What's the proper way to use songs?

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  • What's the proper way to use songs?

    I've read you shouldn't say the name of the song/artist in the script because it's cost-prohibitive to license copyrighted music. Including specific, popular songs in your script makes you look like an amatuer. Is this true? Like in my script I wanted the guy to cover a silly song. Can I say "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus? Or should I say something like Top 20 song of 2007?

    Like "Little Miss Sunshine" specified 'Cream' by Prince but gave somekinda disclaimer ('I know music can be an issue of rights,' etc...) but that seems clunky. How about something like 'Cream by Prince (ideally) blasts from the speakers...?'

    What's the proper way to put a specific song/artist into a screenplay? Or should you avoid it all together?
    "I need someone who laughs at all my jokes. You know; honest feedback."
    - C. Montgomery Burns

  • #2
    Re: What's the proper way to use songs?

    Short Answer: You can do whatever you want - as long as it is clear and as long as it works.

    For a more extensive view of the issue, check out:
    http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/...ad.php?t=58382
    Ring-a-ding-ding, baby.

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    • #3
      Re: What's the proper way to use songs?

      Put whatever you want. In the end you have no say in what music they use anyways.

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      • #4
        Re: What's the proper way to use songs?

        Originally posted by Recreant View Post
        Put whatever you want. In the end you have no say in what music they use anyways.
        +1

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        • #5
          Re: What's the proper way to use songs?

          Originally posted by Recreant View Post
          Put whatever you want. In the end you have no say in what music they use anyways.
          Yes, I'm aware of that. I'm just saying if it's an amatuer move I'd rather not do it.

          But I think I have my answer from that link. Thanks, Noir.
          "I need someone who laughs at all my jokes. You know; honest feedback."
          - C. Montgomery Burns

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          • #6
            Re: What's the proper way to use songs?

            What if the reader doesn't know the song? You can take up the same amount of space (and not potentially waste it) evoking the intended reaction by just giving a musical genre with a brief descriptive. "Putrid pop puke", "saccharine love ballad", etc etc blah blah yada.

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            • #7
              Re: What's the proper way to use songs?

              I guess you can always write "a song like" or "in the vein of" or what have you.
              what the head makes cloudy the heart makes very clear

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              • #8
                Re: What's the proper way to use songs?

                Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick.

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                • #9
                  Re: What's the proper way to use songs?

                  Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
                  Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick.
                  Is that the name of a song?
                  what the head makes cloudy the heart makes very clear

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                  • #10
                    Re: What's the proper way to use songs?

                    Yeah. A song won't make or break a sale. It'll only get the producers in hot water if they use it without permission, which would be dumb.

                    (Still can't believe "Happy Birthday" requires permission. It's practically a nursery rhyme.)
                    "I ask every producer I meet if they need TV specs they say yeah. They all want a 40 inch display that's 1080p and 120Hz. So, I quit my job at the West Hollywood Best Buy."
                    - Screenwriting Friend

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                    • #11
                      Re: What's the proper way to use songs?

                      Originally posted by gridlock'd View Post
                      What's the proper way to put a specific song/artist into a screenplay? Or should you avoid it all together?
                      It's easy to find examples of scripts that use specific songs well, so obviously there's no hard-and-fast rule about it.

                      The problem is this:

                      Less experienced screenwriters use popular music as a shorthand for communicating an emotional state which they are otherwise unable to create on their own.

                      Heck, it's not just inexperienced screenwriters. Sharon Mcguire did it in Bridget Jones Diary. But this is one of those problems with is endemic to inexperienced screenwriters.

                      Yes, there are a ton of potential problems as far as the reader not knowing the song. Ultimately, however, the real problem with this is the tendency for people to use it as a crutch. "This song evokes this emotional reaction in me, so placing it in this scene will evoke the same emotional reaction in a reader."

                      It doesn't work that way. Often people won't know the song you are talking about. They will often have their own emotional reactions to the song. Furthermore, reading the name of the song doesn't create the same experience as hearing the song.

                      So make sure you're not asking the song to do the emotional heavy lifting for you. In your case, it sounds like you're having the guy perform a song - but I wouldn't expect most people reading your script to know that particular song, or to know what you expect them to get out of it.

                      So rather than giving me the song title, I'd describe it in a meaningful way. "A top 20 song of 2007" doesn't do that. "A teen-girl pop song" might: in other words, you need to write it so that I get the joke even if I have no idea what Miley Cyrus's music sounds like.

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                      • #12
                        Re: What's the proper way to use songs?

                        "CALCULATE LESS" --Brian Koppelman

                        Just put the title of the song in the script.

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