From Halftime Shows to Choir Concerts: Interdisciplinary Success in Your School Programs

What comes to mind when you think about a pep rally? Is it the thunderous sound of hundreds of feet on bleachers? The electric excitement of eagerly awaiting students? Perhaps you think about what occurs during a rally, be it a showcase of athletic prowess, a beautiful musical performance, or a combination of both. Regardless of what comes to mind, there is an unmistakable truth: No one can do it alone. The journey towards a successful interdisciplinary event begins with planning from educators and administrators alike to ensure that every aspect runs like a well-oiled machine. 

The licensing permissions granted by School Music License can absolutely help with these multi-program events, providing both the copyright coverage to use music legally and the tools to make the process of royalty reporting easier. Here are a few examples of how you can take advantage of our license at these events: 

1. Pep rallies feature the talents and abilities of the entire student body. They serve as a great opportunity to foster community and to build school spirit. Executing these performances well requires effective communication between staff members, and having one account to cover the entire school enables such communication. 
2. Is the pep rally featuring walk-on songs for the basketball team? Is there a performance by the cheer or dance squad? If coaches want to incorporate audio tracks, they have to communicate that with whoever is running sound for the event and ensure that good copyright reporting practices are being followed. 
3. Is the pep band or jazz ensemble involved at a Tuesday night game that also has transition music audio tracks? Is the marching band performing in the Homecoming Parade that is being shared online with family and friends? In both instances, the coaches and directors need to communicate with each other, ensuring that the music used in their events is legally streamed. 

From Theory to Practice

Every license has two types of users: an Account Owner and a Sub User. The Account Owner is the primary user of the account and is responsible for music royalty reporting and the general upkeep of the license. Sub Users are also able to report song usage and typically serve in more specified roles. Going back to the examples, a basketball coach and a band director could theoretically be Account Owners, but it might make more sense for them to be Sub Users who only report the music that is relevant to their respective roles. In this case, a Student Activities Coordinator or an Athletic Director would be an ideal Account Owner, as they would be in the ideal position to have all of the relevant information and manage the account. That being said, if your license is primarily used by your Fine Arts Department Chair or Music Directors, they can serve as the Account Owner and add additional staff as Sub Users. 

Real Life Example

Now, what if the Chamber Choir was performing at the pep rally and the Choir Director needed to be added as a Sub User? For easy reference, here are the steps to adding Sub Users to the account from the perspective of the Account Owner:

1. Log in to your School Music License account, which you can do here. 
2. Click on the “My Account” drop-down tab at the top of your screen. In that drop-down menu, select “My Profile.” 
3. You should now be on the “My Account” page. Select the “Users” tab. 
4. On the “User Accounts” tab, you are able to add Secondary Users. Select “Add User,” which is in a purple bubble on the right side of the screen. 
5. Add in the full name and email address of the individual you are adding to the account. Since the choir director will be reporting music and is not a billing contact, you only need to check the “Subscribe to our educational newsletter?” box. 
6. Once you have entered the new Sub User’s email address, the option to “Send Invite” will pop up below the check boxes. Click it! You will then be asked to confirm that you want to send an invitation to the selected user. Click “Confirm.” 

Once these steps have been completed, the Choir Director will receive an email saying that they have been invited to your School Music License account. In this email, they will be able to select a link that says “ACTIVATE MY ACCOUNT.” They will then be able to set up their own password and have access to the account. Once they have access, they will be able to report the usage of all the songs they performed during the pep rally! 

When the Choir Director has activated their account, this a great time to send them a Welcome Packet. This packet contains valuable materials for onboarding with School Music License as well as a copy of the invoice. This ensures that all of your users are on the same page! Here are the steps to send a Welcome Packet from the perspective of the Account Owner: 

1. From the “My Account” page, select the “Licenses” tab. 
2. In the top right corner of your license, there is a purple bubble with a downward-facing triangle. Click it to access a drop-down menu with the options “View Invoice,” “License Terms,” and “Send Welcome Packet.” 
3. Select “Send Welcome Packet.” This pulls up a list of all the Users and Sub Users on the account. 
4. Choose who will receive a Welcome Packet. This is indicated by the check-marked box to the left of each User’s / Sub User’s name. Note that each name will be automatically selected at first, so if you want to send a Welcome Packet to only the Choir Director, you will need to deselect the other names. 
5. Once you have selected who you want to send a Welcome Packet to, click “Send.” 
6. You will see a green notification in the top right corner of the page confirming that the Welcome Packet has been sent. 

Impact & Next Steps

This procedure looks the same regardless of the school event. For a halftime show during a football game, you may want to add the Cheer or Poms coach as a Sub User so they can report the songs used. Remember that you always have the option to filter all songs used through the Account Owner if that works best for your school. For a student assembly, the teacher or administrator in charge would likely be the best option, unless your school has a Student Activities Coordinator who can serve in that role. There is no limit to how many Sub Users can be on an account, as long as they are all affiliated with only your school. 

A few things to note: 

1. Sharing licenses between school buildings is a misuse of School Music License terms of agreement. Each individual school building requires its own license. Please contact our team for more information about a district-wide Group License. 
2. If you ever need to remove a user for any reason, there is a “Delete” option (a white trash can inside a red bubble) next to each Sub User on the “User Account” tab. The Account Owner should make an effort at least once a year to review the Sub Users on the account, especially for staff members who have transitioned out of their role. 
3. The songs reported on your account can be seen by any of the Sub Users on file, which prevents double reporting or miscommunication between staff members! 

Teachers and administrators are the architects of student engagement, and it is important to us here at School Music License that we help build upon the tenants of effective communication that allow for school events to run smoothly. We are not just a service for the music programs; we are designed to enhance the spirit of collaboration that is already present in your educators, and that is needed for the success of interdisciplinary events. For every occasion, School Music License is here to help you Do More with the Music You Love!

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Photo used with permission from Canva.com