Free royalty-free music?

The expressions GEMA-free and royalty-free generally refer to the acquisition of usage rights in return to a one-time payment. There is an important difference between GEMA-free and royalty-free music: Whereas with GEMA-free music no fees are collected by GEMA or other collecting societies, that is not automatically the case with royalty-free music. With royalty-free music, the performance rights can still be held by GEMA or other collecting societies - only the mechanical rights are not realized by the collecting society. At Sonic Liberty, all music is GEMA-free as well as royalty-free.

Every publisher handles this subject differently. Our composers profit directly from every bought license, as we believe that good authors should be able to live off their work. The quality and references of our composers confirm this philosophy.