Music Licensing
Music licensing is the process of securing the legal rights to use a piece of music in a production.
What this is about
A commercial song carries two separate rights: the composition (publisher, writers) and the specific recording (label). Using it in a film needs both cleared, scoped by territory, term, and media — a licence for one year of German web use does not cover a TV spot. Library music simplifies this to a single licence with defined scopes. The dangerous pattern is cutting to an uncleared track: the edit falls in love, the quote comes back unaffordable, and the recut costs real days.
A term only helps when everyone on set means the same thing by it — so what follows is how it is used, not a dictionary definition.
What runs differently here
Where this differs from the general case:
- Composition and recording are separate rights — clear both or neither is enough
- Scope licences honestly: territory, term, media, and cutdowns
- Clear before the edit commits; recutting to new music costs days
With TillyGen
A music-clearance line in TillyGen's plan puts the licence question before the edit starts, where it costs an email instead of a recut.
Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.
Frequently asked
Can I use a famous song if I credit the artist?
No. Credit is not a licence. Both composition and recording need cleared rights for your exact use — or you swap to library music you can afford.
How long does it take to get started with TillyGen?
A first project takes under an hour to set up. There is no configuration phase in which templates and fields have to be defined before the tool produces anything.
Can the results be exported?
Yes — as PDF for the crew, CSV for downstream systems and through the API for anything automated. The plan stays the source; the exports are views of it.