This is the first in a series of educational articles to help us all better understand the policies of the conglomerate music industry, both in the US and in Canada.

“HFA is the foremost mechanical licensing, collection, and distribution agency for U.S. music publishers. Our processes, culture, and technology are client-driven and results-oriented. We continually strive to add value and strength to the music rights industry.”

The preceding statement is taken directly from the Harry Fox Agency website, the agency through which Harmony, Incorporated pays for mechanical licensing of the music it includes on its yearly contest CD’s. You do not need to know the specifics of applying for mechanical licensing IF you are just contestants in a HI contest. You DO need to know if your performing group (chorus or quartet) plans to make and distribute a tape or CD – whether or not you plan it for sale or for give-away.

Know that Harry Fox Agency controls the mechanical licensing for most music publishers and collects the licensing fees. The other player in this licensing action is BMI, who controls a much lesser number of music publishing company licensors. (In other words, if you can’t locate a song – with proper title and composer  / lyricist information -- from the Fox website, you need to go to BMI.

HFA Songfile, our online song search and mechanical licensing tool for those who want to make as few as 25 copies of a song, has been upgraded to offer better search functionality, the ability to license for permanent downloads (or digital phonorecord deliveries (DPDs)), simplified licensing transactions, and an archive of your completed Songfile licenses. Click HFA Songfile to begin.

The Fox song file is where performers can find the pertinent information for their contest vehicles (for use on their Contest Song Registration Form).

Other places to investigate for this information are listed as follows

• http://www.ascap.com/ace/ = the ASCAP title search area
• http://www.bmi.com/licensing = the BMI title search area
• http://www.cmrra.ca = Canadian Mechanical Rights Reproduction Agency
  (Note: the CMRRA site also covers synchronization licensing. There is no such similar agency in the US)
• http://www.harryfox.com/public/licenseHome.jsp = Harry Fox Agency licensing page

All of the aforementioned pages can lead you to specifics on how to go about the mechanical licensing procedure. License fees are set by statute in the US. Current rate of licensing is $0.091 cents per song (for songs under five minutes) per copy made with a minimum of 25 copies. This fee covers tapes, records and CD’s. DVD’s and video tapes are covered by synchronization licenses. The CMRRA rate is still at $0.077 per song per copy for songs 5 minutes and under with a minimum of 500 copies.

As an almost last resort, you may call either Joe Liles or Julie Grower at the BHS offices in Nashville, TN , 1-800-876-7464, extensions 4121 and 4127 respectively. The people in this office are constantly busy and deal with legalization issues on a weekly basis. Reference will be made to their respective duties in a later series section.

IF you are singing music that has been performed previously on the contest stage, you should be in the clear. If, however, you are singing something you think might be new to the contest stage (or you are uncertain about the arrangement’s legalities), please contact the arranger. He/she can tell you whether they received “permission-to-arrange” forms from the BHS and completed the steps to obtain the copyright owner 's permission. They should also be able to provide the date the permission was received.

Watch for “How To Make It Legal” in the next article!