Question is what are you doing with the music and where. There are two basic elements to each song 1. the composer of the music who may or may not be the performenr of the music (this is called publishing) and ASCAP, BMI, SESAC in the US and the various societies around the world collect for their composers though totally an imperfect system because its just too costly and time consuming to be accurate about every song played everywhere. Publishers in the US and some other countries collect for these rights when they appear on TV or film or on a CD getting paid directly from whoever is using the song. ASCAP, BMI And Sesac collect when they are on radio, in concert venues etc. 2. the second element is the actual recording of the song, the singer/musicians. Two completly different rights. If you want to use a song on a video you have to clear BOTH rights. If you want to record a song for a CD you can do so but have to pay the standard rate at the time to the publisher who owns the composition (the publisher could also be the person who wrote the song if they did not do a publishing deal) but you do not have to pay anything up front as the system is standardized. You are supposed to get a liscence (even though free) but in practice it is a formality and most dont bother and just pay the appropriate royalty. Harry Fox is one of the organizations that collects for these rights. You do have to get permission if you want to change the lyrics. for AUDIO only use you pay nothing to the people who recorded the origional version of the song (unless they happen to have composed it also but then you pay them as a composer and NOT as a musician)
If anybody wants to use any of the songs or music my company owns and licenses we judge the payments necessary on a formula that takes into consideration the sale price of the product, the number of songs on it, and how many are sold. If we charge too much people will not use our music, if we charge too little we deprive our artists of a just compensation for their work. We encourage people to use our music as that will generate income for our composers and artists as well as our company. Our music for bellydance includes Beats Antique, Pentaphobe, Galactic Caravan, Issam Houshan, Turbo Tabala, Saad Al Soghrier, Ameina, Oojami, Waroud, Hoda, Mohammad Al Hasan Abo Abid, Ahmed Qwala who are all artists who we represent both for recording and publishing. We are open for business.