Conference mr1pst::music

    
    	I forget the exact title and of course the author but the book
    	"The Business of Music" might be worth a look through.  The last
    	time I browsed through it I found it to have a lot of detailed
    	information on many areas.  I assume it has to do with purchasing 
    	the license which is doubt is a cheap thing to do.  Could be a good 
    	investment though.  It's amazing how many things are showing up on 
    	re-issues lately both from the same label and new labels.
    
    	- Jim

    Hmmmm...interesting,when found please note it's ISBN(code)number
    inhere ok?I might have interest too.
    
    Jan.

>    Hmmmm...interesting,when found please note it's ISBN(code)number
>    inhere ok?I might have interest too.

The ISBN number is 0-8230-7706-3

I don't know how much help it will be for you Jan. Some of the information
is applicable, but a lot of it is legal stuff, which is probably only
valid for the US.

alan

    Re-1
    
    I feel what ya mean Alan,thanx ;)
    
    Jan.

    You'll need to negotiate a  Mechanical Rights license with the current
    copyright holder.  How to find 'em ?  The compositions are listed with
    either ASCAP or BMI affiliation.  ASCAP or BMI will send you their
    latest take on the copyright holder's address.  
    
    As far as I know there's no provision for treating an entire album 
    as if it were one composition - you'll have to do each tune separately.  
    It'll probably end up costing you $0.50-$0.90 per unit sold in mechanical 
    rights royalties for an entire album.
    
    karl

Karl,

>    You'll need to negotiate a  Mechanical Rights license with the current
>    copyright holder.  

Yup, this is what I've been finding out. I picked up that book "The Business
of Music", and its filled with TONS of great information on the business!

You basically have to get permission from the copyright holders, and then
pay for the Mechanical Rights. This is usually done through the Harry Fox
Agency, a company set up as a go-between for publishers and record companies.
(They said that the Harry Fox Agency set up about 100,000 licences last
year, as opposed to only 50 done by the copyright office itself.)

There more info in there on Compulsory vs. Negotiated Rights, and other
applicable stuff. 

The basic rates are 5� cents per song, or 1 cent per minute, whichever is
greater. However, that is usually considered the ceiling, and it can be 
negotiated lower.

alan
_the_entrepeneur?_

    Alan,  Could you post the address for Harry Fox Agency please?  I have
    to get permission to put together an acoustic album of stuff from other
    artists, and I believe HFA is the place to write to.  
    
    Also - do I have to send them a sample, or will a cover letter stating
    my intent and scope of the project suffice?
    
    Ken.

Ken,

> Alan,  Could you post the address for Harry Fox Agency please?  

I don't have the book here, but I'll post it tonight once I get home 
(hopefully I'll remember). I think they're located in New York City,
so you might want to try your luck with information (212 area code).

> Also - do I have to send them a sample, or will a cover letter stating
> my intent and scope of the project suffice?

I'm not sure what the procedure is, you'll have to contact them for more
info. There's a contract that has to be signed, I know that - an example
of one is in the Appendix of the book. Pretty simple and straightforward.

alan

The Harry Fox Agency, Inc.
205 East 42nd Street
New York, New York 10017

    Thanks Alan!
    
    Appreciate it.

    re Harry Fox Agency - I've done this already.  Just send a letter with
    general info (but include ALL you know about the copyright holder(s)).
    They'll send you back a packet with forms to fill out.
    
    re negotiating a lower-than-statutory rate - I was given NO opportunity
    to 'negotiate'.  Negotiate with a form ?  The final agreement came back
    with 'statutory' in the 'rate' column.
    
    There MAY be some difference if you want to use the ACTUAL ORIGINAL
    RECORDING of an album (remember .0's goal) - normally the Mechanical 
    Right is for you or me to release our OWN ARRANGEMENT of a given piece.  
    Make that clear in ALL correspondence.
    
    best of luck - karl

    Karl - we're looking to release an album of folk/blues songs under my
    own label and sell/distribute it VERY locally.  Is there a fee involved
    with this, or do the original artists simply get paid royalties from 
    ASCAP or BMI directly if the album "makes the charts" or something?
    If we cannot find out who holds the copyright to the work, would citing
    an album that the song is on with the artists name suffice?
    
    Thanks for the info...  I've never done this before.  I've only
    been involved in the release of original material under my own label
    prior to this project.
    
    Also ... Does anyone know what the deal is with commonly reproduced
    music such as Christmas tunes?  Are these tunes "public domain" or do I
    have to get the rights to use them as well?
    
    Thanks again for the advice.
          
    Ken.

    for Ken..
    
    >.. we're looking to release an album of folk/blues songs under my
    >own label and sell/distribute it VERY locally.  
    
    So you expect to be SO SMALL that no one will ever notice ?  Then
    ignore the info in this note.  Seriously.  You could probably get
    away with it.
    
    >Is there a fee involved with this, or do the original artists simply 
    >get paid royalties from ASCAP or BMI directly if the album "makes the 
    >charts" or something?
    
    When you do a cover of someone else's piece, and the piece was written 
    within the last 40 years, it's likely someone, somewhere, owns the 
    copyright.  ASCAP and/or BMI will point you to the copyright holder 
    and whoever they think is currently administering it.  Like the Harry 
    Fox Agency does.  ASCAP/BMI may or may not be current.  From that
    point out, you get into the Mechanical Rights Rag separately for each 
    and every piece on the album.  ASCAP and BMI will theoretically, IF
    you garner sufficient airplay, collect airplay royalties on your behalf
    and forward them to you.  This has nothing to do with you having the
    legal, 'mechanical' right to use a piece on your album.
    
    >If we cannot find out who holds the copyright to the work, would citing
    >an album that the song is on with the artists name suffice?
    
    You take the chance of being sued.  If you have an album, and it says
    ASCAP or BMI under the piece, you have no excuses for not going thru
    the above exercises.  Wouldn't you like to write your own stuff ?? ;-)
    
    >Also ... Does anyone know what the deal is with commonly reproduced
    >music such as Christmas tunes?  Are these tunes "public domain" ..
    
    Your best bet is to actually find the sheet music.  Sheet music
    publishers are under the same constraints you are.  If it says
    'traditional', or has been around since 1830, go for it.  Don't try to
    use "I'll Be Home For Christmas" or "White Christmas" with impunity.
    
    best'o'luck - karl

	>... ASCAP and/or BMI will point you to the copyright holder 
	>and whoever they think is currently administering it.  
	> ... ASCAP/BMI may or may not be current.  
    
    ASCAP/BMI *should* be current, because they're offering the service of
    collecting/disbursing airplay royalties for the artist who registered
    the recorded piece in the first place.  But if it's an obscure tune
    that garnered no airplay royalties in the last 20 years it's possible
    that you'll get an invalid address.  
    
    If you do, then you can't contact the copyright holder, and thus you 
    can't negotiate a mechanical license... And if you have no mechanical 
    license, and you get caught, you get sued.   
    
    Re "Happy Birthday" - I read recently that several filmmakers (they
    have to get Mechanical Rights, too) actually cut scenes that used this
    famous piece, because there is a current copyright holder (though the
    piece was written about 1890) and that it would've cost big bux, WAY
    over the statutory rate.
    
    karl, answering himself

    Ok Karl - so essentially if I cannot find the person who owns the
    copyright for the songs we want to use, then either the HF agency,
    ASCAP, or BMI would be able to help me find this out, and the Harry Fox
    Agency actually has the forms I need to fill out in order to get
    written authorization to record the songs.  
    
    Am I correct?
    
    Ken

    YES !  Over the weekend I picked up a book ont he business of music,
    and apparently the Harry Fox Agency is a designated clearinghouse for
    all these sorts of agreements, for both Canada and the U.S.
    
    karl

    Well I made a few calls.  Seems like the HFA is the place to begin.  No
    search necessary - just tell 'em what the songs are and there's a
    standard "I agree to pay $.05 per song each time we sell a copy" form
    that I need to sign and fill out.
    
    I'm also looking at establishing my own record label.  Looks like the
    copyright office is the place to go for this.  Don't know what's
    involved yet, but someone at a pretty reputable studio told me do NOT
    establish myself as a music publisher.  Guess it's more of a pain and
    there's not much to gain unless you sign a Michael Jackson or
    Madonna or unless one of your works really goes national.  I still need
    to have a check done for the record label name, but according to the
    folks at BMI, the copyright office are the guys to deal with on this.
    
    Ken.