A Coalition Of The Billing, 18th November, MCPS-PRS Alliance
MusicTank Asks “What’s The Way To License Compelling Alternatives To Filesharing?”
Peter Jenner, Sincere Management, To Deliver Keynote
Beggar’s Simon Wheeler, Jez Bell From MCPS-PRS Alliance, Clintons’ Tom Frederikse On Panel
A full house on Tuesday night saw the second of MusicTank’s programme of debates looking into the creation of a compelling legal alternative to unlicensed p2p activity dominated by discussion of Noank Media’s new service. A service that rather than attempting to herd consumers onto a proprietary platform, instead aims to legitimise their current behaviour, allowing them to download what they want from wherever they want, then compensates rights holders based on the repertoire they actually play.
Our focus now shifts away from the technology and new business models to how they should be licensed. After many a false dawn record labels are now embracing digital media with a passion and it seems that new digital services are announced every week. The varied nature of many of these services though, some with DRM, some DRM free, some on an a la carte model, others a subscription service, some ad funded or streamed, others tied to mobile devices, has created just as many new challenges for those whose business it is to license the music. Add to that the popular digital content that has previously gone unlicensed, live shows, bootlegs, studio outtakes, mash-ups and other user generated content, and some argue that licensing practices need to evolve further if we are to embrace the full potential of the digital age.
Some argue for collective licensing – which has proven a solution to technology’s problems since the days of sheet music – others argue against ceding control over what will increasingly become core revenue. And with labels increasingly taking equity in these new platforms how transparent are the deals that are being signed?
To help us negotiate this minefield MusicTank have assembled a panel of industry experts who have been at the forefront of the digital debate for some time now. Chairing the debate will be Keith Harris, renowned artist manager, MusicTank Chairman and Director at the PPL, delivering the keynote will be Peter Jenner, of Sincere Management and a firm advocate of the need for a blanket music license, and on the panel we have Tom Frederikse, Solicitor & Attorney at Clintons, Simon Wheeler, Director of Digital, Beggars Group, the UK’s largest independent and Jez Bell, Broadcast & Online Licensing Director, MCPS-PRS Alliance. The final panellists will be announced next week.
Date: 18.11.08 – Think Tank 2 – A Coalition Of The Billing
Time: 18.30 – 21.00
Keynote: Peter Jenner – Sincere Management
Panel: Tom Frederikse – Solicitor & Attorney, Clintons
Jez Bell – Broadcast & Online Licensing Director, MCPS-PRS Alliance
Simon Wheeler – Director of Digital, Beggars Group
(others tbc)
Venue: The Basement, MCPS-PRS Alliance
Location: 29-33 Berners Street, London, W1T 3AB.
Nearest Tube: Goodge St. (Northern Line)
Price:
Individual Think Tank – £30 / Trade Body Member* £25 / MusicTank Member £20
Final 2 Think Tanks – £55 / Trade Body Member * £45 / MusicTank Member £35
*AIM, BACS, BPI, MMF, MPG, MPA, MU, MCPS-PRS Alliance, PPL, ISPA and LINX.
All places MUST be booked and paid for in advance via www.musictank.co.uk
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Full Think Tank Programme
Let’s Sell Recorded Music!
Illegally downloaded any music recently? Given that nearly two thirds of all internet traffic is made up of P2P activity these days, if you haven’t, then most young people you know are. Since Napster first reared its head in the late nineties, the recorded music business has tried in vain to put the genie back in the bottle; the result some pr blunders and an estimated 20:1 illegal download rate.
For music fans it’s been a golden age where hard to find and out of print releases have been readily available alongside the latest hits of the day, but with no way of monetising these streams the record labels have been forced to watch their profits dwindle while the world’s been moving online.
The government has taken notice and is overseeing a three-pronged initiative aimed at educating and developing awareness, dealing with the most serious infringers and facilitating legitimate offerings.
This series will focus on that third prong: effective legitimate alternatives. Over the course of the four events we will review what people want, where technology is heading, what the most plausible new models are and how they might be licensed.
Think Tank 3 – Coalition of the Billing
Tues 18th Nov
What’s the best way to license these new services?
Labels are now ready to license as widely and flexibly as possible yet understandably wish to control the value they place over their rights, especially when ISP music services may one day provide their major income stream for recorded music.
Might collective licensing through a mandated body enable the widest range of music to be legally available, from finished studio recordings to live bootlegs, radio sessions and mash-ups? Or is that incompatible with the business needs of rightsholders, leaving such content doomed to continue to exist unlicensed?
How will future licensing vary between streams, on-demand streams and downloads when technology is increasingly causing the three to converge?
How can we streamline and simplify the process for licensees, is it desirable or possible to create one-stop joint ‘master and composition’ licenses to make everything easier?
Will labels increasingly extend vertically into the businesses they are licensing, such as MySpace, and how will monies track back to artists?
Think Tank 4 – Squaring The Circle
Tues 2nd Dec
The final think tank will look to pull together the conclusions from the series.
How can the different stakeholders better understand each others’ needs in order to develop the most effective and compelling new services? Is further consumer research necessary? What can be modeled and test-marketed? How might UK platforms be affected by developments in other territories? And how could the film, TV and software industries plug into these new models?
In scoping areas for further development, MusicTank will facilitate consultation, analysis and research required to better inform the conversations that will deliver real innovations and help square the circle.
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