News and Events

Though it seems too stark to believe, this statement sums up the appeal of music licensing marketplaceSongLily.  Started last year by Les Borsai (CEO) and Jodi Chall, (COO), SongLily is aiming to fill a pair of often misfitting shoes. Music licensing is generally complicated, and when there are already other “no-frills” music request sites competing for the attention of programmers and producers, (such as Syncofy) one has to wonder, “How can SongLily possibly make easy any easier?

That question is answered quickly enough. On the home page for SongLily’s website, visitors and prospective licensees are greeted with a bright and colorful screen devoted to song titles, artist names, bottom line prices, a built-in music player, and a shopping cart. There’s no denying SongLily’s music marketplace wants to streamline customers to  “purchase and sync in media,” without inducing hassle and headaches in the process. Beyond permission acquisition efficiency, SongLily is also pouring energy into supporting a specific crowd that lies so close, and yet so far, from the inner workings of music industry: app developers.

As explained by COO and co-founder, Jodi Chall,

“Out of the 5 million apps created, at least 10% include music. …Most of those companies that use this music have the funds to license, but do not know where to start. The music licensing process can be confusing to companies that are not in the music business, and we wanted to simplify the process. [SongLily] work[s] with the major labels to provide access to their content, and in doing so, we have kept it simple.”

That is not to say the tried-and-true conventional music placement roles are not on SongLily’s radar. Their song database is divided into songs that are suitable as popular tracks or as tracks for production music, the latter of which contains much instrumental music. Additionally, SongLily is all about collaboration in its effort to bring maximum fluidity to music licensing. If SongLily’s specific company objective does not fit a licensee’s needs, SongLily will help put people on the right path to the kind of license they do want for their intended music uses.

Some of the core information to know when working with and shopping around SongLily includes:

• Licenses obtained through SongLily are synch licenses from the master holder and publisher.

• SongLily licenses are valid for one year from the time of flat fee payment.

• Game and app developers whose game or app sells more than 100,000 times will need to pay another flat fee.

• SongLily is intended for small to mid-sized businesses, with ≤200,000 unique site visitors per month.

• The flat fee paid by licensees is actually covering the license fee for the record label, the license fee for the publisher and SongLily’s distribution’s fee. (typically 20%)