BMI & ASCAP Initiatives

I would like to take time and shine some light on some efforts of BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) and ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) for the world of music. For those who are not aware, BMI & ASCAP are organizations that help protect the copyrights of their members. They basically issue licensing fees from those who use the protected content of their members, which funnel back to the members as royalties.

BMI currently has an upcoming workshop for music in commercial media. This workshop is a three-day seminar geared towards teaching composition and producing techniques for advertising along with corporate branding and music production libraries. This approach is important to BMI because they believe that “These areas constitute the world’s most heard music and provide major revenue streams for composers”. This line of thinking is very logical and makes sense, especially on a marketing aspect.

Clay Shirky's Magnificent Speech on SOPA/PIPA

Clay Shirky’s manifesto on SOPA/PIPA is a crystal clear and perfect narration that depicts what has happened overtime in regards to copyright infringement laws and technology. He describes all the significant laws that have tried to mold our evolving society. The knowledge shared is objective and very precise. This speech carries its listeners on a clear path through the history of past legislations that lead up to the major issue that was face in January 2012 known as SOPA/PIPA.

When I first heard about the legislation that was trying to be passed, I wasn’t very knowledgeable about the history that led to it as accurately as described during Shirky’s speech. Many of the other articles and videos I read gave me a general idea, but many of them contained subjective content.

Clay Shirky’s makes his message clear by doing a few things that stand out quite vividly. He began by telling a story about how copyright infringement laws hindered an aspect of a niche used by a small local business in his neighborhood using a paper plate sign. The story creatively sets a solid tone and foundation for everything to be said afterwards. The sign also added a hint of American involvement, which is obviously related to the subject. It seemed to speak a greater purpose that silently stated, “This is what is happening here in America”. It also seamlessly showed the true intent of SOPA/PIPA, which is clearly described in the most objective way. At this point, the audience was completely vested in everything he had to say without any room for deviation. This technique of business storytelling is phenomenal because it compels the audience to focus on the content matter. The second greatest factor about the speech involved the strong and powerful closing remark that initiated thoughts and perspective to everything that was mentioned, “Time Warner has called and they want us all back on the couch, just consuming — not producing, not sharing — and we should say, ‘No.” Clay Shirky. I thoroughly enjoyed the content and delivery of everything said. I also find this information to be invaluable.

Apple TV vs. Google TV (Part 1)

With Apple's recent success in home entertainment, Google has chosen to follow suit with its new release and it’s called Google TV. Aside from smart televisions, the Apple TV has had no real competition in this market so now consumers have more options, especially Android users. This Google TV release will be the second attempt for Google after a terrible failure during the first run in their release with Logitec and Sony, which led to a fire sale of the unsuccessful product in 2011.  Google has since grown with the birth of Google Music and Google Plus as well as the continued success with the Android Market so this release should be more successful and Android fans will have one more thing to brag about.

Royalty Collections Increase and File Sharing Takes a Hit

One of the biggest factors that might affect growth in the music industry is the flow of payments to musicians and publishers. An innovation and government regulation that will have a positive impact on the future of the music industry is Google’s acquisition of RightsFlow. RightsFlow is an American company that provides organizations, bands, songwriters and individuals with music licensing services and royalty payment solutions. YouTube is one of Google’s greatest assets, which features millions of music videos on its site. The previous process for royalty payments that was used by YouTube was always deemed as problematic so this change should license music on YouTube more efficiently.

The Digital Download is Indeed the Genuine Successor to the CD

After reading a blog entry by the popular Music Industry blogger Mark Mulligan, I realized that I completely disagree with his view on D.I.S.C.: The Music Format Bill Of Rights

The days of gaining significant revenue and popularity based primarily on CD sales are long gone and will NEVER return. That is why basing any ideology off of “what was” is just preposterous. It is naturally difficult for seasoned veterans of the music industry to grasp this because they have tasted the

success with old methods of massive distribution and popularity that was not primarily based via the Internet.