BeatPick Blog on music licensing, creative commons music, gigs

On Monday president Bush signed the infamous PRO-IP act, instituting a Copyright Czar, on par with the current Drug Czar. The law creates new classes of felony criminal copyright infringement, adds civil forfeiture provisions that incorporate by reference parts of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, and directs the Copyright Czar to lobby foreign governments to adopt stronger IP laws.

Already approved by many institutions in the sector, such as (doh!) RIAA, no doubt this is a serious matter, aimed at, for example, all those who download music from the Internet. All over the web, negative comments have been flourishing about the Czar, and Wired is even running a survey asking readers who they would appoint in such a position.

At BeatPick.com we believe there are far more interesting ways of dealing with the matter. For example, TorrentFreak’s: in participating in the 2008 Blog action day, this well known blog is proposing an innovative alternative: participants can calculate how much they have saved by not having to buy media supports, and by preferring to download content, and donate a symbolic part of those savings to charity organizations to fight global poverty. This is the scheme for calculating savings:

1 music track = $1
1 music album = $10
1 movie = $10
1 TV-show = $5
1 book = $10

A cool idea, for sure. One observation I have always believed in regarding piracy is that it seldom can spread to vast degrees, unless the public feels a strong gap between perceived value and actual market value of cultural works: in other words, it’s hard not to feel justified when downloading a film, knowing that the main actors earned enough money to save a third world country.

Speaking of which, I ran into this lovely XKCD comic strip explaining indeed how DRM (which no doubt increases the efforts a user has to go through, therefore contrasting with the concept of the object actually meeting its’ perceived value), is actually an instigation to piracy. I’m sharing it with you all. Enjoy.

BeatPick.com is ever more proud of its’ growing catalogue, and the variety of genres it is coming round to cover. From the most avant-garde experiments in electronica and rock, to orchestral new age wonders, the gamma of modern music styles is now almost completely available on the site. Today, I’d love to point readers in the direction of two of our latest signings, by showing you a couple of videos I discovered on YouTube. Two completely different approaches to psychedelia, and two stunning live performances, in completely different contexts.

Minimalist Orchestra are Scooter Vineburgh’s brain child. Combining classic chill-out sounds with the percussions created by using Roland’s original Handsonic, the HPD-15, Scooter has generated a truly high-class album, “Arrivals and Departures” (listen to it at BeatPick.com). This video depicts him inserting percussions on one of the album’s tracks: entertaining and interesting, it’s a clear demonstration of how technical knowledge can be declined to transmit musical feeling in a passionate and creative fashion.

The second video carries us across the States, and back in time, to the Mulberry Mountain Harvest Fest of 2007. This is the scene upon which anotherof our favourite recent signings, Ten Mile Tide, stir up an exceptional live performance. Bare feet, violin solos, long beards, an attitude not far from the classic Grateful Dead style. Pure and simple Flower Power, at its’ best!!! Enjoy!

BeatPick.com was founded almost three years ago, in the February of 2006. An eternity in the frenzied rhythms of today’s multimedia-centred music business. In reading some of the principles that inspired its’ birth - music with no DRM or strings attached, fairer distribution of earnings with artists, free use of creative works for non-commercial projects - one can’t help but wonder if in such frenetic times, these business model-related ethic themes aren’t somewhat outdated.

Surely, three years on, things must be going differently, after the vertical downslide of the major record companies, and the widespread use of Creative Commons licenses?

Indeed, I wish that were the case. But it’s enough to surf the web for a half hour to discover that, alas, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Indeed the role of the most hated player on the field, once contended between the five Major record labels, has now been passed on, in a somewhat generational fashion, to the new ruler of the scene, Apple. And while Steve Jobs’ company is celebrating the success of the ever-so-criticized iPhone, little is it doing to gain much sympathy from artists and the public, or indeed to change the behavioural schemes that earned the majors such a degree of hatred.

Indeed, while finding the time to sue The Victoria School of Business and Technology in Canada for using a logo all too similar to its’ own (see image), the company also has been reported to have menaced to close down its’ iTunes store if the composers’ share on sales of their music were to rise above the 9 cents they are currently earning on each track (a miserable 10%: exactly what major record companies used to offer musicians). The threat was made in a submission to the US Copyright Royalty Board, the arbitrator which sets the rate for statutory licences. Is this possible in the age of In Rainbows? Indeed. Not to mention the incredible survival of the iTunes DRM system, which still inhibits perfectly reasonable behaviour on the part of its’ clients.

Speaking of which, you might want to check out the strings attached to pursuing music from Nokia’s own mobile music store, Comes With Music, which launched last week:

• You don’t own the songs that you download. “The sound recordings, musical compositions and other content comprising the Catalog are owned and/or controlled by Nokia…”
• Use is restricted to your Nokia cell and 1 PC. “You may download Comes With Music Content from the Catalog during the Service Period and save the downloads on one (1) registered compatible PC and one (1) registered Comes With Music Device…”
• “You may not burn Comes With Music Content to a compact disc or otherwise transfer it to any media.”
• “Abusive Use Policy…If our analysis of your use of the Service suggests abusive or excessive downloading, Nokia may contact you and ask you to moderate your usage. If you fail to comply with such a request, Nokia reserves the right to restrict or terminate your use of the Service.”

Even without using the words “collecting societies” once, I believe the question asked in the title of this post has already been answered.

Yes, the world does need services providing music with no DRM attached. And artists need services willing to split all earnings 50/50, rather than sob over cents on each deal.

The world needs a BeatPick.com.

My name is Benjamin Ginsborg. For over a year now I have been in charge of music selection at BeatPick.com. This type of activity regards the construction of a catalogue that is both capable of offering high quality productions, and, given our particular client-base, of satisfying the needs of music supervisors and film, tv and advertising productions.

Yet the Internet is the reign of services that either don’t select music at all, letting every artist who desires to do so insert their works on their site, or of music “Libraries”. These sites offer Royalty-free music for low (actually not that low, if you check some of them out) fees, and generally sold in bundles (ie. cds of anonymous tracks all in one particular style). Of course, next to the evident economic advantages, there are many downsides to this sort of approach. I’d like to quote in this ambit Dominic Preyer, an experienced and highly professional music supervisor BeatPick.com has had various contacts with in the past years, directly from his personal blog The Music Supervisor.

“there are other things that you need to be aware of when using library music. It’s extremely important that you read the license agreement, terms and conditions or any disclaimer they have posted on their site (…) Royalty free music will limit you in your creative expression within your film. There’s no doubt that using authentic music by artists that create music with a passion is more conducive to setting the mood of a scene. If your music budget is tight, you can search for independent, local artists/bands for good music.”

This is precisely the reason behind the decision, made back in 2006, to select all music entering BeatPick.com. Our desire is to allow our clients and even only our listeners to find sounds that are not only pertinent to their needs: we want to be sure they can trust that the level will be above average.

At the time being, over 5 submissions per day arrive in our office, either by e-mail or as physical cds. Indeed in taking on this job I was initially astonished by the quantity of independent music out there. It appears to be neverending. That means 600 submissions each month. What is the criteria that must be used in choosing amongst this flood of music? Obviously, there can be no absolute rule, and these are just my own private suggestions.

 1. Originality. An orginal sound, lyric-writing talent or approach is obviously the first thing any music lover is looking for. Our own rap mistress Keldamuzik conquered our attention not only through her lyrical rampage, but with her exceptional attitude toward the business: she is the star of a 24/7 reality Internet tv covering her struggle to handle her career in the American Hip Hop scenario.

2. Knowledge of the catalogue. In trying to please as many multimedia productions possible, it’s no use having 200 bands that sound exactly the same. Always keep in mind what requests you are not able to meet yet, and keep an eye open for those genres. Here’s why our latest two signings were projects as diverse as Americana band Bright Wings and Italian Post-Rock atmosphere-builders Lam.

3. Production quality. Does your music sound like it was made in the basement, while the neighbour was drilling holes in his wall? I’m sorry, but it’s quite unlikely that it will be selected. After finishing a demo, we all think it’s wonderful. I suggest listening to it immediately after an indie rock/electronica production of any kind. If you hear a huge gap, you need to re-think your production.

4. Band Image/Promotion. How present are you online? How many people view your Myspace profile? Do you have a Reverbnation account? In BeatPick.com’s case verifying this has little to do with having a fan base to relate to. It has much more to do with understanding how seriously you take your music. If you regularly seek for opportunities, and update your works and sites, working with you will be far more stimulating.

Of course, over time I’ve had many people complain that they were not selected, and that our site actually had worse music than their own. Yet, that’s where I guess it all comes down to subjectivity.

And one thing I have truly learnt in this time is that the most talented and interesting musicians are humble people who don’t waste precious time in complaints, preferring to speak through their art.