How to Reduce Music Licensing Costs: Practical Alternatives to Expensive Music Rights

One of the biggest challenges for event organizers, production companies, and brands is navigating the cost and complexity of music licensing. Between synchronization licenses, master use licenses, and performance rights, using popular commercial music can quickly become: expensive, time-consuming and legally complex. But here’s the key insight: You don’t always need to license expensive, mainstream music to achieve a high-quality production. There are practical, cost-effective alternatives that can significantly reduce legal risk, streamline operations, and maintain creative quality. Below we discuss some of the most effective strategies.

1. Public Domain Music

One of the most straightforward options is using music that is in the public domain. What Does Public Domain Mean? Music in the public domain is no longer protected by copyright, which means: it can be used freely without obtaining a license for the composition. In the United States, this generally includes: works published before 1928 (rolling forward annually), and compositions whose authors died more than 70 years ago. Classic examples include composers such as: Beethoven, Bach and Mozart.

Important caveat: While the composition may be in the public domain. a specific recording (master) of that composition may still be protected. This means you may still need permission to use a particular recording unless you use: a public domain recording or create your own recording (we’ll discuss this below).

2. Royalty-Free Music

Another widely used solution is royalty-free music. What Is Royalty-Free Music? Royalty-free music typically involves a one-time payment or subscription and broad usage rights across multiple platforms. These licenses often include: synchronization rights, master use rights and audiovisual usage. Examples of royalty-free music libraries include (not an endorsement): Artlist, Epidemic Sound and AudioJungle. These platforms are designed for television, streaming content, social media and commercial productions. In many cases: a single license can cover multiple uses across different formats. Royalty-free music is one of the most efficient solutions because it reduces negotiation complexity, lowers costs significantly and speeds up production timelines.

3. Re-Recording (Cover Versions)

Another effective strategy is creating a new recording of an existing composition. Instead of licensing the original master recording, you record a new version of the song or license an existing cover version. This approach allows you to avoid the master use license. However, you still need a synchronization license for the composition. For example, if you want to use a popular song—such as “Die With a Smile” by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga —you can: commission a band or studio and create an instrumental or stylistic version. This avoids negotiating with the record label, which is often the most expensive part of the process.

4. Production Music Libraries

Production music libraries are one of the most commonly used solutions in professional media. What Are Production Music Libraries?These libraries provide pre-cleared music specifically created for: television, sports broadcasting, films and documentaries and promotional content. Production music licenses typically cover synchronization rights, master use rights, broadcast usage and digital distribution. These libraries are widely used because rights are pre-cleared, licensing is standardized and content is tailored for professional use.

5. Original Music (Commissioned Works)

Another powerful strategy is creating original music specifically for your project. How does it work? You hire: a composer, a producer or a music team to create custom music tailored to your needs. Unlike licensing existing music, you can negotiate full rights upfront. This can include: synchronization rights, master ownership and perpetual usage rights. Original music offers full control over rights, no ongoing licensing restrictions and unique branding opportunities.

6. AI-Generated Music

Another emerging—and increasingly relevant—alternative is the use of AI-generated music. AI music tools use machine learning models trained on large datasets of existing music to generate new compositions based on user inputs. These inputs can include: genre, mood, tempo, instrumentation, and reference styles. The result is custom, on-demand music that can often be tailored in seconds for specific uses such as videos, events, or branded content.

Several platforms now offer AI-generated music solutions, including:

• Suno AI

• Udio

• Soundraw

• AIVA

These services typically operate under subscription or licensing models, allowing users to generate and use music across various projects.

However, one of the most important and unresolved questions in AI-generated music is: who owns the music? Under current U.S. copyright law, works must involve human authorship to qualify for copyright protection. This creates uncertainty, and likely inability to register copyrights, when music is generated entirely by AI, but has human input that is minimal or limited to prompts. While users may receive broad usage rights under platform terms, they may not own the copyright in the output. Hence, they may not be able to prevent others from using those works.

Additionally, many AI models are trained on large datasets that may include copyrighted works, often without clear licensing transparency. This creates potential risks such as:

• claims that outputs are derivative of copyrighted works

• lack of clarity around whether training data was lawfully used

• potential future litigation affecting the enforceability of AI-generated outputs

Finally, using AI-generated music that closely resembles an existing song or artist style may also expose users to copyright or publicity-related claims.

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*This article is provided for informational purposes only, and does not constitute legal advice, counsel or representation.