What exactly is “royalty-free” music?
Put very simply, “royalty free music” is a term used to describe music that you can use as much as you want, after having paid one single license fee. Traditionally, before “royalty-free” music came on the scene, a film- or media producer either had to “hire” music library per-month or per-year, and/or pay a fee for every minute, second, or every cue that the music was used in a production. Typically, a producer would pay an annual fee to have access to a music library on CDs, and whenever he/she made a programme or a project of some sort, he/she would then keep track of exactly how many seconds the music was used in the project, and then pay an additional fee (a “needle-drop” fee) in addition to the annual fee. If he/she used the same music more than one place in the programme, he/she would have to pay a needle-drop fee for each one. Additionally, he/she might then have to go and obtain a synchronization license as well, for the right to combine the music with the visuals. And on top
