is this binding?

Anyone with any interest in digital media, music, new technology, or ears and a brain need to check this out. This is the thesis of a MIT grad student mapping music using it’s metadata. All the info is there… it amazes me that just now we are finally doing something cool with it.

In all fairness, I didn’t discover this on my own… I learned about this at Techcrunch. This is really cool and someone with a TON of startup capitol ought to be able to do something with this technology. [read: I met the creator of the "music genome project" several years ago and doubted it's application. Still kicking myself for that..] This is very cool!

Demo Video is here

Yes I said it! I said it and I mean it. I buy CDs. I love CDs in fact. To my knowledge, I have nearly 1000 of the beautiful discs. I generally keep the cases for a while, but always end up placing the CDs in one of my 10 or so Case Logic books. Why do I do this in this digital age we live in? Why do I continue to adhere to my archaic tendencies you ask?

Bucking Trends!

I do this for one reason and one reason alone. I do not want CDs to go away. I still rip everything I buy and believe me, it ends up in Itunes and gracing my Ipod’s numerous playlists… but I get something extra for my 10 dollars. I have a pretty shiny piece of plastic to hold onto and I have helped keep my industry afloat (if only for one more minute). Naysayers may indicate that my purchase of that CD did not have any effect, and only further prolonged our slow slip into all things digital (these are the same people who say voting doesn’t count because even though you and your best friends all voted for Obama, you live in a red state and the electoral college will make your vote meaningless). But I don’t care! This is how I roll. I buy CDs and you should too!

PS: The new Killers CD is PHENOMENAL… go get it today!

That’s right, folks… Now you can access the greatest collection of Classical Music available for Licensing through the World’s Leading Classical Label, Naxos!

It is my pleasure to introduce you to www.NaxosLicensing.com . A one-stop licensing resource featuring not only Naxos, but music from more than a dozen other labels that can be licensed easily. The vast majority of the music included at Naxos Licensing is one-stop licensing due to the fact that it is primarily Classical Music and in the Public Domain!!! There is plenty of modern music as well… Pretty much every great “classical” piece ever recorded.

This is still in Beta, so please feel free to try it out and let me know your thoughts/comments. Our goal is to have this be the premier licensing resource for Classical Music.

Go ahead give it a try…

After a quite typical morning at work today, I had a fascinating skype call with our CEO. He after spending yesterday at a high-level music exec meeting in NYC asked me a peculiar question. “Have you heard of “Elbows”? As our resident blog geek, I was embarrassed to say no. He mentioned that it was all the rage and quite the topic of conversation at the conference he had attended and therefore I immediately went digging to figure out what this “Elbows” is.

Elbows is a music blog aggregator. Featuring everything from MP3 Blogs to musical current events and other commentary, Elbows brings all of the approved blogs under one roof where the user can simply browse from post to post. It is rather selective with what blogs are allowed access to be linked to and browsed… according to the faqs, in order to be considered at least 50% of your blog posts must be music related… I no doubt have submitted myself for admittance into the club and we’ll see if I pass the test.

I am looking forward to spending some more time on Elbows to benefit from the readily available access of hundreds of blogs I either haven’t heard of, or havent made my way to yet… I have a feeling this is going to be a great resource for industry insiders and fans alike.

Music Licensing 101

By Randall Foster, Licensing Manager, Naxos of America, Inc.

Music licensing for film can be a daunting task and is an often overlooked final item that gives most filmmakers and producers fits. The truth of the matter is music licensing is a relatively easy task if you go about it in the right way.

First off, I’d like to dispel a few common myths about music usage. ANY music included in your film requires the prior written permission of the copyright owner. There is no such thing as an accepted minimum use or using up to 30 seconds of a track of music. ANY usage without prior approval is illegal. The only exception being recordings that are considered “Public Domain” (any recording produced prior to 1923). These will of course be on wax cylinders and 78 RPM vinyl, so quality could be an issue here. Thus, basically ALL recordings require permission.

Another valid point that needs to be considered is the fact that for most contemporary music, there are two rights involved. The copyright for a recording is split between the owner of the sound recordings (the record label) and the owners of the underlying music (publishers). Like sound recordings, the same applies with regards to Public Domain works in publishing. In almost all cases, you can use underlying music written prior to 1923 without the consent of the publisher as it is deemed to be in the Public Domain. If it happens to be an old tune that has been arranged and re-issued, you will however need permission. The best place to get this information is to take it from the liner notes of whatever recording you are wishing to use. Most commercial recordings give publisher and writer credits and obviously, you will want to contact the record label that released the recording in question for the Master Use License (sound recording permissions). To be sure you are contacting the right entities it is best to do some additional research regarding the work…

A few great sources for this information are:
http://www.Copyright.gov - The official site of the US Copyright office
http://www.BMI.com – Performance Royalty Organization that features an easy to search listing of works
http://www.Ascap.com - Performance Royalty Organization that features an easy to search listing of works
http://www.HarryFox.com – Mechanical Royalty organization featuring a search as well

So I have figured out who to contact but how do I get permission?

Once you have acquired the appropriate information, you will need to submit a request for permission to the rights-holders of the Sound Recording (record label) and Underlying Copyrights (publisher(s)). The best way to submit this is via a formal request letter and personally speaking, an email is always appreciated over it’s slower predecessor. In the letter you will want to give all pertinent details of the film project including a brief synopsis, the name, address and contact info of your production company, overall budget, rights sought ( i.e. film-festivals only [cheaper!!], film festival and tv, All Media- World-wide – Perpetual rights [most expensive], or a tiered license with “options” you can exercise at a later date for those large rights). If at all possible, propose a reasonable price that you are willing to pay for the music. This will help the licensor immensely as they deliberate your situation. Master Use licenses fluctuate greatly from “free” to multiple thousands of dollars. Typically, the licensor will have a number in mind depending on the size of the project and the usage of the music, but it is always nice to make a fair offer. In many cases, you can get good background music at one-stop music licensing houses. These include a bevy of professional companies featuring “stock” background music… another option is to go with Classical music as the majority of it is in the Public domain. On average, 8 out of 10 Master Use Licenses we issue are essentially “all-in” as there are no rights to be obtained for Mozart, or Bach’s compositions.

Your request should follow the guidelines below…

1. Give a summary of your project, a description of where and how exactly will the work be used (e.g. title theme, background music, the climax scene, over the closing credits, etc.) and the media rights you want (e.g. film festivals, broadcasting theaters, Website, Radio/TV commercials, audio tours, etc.)

2. If your license request is for a video production, consumer product (e.g. video games, compilation CD’s, Corporate promotional CD’s) is important that you tell us the number of units you plan to manufactured.

3. Also, to easily identify the work you are interested in, use the catalog number or any criteria relevant to the work. Here are some other very useful criteria you should us: Title(s) and duration of music, Composer, Artist/Performance group, Director.

Please don’t forget the following either (Your personal information):

Name:
Title:
Email:
Address:
Country:
Fax:
Organization:
Company/Institution:
Web Page:

…and finally;

Format of music required:
Geographical use of music:
Duration of license required:
Do you need us to send the CD/digital clips to you?
Any other relevant information:

How long should I wait before following up…?

Like so many other busy professionals, Licensing agents are constantly barraged with a slew of requests each and every day. Followup time is very much dependent on circumstances that are beyond your control. A good rule of thumb is to wait at least a week before following up. I know from my own clients that certain companies are much better about following up with potential licensees than others. In order to insure that you are not left in a lurch waiting on final permissions before your mix-down, it is highly recommended that you start this process months before you will actually need the information.

Once we agree on terms, what happens next?

Once terms are agreed upon, the licensor will issue an agreement to you (the licensee). The agreement will outline all of the fine details surrounding the usage including; type of usage, Term (how long), Territory ( where you may show your film), included rights, and price. After carefully reading the agreement, sign two copies and send them along with a check for the usage agreed to. Once the licensor receives the agreement, they will process the check and countersign returning a final copy to you for your files. Keep all legal documents together in a common file for your film. These are often required for entry into film festivals, and will most certainly be required in case anyone ever questions the music contained in your film.

Questions?
If you have any questions regarding music licensing, or any interest in licensing music from Naxos for your upcoming project, please feel free to contact me directly. I am always eager to discuss new and upcoming projects with filmmakers and enjoy helping new producers and filmmakers through the licensing process. I personally represent the Naxos catalog which is filled with thousands of the world’s finest Classical, World, and Jazz recordings. If I can be of assistance to you… I will be my pleasure to help.

Nintendo has just announced the launch of Wii Music in October of this year. They are hoping that “blue Ocean” lightning strikes thrice after the successful Wii Sports and Wii Fit llaunches. According to the press release this game hopes to bring music to the “not good at guitar hero” set. The game will feature more than 60 instruments and more than 50 (bad) songs.

I do not see how this can be successful. I may stand to be corrected, but this simply cannot compete with the likes of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I think that demographic is already maxed out on the music making games… Perhaps this will find a way into the old folks homes and even possibly into music therapy circles. That could be a very interesting proposition… digital Orff instruments. I have definitely heard of weirder things. Perhaps my friends over at Mustech.net will be able to comment on the actual use-ability of this product within the realm of music education… Now that would be an interesting thesis.

Musical Gaming’s Hall of Shame: Some other lesser-known games that attempted to bring music to the masses.

The news has finally broken. MTV is canceling TRL for good. This news comes as bitter sweet to me since after all, 10 years ago when it launched, I actually watched TRL. Albeit between classes while I was attending University… This also strikes home with me because of the fact that in my short tenure with Viacom / MTV as a production assistant, I actually worked TRL while it was filming on location in Miami. (Carson Daly is a lot taller than you’d think!)

The loss of TRL is directly associated with the networks move AWAY from music. Music Television was after all the original name of the network before it reduced itself to MTV. Lets face it though… have any of us actually seen a music video on MTV in the recent past? I certainly have not. MTV’s focus has completely changed to Reality based television. TRL was really the last holdout from the good old Music days. Obviously the change in format was due to increased pressures from Advertisers… Reality based programming means repeat customers. Episodic television almost guarantees a regular audience while simply airing videos does not guarantee any audience retention.

I think it is sad that this great bastion of the 1980’s.. “Music Television” has moved so far away from it’s original format. I look back on my years as a teenager watching MTV in the afternoons because it was literally that or Soap Operas with great joy. I think it is sad that generations to come wont get to enjoy such great afternoon entertainment.

While TRL is dead, they are planning on keeping some sort of conceptualized version of it alive with a Friday night show hosted by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz. FNMTV will be the “new” TRL… I guess this is a good thing although I didn’t like the Videos that TRL replaced.

I want my (old) MTV.

Sorry.

Hello World. I owe an apology it seems. In the past two whirl-wind months, I have been an absentee landlord with “Is This Binding?”. Work has been killing me it seems and when I haven’t been at work, I have been out at the lake enjoying what is left of my summer.

To anyone who cares, I must say I’m Sorry.

Now on with the good stuff..

I just received this off of the “Pho” mailing list… really good stuff from “Advertising Age” of all places… The title says it all and Simon Dumenco really is beating a dead horse with his commentary here… but it is nice to hear someone else say it in a new venue… Hopefully, Muxtape will find a way through the RIAA BS in time to actually come back and do some good things. God knows they had a great underground following. As for Pandora, I am afraid I am going to miss it quite a bit once it is gone. I dont know how they can possibly hang on with the terms of the licenses they will need looming overhead.

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=130766

So Without further adieu:

How the Music Business Spent the Summer Killing Itself
Labels Pull Albums off iTunes, RIAA Goes After Internet Radio — When Will They Ever Learn?

By Simon Dumenco

Published: September 08, 2008
A few weeks back, as I was having dinner with a media-industry colleague at a trendy restaurant in a trendy New York neighborhood, I realized that the music coming over the sound system was transporting me to another time — specifically, 1986. As song after song by various “it” bands of the moment, such as Black Kids and the Virgins, played, it was as if we were listening to a time-warped or parallel-universe version of the “Pretty in Pink” soundtrack. Because really, the “it” sound of the moment would work seamlessly in just about any John Hughes movie circa the mid-’80s.
‘Pretty in Pink’: Today’s ‘it’ bands would fit right in.
‘Pretty in Pink’: Today’s ‘it’ bands would fit right in.

In fact, I suggested to my dinner companion that there might be a niche market in this: Somebody should create a soundtrack titled “Pretty in Pink 2: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to the Movie That Never Got Made.” (Same deal with “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles.”) Of course, in the iTunes Age, the conventional wisdom is that nobody buys albums anymore — but they do buy compilations. (Witness the continuing global success of the “Now That’s What I Call Music!” franchise; the latest U.S. “Now” compilation, the 28th in the series, was released in June and went platinum last month.)

As it happens, my colleague ended up buying “Partie Traumatic,” Black Kids’ debut CD, on iTunes. He doesn’t really read music criticism, so he didn’t know — and wouldn’t have cared — that Rolling Stone and The Guardian loved the record or that Pitchfork hated it. He just really liked the Black Kids song we heard over dinner (”I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You”), got hooked and became a customer.

All of that got me thinking about the economics of music discovery, whether by hearing new music in a restaurant, in a movie theater or on the internet. Speaking of which, the deeply troubled music industry, rather astonishingly, has been spending its summer making it harder for music fans to encounter new music online. Last month, for instance, Muxtape, which I raved about in this column when it launched earlier this year, went dark. Created by former college-radio DJ Justin Ouellette, the hipster favorite made it simple for music fans to create virtual mix tapes — short lists of songs your friends (and other Muxtape users) could listen to but not download, because Muxtape used streaming technology. (Muxtape, in fact, offered links to Amazon’s MP3 store to make it easy for users to buy songs they had just heard.) But now, a simple, sad message appears on the Muxtape home page: “Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA” — the Recording Industry Association of America. A brief period? We’ll see.

Likewise, the hugely popular internet radio station Pandora is “approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision,” as founder Tim Westergren told The Washington Post, because the federal government, prompted by the music industry, doubled the “performance-royalty” rate that internet radio stations must pay (to record companies) to stream music — twice as much as satellite radio. Traditional terrestrial radio stations, mind you, don’t have to pay performance royalties: They pay only publishing royalties to songwriters. The new internet-radio royalty rates kicked in as of July, and they threaten to kill not just Pandora but the rest of the fledgling internet-radio market.

Meanwhile, we’re seeing artists and labels pulling music from iTunes in hopes of juicing album sales. Warner, for instance, just pulled Estelle’s entire album “Shine” from iTunes because it didn’t want fans to be able to buy just its ubiquitous hit single, “American Boy” (featuring Kanye West). It’s kind of sweetly principled that Estelle — and/or the suits at Warner — think that “Shine” is a complete work of art that must be purchased in its entirety and then presumably listened to from start to finish. Principled but idiotic — and the proof is that “Shine” and “American Boy” are both now in freefall on the Billboard charts. (Your neighborhood drug dealer wouldn’t do so well either if he forced all his customers to buy in bulk.)

All in all, it’s been a depressing summer for the delusional record industry. We’re seeing a total disconnect between labels’ unrealistic, old-school revenue expectations and what the market can bear. On the streaming-music front in particular, the sad reality is that advertising revenue isn’t, and may never be, there to fully support the music industry’s wishful-thinking profit margins.

As Advertising Age Editor Jonah Bloom said to me last week, labels “can’t help looking at what they used to earn from a big band’s latest release and wondering why they can’t score that. … The trick is to get your costs in line with your anticipated sales based on current revenue rather than former revenue.”

But the music industry, stuck obsessing about exactly that — former revenue — would prefer that you only listen to music when and where they want you to. And that’s no way to figure out the path to future revenue.
In lieu of the usual Media Guy’s Pop Pick giveaway, this week I’m randomly giving away one copy each of Black Kids’ “Partie Traumatic”; the Virgins’ eponymous debut; and, for old times’ sake, the “Pretty in Pink” soundtrack. To be eligible, send me an e-mail with “Black Kids” or “The Virgins” or “Pretty in Pink” in the subject line on or before Oct. 8. You must be at least 18 and have a valid U.S. mailing address.

~ Ciao for Niao

OK, so I know you were expecting something better… but this is the best I can come up with. A Month or so ago, I spoke on a panel at the “Major Orchestra Librarians Association” convention. The Panel was really a “who’s who” of folks from around the industry… here is the panel description:

“From traditional CDs to in-house labels and commercial downloads, the panel
will explore current trends and future possibilities in recordings, licensing and
other issues affecting performance organizations and their librarians
Michael Bronson, Arts Management Consultant and Television Producer
Randall Foster, Licensing and Content Manager, Naxos of America, Inc.
Patrick McGinn, Librarian, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Marc Ostrow, General Manager, Boosey and Hawkes, Inc.
Maurice Russell, Vice President, Business Affairs and Licensing,
Harry Fox Agency
Kazue McGregor, Librarian, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Moderator”

So the folks were kind enough to post video of the panel on Youtube and I thought I would share. Below are highlights featuring Moi and at the bottom of the post is a link to the entire panel. Enjoy America… you deserve it!

Complete Panel

Totally wrong! I think this statement is not correct and I think the Pew research study that came up with this statement is skewed.

According to my favorite daily reader, Digital Music News, the Pew Internet and American Life Project just released this study. The official statement from Pew is “The internet helps music buyers connect with artists and learn more about music, but it doesn’t strongly influence what or how they buy.” I don’t possibly see how this can be correct. I, for one am extremely influenced by my interactions on the internet and hearing, or learning of a band in a blog, or in the social networking sphere has led to numerous purchases.

According to this survey of 2400 adults, 56% of those polled use the internet for music research. Much more than the number using it for Cell Phone research and even higher then Real Estate. This to me does not represent a lack of influence in the final purchase. Even if those polled said it didnt make a major difference in their purchase, 22% still made their purchase online. That is not too shabby in the world of eCommerce. If all marketing could bring about purchases from 22% of those who viewed it, the business world would be vastly different than it is today.

This topic coincides with an article I recently read in Billboard touting the fact that MP3 downloads were yet to make a major impact within the industry… Billboard’s answer (and I totally agree) is… wait. Give it time… Just like the influence of social networking and internet advertising on purchasing patterns, and the market impact of MP3’s, all of these efforts to foree into the realm of digital music are eventually going to produce more results. Rome was not built in a day and neither was digital music! For goodness sake, iTunes is less than 10 years old. Like all new formats, and marketing objectives these things take time and I think we will start to see our internet advertising and promotions pay off in dividends down the road. This study is nothing more than Pew “stirring up the pot.”