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Fax: 209.644.0193Email: EleganceEnt@hotmail.comWeb: www.EleganceEntertainment.comWhat is "Podsafe" Music?
by David Wimble, The Indie Bible © 2006 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
As you visit the hundreds of music podcast and MP3 blog sites you'll notice that most them feature something called PODSAFE MUSIC. For this article I have gathered information from various internet sites in order to help clarify what podsafe music is and how it can become another helpful tool to place into your marketing utility belt.
Definition of podsafe music (from Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org)
Podsafe is a term created in the podcasting community to refer to any work which, through its licensing, specifically allows the use of the work in podcasting, regardless of restrictions the same work might have in other realms. For example, a song may be legal to use in podcasts, but may need to be purchased or have royalties paid for over-the-air radio use, television use, and possibly even personal use.
The effective definition of "podsafe" for a given work depends entirely on the contract through which the podcaster licenses the work; there is no single podsafe license. The concept of podsafety, in its true form, greatly favors the artist and the profitability of the artist's product, in exchange for only very limited concessions to the podcasting community.
While some works such as public domain works or works under some Creative Commons licenses are inherently podsafe, the only actual requirement for a work to be podsafe is that any licensing requirements it has, if applicable, allow for the work's free use (typical broadcast use in its original form, if in no other form, depending on the specific license) in a podcast or web broadcast. This gives specific favor to podcasts only, allowing the artist to impose more traditional constraints on everyone else. Podsafe licensing can, for example, continue to require non-podcast consumers to pay for the work, require royalties on derivative works, and profit significantly from the work's use in traditional radio, television, or film.
The licensor of any podsafe work must be legally capable of making it so. An artist cannot distribute his or her own work through a podsafe license if doing so would break any laws or breach any standing agreements (e.g. with the RIAA). The creator of a derivative work may also not claim this work podsafe without express permission from the original copyright holders. (PMN has more specific and stringent terms to this effect in its agreement.) Another point of contention is that not all podcasts are non-commercial works; in fact, an increasing number of podcasts are taking on sponsors and looking to make a profit. In general, no significant distinction is yet made between podsafe for non-commercial use and podsafe for commercial use, but it could easily arise at any moment.
Motives for the podcaster to use podsafe music (from Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org)
As podcasting grows more and more popular, illegal use of heavily licensed music (as through the RIAA) becomes increasingly difficult to hide. This is in general of greater concern to podcasters than to the typical sharer of music, because podcasters usually produce their shows for and promote them to the public-a far more overt and traceable action.
