Hi Everyone. Our group is just getting started and we're about to record a CD, but we're a little confused on the correct steps we should take to legally make that happen. Where would we get permission to record and sell our CD that includes cover songs on it? Any information would be helpful. Thanks!

You'll need to get the mechanical rights for each cover song which usually costs about 9 cents/copy/song (i.e the cost for one cover song on 1000 CDs is about $90). You should be able to find most of the songs on harryfox.com (a major licensing, collection and distribution agency) and buy the mechanical rights directly from them.

If the song is not list on HFA, you'll need to approach the songwriter directly.

CD production companies are supposed to check for proof that you've obtained these rights before they print, but in my experience they never have. However, you should still get the rights and maintain the records - aside from being the honest thing to do, I'm sure lawsuits aren't your idea of a good time!

Mechanical rights will only cover the songs in CD format. If you plan to distribute your songs digitally, you'll need to take further steps...although many online distributors will take care of licensing for you (acatunes is great a resource!)

thank you so much! that was JUST what we needed ^.^

Happy to help! The process isn't too painful, I promise!