89.7 Growl FM: Your (Underground) Road to Fame - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Music Contest

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Biig OOOOOF from me chief. That's actually shocking. Like why can't it be joint copyright and not solely CDPR's? if it's joint there's not going to be an issue since both parties own copyright's to the track??
I hope the CP team read this thread and see that songwriters are not cool with this. This is less of a competition and more of a "we want to buy your song for €3000 [edited, in hindsight 3000 isn't actually bad compensation for a song for a game]), All of the other music in the game is still owned by the original copyright holders (whether that be a label or the writer/band I dont know but I'm pretty sure none of those bands had to sell their music rights to CDPR to get it into the game) and simply licensed to the company for use in the game. Please show the same courtesy and respect to your community. I would absolutely love if one of my tracks made it into this game but I'm not willing to sell my rights to any of my music to do this.

In terms of the narrative of your CP world, "I smell a corpo rat". This community radio station "for the people is a corpo rat in disguise looking to own your soul (Actually very fitting in the context of the game I guess so.. ya know.. props for being consistent to your own lore :D )
 
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I hope the CP team read this thread and see that songwriters are not cool with this. This is less of a competition and more of a "we want to buy your song for €3000 [edited, in hindsight 3000 isn't actually bad compensation for a song for a game]), All of the other music in the game is still owned by the original copyright holders (whether that be a label or the writer/band I dont know but I'm pretty sure none of those bands had to sell their music rights to CDPR to get it into the game) and simply licensed to the company for use in the game. Please show the same courtesy and respect to your community. I would absolutely love if one of my tracks made it into this game but I'm not willing to sell my rights to any of my music to do this.
I speak just for myself, but I see it as a great opportunity to get known for some artists. There is a great chance that I will discover awesome songs and new artists that I would never have known otherwise and who knows, maybe I would buy their other products/albums/songs on "regular" platforms. And if CDPR like it too, still possible to be involved in the futur IPs...
So I would say that it seem to me to be a "win-win".
After, for those who don't need any promotion or don't like how CDPR do it, don't participate...
 
some cools contest may be i'll make a track .

for others player you want to go in , some few tips ( if you're beginner on sound design , mastering , mixing )
1) Loundness audio in game , mostly all time editor/dev follow the rules based on Loudness Range above -23 LUFS and True Peak Level at -1 dBTP , so when you 'll mixe / mastering you track , keep this on your mind ( getting some good amplitude , space can avoid artefact or glitch distortion if there's using some codec audio )
2) i using mostly use Reason / cubase for composing but all player can't afford to spend xxx dollars for those soft , there's free audio software
- Audatacy , edition audio
- Ableton Live Lite , only 8 tracks editor with limited features plugging/tools
- LMMS studio , best free arranger

About copyrights issues .. i read some concern about
to be fair the Prize its quite fair :)
to know any freelance sound designer / composer audio on video follow those proce for exclusive rights licencing
- junior composer freelance above 100 at 150$ per min.
- intermediate composer 120 at 250$ per min
- senior 400 at 800$ per min
( price can be increase based / fame and awards of the composer )

the other factor , when it comes sound design / composer on game , mostly all big studio have their own staff or contract deal partner ,

this kind of context its a way
- synergie creative contents on the community
- draft some promosing talents
- fair practise deal , pole prize above the tarif market for outsourcing music

final points ,
may be some few people 'll find those context not enough fair for artist but to know since many years in music industry ( Label , editor audio software .. ) have plenty context like this , or also context remix . its a win win for any artist
 
Looking at Section §9, am I right in thinking the artist wouldn't have the right to share their own song publicly?

What about Spotify? If CDPR puts the track up will the artist's name and profile be linked to it at least?

€3000 sounds pretty good I would've thought, but obviously you would want to make it easy for listeners to flock to the artist afterwards.
 
Looking at Section §9, am I right in thinking the artist wouldn't have the right to share their own song publicly?

What about Spotify? If CDPR puts the track up will the artist's name and profile be linked to it at least?

€3000 sounds pretty good I would've thought, but obviously you would want to make it easy for listeners to flock to the artist afterwards.

on rules of context , it was explained , about agreement licencing . CDPR use just the commons deals contract : " non exclusive" licencing .
to resume , the autor ( composer ) transfert rights to CDPR to any commercial / markting exploitation of the music .
There's no scam , or some of stealing music lol ..

as a freelance sound designer / composer , its really commons to see this kind of licencing agreements .
few times i win context music challenge from Editor music/plugging audio , the Non exclusive licencing , let the creator ( composer ) to publish on other platorm ( spotify , apple music .. ) but on non exclusive licencing .

transfering rights on "non exclusive" licencing agreement at company A , its not let only company A to use your creation :)

to be honest , working for a long time on music industry as an "inde" artist or freelance sound designer , Non exclusive licencing/publishing agreement its the better deal than " Exclusive" licencing ( that one licence its very dangerous and not fair when its about music )
 
on rules of context , it was explained , about agreement licencing . CDPR use just the commons deals contract : " non exclusive" licencing .
to resume , the autor ( composer ) transfert rights to CDPR to any commercial / markting exploitation of the music .
There's no scam , or some of stealing music lol ..

as a freelance sound designer / composer , its really commons to see this kind of licencing agreements .
few times i win context music challenge from Editor music/plugging audio , the Non exclusive licencing , let the creator ( composer ) to publish on other platorm ( spotify , apple music .. ) but on non exclusive licencing .

transfering rights on "non exclusive" licencing agreement at company A , its not let only company A to use your creation :)

to be honest , working for a long time on music industry as an "inde" artist or freelance sound designer , Non exclusive licencing/publishing agreement its the better deal than " Exclusive" licencing ( that one licence its very dangerous and not fair when its about music )

Cool - if I understand you correctly, you're saying the non-exclusive licence means CDPR is given the right to use the music for commercial and marketing purposes, but the musician retains ownership of their music and can still publish, etc.? Sounds like a win-win indeed.

So basically CDPR gets to use the music in their game and the musician gets to upload it to their spotify, etc.

How about revenue though? Are you still allowed to earn revenue when you publish a non-exclusive track?


EDIT: I recommend reading onetwomany's post here
 
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Cool - if I understand you correctly, you're saying the non-exclusive licence means CDPR is given the right to use the music for commercial and marketing purposes, but the musician retains ownership of their music and can still publish, etc.? Sounds like a win-win indeed.

So basically CDPR gets to use the music in their game and the musician gets to upload it to their spotify, etc.

How about revenue though? Are you still allowed to earn revenue when you publish a non-exclusive track?

yes , Non exclusive licencing / publish its all about party A ( onwership rights ) can contract with part B , conced rights for comercial purpase but part A can make an other non exclusive licencing / publishing with an other Party C .

But when there's a Exclusive agreements licencing between party A and party B , party A can't do any other contract . on this cas usually rights managements r ( commercial pupose exploitation ) was set for a short period , abobe 1 or 2 years when in come about music industry
 
yes , Non exclusive licencing / publish its all about party A ( onwership rights ) can contract with part B , conced rights for comercial purpase but part A can make an other non exclusive licencing / publishing with an other Party C .

But when there's a Exclusive agreements licencing between party A and party B , party A can't do any other contract . on this cas usually rights managements r ( commercial pupose exploitation ) was set for a short period , abobe 1 or 2 years when in come about music industry
You are not reading the contract/rules correctly here and I think you are misinforming people.

The non-exclusive license they mention is for *during* the competition/judging part of the competition. i.e. they are allowed to share your music with the judges and other third parties as well as hosting it on their website for the community to listen to. During this phase you, the composer, retain the rights to your music and can do with it as you please. Sections 9.1 and 9.3 are two completely separate agreements. Be sure you read and understand this completely.

However, if you are chosen as a winner CDPR will then buy the rights to the track from you for the €3000 "prize money." This effectively ends your (the composer's) ability to share the music on spotify or other platforms because the music will then be owned 100% by CDPR. If you share the track on your own spotify and claim royalties from it you would be in violation of copyright law. (Yes, music copyright law is this crazy. For example, some musicians, through shady record label deals, make almost no money from their own music because they signed it away to record labels for a small payday and the record label takes all the profits).

Anyways, CDPR are being up front about this, I never said it was stealing as zzzfro mentioned. It's completely up to the composer to decide whether it's a good deal for them or not. Getting a song into a big game like this would be awesome to get your name out of there. Personally I don't like losing the rights to my music. It would be great if CDPR would be willing to work with the entrants towards a similar licensing agreement as they have with the other artists featured in the game.

@koalahugs, to answer your other question, The original performing artist will almost always be credited for the composition, even if they dont own it or aren't being paid further for it. Since they are buying your pre-made song I believe this is how it would work. It would be different if they hired you internally to write music for them in which case they could put whatever name they wanted on the spotify entry. Some other exceptions could be if, maybe they like your song but they decide to re-record it with other musicians, then you'd only be credited as a songwriter. Haven't had to deal with this aspect of it though as no one has re-recorded one of my songs.. yet, lol. I mostly have only made money from non-exclusive transferrable licenses.

Feel free to do your own research into copyright law though. Don't take the word of some random folks on an internet forum :)
 
You are not reading the contract/rules correctly here and I think you are misinforming people.

The non-exclusive license they mention is for *during* the competition/judging part of the competition. i.e. they are allowed to share your music with the judges and other third parties as well as hosting it on their website for the community to listen to. During this phase you, the composer, retain the rights to your music and can do with it as you please. Sections 9.1 and 9.3 are two completely separate agreements. Be sure you read and understand this completely.

However, if you are chosen as a winner CDPR will then buy the rights to the track from you for the €3000 "prize money." This effectively ends your (the composer's) ability to share the music on spotify or other platforms because the music will then be owned 100% by CDPR. If you share the track on your own spotify and claim royalties from it you would be in violation of copyright law. (Yes, music copyright law is this crazy. For example, some musicians, through shady record label deals, make almost no money from their own music because they signed it away to record labels for a small payday and the record label takes all the profits).

Anyways, CDPR are being up front about this, I never said it was stealing as zzzfro mentioned. It's completely up to the composer to decide whether it's a good deal for them or not. Getting a song into a big game like this would be awesome to get your name out of there. Personally I don't like losing the rights to my music. It would be great if CDPR would be willing to work with the entrants towards a similar licensing agreement as they have with the other artists featured in the game.

@koalahugs, to answer your other question, The original performing artist will almost always be credited for the composition, even if they dont own it or aren't being paid further for it. Since they are buying your pre-made song I believe this is how it would work. It would be different if they hired you internally to write music for them in which case they could put whatever name they wanted on the spotify entry. Some other exceptions could be if, maybe they like your song but they decide to re-record it with other musicians, then you'd only be credited as a songwriter. Haven't had to deal with this aspect of it though as no one has re-recorded one of my songs.. yet, lol. I mostly have only made money from non-exclusive transferrable licenses.

Feel free to do your own research into copyright law though. Don't take the word of some random folks on an internet forum :)

Ah, you're so right - thanks for clearing that up. I was really confused why 9.1 and 9.3 sounded so contradictory but, indeed, reading it more carefully, now I understand the difference.

9.1 - contestants grant non-exclusive license during contest period.
9.3 - winner enters copyright transfer agreement (not a license); gives baby away.

I was trying to give @zzzfrofzzz the benefit of the doubt because... "authority bias" I guess? Lesson learned. Always gotta read the legalese carefully.
 
@koalahugs, to answer your other question, The original performing artist will almost always be credited for the composition, even if they dont own it or aren't being paid further for it. Since they are buying your pre-made song I believe this is how it would work. It would be different if they hired you internally to write music for them in which case they could put whatever name they wanted on the spotify entry. Some other exceptions could be if, maybe they like your song but they decide to re-record it with other musicians, then you'd only be credited as a songwriter. Haven't had to deal with this aspect of it though as no one has re-recorded one of my songs.. yet, lol. I mostly have only made money from non-exclusive transferrable licenses.

The attribution of credit of an artwork comes under the topic of "moral rights". This proved to be rather fascinating as I went researching it.

In Poland as with most of the EU, the moral right of an artist to be identified as the creator is rather strong, lasting 70 years after the creator's death.

However, the US doesn't have the same protection for moral rights as do other countries - and according to some readings, its protections only apply to visual artworks and not books or music! Thankfully, the competition is under Polish law. :)

There's a few sites covering this topic, and I suggest you read further on it.

Cheers,
Merric
(not a lawyer)
 
It's really a pity that the artist has to fully transfer the copyright. This way, really good songs which have been released on spotify already won't be submitted. Only the "bad" songs which the artist doesn't care about will be submitted.
This is really bad for both, the artist and CDPR.

Why not choosing the same licencing model as for other songs in the game?
The average quality of submitted songs would be much better.
 
to know streaming music for average artist on spotify or apple music , we earn a basis of 0.07 $ / per 80% music listen ( not per click ) , we the music get featuerd on playlist or on top charts per genre , we can get avobe 0.12$ max without royalties or mechanical fee :)

even at the end , artist let off his economic rights on their music for cyberpunk , the 3000$ cash is far enough ^^
GL for any artist you want get on short time above 40k listening count on Spotify or Apple music xD..

this contst its like as Gosh produtcion without NDA , or those crappy price , now 100$ for a track ..Oo
 
Keldian's song about Night City "CHANGE THE WORLD" from their album "DARKNESS AND LIGHT" is perfect for Cyberpunk 2077.
 
My artist name is Nunch Pazis!. Would it be considered offensive (incitement to violence)? I may use my real name, but it wouldn't yield many search results.

Good question, "incitement to violence" is rather vague, I assume that for example a textline like "Let's kill -insert any real celebrity name here-" would not be okay, whereas "Let's kick some corpo/scav ass" would be alright as it fits the game and does not imply any real-world-violence. An artist name like yours might be in the grey area between, but I don't really know where they draw the line...
 
My artist name is Nunch Pazis!. Would it be considered offensive (incitement to violence)? I may use my real name, but it wouldn't yield many search results.

Good question, "incitement to violence" is rather vague, I assume that for example a textline like "Let's kill -insert any real celebrity name here-" would not be okay, whereas "Let's kick some corpo/scav ass" would be alright as it fits the game and does not imply any real-world-violence. An artist name like yours might be in the grey area between, but I don't really know where they draw the line...
Nah, nothing wrong about Nunchucking Pazzis, Houses Medici and Auditore rule!
 
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