Production Blog: UMG Studios

 

Hello guys! Welcome back to the blog! Today's blog is a bit different from the usual filming adventures. It's all about the journey I went on to include a particular song- "Black Skinhead", by Kanye West" in our video project. Focusing less about the visuals and more about navigating the complex world of music licensing. When we decided on the perfect song for our project, we knew it would fit in our video by matching the tone and emotion we aimed to convey. Excited to progress with our task, I reached out to Universal Music Group, explaining our academic intentions and how we planned to use the song in a class presentation. The initial response was encouraging, but things got complicated once I mentioned the need to post the video on YouTube, even just on a personal channel. The licensing world is tricky, especially when distinguishing between private and public online sharing. Our communication with UMe Film & TV Licensing revealed that despite our educational purposes, using the song publicly online required a formal license, not just a nod of approval for classroom use. Navigating this process taught me about the importance of clear communication and the nuances of copyright laws. The reality of licensing fees hit us hard, a minimum of $700, considering administrative, union, and publishing costs. This was a hard thing to hear, especially for a student-led project, highlighting the financial barriers in film creation. Through this experience, I learned invaluable lessons about the legal aspects of content creation, like copyright. This wasn't just a hurdle, it was a learning process for the nuances of film creation and content creation. This whole journey, while challenging, has been incredibly enlightening. It taught the importance of planning, research, and understanding the legal frameworks surrounding creative works. As we move forward with our projects, I am now more equipped to deal with this challenges, ensuring we respect intellectual property while pursuing creative visions. Due to these hurdles we went through, we still have yet to decide on the specific song we are using. We have a few royalty-free songs that would work well in the context of our video, but we have a couple licensed songs we are still attempting to get access to, and will update you when we have more information. Thats it for todays blog, thank you for tuning in, and i hope to see you again tomorrow!