BS: Musical: an idea for editors

Subject: Musical: an idea for editors
From: Escamillo
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 04:01 AM

This is an idea which is far from my possibilities to implement, but I'd like to spread out as far as possible among musicians.
- Composers and arrangers always face big difficulties to find an editor, print their music, distribute it and collect their royalties. Photocopies are the most common way of circulation of music of every kind.
- These days it is fairly easy to include digital data in a music CD. That data may consist in an Adobe Acrobat format, or general MIDI format, or both formats, for the sheet music included in the sound CD.
- Why not raising the price of the CD a little, and include the full score ? I bet that many people will appreciate it, for many reasons: to follow the music, to learn the song, and possibly play and sing the songs in private or public places (of course, public performance involves other royalties which would remain as they are)
Thus, composers and arrangers would see their music easily spread out to the world, independently from music stores (who can´t claim any rights on this), from Internet access, and from the ominous photocopy. Myself (and the people I talked to) would be more than motivated to buy those CDs, and pay 1 or 2 dollars more, if we can add those songs to our repertoire in an absolutely legal and easy transaction. I bet that extra dollar would be MUCH more significant than the money they could make by editing and distributing the music sheets.
If you like the idea, please contact your CD editors.
You owe my one pint of Guinnes. Or two.
Un abrazo - Andrés

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: Escamillo
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 12:39 PM

(oops.. is it SO bad ??)

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: MMario
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 12:42 PM

I think people are thinking it over. The trouble I see with it is that the publishers of music are often different from the producers of music, who of course are often different from the artist or composer.

Your scheme would be beneficial for a self-produced CD or a collaborative product between artist and composer, but of no benefit to producers and publishers.

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: GUEST,guitarist
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 12:56 PM

well, the obvious question is -- what score? None (or almost none) of the music discussed here is played from a score. I'd guess a significant number (maybe a majority) of participants here don't read, and the ones who do read are likely to be able to just hear it and play it, or hear it and write it down themselves.

just curious, but what music are you thinking of? Other than movie soundtracks and commercial jingles, I can't think of much music in the popular consciousness that starts from a written score.

And for music that does require a score, just how much are you planning to raise the price of a CD? A few bucks ain't gonna cut it...

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: Gary T
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 01:03 PM

I was thinking that the volume of CD's sold is huge compared to the volume of sheet music sold, to where one or two dollars per CD might produce more revenue than normal sheet music sales do. However, that would mean that those who don't desire the sheet music would be subsidizing it for those who do. I doubt that the majority of CD purchasers would be as willing as Andrés is to pay the additional cost.

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: GUEST,Mrr-who-works-in-publishing
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 01:11 PM

If it doesn't make the publisher money, you can forget about it. Words of wisdom...

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 01:46 PM

Andres, for an independent such as my brother, I think it is a fantastic idea! It would certainly scare a lot of publishers though, I am sure. I am going to have to mull this over. I'd love to be able to send you a CD just as you say. BTW, I AM getting myself organised and should finally have tapes and scores mailed out to you next week!

Thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 05:26 PM

Andres; I deal with publisher and editors. (Magazine type etc. not music) and I have to agree with Mrr, This could give publishers hemmarhoids. Still, it isn't a bad idea but you have to ask, how much would people be willing to pay extra for musical scores? Reguards, Neil

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 06:29 PM

Escamillo: I've had similar ideas myself, but being more a singer than a musician, I have often wished for the lyrics to be encoded on the CD. Heck, it would be an improvement just to put the TITLES on the CD. Most CD players have a small digital display where they tell you which track (numerically) is playing; why not make the display a little bigger and tell you the title? Or if you're playing the CD on your computer, you could bring up the liner notes, the whole shebang, while the music plays.

Back when everybody used vinyl, it was common to find lyrics inside the jacket, if not on the back cover. I get the impression that, with the switch to CD's, it is less common than it used to be to include lyrics. I suppose they're trying to save printing costs.

I've heard that some pop musicians have included videos on their music CD's. It can't be any harder to include text.

I suppose if anyone is going to start doing this, it will have to be those musicians who self-publish their CD's. So you came to the right place!

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 08:31 PM

Sensible idea. I hope some people start doing it. It won't be the big boys probably, not at first anyway. An alternative arrangement of course, especially for people producing their own stuff, would be to stick it on a website with a link printed on the CD and CD case.

But there's room for so much information and other stuff on CDs. I hope that in face of all the MP3 and that the people making them might start using more of the vacant room to provide extra material that the MP3 can't. And buyers would win out.

Where it would really be helpful to have scores would be with classical music.

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 09:41 PM

Yes, Kevin that is what I was thinking with my brother's music. When I think of all the money we've spent in postage and copying to send out his huge symphonic scores, this technology is very exciting!

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: Escamillo
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 11:33 PM

Ok, let self-producers start using this technique. I´ve assumed that the extra dollar is no harm to the consumer, and will pass inadvertently . The sum of all those extra dollars (or possibly less) will account for MUCH MORE than the total sales of sheet music. Now, how should it be distributed when a publisher exists ?
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm making these assumptions:
1) When a producer releases a CD to the market, the author, interpreter and publisher get formally paid, in percentages I ignore, but it seems to be pretty well settled. Then why not offering the same percentage of that dollar to the publishers while their contracts remain valid ? Once their contracts expire, that's another story, with this technique or any other.
2) Full score for a very simple folk song will be appreciated even by those who are not music readers, because the chords will be included, the lyrics too, and there will always be a friend to ask advice if needed.(For the very novice, even the images of fingers and frets could be included )
3) The buyer already knows that he's paying royalties when he buys a CD. Someone will possibly complain if s/he realizes that there's an extra dollar (or some cents) but I don't believe that sales will suffer.
4) Yes, me and the people I talked to, are music readers, some are composers and some arrangers. As consumers,we'll surely be happy to find the score in a CD, I'd bet that we would duplicate our purchases. As authors, could see a significant growth in the difussion of works.(And get PAID!)
5) Everybody has access to a PC, at home, or at work, friends or school. In one minute it is printed out and in our hands. 6) Yes, possibly classics will get the highest benefit, going from zero to any reasonable difussion.
If this comes to something useful, your account is now three pints indebted. If not, I'll pay.
Un abrazo - Andrés

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 11:45 PM

Andres, we are going to be getting a cd burner in the next month or so. As soon as we do, I will try this out and you will be the first one I send it to! Brilliant! Thanks!!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: Escamillo
Date: 15 Jul 00 - 12:23 AM

Kat, avoid Matsushita's COMPRO brand. I paid 420 dollars last year, and it burned very well. Burned itself at the sixth month of very light use, as soon as the warranty expired. Now I have a Goldstar CDRW which is one week old and still alive, but some wise men told me that the best is CREATIVE LABS.
Back to the subject, a genre where I would pay DOUBLE to get the score, is in classic or pop choral works, but this is out of the focus in this forum. In that music, a MIDI is many times more important, because voices can be easily manipulated to produce STUDY versions, where one voice is raised in volume, position in stereo and timbre, then another voice, and then a set of CDs or tapes can be delivered to singers, one to sopranos, one to altos, one to basses, etc. They follow the score and hear their voice simultaneous with orchestra and the other voices, but very clearly differentiated. That's great for study for the majority of singers who don't have the skill to try the music at the piano.
Un abrazo - Andrés

Subject: RE: BS: Musical: an idea for editors
From: katlaughing
Date: 15 Jul 00 - 12:26 AM

Andres, that is absolutely brilliant! I will send you an email about this so we can talk about it some more, since it is classical and pop choral...thanks!