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Before you even begin to try to get a permission you have to make sure that all of your information is accurate and correct. Make sure that you have the right author / song title / album title (where applicable). Make sure it's not a remix or something like that which could get osu! in trouble with the original author who never gave permission for the remix in the first place.
The other reason for accuracy is so that you show the recipient of the email that you know what you are talking about.
Depending on what you are going for you will need to follow a different step. If:
- You are asking an independent artist / group for their permission then go to step 2.
- You are asking a signed artist / group for their permission or a record label for any artist at all then go to step 3.
The beauty about independent artists is that they have no record company or label (or they own the label themselves) and so you only need to send one email.
Make sure to be absolutely certain that they don't have a label. Once you are certain try to find a contact address for them. This could either be an email or a letter. Some good places to check for contact points for independent artists are Wikipedia, their official website, or Myspace (or similar musical outlets such as Last.fm).
Once you have an email address you can send the email to them. I prepared a template email that can be used:
Here's one of the more formal templates available and widely used for independent artists and/or groups:
Dear (band / artist name).
My name is (your name). I'm wondering if I could have a minute of your time to request permission to use (songs / whatever) in a free online rhythm game called osu!. The website is https://osu.ppy.sh/.
osu! is an online rhythm based game where you hit the circles, slides and spins by using mouse. osu! also comes with 3 additional special game modes which are Taiko, Catch the Beat and osu!mania. It is similar to Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, a rhythm game for the Nintendo DS, but instead of tapping circles, dragging a ball across a fixed path and rotating a spinner very fast on the touchscreen, you are using your mouse. osu! was started in 2007 and we currently in the progress of gaining more members and trying to expand our music base.
osu! is a free-to-play online rhythm game and does not earn any money from these songs. We do not sell or redistribute the music either. Your music will not be sold and the artists of the song will be credited accordingly and upon release of the song for the game there will be links directing our players to your homepage, Soundcloud, Twitter, etc.
In conclusion, I am writing for permission to use your songs on osu!. You do not have to permit whole albums, even a song or two would be enough if that is all you want to offer.
(Alternative for the above paragraph: Ask for specific songs or albums that you want, for example:In conclusion, I am writing for permission to "song 1" and "song 2" on osu!. I feel that these songs would be an amazing addition to other game modes such as Taiko, Catch the Beat and osu!mania and I hope that you will give permission for these two songs).
If you have any more questions regarding my request, or have any other questions at all then please email me at the following address:
(your email)
I look forward to a reply in the future. Thank you for your time.
Yours Sincerely,
(your name)
This does vary from label to label but ultimately your final email will be around the same. The first thing to do is find out which label the artist or group is with. This can most likely be found on Wikipedia.
Secondly, you need to go to the labels website and make sure if you can find any "terms of service" or "artist / license request" forms or information on either. (Usually located at the bottom of these sites, are links for the ToS and artist/license requests.) These will usually give you information on how a label feels about distributing the music of their artists. It can also tell you if the label will expect royalties for anything to do with any of their artists.
If you can't find anything like this then you can move on. If you do find a form, and it doesn't mention royalties, then you should use that form to apply request for music to be put into osu!.
If none of the above is applicable then you'll need to move on to emails.
The ideal route is to send two emails. One to the artist / group and one to the record label. If a band is linked with multiple labels and you aren't sure which label is the right one for what you are asking permission for, then you may have to email every single label and explain the situation.
The following emails are what I suggest as templates for your two emails:
TO THE BAND / ARTIST:
Dear (band / artist name).TO THE RECORD LABEL:
My name is (your name). I'm wondering if I could have a minute of your time to request permission to use (songs / whatever) in a free online rhythm game called osu!. The website is https://osu.ppy.sh/.
osu! is an online rhythm based game where you hit the circles, slides and spins by using mouse. osu! also comes with 3 additional special game modes which are Taiko, Catch the Beat and osu!mania. It is similar to Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, a rhythm game for the Nintendo DS, but instead of tapping circles, dragging a ball across a fixed path and rotating a spinner very fast on the touchscreen, you are using your mouse. osu! was started in 2007 and we currently in the progress of gaining more members and trying to expand our music base.
osu! is a free-to-play online rhythm game and does not earn any money from these songs. We do not sell or redistribute the music either. Your music will not be sold and the artists of the song will be credited accordingly and upon release of the song for the game there will be links directing our players to your homepage, Soundcloud, Twitter, etc.
I feel that if we got your permission to use your songs on our game then we would be able to get more people into your music and that we would have some incredible beatmaps for people to play.
I understand that you are with (record label) and I have sent an email to them as well to request this permission, but I thought it would be fair to email you as well, especially as this is your music I am requesting. I am especially interested in (song / album) and hope that you can give permission for us to use it or tell me what way I should go about requesting this permission from your record label.
I just want to repeat that we will not make any money out of this. If you give us permission then we will buy the (album / song) ourselves. As well as that, with your (song / album) in osu! you will get free publicity and hopefully more people will come to appreciate your music as I do.
In conclusion, I am writing for permission to use (song / album) on osu!. You do not have to permit everything I've asked for, even a song or two would be greatly appreciated.
If you have any more questions regarding my request, or have any other questions at all then please email me at the following address:
(your email)
I look forward to a reply in the future. Thank you for your time.
Yours Sincerely,
(your name)
Dear (record label).
My name is (your name). I'm wondering if I could have a minute of your time to request permission to use (songs / whatever) in a free online rhythm game called osu!. The website is https://osu.ppy.sh/.
osu! is an online rhythm based game where you hit the circles, slides and spins by using mouse. osu! also comes with 3 additional special game modes which are Taiko, Catch the Beat and osu!mania. It is similar to Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, a rhythm game for the Nintendo DS, but instead of tapping circles, dragging a ball across a fixed path and rotating a spinner very fast on the touchscreen, you are using your mouse. osu! was started in 2007 and we currently in the progress of gaining more members and trying to expand our music base.
May I just take a moment to say that osu! is a free-to-play online rhythm game and osu! does not earn any money from these songs. We do not sell or redistribute the music either. If any permission is given then we will buy the albums / songs ourselves and we don't make any money out of this. On the other hand, the artists you allow permission for will get free publicity on our website and it may entice more people to buy their albums.
I feel that if we got your permission to use your songs on our game then we would have some incredible beatmaps for people to play. Permission for even one or two songs from one artist would still be greatly appreciated.
In conclusion, I am writing for permission to use (song / album / artist) on osu!. However, as I've said, you do not have to permit everything I've asked for, even a song or two from any artist would be greatly appreciated.
If you have any more questions regarding my request, or have any other questions at all then please email me at the following address:
(your email)
I look forward to a reply in the future. Thank you for your time.
Yours Sincerely,
(your name)
This is the most important part, how will everything turn out. There are various possibilities and I'll cover as many as I can.
1. An independent artist / band says yes to your request.
If this is the case, well done. You've got a permission! Now, to verify your permission, you should post a screenshot of your emails (sent to and from), along with a URL to the artist's website in your beatmap thread. Following that, if you wish to send an email thanking the artist/group, feel free to use this example:
Dear (artist / band)2. An independent artist / band says no to your request.
Thank you for your permission to use (whatever they offered). This is greatly appreciated and I'll let osu! know shortly. If you would like, once a song has been put into the game I can email you again to give you a link for the final result?
Again, I just want to say thank you for your permission.
Yours Sincerely,
(your name)
No worries, it happens. Still send them another email. Again a template for you:
Dear (artist / band)3. An independent artist / band doesn't reply.
I'm sorry to hear that you won't give permission for (whatever) but I want to just thank you for replying to my email.
Good luck in the future and I look forward to future (songs / albums).
Yours Sincerely,
(your name)
Give it at least a week. If you hear no reply then just send another email. Something along the lines of:
Dear (artist / band)4. A record label replies saying yes.
I am writing to you again with regards to the email I sent you on (date) about permission for (song / album) to be used in our free online rhythm game at https://osu.ppy.sh/.
I understand that you must be very busy but if I could just have a moment of your time then I would really appreciate a reply to that email. Even if the email is only to say why you can or cannot give permission, that in itself would be enough.
Thanks again for your time and I hope to hear a reply shortly.
Yours Sincerely,
(your name)
Again, congratulations, but still be polite and send another email to the record label, something like:
Dear (record label / or person's name if someone personally emailed you)5. A record label replies saying no.
Thank you very much for your permission to use (song / album / artist), I will let osu! know shortly. Once that happens we will start the process of getting steps put to the music and after a few months hopefully a beatmap will be added to the game.
Once again I want to thank you for your permission and for taking the time to reply to my email.
Yours Sincerely,
(your name)
Dear (record label / or person's name if someone personally emailed you)6. A record label doesn't reply.
I understand your reasons for not allowing permission but want to thank you for replying to my email.
I wish you and all of your artists the best of luck in the future.
Yours Sincerely,
(your name)
This is probably the most likely case as most record labels are gay like that. If anything, you should still try to send a follow-up email:
Dear (record label)
I am writing to you again with regards to the email I sent you on (date) about permission for (song / album / artist) to be used in our free online rhythm game at https://osu.ppy.sh/.
I understand that you must be very busy but if I could just have a moment of your time then I would really appreciate a reply to that email. Even if the email is only to say why you can or cannot give permission, that in itself would be enough.
Thanks again for your time and I hope to hear a reply shortly.
Yours Sincerely,
(your name)
And there you have it. When asking for permissions, always, ALWAYS remember the most important parts:
- Be polite.
- Be accurate in what you want.
- Email everyone involved with the song / artist to increase your chances of a reply and also out of politeness.
So, you got your song/songs getting permission by your favorite artist/label record? What are you waiting for? Start mapping now!- Be polite.
- Be accurate in what you want.
- Email everyone involved with the song / artist to increase your chances of a reply and also out of politeness.
Also, if you are in need of modding, be sure to visit Loctav's special queue thread ;
Thanks for reading ~