Amazon Studios (“AS”) has an internal Music team who will work closely with productions on all music plans. During the Development Kickoff, the AS Music Executive will discuss AS processes and requirements, music plans, advise on creative requirements, budget considerations and rights queries.
Please refrain from hiring any music talent, or making any licensing requests, until the kick-off call has taken place.
Music Hires
- The AS Music Executive must approve all proposed music hires and their deal terms in writing prior to engagement; this includes composers, music supervisors, artists, songwriters, and music editors.
- Music hire agreements must be signed before they begin work on the production.
- If hiring a music supervisor, the AS Music Executive will arrange a separate meeting to talk them through AS policy and procedure.
Composed Music/Original Songs
- AS must retain all master and publishing rights for perpetuity and world for original music composed for Amazon Originals (Series and Movies), including original songs.
* Composers will be able to collect their writer’s share of performance income. Anything outside of this must be sent to AS Music Executive for written approval. - For on camera or lip sync shoots, song demos and lyrics to be sent to AS music exec for creative alignment and legal clearance of lyrics, prior to shoot. Also all agreements of final music hires to be signed before principal photography.
- For music being composed in post production stage, song demos and lyrics to be sent to be sent to AS for creative alignment, and legal clearance of lyrics. All agreements of music hires to be signed by or before locked cut stage.
- For music being composed outside India, musicians/performers may be a part of unions. Amazon Studios is not a signatory to any musicians’ union, so do not engage union performers for any recordings. If there are plans to include vocal performances in any original score, please speak to AS Music Executive beforehand, as using vocal performers can also result in union fees.
Plans for original songs and bespoke cover versions/recreations (if any) must be discussed with the AS Music Executive before any approach is made to artists, composers, or songwriters.
Licensed Music
Licensed music must be cleared before each final mix for all media (excluding theatrical but including in-context promo use, worldwide, in perpetuity, and in line with the agreed budget for the production. Any variation to these terms must be approved by the assigned AS Legal Team and AS Music Executive. Please contact them before moving forward with the use.
In addition to the sync licensing fees payable to record labels and music publishers, for certain international music union fees may also be required for commercial recordings.
Key areas to consider for clearance:
- Sourcing music – please procure music from legitimate sources, such as Amazon Music, iTunes or record labels; do not rip music from Soundcloud, YouTube or similar sites as this can result in inaccurate rights information and unintentional copyright infringements. Pls make sure to seek all rights from the respective label/publisher before sourcing music from the above platforms. Also, do your own due diligence on label and owner before procuring music.
- Reciting lyrics – if lyrics are recited on camera, these rights should be cleared with the label/publisher of the track.
- Lyrics or sheet music on-screen – these will need to be cleared and licensed for a fee.
- Karaoke – if the content requests a karaoke recording, please let the Music Supervisor or AS Music Executive contact know as there may be pre-agreed rates in place with select providers.
- Lyric changes – these require prior approval from the publisher/label; a backup plan should always be in place in case of denial. Changes/addition in lyrics will also need approval from AS Legal team
- Parody – where planning to parody a musical artist or humorously adapt lyrics, liaise with AS Legal Team and , AS Music Executive and Production Legal ahead of time so that AS can advise best practices.
- Archive clips – music in archive clips will likely require clearance outside of the clip license. In the first instance, check if the rights can be incorporated into the clip license; if this is not an option, obtain music clearance in principle before committing to the clip license fee.
- Ringtones – will require clearance; alternatively, look at composed or library options.
- Most-Favored Nations – AS policy allows most-favored nations approvals between the label and publisher / co-publishers of a track but does not agree to Most-Favored Nations on all songs across an episode or series.
- Graphic content – when clearing commercial licensed music for scenes of a graphic or contentious nature (e.g., sex, drugs, nudity, religion, politics, or violence), please provide detailed scene descriptions and/or script excerpts to the rights owners as part of the clearance request.
- Religious audio – if the content plans to feature any music that includes or samples pre-existing audio with religious connotations, please discuss with AS Legal Team and AS Music Executive beforehand.
Music Templates
Please reference the Music Templates, provided by the AS Music Executive AS Legal Team, to access boilerplate music licensing templates, trackers, and session forms. Any proposed changes to these terms must be approved by the assigned AS Legal Team and AS Music Executive. We have pre-approved templates with key labels (Saregama, Sony Music, T-Series) and key music talent.
Production Music
- * For all Amazon Originals, AS has pre-agreed library rates or agreements with select partners. Please contact the AS Music Executive to access the contacts and details about these libraries.
* Production libraries outside of these deals require approval from AS Music Executive for use in Amazon Studios Originals; this applies to any in-house libraries production companies have access to and/or existing Prod Co blanket deals with libraries.
* For Unscripted Amazon Originals, AS Music has a blanket agreement with Vanacore Music, Universal Music Publishing Group where their catalog is available at no cost to production companies; this deal also includes pre-agreed rates for bespoke cues. Please contact the assigned AS Music Coordinator contact to set up Vanacore accounts. Please reach out to the assigned AS Music Executive contact to set up Vanacore and UMPG accounts.
* For all Scripted Amazon Originals (Series and Movies), AS Music has a blanket agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group where their catalogue is available at no cost to production companies; this deal also includes pre-agreed rates for bespoke cues. Please reach out to the assigned AS Music Executive contact to set up UMPG accounts.
Performances
- For all on-camera music performances, music must be cleared in advance of filming.
- AS strongly advises the use of pre-records during filming.
- If there are plans to capture live vocals during filming, please consult your AS Music Executive to determine best practices
- Where the performer is a cast member or contributor, their talent agreement must include musical performance rights or a separate performance DoA will have to be signed.
- If a performer is signed to a record label, AS requires a waiver from their label granting performance rights, which must be agreed upon before filming. AS Music Executive can advise on this ahead of time.
- Please speak to AS Music Executive as soon as possible if there are plans to film dramatico-musical works, such as operas, musicals, and ballets, as these contain grand rights which need additional clearance and will require an inflated fee.
Music Deliverables
Before production commences, once production enters post, the AS Music Executive will reach out to the relevant production contact to discuss music deliverables in more detail
The Music Executive will share a Music tracker, which the Prod Co or Music Supervisor should update to show details about original music , music hires, demos, lyrics, music clearance, including costs tracked against the budget.
Below is a list of the additional Deliverables that are handled by the AS Music team:
- Music Cue Sheets - the AS Music Coordinator will arrange access to the cue sheet system and can provide training, if necessary, delivered within one week of final mix.
- Commercial Music Licenses and Documentation - to be completed and delivered before the launch, or to be completed before shoot for on camera sequences
- Composed Music hires’ Documentation - to be completed and delivered before launch, or to be completed before shoot for on camera sequences
- Music Audio Deliverables - WAV audio files for the original score, original songs, and commercial music to be delivered within one two weeks of final mix. This should include final multi-tracks/stems from the scoring sessions and final 5.1 stems from the final mix (if applicable).
- Song Masters (WAV 16/44), (WAV 24/48), (WAV 24/96), (MP3 320Kbps)
- Song Multi-tracks/stems (WAV 24/96)
- Song IT Tracks (WAV 24/48)
- Multi-tracks/stems from the scoring sessions and final 5.1 stems from the final mix (if applicable) (WAV 24/96)
- Song Cutdowns (15sec, 20sec ,30sec) (WAV 24/48)
- Song lyrics transcribed in Roman English
- Song translation in English (in case of a regional song)
- All songs’ credits
- X-Ray Music List - a track list of all commercial music to be delivered within one week of final mix.
All required music deliverables must be received and approved by the AS Music team before delivery can be considered final.
Music Rights Contract Agreements for all music hires (including composer, music supervisor, music producers, artists, songwriters, and label waivers) are a Legal Deliverable.