Types of Licenses for School Music Programs

• 1

  Public Performance

  A Performance License permits schools to perform copyrighted music publicly, including live events and digital broadcasts.

  These licenses come from Performing Rights Organizations (PROs). All of them have affordable blanket licenses that cover their entire catalogue.

  • ASCAP

  • BMI

  • SESAC

  • Global Music Rights

  • AllTrack

  It is important to purchase all PRO licenses when available as many songs may have artists, writers, and performers in different PROs.

  Common School Uses:

  • Pep rallies

  • Games

  • Concerts

  • Assemblies

  • Livestreamed performances

  Performances under the educational exemption clauses do not require PRO licensing.

• 2

  Permission to Arrange

  A Permission to Arrange License is required when you want to create a new version of a copyrighted musical work beyond minor classroom simplifications. When a musician or ensemble wishes to rearrange a copyrighted song—perhaps by transforming a pop song into a jazz version, adapting a piece for different instruments, or creating a mashup—they must seek arrangement permissions from the copyright holder.

  Without this permission, releasing or publicly performing the new arrangement can be considered an infringement of copyright. The process ensures that original creators maintain control over how their works are adapted and ensures they are compensated fairly when their compositions are reimagined in new ways.

  This permission comes from the composer or the music publisher.

  Common School Uses:

  • Marching band medleys

  • Show choir mashups.

  • Rewriting pop songs for concert choir

  • Changing lyrics or structure of copyrighted works

  Arrangement permissions refer to the authorization required to create a new version of a copyrighted musical work, often by altering its melody, harmony, or structure. When a musician or ensemble wishes to rearrange a copyrighted song—perhaps by transforming a pop song into a jazz version, or adapting a piece for different instruments—they must seek arrangement permissions from the copyright holder, usually the composer or the music publisher.

  Without this permission, releasing or publicly performing the new arrangement can be considered an infringement of copyright. The process ensures that original creators maintain control over how their works are adapted and ensures they are compensated fairly when their compositions are reimagined in new ways.

• 3

  Synchronization (Sync)

  A Sync License is required when music is paired with video.
  Whether it’s a graduation video, a livestream archive, a highlight reel, or a show choir promotional clip, if music is synchronized with video, you need a Sync License from the publisher.

  Common School Uses:

  • Graduation videos

  • Halftime performance recordings

  • Livestream archives

  • Promotional videos

• 4

  Master

  A Master License is required when you want to use a specific, pre-existing sound recording, usually controlled by a record label.
  If you use a commercial track, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, etc., you must obtain a Master License.

  Common School Uses:

  • Background tracks using commercial songs.

  • “Walk-up” music

  • Accompaniment tracks pulled from albums.

• 5

  Mechanical

  A Mechanical License allows you to record and distribute audio-only recordings of copyrighted music, on CDs, MP3s, or digital downloads.
  It covers the composition, not the sound recording.
  You obtain it from mechanical licensing agencies or directly from publishers.

  Common School Uses:

  • Selling concert CDs

  • Sharing digital audio recordings

  • Distributing recordings to families

  Mechanical licensing refers to the permissions granted by copyright owner to another party to reproduce and distribute a copyrighted musical composition in audio-only formats such as CDs, digital downloads, and streaming platforms. In return for the right to reproduce the song, the entity obtaining the mechanical license pays royalties to the copyright holder. Rates for these royalties are set by legal statutes and can typically be obtained at Harry Fox Agency.

  It is important to note a mechanical license does not grant the right to use the original recording itself or to create visual content such as music videos; rather, it pertains strictly to the reproduction of the musical composition.

• 6

  Grand Rights License (Dramatic Rights)

  A Dramatic Rights License covers works used as part of a dramatic presentation, such as musicals, plays, and staged productions.
  These must be obtained directly from the publisher or licensing agency.

  Common School Uses:

  • Musicals

  • Plays with music.

  • Dramatic scenes incorporating songs.