This is a old piece of news but a fundamental case in European law for the
benefit of musicians who are considering entering the royalty free background
music market.

We all are aware of the old dinosaurs we call record labels, but there is an
older creature lurking in the shadows; the performing rights society. They
have been, yet still act as if they are a monopoly in many cases and in
particular, in Europe.

This case came to court in 2005, whereby, “the main Spanish collecting
society Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (‘SGAE’) sued Ricardo
Andres Utrera Fernendez, the owner of Metropol, a disco bar located in
Badajoz alleging that he had failed to pay SGAE’s license fee..”

(see the full article
about how musicians and music customers can be sure they can use royalty
free background music instead of music that have royalties due here at the
Creative Commons site)

Quite simply, the court rejected the performing rights society’s claims
because the owner of the bar proved in court that the music he was using was
not listed in the societies music and thus not managed by the society. An
important point here is that Fernendez was able to prove that he exclusively
used music licensed to him (via a Creative Commons license) that was not
managed by the performing rights society. Had he mixed both sources of music
he would no doubt have been found guilty & would have needed to pay the fee.

The Creative Commons article continues by stating,

“This case shows that there is more music that can be enjoyed and played
publicly than that which is managed by the collecting societies..

…As CC Spain project lead Ignasi Labastida said: ‘This decision
demonstrates that authors can choose how to manage their rights for their
own benefit and anyone can benefit from that choice, too. I expect that
collecting societies will understand that something has to change to face
this new reality.?’”

Performing rights societies say they are there to support and protect the
artist from missed revenues but even though they are ‘not for profit’ in
reality the only interest they have to heart is their own jobs.

Sure these guys do good for artists, and have done great in the past but my
concern is that they are deliberately reluctant and can become quite
aggressive with anyone that threatens their monopoly and so deliberately
restrict artists from exploiting new business opportunities. The protection
of their monopoly and the restrictions to artists are two very different
things that are often mixed up with their own protectionism.

Who was it that said it is hard to convince a man if it means he
will loose his job?

Just found this site offering background art for music related projects.
Lovely artwork :-)

Go check it out here:

Webweavers
Clipart For Background Music.

Not withstanding the science that surrounds creating a polished production,
and not ignoring the talent that goes into playing an instrument and
composing a piece of music I believe the barriers to entry into professional
music now are lower than ever before.

As long as you can create and have the stamina to continue to develop your
skills and talent, you will be able, with modern technology to create a
potential masterpiece.

Autechture recently said that it would be good for everyone to have the same
tools to hand, giving everyone who is keen to make music the same potential
as each other. I agree.

In addition, I can see that there is a lot of talent out there that whilst
they create great music, wont get their heads above the everyone else’s and
achieve some form of recognition.

Musak Holdings recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The article at
chron.com (now disappeared so replaced with Wikipedia’s page and reference to the chapter 11 event) about Musak Holdings, an infamous supplier of background
music.

“Long-standing debt” ($320 million in assets and a debt of $465 million).
The article states ” a slew of store closures is also at fault, executives
said recently, as the continuing recession causes struggling businesses to
cancel their Muzak accounts.”

Well, I can see a lot of stores are suffering and closing in the current
economic downturn but there are others who are looking at ways to reduce
their costs and are looking at more cost effective ways to provide music to
their stores. Royalty free background music is of course, perfect for this
since it does not have attached to it the additional cost of performing
rights royalties due for every play of a track. Quite simply, the price you
pay up front for the license enables you to use the music with no additional
royalties due. Not only are businesses finding this a way to reduce costs,
but also a way to get a music publisher on board who can gather the right
music to fit the business need.

The Internet, of course, enables businesses as well as consumers to look for
new suppliers who can provide better products and services and this will
continue with the background music market this year with background music
becoming available from royalty free libraries who are primed for providing
businesses better deals with even better and targeted music.

Unfortunately, like most large corporates, they only see the change when it
hits the numbers at board level. Im sure the guys talking to the customers
on a day by day basis have heard the same story for a while, but for that to
penetrate the well furnished board room hang outs is another matter.

Today’s business music market looks very different to it was when Musak
Holdings started out. Whilst most of the innovation that has taken place in
the music industry has been high profile there has, and will continue to be
much innovation in the following few years.
Just watch.

Well! I never knew Jarre had created an album called Music for Supermarkets!!

In an article titled,“Music For Supermarkets” located at everything2.com Xwiz describes the creation and distruction of this album so that there was only one album ever produced.

I wonder what it sounds like in a Supermarket. Supermarkets, as we all know
don’t have an environment that works well for listening to music. However
that challenge is the one for the sound team and the music composers who
work on compositions and masters that can be heard and enjoyed whilst the
tinkle of shopping trolleys collide and the music bounces off every
reflecting surface from entrance to checkout.

Ambient Music Garden. Music for healing and therapy products.
Electronic Music Library. Complex sync licensing made simple.
Background Music Library. Music to back your business.
Relaxation Music Garden. Just listen & relax.