Music plays an important role in advertisements by helping the ad stand out and be memorable. There are copyright laws around using music, requiring permission from the artist or record company. Companies can purchase licenses that allow unlimited use of music from certain catalogs. For example, a PRS license gives access to their members' production music. Songs may need to be altered for commercial use, such as changing lyrics to reference a product. A short clip of a song may be used without full permission if it's not entirely recognizable. College radio stations have licensed music libraries that allow broadcasts without infringing copyright.

1. Music
Music can make an advert what it is, adding a certain amount of creative depth that can help it become
memorable and help it to be retained in the minds of its listeners. Music can be chosen depending on the
target audience, with the varying factors including age, gender, interests and location.
There are laws in place that limit the extent to which music can be used. Nearly all music will be copyrighted,
meaning someone cannot use it unless they obtain the necessary rights. This will mean buying the song for use
from the artist/record company for a pre-determined length of time in which to use it. Some music may not be
available for purchase, as the context in which it is being used or what product for may result in the artist/
record company refusing permission. Other music may be very old and therefore in the public domain, which
means it would be free to use. Radio stations may already have a licence to play a certain song, but they would
have to get a new license to be able to use if for commercial advertisement purposes.
A company can buy a license fee from the PRS (performing rights society) which gives the holder unlimited
access to their members production music. A license fee also enables the holder to appoint a third party
producer for their radio adverts. By holding a license fee, the PRS or a production company will not be
required to be contacted to clear its use. The music will then be sent by the PRS to the production company. In
companies with enough credit, they may be able to hire singers (perhaps even the original singers) to sing their
song live, maybe adapting its lyrics to match the product/service they are selling. An example of this is from
one from the loan provider ‘Wonga’. They changed the lyrics of the song ‘Mr Sandman ’ to match their services.
For example, the lyrics from the original song ‘Mr Sandman, bring me a dream’ were changed to ‘Mr Wonga,
lend me some dough’ in the new one.’
A song may be used for an advert if it isn’t too obvious and isn’t entirely recognizab le. This may mean using
something such as an instrumental or beat. The voice actors may even refer to the song or sing a part of it
without the actual music being played. Some radio stations use the ‘7 second rule’, which means that a song
can be used in an advert if it played for seven second or less. This is not strictly legal and therefore the radio
station would be technically infringing copyright law.
At our college, we have a student radio which has a library of licensed music. This enables us to be free to
broadcast around the college without infringing any copyright laws. There is also a catalogue of sound effects,
which were given to us by a community radio station. They are not protected by copyright laws, as they are
almost always identical to others on the market.
Here is our college radio station’s music
library, stored in the computer’s network. We
use this for ‘E6 Radio’ broadcasts and for
college work such as the creation of adverts
and other work related assignments.