Music license
Also known as: music licence, sync licence
The permission that allows a particular piece of music to be used in a particular video, bounded by where, how long and for what purpose.
Updated
What it means
A music license is a bounded grant rather than ownership. It names what may be done with a recording: on which platforms, in which territories, for how long and in what kind of production.
The boundaries are the substance of it. A grant covering a personal upload does not cover a monetised channel, and one covering a channel does not cover an advertisement, even though the track is identical.
There are usually two rights in play, one in the composition and one in the recording. A catalogue selling Royalty-free music clears both at once, which is why it is simpler than licensing a known song.
How it works in practice
Reading the scope before using a track is the whole discipline. The question is never whether a licence exists but whether it extends to the use actually intended for this video.
Keeping a record of which grant covered which upload is the part that matters later. A claim arriving months afterwards is answered with paperwork rather than with memory, and the paperwork is only useful if it names the specific upload.
Picking from a pre-cleared catalogue sidesteps most of this, and it has an editing benefit too, since the tempo is known before any cutting and Beat grid work can start immediately.
What to watch out for
Crediting the artist grants nothing at all. Attribution may be a condition of some licences, but it is never a substitute for one, and this is the most common misunderstanding in the field.
Buying a track is also not the same as being licensed to synchronise it to picture. Purchase covers listening, and putting the same recording under picture is a separate permission that a Licensed music catalogue grants explicitly.
Automatic matching ignores all of it. A Content ID system flags the recording wherever it appears, so even a correctly licensed use can be claimed and has to be disputed.
How RawClip handles it
The music in a finished highlight is drawn from a catalogue cleared in advance for this use, so the video can be posted and monetised without a separate permission question. The scope is settled once rather than per order.