Welcome to the website of Johan van der Voet. To help you find the right music for your project, within your budget and on time, we have answered some questions below to help you. Please don't hesitate to put your request for music or sound-design in our mailbox, we're here to help you create great films and games.
*** HOW TO ACQUIRE MUSIC FOR FILMS & GAMES *** Q: WHAT LICENSES MUST I GET TO USE A SONG IN MY FILM? If you are using a pre-recorded song or another pre-recorded piece of music in your film, there are two rights you need to clear; that is to say, you need to get two different licenses to use the music. 1. Synchronization License: This is the right to synchronize a song or a piece of music with your visual image. Q: CAN I USE THESE SONGS ON A SOUNDTRACK ALBUM? If you intend to use these songs on a soundtrack album, you will need to negotiate additional soundtrack rights with the publisher and record label as you negotiate the sync and master use rights for your film. Q: WHAT DO LICENSE FEES COST? License fees are determined based on various factors, including how the music will be used, the duration and number of times the music will be used and where the film will be performed. In all cases, the fees are negotiable and not all publishers and record labels charge the same amount. Students working on films that are only shown within an educational environment can often negotiate reduced fees. Independent filmmakers planning to show their films at film festivals can also often negotiate a reduced fee. Q: WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD I INCLUDE IN MY REQUEST FOR MUSIC RIGHTS? Submit a synopsis of the film and the film's budget. Q: WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF SCREENING THE FILM WITHOUT SECURING MUSIC RIGHTS? Copyright Law provides that a music publisher and/or record label, for using their property without their consent, can sue you. Considering that you will work more and more with publishing companies and record labels as your career moves forward, not clearing the rights in advance is not a very professional way of starting your relationships with them. Clearing the rights and having step deals in place will also help you in the event that a distributor is interested in buying your film. If your rights are not cleared, the distributor is looking at an unknown expense tied to your film, and this can be a deterrent in a distributor's interest in acquiring an independent film. Q: HOW DO I FIND A COMPOSER TO WRITE ORIGINAL MUSIC FOR MY FILM? Music that is composed specifically for a film, as opposed to pre-recorded music placed in a film, is the film score. You can hire Johan van der Voet to write this music for you. Q: WHAT DO I PAY FOR A FILM SCORE? You will be paying us an up front fee for writing and recording the music for your film. You can negotiate this fee based on your film budget, the amount of music required, and the cost for musicians. Again, fees vary significantly, case by case. Q: WHO OWNS THE FILM SCORE? Based on your negotiations with us, the Composer Agreement will spell out who owns the film score (that is, who retains the publisher share of the music). If the production company is unable to pay the appropriate fee up front (as happens often with independent films but never with major releases), we will often negotiate to keep the publisher's share of the music. Q: WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NEXT? Why not listen to some of our music, or order a full CD from our web store. As the website holds only a small portion of the music Johan has written, you can also send us an email request for a demo with specific music for your project. If you like what you hear, we schedule a meeting to discuss your project in more detail. |