Blokur’s Licensing Messenger — Now it’s even easier to request a licence

To ensure our Music Users’ licence requests are successful and approved by publishers, we have revamped our messenger.

Blokur Licensing Messenger

Blokur’s Licensing Messenger allows music supervisors, labels, content creators and other music users to easily request a licence from all the rights holders involved in a song via just a single form. This leaves them with more time to focus on other projects while they await a response from the publisher(s). We’ve seen hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of new licence requests come in via our platform. The Licensing Messenger also benefits publishers, enabling them to bring in additional untapped revenue by making their catalogue more accessible to music users.

This revamped version of the Messenger hones in on the essential information that Music Users submit to ensure publisher licensing departments get all the key info they need to help them respond to the licence request more efficiently and easily.

Users of Blokur Search — who already have access to now over 30 million songs in Blokur’s database — can click the “Request Licence” button to access a simple form where they enter key information about their production, including the type of use they want the song for and the fee they are offering before clicking “Send Request”.

The Benefits

What makes this process so efficient for our music users is that you only have to fill out one form and the request will be sent to all rights holders involved. This saves time as you avoid having to search multiple databases to track down all the publishers who control rights to the song and you don’t have to make multiple individual pitches.This is particularly useful for music users who have a tight turnaround time or have multiple projects they are working on.

Blokur Licensing Messenger Form

Image showing the Blokur Licensing Messenger Form

The Process

Once the request is sent, Blokur reviews it to ensure the request is likely to be accepted by the publishers. When approved*, music publishers are notified of the request and can respond via Blokur to negotiate a licence. The licensor only needs to type in the proposed total fee and the Licensing Messenger does the rest, cleverly calculating the cut of the fee that is due to each publisher based on their share of the song.

*If the request is missing information or does not meet typical industry standards, Blokur will send the request back for edit to the user. In rare instances, Blokur may reject the request if it is not fit for the Messenger’s intended purpose.

The publisher’s response opens up a chat where the requester and the publisher can discuss the licence to negotiate a deal and reach an agreement.

This function makes it easier for music users to identify and contact the right person to get a licence, saving time for everybody and making sure publishers don’t miss out on licensing opportunities.

Blokur licence request form

Example of a licence request form

This will make it easier for publishers to take advantage of untapped revenues and time sensitive opportunities. The process makes it easy to reach the right stakeholders in one go, which can be the difference between the publishers’ works being chosen or not.

What type of requests is the Licensing Messenger for?

Currently our messenger is useful for requesting licences for:

  • Ads/Commercials

  • TV and Films (including small indie films)

  • Internal and external company usages

  • Live streams

  • Video games

  • Apps

  • Other media which requires music with moving image

What type of requests is the Licensing Messenger NOT for?

  • Cover songs: We recommend using Harry Fox for those kinds of licences

  • YouTube videos: YouTube already has ID claim technology that will claim the song in your video and extract any ad money from the video. If you are wanting to monetize the video with the usage, we recommend using Harry Fox or using royalty free or pre-cleared music libraries

  • Requests with fees under 3 figures. We typically have never seen requests be considered by the publishers we work with below those figures

How much should I pitch for my request?

There are multiple things to consider when pitching a fee. Keep in mind, the figure you’re pitching is just a starting point and will likely not be the final amount the publisher will be approving the request for. However, the number has to be somewhat appropriate based on the type of usage and popularity of the song.

The more popular the song, the higher the request fee should be. For many bigger works, Blokur does feature a “popularity” bar where you will be able to assess how valuable a work is. Well-known artists rarely approve requests for under 5 figures.

Blokur’s Popularity Bar

Image showing an example of Blokur’s popularity bar

There are some usages that require higher fees as well, such as any sort of “theme” or “visual” usage. Since they are more prominent and important to the associated media, they require a more premium pitch fee. Usages that require a smaller fee include background usages and use cases for internal affairs as opposed to public usages.

Why do I need a Licence?

Whenever songwriters make a song, they automatically obtain the intellectual rights (copyright) to their creation. Thus, whenever a company or entity wants to use the composition they have to get permission from the songwriter(s) associated with the work. Most usage of the song needs to be approved by ALL rights holders. Some of those rights holders will assign a publisher or administrator to filter through usage requests and will collect any royalties or fees that the composition procures. In that case, the publishers/administrator will also have to approve the terms of the licence request for the song to be used.


If you are interested in learning more about this function or learn more about what Blokur does feel free to reach out at derek@blokur.com

To sign up for your free Blokur Search account that gives you access to over 30 million songs or to use the Licensing Messenger, sign up HERE.