Choosing the best music for your advertisement, tv program or movie hasn't so much easier. Simply by logging onto the internet and searching terms tailored towards the desired musical theme, music supervisors and people otherwise in charge of selecting and retrieving music for television and film may uncover an endless supply of songs. The days are gone of music publishers and middlemen. With the fall of record labels and the rise of Do-It-Yourself, artists are more eager than ever to license their music directly.

Middlemen, however, serve a valuable purpose. Although music publishers and record labels increase licensing costs, these entities provide a necessary degree of sophistication and professionalism to the process. Musicians are known for creativity, not managing and shutting deals promptly and precisely. Money saved by working directly with an unsigned band can easily evaporate if a music supervisor does not understand and avoid potential increased administrative costs.

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When working directly with artists, music supervisors should mitigate risk and lower costs by keeping a few key issues in your mind. These include, but aren't limited to, the next:

(1) Obtaining Basic Information -A music supervisor's initial inquiry for an artist should have a request basic contact information. Musicians are infamous for checking email weekly, if not monthly. An unknown number and mailing address are most important items. This may seem like a no brainer, but it's simple to forget to ask the most obvious questions;

(2) Team Information - A music supervisor should inquire if a painter is presented by management, attorney, publicist, etc. If so, management or any "professional" team member may be able to wrangle the necessary paper work and expedite the licensing process;

(3) Rights Owners - A music supervisor should ask an artist to clarify the owners of the underlying composition and also the sound recording copyrights. If an artist has illegally covered an unlicensed song, a coordinator will want to know this. A coordinator will also want to know if he is negotiating with the proper party. Permission from an unauthorized person or entity is worthless;

(4) Licensing Agreements - A music supervisor should engage intellectual property counsel early in the procedure to find out which type of licensing agreement is necessary and also to draft accordingly.

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(5) Representations and Warranties - A music supervisor should ensure its licensing agreements contain a representations and warranties clause through which the signing musician represents he/she/it may be the copyright holder and warrants against breach of such representation. Although competent counsel should include this provision, supervisors should always double check because of its inclusion;

(6) Know when you should Cut Bait - A music supervisor should set a reasonable time period for receiving a license. If your musician is unresponsive or unable to provide the necessary agreements inside the set time frame, a supervisor should jump to an alternate song. There are a lot of great songs and musicians on the planet down the sink your time and effort by having an unresponsive party.

(7) Deciding on the best Artist - A music supervisor should explore dealing with companies specialized in the creation and licensing of one-of-a-kind media solutions. These companies provide a turnkey solution for music supervisors by housing musicians and professionals in one place. Musician owners/employees create music, that is owned by the organization and managed by its staff of business professionals. Music supervisors work directly with professionals allowing fast and systematic acquisition of licenses. Companies, for example Educational Media Creations Company, LLC, not just offer a catalog of ready to license songs, but also custom creation options.