I’ll lead with the obligatory “you can do whatever you want” standard boilerplate of encouragement. Seriously, you can do whatever you want. It’s just words on someone’s screen.
But since you asked how to “win” this very common conundrum, I’ll give you some unfiltered thoughts on how to do the Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-‘A’-‘B’ cheat code to beat this thing. All that follows is just my opinion, and most likely wrong. Use at your own risk. It may void the warranty of your screenplay.
Including specific music cues with links is the equivalent of the “The Bullet Catch” in magic shows… an incredibly dangerous act, which can either succeed brilliantly or end in disaster.
The reason is because you are essentially becoming a DJ and imposing real music on a crowd. I used to DJ in college and here’s the truth about that: Everybody thinks they’re a great DJ until they actually start dropping tunes on a real crowd and watch them react indifferent or negatively.
But if it lands, it’s magic.
But only certain people have that zeitgeist-level of taste to be in complete sink with their audience.
Most writers have so-so musical taste. It’s usually a result of imprinting. You come of age in a specific time and place, and whatever songs you found cool at that moment, you associate with that memory. But it won’t have the same endorphin effect on other people. They just hear the song, and filter it through their own taste and standards.
But certain songs might transcend that, and be widely considered to work. That’s why it’s so important that IF you’re going to invoque specific music in a screenplay, it better be a damn awesome music cue that goes dramatically and flawlessly with the story being told.
If the specific music is just there to enhance the tone of the scene, then it might mean the writing itself is seriously lacking atmosphere. Then the music can come across as a giant crutch. This is not good.
If I get the sense that the writer spent more time and effort on the playlist than the writing itself, then they shall have lost my respect as writers.
Certain songs have a shelf life, especially new music. It could seriously date your screenplay.
Don’t ever make a decision based on cost. If you’re free to write exploding oil tankers and dinosaurs stomping on Bentleys, then licensing a popular song shouldn’t be an issue. After all, someone wrote a screenplay called YESTERDAY.
Just don’t write in the happy birthday song… Not even Hollywood has enough money for that shit.