Any questions we can help you with?

Here you’ll find some frequent questions and answers about the use of classical music and sync licenses. Should you have additional specific questions please email us. We’ll be happy to assist you.

  • No. You cannot use pieces of classical music freely because they may be still under copyright protection, particularly when it comes to the recording itself. While many classical compositions have entered the public domain (because composers died over 70 years ago), and can be used freely, the recording of specific performance of that composition may still be protected. Therefore, if you want to use a recording of classical music, you may need to pay licensing fees to the copyright holders or obtain their permission to use the work.

    Please note that copyright laws regarding classical music in each country can differ depending on the composition's publication date, the duration of the author's lifetime, and other factors. So be aware to always check for the copyright status and compliance before using the music.

    This is the reason why in our site all tracks are marked with a “warning” info as a reminder.

  • Generally speaking a public domain composition is where the composer is dead over 70 years ago. In case of tracks with multiple composers, the 70 years calculation is based on the date of death of last of them.

  • Not at all. As explained you have always to pay for the master recording even if the composition is public domain. But please remind to check very deeply because sometimes classical compositions like operas are created by one composer and more lyricist so you have also to check if they are in public domain as well or not. A famous example of this uncertain mix of public domain composition + copyrighted lyrics is the opera aria “Nessun dorma” (“Vincerò”) from La Turandot. Considering the music composer Giacomo Puccini is dead In 1924 this track should be in public domain (1924+70=1994). But this opera contains also lyrics and the related authors are Giuseppe Adami (dead in 1946) and Renato Simoni (dead in 1954). To calculate the copyright duration you take the last death date (1954) and add 70 years and so you will see that Nessun Dorma will be copyrighted until the end of 2024. At Synclassical we’ll help you to support you in managing any possibile critical issue about this matter.

  • At Synclassical we license synchronization rights of master recording of all tracks on our site. Where compositions are still under copyright we can negotiate for you the related publishing rights to clear 100% of the track.

  • Some people believe if they use just few seconds of music (e.g. 5” or 10”) the can do it in the name of fair use and so it is free and not subjected to any copyright payment. This is not true. Any usage of music, even few seconds, requires a formal permission of the right holders who will decide to allow or not the usage and, in case, which will be the related licensing price.

  • No. Any usage of the music has to be always pre-approved by the right holders and a specific license agreement is needed in any case, both for profit or non-profit projects. Moreover please note that sometimes non-profit project are backed by top brands that use these projects for their communication. So they need to set a proper music clearance and pay a synchronization license.

  • No, you can’t. This is considered a commercial usage because you are using the music to increase che value and the atmosphere of your event and so you’ll have to request a license for using classical tracks for this purpose. This works for synch with videos, intro, breaks, as well as walk-in time.

  • If you produce a re-recording of a classical composition then you’ll be able to use it for free only if the composition is already in public domain. As a matter of fact, producing this re-recording you’ll become the owner of the master recording rights and there is no third party rights to clear because the copyright is expired. But in case you produce a re-recording of a classical composition that is still copyrighted, in order to use it, for any kind of project, you shall always get the formal approval from the right holders of the composition (publisher, and/or author /composer and/or their copyright administrator) and negotiate a license accordingly.