FAQs

Production Music is music specifically written and recorded for synchronisation into audiovisual and audio productions, including TV productions, commercials, feature films, websites and various corporate materials. It is written and recorded by professional songwriters and high-quality producers.

Licences to use Production Music are issued by PRS for Music on behalf of MCPS and are simple, cost-effective and last for the lifetime of the production involved.

The Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) is the UK’s collective management organisation representing songwriters, publishers and composers when their songs are copied and synchronised to visuals. Importantly, in the case of Production Music, MCPS also represent their Production Music Library members’ sound recording mechanical and performing rights.

The Performing Rights Society (PRS) is the UK’s collective management organisation representing songwriters, publishers and composers when their songs are performed or broadcast.

The main difference is that MCPS license, collect monies and distribute royalties when their members’ songs are copied or synchronised to visuals (the mechanical right) and PRS do the same when their members’ songs are performed or broadcast (the performing right). It is also important to note that MCPS use PRS for Music (the operating company of PRS) to undertake their licensing activities, so when you are discussing or obtaining an MCPS licence you will mainly be dealing with PRS for Music.

No. PPL are a rights organisation that represents sound recording rights; however, in the case of Production Music, MCPS represent all the sound recording rights, including the right to copy and to perform or broadcast the sound recordings.

MCPS Production Music members provide an enormous choice of high-quality music for production needs. The MCPS members (often referred to as Libraries) make this music available free of charge via their excellent search facilities, usually online. Using Production Music involves no pre-clearance requirements, and licensing its use is simple, quick, cost-effective, covers all types of usage and lasts for the lifetime of your production

No, there are no pre-clearance requirements for any type of production when you use Production Music, so long as you follow the guidelines on this website and ensure the appropriate licence is in place at the point you start to use or exploit your production.

Once you have chosen your Production Music, take a record of the catalogue number and name of the track(s) used, the composer(s) and arranger (s), the name of the Library and the duration of each cue of music you have recorded into your production. This information will be freely available on the website or disc from which you have sourced your music, and will make your task much easier when you come to obtain your licence and provide the music reporting.

When you apply for your licence, you must provide the title of your production, your client’s details (if relevant), any reference numbers you are using and the name of the facility house (if you have used one). In addition to this, to ensure you obtain the correct licence, you will need to know the type of media your production will be shown or exploited on (e.g. radio commercial, corporate video, television programme, etc.), the licence territory (which you can find on our licensing section of this website), and any specific details required, such as the number of copies to be produced, the broadcast area, etc.

Your licence will cover all the rights normally required by the creator or producer of the content or production. These are the rights to synchronise both the sound recording and the underlying song or musical work into the production and to make any copies of this, as per the terms of the licence you have selected. It also includes the right to communicate (broadcast or publicly perform) the sound recording to the public. The only right the licence does not cover is the right to communicate the musical work to the public. If you are doing this yourself, e.g. you are also a television broadcaster or are showing your production on your own company’s website, you will need to speak to the PRS to obtain a licence for this right.

There are no pre-clearance requirements when using MCPS Production Music, but it is important to organise your licence prior to using or exploiting your production, whether that is showing your corporate video at a conference, broadcasting your advert, providing a copy of your television production to a broadcaster, etc. Remember, using (or authorising someone else to use) MCPS Production Music without a valid licence constitutes copyright infringement, for which facility houses, production companies and their clients could all be liable. In some cases, obtaining a retrospective licence may be possible, but these may be subject to significantly higher royalty fees than the standard rates.

Once you have submitted your licence application using our Licence Manager tool you will receive an email containing the details of your application and a copy of your invoice. If you have chosen to pay at the point of application, this email will also contain your licence document. If you have chosen to pay later, this will need to be completed within 21 days, at which point you will then be emailed your licence document.

If you wish to amend the details of your existing licence or add additional territories or copies, etc, please visit the Contact page to get in touch with our licensing team.

In these cases, contact MCPS Credit Control at 020 3741 3888 or email the details to mcpscreditcontrol@mcps.co.uk. Please note that payment of your invoice signals acceptance of the licence terms and conditions. once payment has been made, it is not possible to refund this. For this reason, please ensure you check the details on your invoice thoroughly and inform us before payment should you wish to amend or cancel your application.

If you already hold an advertisement or trailer licence for the original production that is based on a “per track” rate, then any tag endings or cut-downs made and broadcast within the first 12 months are covered for the lifetime of the production. Thereafter, any new edits or versions created and broadcast after this time will require additional licensing.

Tag endings refer to productions that have minor changes made to the message at the end of an advertisement or trailer, for example, when the advert is changed to say “sale starts tomorrow” when it originally said “sale starts Monday”.

Cut downs are productions that are created as a shorter version of an original advertisement or trailer when no new content is added, for example, when the original 45-second advert is re-edited so that its duration is reduced to 30 seconds or 15 seconds.

Many of our licences offer rates based on a per track or per production basis, where unlimited use of the same track or unlimited use of multiple tracks in the same production can be licensed under a single rate. In the case of our Corporate, Film and Trailer licences, the aggregation of individual cues of the same track are also permitted.

No, speech and/or subtitle translations are not considered a new production and do not require any additional licensing, provided the necessary territorial clearance has been covered by your licence.

The standard Production Music licences referred to on this website cover any rights to copy the musical work and the sound recording, plus the right to broadcast or perform the sound recording when your production is shown on the internet. If you are showing your production on your own website(s), a licence to cover the broadcast or performance of the musical work can be obtained from PRS, who offer a PROL (Performing Right Online Licence) that has been specially created for such purposes. Information on this licence can be found by visiting: www.prsformusic.com/licences/using-music-online/performing-right-online-licence

MCPS represent the rights in Production Music, and PRS for Music are responsible for carrying out the licensing of Production Music on MCPS’ behalf, but it is the Production Music members or Libraries themselves who provide the music. You can find all their details in the Catalogues section.

In the UK, MCPS is the exclusive administrator responsible for all licensing requirements on behalf of its Production Music Library members. This has many benefits, such as allowing you to use music from multiple Libraries in your productions whilst purchasing one simple licence from a central source.

No, the rates available on this website only apply to the use of Production Music. If you wish to use chart music (often referred to as commercial music) in your production, you will need to contact the licensing team; see the Contacts page for their details.

The vast majority of MCPS Libraries have their own websites, where you can search for the music you need using various criteria and listen to or sample potential tracks. In many cases, their websites also offer additional functionality and engagement with the Library and their experienced staff, such as online chat and being able to submit a brief. Links to the Libraries’ websites and details of the functions available can be found in Catalogues.