FAQ

A music publisher represents songwriters and manages the copyrights of music and lyrics, whereas a record label represents artists and manages the record masters. TRO Essex Music Group manages 18 multiple publishing catalogs as well as our sister record labels Muscadet Productions, Inc. and Straight Ahead Productions, Ltd.

  • Copyright Registrations and International Administration
  • Worldwide Licensing, Collections and Distributions
  • Song Plugging to Recording Artists, Film & TV Studios
  • Corporate and Industrial Advertising
  • Musical Transcriptions & Lead Sheet Preparations
  • Sheet Music, Folio and Book Publication and Distribution
  • Record Label Representation
  • Liaison to Performing Rights and Mechanical Collection Societies Worldwide
  • Promotional Samplers, Folios and Showcases

Performing Rights Organizations (or Societies) monitor, collecting and paying out 'performance royalties' to publishers and songwriters. These are royalties that are paid to songwriters and publishers whenever the song is, for example, played on the radio or on TV. Every territory in the World has a governing PRO responsible for this monitoring. A full list of the PROs is below. In the United States, virtually all radio stations and TV networks report to ASCAP and BMI for what is called a 'blanket licence', which allows them to broadcast any song as many times as they like. Once the song is registered by a publisher, the performing rights societies will collect and pay out these performance royalties directly to the publisher and songwriter. Songwriters must choose to affiliate and register their work with only one society in the US. Outside the United States there is only one performing rights society per country

The “mechanical” right is the right to reproduce a song onto audio only recording devices like CDs, records, cassettes or downloads. When a song is included in a audio visual production, like a film or TV show, the reproduction is called “synchronization,” and the producer must obtain a synch license.  Mechanical royalties and synchronization fees are paid by production companies directly to the copyright owner, usually the publisher, or his or her representative. 

Any copyrighted music used in any medium requires a publishing license, including use on a CD or performed on stage. Use of a copyrighted song on a video or repeated performance shown to the public requires a synchronization license. Some examples of other public media outlets that require synchronization licenses include film; advertisements; television; internet (including websites like YouTube); and more.
 If a song whose copyright is controlled by TRO Essex is to be used for a film, television show, home video, promo, video game, merchandise, ringtone, and virtually any other type of audio-visual use, a synchronization license must be obtained from TRO Essex. For more information on Synch licensing, please click here

If you are manufacturing and distributing copies of a song that you do not own or control, you need to obtain a mechanical license. This is required by the U.S. Copyright Act, regardless of whether or not you are selling the copies that you make.

Under the U.S. Copyright Act, the right to use copyrighted, non-dramatic musical works in the making of sound recordings, including CDs, records, tapes, ringtones, permanent digital downloads, and other digital formats (e.g., interactive streams) for distribution to the public for private use is the exclusive right of the copyright owner. However, the Act provides that once a copyright owner has recorded and distributed such a work to the U.S. public or permitted another to do so, a compulsory mechanical license is available to anyone else that wants to record and distribute the work upon obtaining a proper license and subsequently paying royalties at the statutory "compulsory" rate as set forth in Section 115 of the Act and the related regulations. In other words, if the song has already been recorded and commercially released, you can record and distribute it as long as you obtain a license and pay royalties.

A mechanical license DOES NOT grant the right to: Reproduce sound recordings, also known as “master use rights”; Include the song in a video; Perform the song in public; Display or reprint lyrics; Use the song in digital jukeboxes, background music or ringbacks; Print sheet music; Use the song or lyrics in karaoke or "CD+G" products.

Any time a recording has lawfully been made with the permission of the copyright owner, anyone else has the right to make another recording of that work (hence the term “compulsory” license) as long as they pay at least the statutory royalties. But the copyright owner can deny permission to anyone seeking to make the first recording of the work.

Statutory Royalty Rates

The statutory mechanical royalty rate for physical formats (CDs, cassettes, LPs) and permanent digital downloads is:
9.10¢ per copy for songs 5 minutes or less, or
1.75¢ per minute or fraction thereof, per copy for songs over 5 minutes.

The statutory mechanical royalty rate for ringtones is 24¢ per copy. The rates for interactive streams and limited downloads are determined by a number of factors including service offering type, licensee type, service revenue, recorded content expense, and applicable performance royalty expense.

Yes, a video with music contains three copyrights: the video images, the sound recording, and the underlying song composition (music publishing rights). In a video where you are performing a cover song, you might control the copyrights to the video images and sound recording but don’t control the music publishing copyrights. To use the song composition, you need to negotiate a synchronization license directly with TRO Essex Music in the appropriate territory. However, many music publishers have entered into license agreements with YouTube permitting the use of the songs they control in exchange for a percentage of any advertising revenues (although in some cases the publisher may set a policy that a particular song is blocked from use). As a result, in most cases, YouTube has already obtained an agreement with the music publisher

The public performing right entitles the copyright owner to receive royalties when his song is sung or played, recorded or live, on radio and television, as well as through other surveyed media such as the Internet, live concerts and programmed music services. Such royalties go to both the composer and publisher through their performing rights organization, which grants licenses to perform the music in their respective repertoires to thousands of users of music in public places, such as broadcasting stations, hotels, clubs, colleges, restaurants, stores, etc.

The “mechanical” right is really the right to reproduce a piece of music onto records or tapes and certain digital media. (Non-mechanical reproduction includes such things as making sheet music or printing songbooks, for which royalties are paid by the publisher to the composer.) When reproduction of music is made onto a soundtrack of a film or TV show, the reproduction is called “synchronization,” and the license that the TV or film producer needs to obtain is called a synchronization or “synch” license. Mechanical royalties and synchronization fees are paid by record companies, digital media providers and film and TV producers directly to the copyright owner, usually the publisher.

Yes, we are currently accepting new material. Please contact us at USinfo@troessexmusic.com for more information.

Please contact our exclusive print agent, The Hal Leonard Company at http://www.halleonard.com for a full product listing or visit our Products page of the website

You may search our catalog online anytime on a basic level via simply typing what you are looking for into the search box (artist name, song title or theme etc.)

Please start your catalog search here.

 You may reach out to us to clear a song on the publishing side via contacting USinfo@troessexmusic.com with as much information as you can regarding the proposed usage (label, approximate release date etc) and the audio file (MP3 is fine). Sample requests will take approximately 10-14 working days to process

Licensing turnaround can vary greatly depending on a number of factors, such as what type of synchronization license you are seeking, which song(s) you’re requesting to license, whether approvals are needed from specific parties, etc. Please allow plenty of time to get your music cleared before placing music in your final project

Fees for music licenses can vary greatly depending on many factors, including the length of time you’d like to license the music (term); the media outlet (film, television, internet, etc.); and many other factors. Please visit our license request page to get a quote for a synch license.

“Media type” simply refers to your project’s media outlet. In other words, how are you going to share your project with the public? For example, you would select “internet” if you were seeking a synchronization license for a YouTube video, or you would select “television” if you were seeking a synchronization license for a television show

No. This section is intended for productions originating in North America only. For other territories, please refer to our global contacts section to locate a TRO Essex office in your part of the world

User-based content websites like YouTube, Vimeo, and others are considered public media outlets. Accordingly, every time they are used to distribute copyrighted music to the public, whether for monetary gain or not, a synchronization license is required. Chances are that the user who uploaded the video you’ve seen featuring one or more TRO Essex controlled songs has obtained a synchronization license from us. You must still obtain a synchronization license for any song whose copyright UMPG controls before featuring it in your video regardless of whether you have purchased it in mechanical form (e.g. a CD, cassette tape, etc.) or in digital form (e.g. MP3, WAV, etc.)

There are important differences to note between purchasing music and obtaining a synchronization license. Put simply, purchasing music allows you to privately listen to and store it, whereas obtaining a synchronization license allows you to repurpose music for public distribution. If you purchase music, you still need to obtain a synchronization license in order to use it in your publicly-distributed video.

Yes, you need a license but first you must submit your print request via the website.

Yes, you need to obtain publisher approval for any new arrangement of a copyrighted song. Please submit your request via the website.