What does Royalty Free Music mean?

What does Royalty Free Music mean? Well, lets start by saying Royalty Free music is NOT FREE music. This is a common misconception about Royalty Free Music. Most people see FREE and think oh, it must mean I do not have to pay for it... Well, this could not be further from the truth. Royalty Free Music is offered, usually by Production or "Stock" Music Libraries, which includes a one-time fee, securing both the master and sync rights. Royalty Free Music simply means once you have paid and received your sync license - you the project owner, are no-longer responsible for further payments to the artists, e.g. "Royalties." Royalties are paid to the artists from their respective PRO; in the U.S. they are either ASCAP or BMI, Canada has SOCAN, Italy has SIAE, Germany has GEMA, etc. So to clarify, Royalty Free Music is NOT free music - it means once you have acquired the proper legal documents - via payment (securing both master and Synch rights) from the Royalty Free Music Library, or Production Music Library, or Stock Music Library, you are not responsible to pay additional royalties to the artist.