The entire ONE LICENSE team would like to thank our License Holders for allowing us to serve and support you and your ministries throughout the past year. We sincerely appreciate your partnership with us and all you do to serve the church. 

Over the last year, we have introduced several account features, as well as provided and updated our educational tools to ensure you have the resources and permissions you need during these ever-changing times. Our team strives to offer comprehensive tools that support user experience and a variety of educational and tutorial resources to ensure you have easy access to the type of information you need. 

Here are some ONE LICENSE highlights from the past year!

3.8 million+
worship services reported by our License Holders (up from 2.4 million+ in 2020)

2 million+
individual titles reported worldwide 

202,000+
music image files and MP3s available (that is 25,000 new images since last year!)

176,076
titles in the song catalog (an increase of over 70,000 titles this year alone)

17,000+
License Holders now posting or streaming their services online 

5%
of our organizations are connected to group licenses, benefiting from discounted pricing, centralized billing, and accountability in reporting 

With nearly 25,000 active licenses, the ONE LICENSE service covers the entirety of North America, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, and continental Europe, as well as the rest of the English-speaking church.

2021 was a record year for our educational blog content. From social media best practices, to using your license more efficiently, we are thrilled to share the top posts of the year. If you did not have a chance to review them when they were originally published, catch up by clicking below!

If you are using someone else’s video in something you are creating, such as a worship service, there may be as many as three separate rights involved: the owner of the video recording, any copyright of the song in the video, and the owner of the commercial recording of the song used in the video. Please be sure you are following the necessary steps to ensure you have the correct permissions to use these videos in your service. Take a look at our most viewed blog piece of 2021 to learn about the best practices for using other people’s YouTube videos.

Claims, strikes, disputes—oh my! With many organizations using services like YouTube to share worship online, many License Holders are running into things like claims, strikes, and disputes. This blog piece will explain what these notices mean, how to avoid them, and what to do if you receive one. Give this piece a read to help keep your online accounts in good standing.

In September, our team launched our new Group License Guide, designed for both current Group Managers and organizations that are interested in pursuing a Group License. This twelve-page guide helps organizations discern if a Group License is a good fit for them and offers best practices for set-up, implementation, and ongoing management. A must read for both current and future Group Managers!

Our team understands that it can sometimes be challenging to determine whether a song or other work is truly in the public domain. This article offers several helpful tips and tricks to determine if the piece you are planning to use is in the public domain. Take a look at this blog piece now to confirm that your Advent and Christmas selections have the correct permissions.

Perhaps our most helpful annual resource is our New User Webinar. Held in the first quarter of each year, this webinar is designed especially for newer users to our service or those who would benefit from learning new skills! New this year was a downloadable PDF featuring ONE LICENSE “Fast Facts” Guide. This guide helps to answer common questions we hear from our new users. Take a look at these “Fast Facts” or watch the full webinar to learn more!

During the last year, we have seen even more of our License Holders utilizing digital platforms to post services online, share their worship across social media sites (like Facebook and YouTube), and expand the reach of their organization. Your licensing permissions are based on the average weekly attendance of your organization, and we realize that determining this number, especially with online attendance, might feel a bit daunting. Take a look at this helpful article to ensure your organization is in the correct Category.

Have you ever wondered why ONE LICENSE asks you to report your music usage? This article seeks to help you understand the whys, whats, and hows of reporting your music usage. Our goal here at ONE LICENSE is to create an intuitive, affordable license covering the music your congregation loves to sing! Read this piece to learn more about how your music usage reporting supports the composers, artists, and publishers that are a part of our service.

Here at ONE LICENSE, we continually strive to improve the experience our License Holders have on our service. A helpful feature launched this year allows you to specify the type of copyright usage for individual pieces you report. An important read for users who hold an Annual Reprint + Podcast / Streaming Bundle License with us!

Earlier this year, we partnered with the Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO) for a webinar about copyright. We thank our friends at RCCO for putting together a list of commonly held myths and truths about copyright that inspired this blog article. Take a look at this piece and see if any of these myths surprise you!

In the middle of this year, we featured a blog series of helpful hints for making the most out of your license permissions. Take a look at this Welcome piece to learn more about topics such as searching our database, confirming you hold the correct license type, and making updates to your account.

Building a list allows you quick and easy access to the correct version of the titles your congregation uses most frequently. You can create as many different lists as you would like, and you can organize them by any theme or topic that is helpful for you. Give this article a read and start building your own lists today!

Whether you are searching the database to report copyright usage, confirm copyright permission, or download a music image or text file, ONE LICENSE has a number of helpful search features to assist you. With over 160,000 titles in our catalog, it is important that you find what you are looking for and fast! This piece includes some valuable points to get you started with searching best practices.

Our Single-Use and Event License options are an excellent way for you to enhance your ministry! These shorter-term license options are ideal for seasonal services or events throughout the church year. Just like our Annual License options, they can be obtained for congregational reprinting, podcast / streaming, or both, no matter which term of license you choose. Take a look at the piece to learn more about licensing options for your next special service!

Special thanks to Katie M. Deaver for her contributions to this article. 

Featured image copyright: Hasan Albari. This image is available for download at www.pexels.com.