How do I price licensing + royalties for a contract?

soulmusic

New member
I recently recorded an ambient piano CD which a friend wants for her company's use as background music for free meditation Internet downloads + monthly/annual meditation subscriptions (not free). She will use my music on one/some/all of the monthly/annual subscriptions.

I'm the songwriter, publisher, performer, and owner. As a complete newbie, I have no idea what to charge. I'd love any suggestions on how to price the licensing + royalties.

Thanks!
 
I would only worry about front end money
not back end money

you charge what you can negotiate
A couple grand or more or less depending on the amount the company has to spend
 
and then secure your backend rights via your pro

your front-end money may have a contractual clause that stipulates the first so many sales are exempt from royalty payments to PRO's MRO's etc, but as this is technically synchronisation, you may want to investigate a little deeper
 
Is it a big company? You should be able to figure out if this company would be willing to spend "a couple grand" on music if only a handful of people are going to download it. As a small business owner, I can tell you that if a friend came at me asking for $2K to use his music in a promo vid, I could not and would not afford that. "Am I going to make more than $2,000 on these meditation downloads to justify that??" That's what the biz owner's mindset will be.

Royalty-free sites (which is what this usage is going to ultimately be - if there are any royalties, it's gonna be pennies... does this company even file cue sheets for stuff like this?) charge $25-100 for song usages in this capacity (small biz promos, cat videos on youtube, meditation videos, etc). It's not airing on cable. Negotiate what you can, but be reasonable, or you'll end up rejected, and then you lose the opportunity altogether.

Just my $0.02
 
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