble's version, then his recording is owned by Warner Records so you would need their permission.
Whichever recording you used, you would always need the publishers permission i.e. UMPG in this case.
I’m based in the UK and want to use a Universal Publishing song in my video, what happens next?
When you are looking to synchronise a song with any visuals there are two separate rights that you need to clear:
The first are the Publishing Rights which are for the composition and lyrics and can be licensed from the music publisher(s) who represent the writer(s) of the song.
The second set of rights you need to clear are the Master Rights which are for the actual sound recording and can be licensed from the record label who represent the artist who recorded the song.
Let's use the song 'White Christmas', written by Irving Berlin as an example. Universal Music Publishing control the publishing rights to this song but if you wanted to use the Bing Crosby recording of 'White Christmas', as well as approaching Universal Music Publishing, you would also need to clear this with Universal Records who own the master recording. Or if you were to you decide to use Michael Buble's version, then his recording is owned by Warner Records so you would need their permission.
Whichever recording you used, you would always need the publishers permission i.e. UMPG in this case.
What if I’m not based in the UK?
When you are looking to synchronise a song with any visuals there are two separate rights that you need to clear:
The first are the Publishing Rights which are for the composition and lyrics and can be licensed from the music publisher(s) who represent the writer(s) of the song.
The second set of rights you need to clear are the Master Rights which are for the actual sound recording and can be licensed from the record label who represent the artist who recorded the song.
Let's use the song 'White Christmas', written by Irving Berlin as an example. Universal Music Publishing control the publishing rights to this song but if you wanted to use the Bing Crosby recording of 'White Christmas', as well as approaching Universal Music Publishing, you would also need to clear this with Universal Records who own the master recording. Or if you were to you decide to use Michael Buble's version, then his recording is owned by Warner Records so you would need their permission.
Whichever recording you used, you would always need the publishers permission i.e. UMPG in this case.
I’m not sure if I will use the song yet but just want a quote?
When you are looking to synchronise a song with any visuals there are two separate rights that you need to clear:
The first are the Publishing Rights which are for the composition and lyrics and can be licensed from the music publisher(s) who represent the writer(s) of the song.
The second set of rights you need to clear are the Master Rights which are for the actual sound recording and can be licensed from the record label who represent the artist who recorded the song.
Let's use the song 'White Christmas', written by Irving Berlin as an example. Universal Music Publishing control the publishing rights to this song but if you wanted to use the Bing Crosby recording of 'White Christmas', as well as approaching Universal Music Publishing, you would also need to clear this with Universal Records who own the master recording. Or if you were to you decide to use Michael Buble's version, then his recording is owned by Warner Records so you would need their permission.
Whichever recording you used, you would always need the publishers permission i.e. UMPG in this case.
How long does it take to seek clearance?
When you are looking to synchronise a song with any visuals there are two separate rights that you need to clear:
The first are the Publishing Rights which are for the composition and lyrics and can be licensed from the music publisher(s) who represent the writer(s) of the song.
The second set of rights you need to clear are the Master Rights which are for the actual sound recording and can be licensed from the record label who represent the artist who recorded the song.
Let's use the song 'White Christmas', written by Irving Berlin as an example. Universal Music Publishing control the publishing rights to this song but if you wanted to use the Bing Crosby recording of 'White Christmas', as well as approaching Universal Music Publishing, you would also need to clear this with Universal Records who own the master recording. Or if you were to you decide to use Michael Buble's version, then his recording is owned by Warner Records so you would need their permission.
Whichever recording you used, you would always need the publishers permission i.e. UMPG in this case.
How can I speed up the process?
When you are looking to synchronise a song with any visuals there are two separate rights that you need to clear:
The first are the Publishing Rights which are for the composition and lyrics and can be licensed from the music publisher(s) who represent the writer(s) of the song.
The second set of rights you need to clear are the Master Rights which are for the actual sound recording and can be licensed from the record label who represent the artist who recorded the song.
Let's use the song 'White Christmas', written by Irving Berlin as an example. Universal Music Publishing control the publishing rights to this song but if you wanted to use the Bing Crosby recording of 'White Christmas', as well as approaching Universal Music Publishing, you would also need to clear this with Universal Records who own the master recording. Or if you were to you decide to use Michael Buble's version, then his recording is owned by Warner Records so you would need their permission.
Whichever recording you used, you would always need the publishers permission i.e. UMPG in this case.
The ballpark quote states the fee is “based on 100%”, what does that mean?
When you are looking to synchronise a song with any visuals there are two separate rights that you need to clear:
The first are the Publishing Rights which are for the composition and lyrics and can be licensed from the music publisher(s) who represent the writer(s) of the song.
The second set of rights you need to clear are the Master Rights which are for the actual sound recording and can be licensed from the record label who represent the artist who recorded the song.
Let's use the song 'White Christmas', written by Irving Berlin as an example. Universal Music Publishing control the publishing rights to this song but if you wanted to use the Bing Crosby recording of 'White Christmas', as well as approaching Universal Music Publishing, you would also need to clear this with Universal Records who own the master recording. Or if you were to you decide to use Michael Buble's version, then his recording is owned by Warner Records so you would need their permission.
Whichever recording you used, you would always need the publishers permission i.e. UMPG in this case.
The ballpark quote also states the fee is MFN, what does that mean?
When you are looking to synchronise a song with any visuals there are two separate rights that you need to clear:
The first are the Publishing Rights which are for the composition and lyrics and can be licensed from the music publisher(s) who represent the writer(s) of the song.
The second set of rights you need to clear are the Master Rights which are for the actual sound recording and can be licensed from the record label who represent the artist who recorded the song.
Let's use the song 'White Christmas', written by Irving Berlin as an example. Universal Music Publishing control the publishing rights to this song but if you wanted to use the Bing Crosby recording of 'White Christmas', as well as approaching Universal Music Publishing, you would also need to clear this with Universal Records who own the master recording. Or if you were to you decide to use Michael Buble's version, then his recording is owned by Warner Records so you would need their permission.
Whichever recording you used, you would always need the publishers permission i.e. UMPG in this case.
A few other handy bits of information
When you are looking to synchronise a song with any visuals there are two separate rights that you need to clear:
The first are the Publishing Rights which are for the composition and lyrics and can be licensed from the music publisher(s) who represent the writer(s) of the song.
The second set of rights you need to clear are the Master Rights which are for the actual sound recording and can be licensed from the record label who represent the artist who recorded the song.
Let's use the song 'White Christmas', written by Irving Berlin as an example. Universal Music Publishing control the publishing rights to this song but if you wanted to use the Bing Crosby recording of 'White Christmas', as well as approaching Universal Music Publishing, you would also need to clear this with Universal Records who own the master recording. Or if you were to you decide to use Michael Buble's version, then his recording is owned by Warner Records so you would need their permission.
Whichever recording you used, you would always need the publishers permission i.e. UMPG in this case.
Get in touch
When you are looking to synchronise a song with any visuals there are two separate rights that you need to clear:
The first are the Publishing Rights which are for the composition and lyrics and can be licensed from the music publisher(s) who represent the writer(s) of the song.
The second set of rights you need to clear are the Master Rights which are for the actual sound recording and can be licensed from the record label who represent the artist who recorded the song.
Let's use the song 'White Christmas', written by Irving Berlin as an example. Universal Music Publishing control the publishing rights to this song but if you wanted to use the Bing Crosby recording of 'White Christmas', as well as approaching Universal Music Publishing, you would also need to clear this with Universal Records who own the master recording. Or if you were to you decide to use Michael Buble's version, then his recording is owned by Warner Records so you would need their permission.
Whichever recording you used, you would always need the publishers permission i.e. UMPG in this case.