Licensing & royalties
Territory & Term
Territory and term are the two scope limits in every music licence: where the music may be used and for how long. Together with the media list they determine the price, and they are the most common cause of a use becoming unauthorised without anything changing on the buyer's side.
In practice
A campaign licensed for "Italy, twelve months, online" cannot be extended to Spain, cannot run into month thirteen and cannot move to television without a new negotiation — at a price set when the licensor knows the campaign is already performing. Term also interacts with content that stays online: a video published in month eleven is still public in month twenty-four. Teams should map the longest realistic lifetime of each asset before choosing a term, and treat any live archive as effectively perpetual.
How SoniBuyout® handles it
A buyout removes both variables. There is no territory to extend and no term to renew, so a successful local test becomes an international rollout without a rights conversation and without renegotiating from a weak position.
Real questions
What happens when the term expires?
The right to use the music ends. Content still online becomes unlicensed unless the agreement says otherwise, and you must renew, replace the music or take the content down.
Why is extending a territory so expensive?
Because the licensor prices the extension knowing the campaign already works. Leverage sits with whoever holds the rights.
Related terms
Own the track instead of renting it
Sonify Music sells exclusive buyouts of catalogue tracks: one payment, full ownership, the track removed from sale and a named certificate of ownership.