Music in a podcast or audiobook intro: which licence an intro sting needs

A podcast intro runs eleven seconds. The track it is cut from, "Midnight Drive" from the Brasil After Dark channel, runs two minutes and fifty-one. Those eleven seconds will play at the top of episode one, at the top of episode forty, and at the top of whatever episode the show ends on. The question that arrives in the studio inbox most weeks is some version of this: is that one licence, or one licence per episode?

The licence is bought once. It attaches to the track and to the buyer, not to an upload. The tier is the only decision that needs care, and it turns on what the show is, not on how many times the sting plays.

Does one licence cover every episode, or just one?

The ONE36TY Sounds licence page puts the Personal tier at $3.99 and describes it as "Your own videos, podcasts and socials. Non-commercial. Non-exclusive." The word "podcasts" is in the sentence, so an intro sting on a show somebody makes for its own sake is the case the tier was written for. There is no episode count in that line and no run-time limit. A sting cut from "Midnight Drive" and used on two hundred episodes rests on the same $3.99 certificate as a sting used once.

Commercial sits at $9.99: "Ads, client work, film, games, unlimited views. Non-exclusive." "Unlimited views" is the phrase podcasters look for, because downloads are the number a show counts. The price does not move with the audience.

Non-exclusive works differently for a sting than for a one-off video. The track stays in the catalogue, so another show can buy the same eleven seconds and open with them. For a show whose intro is meant to be recognised across years, that matters. The Exclusive buyout at $199.99 is described as "Full rights; the track leaves the catalogue." That is the tier for a sting that has to belong to one show, and I would only reach for it once a show has proved it will still be running in a year.

The licence is bought once per track, not once per episode. The tier follows the money, not the length of the clip.

When does a podcast stop being personal use?

The Personal line ends with "Non-commercial", and that is the word that decides the tier for most shows. The way the studio reads its own wording, a podcast becomes commercial use the moment money attaches to it. Cases, read the same way:

• A hobby show with no sponsor, no paid feed and no business behind it: Personal.
• The same show once it reads a sponsor's message in episode twelve: Commercial from that episode onward, because an ad is now in the file the sting opens.
• A show that sells a paid subscription or a members' feed: Commercial. Listeners are paying for the thing the sting is part of.
• A company's podcast, even an internal one with modest numbers: Commercial. It exists to serve a business.
• A producer who edits a client's show and supplies the intro: Commercial. "Client work" is named on the tier.

The sponsor case is the one that catches people, because the licence was bought in good faith when the show was small. The fix is undramatic: buy the Commercial tier for the same track when the first sponsor arrives and keep both certificates.

The platforms draw their own lines, and a licence does not switch those off. Apple's content guidelines for podcasts say, "Creators must ensure their podcasts only include content that they have the rights to use," and that where Apple believes a show falls short it "may take action to label or remove the content from Apple Podcasts, suspend the sale of subscriptions, and/or suspend or terminate your account." Spotify adds a separate rule that has nothing to do with licensing: "Podcasts, including those submitted via Spotify for Creators, should not be used to distribute music tracks, DJ mixes, or similar musical content," and it "reserves the right to remove podcasts or episodes that violate this policy, regardless of the licensing status of your music." An eleven-second sting under a spoken intro is not what that rule describes. A full track played as an episode is, and no certificate changes that.

What about music in an audiobook?

An audiobook sold through Audible is a product with a price on it, so I read any music inside it as commercial use whoever the narrator is. The platform's rules then narrow where music can go at all.

ACX's submission requirements say, "You can add music to the credits, but make sure it doesn't obscure the narration." Its separate note on music and sound effects asks producers to add them "carefully and sparingly, as Audible listeners have told us that they can be a distraction when it overlaps with narration," and to "ensure it is an original composition that you have the rights to use." So the shape of an audiobook licence is a sting at the opening credits, a sting at the close, and silence under the reading.

The file the music lands in has its own numbers. ACX requires that "Each file must be a 192 kbps or higher CBR, 44.1kHz MP3," with "Volume is between -23dB and -18dB RMS" and "Peak levels are less than -3dB." The studio sends "the studio master (WAV + 320 kbps MP3)" with every licence, which is why a buyer can cut the sting from the WAV and let the final MP3 be made once, at the end, to the platform's spec.

What should the certificate name?

The licence page says a buyer receives "the studio master (WAV + 320 kbps MP3) and a licence certificate by email." Licensing is arranged by email at the moment, so the request itself is the chance to get the certificate right. What I ask for:

1. The name the certificate is issued to. For a show, that is the person or company that owns the feed, not the editor who placed the order.
2. The track title exactly as it appears in the catalogue.
3. The tier, by name and price.
4. The use, in one line: "intro and outro sting, all episodes" or "opening and closing credits of one audiobook."
5. The date, so a sponsor that arrives later can be matched to a second certificate dated after it.

Then the certificate, the WAV, and the order email go in the same folder as the show's artwork. A copyright complaint on a podcast host is answered with a document, and the document is quicker to find than to replace.

A sting is the shortest piece of music a show will ever use and the one it will use most. The licence behind it is bought once, named to the right party, and upgraded the day the show starts earning. Everything after that is the same eleven seconds.

Sources

• Licences (Personal, Commercial, Exclusive buyout) · ONE36TY Sounds, one36ty.com/sound
• Terms of sale · ONE36TY
• ACX Audio Submission Requirements · ACX (Audible)
• Add music or sound effects to an audiobook · ACX (Audible)
• Spotify's policy on submitting music via a podcast · Spotify for Creators
• Content Guidelines · Apple Podcasts for Creators