Licensing is a complex topic that many DIY/indie musicians in particular avoid at all costs. Here’s the good news – you don’t have to anymore. Limelight, a service of RightsFlow, is here to make the whole process smooth, straighforward – and budget friendly. Here, Michael Kauffman of RightsFlow explains what Limelight can do for musicians and how you can use the service to help you clear all those songs you’ve been dying to cover.

Question: Licensing can be complicated business for even seasoned music biz professionals, and for many indie artists and labels, the mere idea of delving into the world of licensing sends them running for the hills. How is Limelight changing that?

Limelight simplifies the process of clearing cover songs. There are artists out there who play these songs live and never knew they could record and distribute them, let alone sell them. We’ve created a site that is simple to use and allows artists to secure the necessary mechanical license for 100% of the publishing spectrum and also ensures that they are compliant with the law and pay the songwriter/publisher 100% of royalties due.

We believe that musicians desire to license properly; it’s a matter of providing some education and a utility that is easy to use. Designed by musicians for musicians, Limelight is both a resource (check out our FAQs here) and a service for helping to drive revenue for songwriters and grow the pie for the entire community.

How long does the licensing process take on Limelight?

That depends on your typing speed! It usually only takes a few minutes for a user to go online and fill out the online form. Once complete, Limelight’s licensing specialists review the order, research the appropriate copyright owners and songwriters, generate the appropriate notification to produce the license. Users can visit the site and download their license after the process is complete (within 10-15 business days).

Can Limelight help a musician clear ANY song they want to cover?

Yes, as long as the song has been recorded by another artist, they can clear the cover song through Limelight. Limelight follows the regulations set out within US copyright law and allows users an easy way to abide by it.

In addition to the headaches, cost is another major factor that deters many indie artists/labels from releasing cover songs. Can you talk a little about how Limelight helps make cover songs a little more indie budget friendly?

Limelight has a built-in discount structure that reduces the administrative fees involved (the more licenses an artist needs, the greater the discount up to 30% off the $15 fees). In addition, a user can start with as little as 25 units of any given track (approximately $2.28 in publishing royalties). We also regularly provide discount codes through our various partners and our various online and social media channels. Follow us on Twitter (@coversong), or join us on Facebook or come join the conversation on our new blog.

Overall, we also believe we are in line with any budget because we provide the flexibility to secure a license for as little as 25 units allowing any artist at any sales level to use Limelight. Ultimately, we want to save artists time so that they can focus on creating, recording and performing music.

How are you getting the word out about Limelight? How important has educating indie artists about when and why they need a license been in attracting musicians to Limelight?

Our initial push has been grassroots – word of mouth, affiliate marketing, and through social channels. Education is at the forefront of what we do. Limelight is a service of RightsFlow, a licensing and royalty service provider based in New York. We represent “licensees” (artists, labels, distributors and online music services), and help them license, account and pay “licensors” (songwriters and publishers) worldwide.

RightsFlow’s staff encompasses a number of musicians who used to play in bands and/or continue to perform, so when we designed Limelight, our primary goal was to simplify the complex licensing process.

Any future Limelight developments in the pipeline you want to share?

We’re constantly adding features and options to enhance the site’s service offerings and ease of use. We’re introducing a clearance mechanism for interactive streaming, for example, which will allow users a simple solution for streaming cover songs on their websites. There are also bulk licensing options that are being built in to help facilitate larger catalogues and labels.

It’s extremely important to us to serve our community, and in turn we’re constantly listening to the feedback and the online conversation about Limelight, licensing and artist needs. We’d love your readers to investigate Limelight, and let us know what they think. Perhaps our next development is an idea that one of them is currently thinking about.

By Heather McDonald, About.com Guide

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