The Sound of Opportunity: Music Licensing in Short-Form Content
- 3 min read
BCGuardian, LLC
Content Protection
Social media today is dominated by short-form content, and music is arguably the most integral component of the medium. A single 15-second clip can launch a viral trend which inspires billions of follow-on posts and incites a cultural phenomenon.
Brands frequently ride the wave of such viral trends to promote their products and services, following modern marketing strategies which prioritize authenticity and relevance among their target markets. Doing so without proper licensing places brands in a precarious position, creating an environment rife with copyright infringement, while simultaneously placing music rights owners on the defensive.
But masked by this challenge lies opportunity. By understanding the risks and shifting perspective, both brands and rights owners can forge a new, mutually beneficial path forward.
The Risk to Brands of an “Ask Forgiveness Later” Model
The risks for brands which ignore copyright law and platform terms of use are material. Music rights owners are taking action to protect their copyrighted content from unauthorized commercial use. A quick online search will reveal numerous lawsuits filed for infringing activity by brands ranging from household names to boutique direct-to-consumer products.
Beyond the financial cost of litigation and potential damages, brands face reputational damage when a public action alleges content theft, potentially undermining the very authenticity they sought to project.
The Risk to Rights Owners of Inaction
Rights owners not actively monitoring for unlicensed commercial use of their content are allowing revenue bearing opportunities to slip away. Additionally, rights owners lose the ability to control how their artists’ works are used, potentially leading to associations with brands or campaigns that conflict with their values.
Moving from Confrontation to Conversation
While this arena presents challenges for both music rights owners and brands, there also exists the opportunity to forge mutually beneficial partnerships and collaborations.
By properly licensing music for commercial use, brands benefit in several ways.
- Risk Mitigation – Most obviously, brands avoid defending costly lawsuits for unauthorized use of music in their commercial content. Brands also limit exposure to reputational damage.
- Unique Access to Content – Brands gaining exclusive access to licensed content can avoid following the crowd and achieve true authenticity by setting the trend with content aligned to their brand.
- Building Authentic Partnerships – Brands engaging with music rights owners open the door for potential collaborations between artists and brands’ promotional campaigns.
For brands, the path forward involves viewing music licensing as an investment in creativity and authenticity.
For rights owners, embracing commercial partnerships in short-form content unlocks value beyond simply collecting punitive damages which may be achieved through rights enforcement.
- Sustainable and Scalable Revenue Streams – By identifying and offering a seamless path to licensing, rights owners may convert infringers to paying customers, particularly in the small and mid-cap market.
- Market Intelligence – Monitoring commercial use enables rights owners to understand which assets resonate within certain commercial audiences, and can in turn leverage that data for their own marketing and licensing strategies more broadly.
- Building Authentic Partnerships – Like brands, music rights owners too benefit from establishing partnerships for potential collaborations with brands. Viral marketing campaigns can propel music to new audiences, just the same as brands rely on trending music to carry their promotional messaging to market.
By shifting perspective from risk to relationship, the challenge of copyright infringement can be reframed into an opportunity – driving revenue, building authentic connections, and creating more impactful culture for all stakeholders involved.
If you’re ready to begin converting infringing commercial use into sustainable and scalable revenue streams, send us a DM here on LinkedIn or reach out to your BCGuardian account manager directly.