[theuni]

I would very much like to use 'Divenire' as the background music in a video I am making as a demonstration of a piece of software to be published on the internet. Would it be possible to obtain permission to use the music in this way? I am happy to credit the song at the end of the video.

Thanks (and thanks to Mr. Einaudi for the beautiful album)

[Josh]

The way royalties work is that you pay a percentage. A percentage of zero is, of course, zero, so normally you don't need permission to use music for non-commercial projects.

If it's for a commercial project, you'd need to seek permission from the publishers and also pay a licensing fee - you'd probably need to speak to Music & TV Sales about that.

I'm not too sure which your's would fit under, but if the software will go on sale then it would have to be commercial project since the music is for an advert. If you're not connected to the company in anyway, then perhaps it would be non-commercial.

Hope this helps!

[theuni]

Josh, on 28 October 2009 - 04:20 AM, said:

The way royalties work is that you pay a percentage. A percentage of zero is, of course, zero, so normally you don't need permission to use music for non-commercial projects.

If it's for a commercial project, you'd need to seek permission from the publishers and also pay a licensing fee - you'd probably need to speak to Music & TV Sales about that.

I'm not too sure which your's would fit under, but if the software will go on sale then it would have to be commercial project since the music is for an advert. If you're not connected to the company in anyway, then perhaps it would be non-commercial.

Hope this helps!

Josh

Thanks for the reply. Indeed the software is non-commercial (open-source). It's called XBMC. See here for a similar video.

I was more curious about Ludovico's view on this kind of thing in general, as it spreads his music to a vast audience for free. I would love to be able to say "used with permission."

[Josh]

Ludovico doesn't normally reply in this section, so your best bet would be to contact Music and TV Sales - I think in the end that's who you'd have to go through anyway, if there's any sort of contract involved.

[theuni]

Josh, on 28 October 2009 - 01:44 PM, said:

Ludovico doesn't normally reply in this section, so your best bet would be to contact Music and TV Sales - I think in the end that's who you'd have to go through anyway, if there's any sort of contract involved.

Josh, thanks again. I have emailed musicsales.

It's a shame that it works this way, I assume that my request will be denied and that hundreds of thousands of potential fans will be lost. I'll be sure to write back if there's a happy ending.

[theuni]

Just wanted to follow up...

I contacted music and sales, and there is a cost involved. I guess that's what I get for trying to play by the rules. Sadly, I'm not able or willing to pay to license the song for what is essentially massive free advertising of a beautiful piece.

I would love to know if Mr. Einaudi has any comment on the subject.

[theuni]

I apologize for the bump, but I'd really like a bit more input on this. I've since discovered that there are a host of Mr. Einaudi's songs on youtube (where I plan on uploading mine when it's done). In fact, this is very similar to what I have planned: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=R8MzHqkNBwo

I just don't see the harm in it, especially when it seems to be rather commonplace these days.

I can only assume that uses of the music such as this are not really discouraged, even if it may not agree with the strictest of licensing terms. As I've said, this is not a commercial or money-making plan at all, just the music behind a demonstration of a piece of free and open-source software.

My plan is to go ahead with the video (all of this probably seems rather pointless, but it's the music I'd imagined for it from the start, and I highly value Artists' interests). If anything has anyone to add, Mr Einaudi especially, I'd be happy to hear it.

[Josh]

Thanks for keeping us updated, and I'm sorry you didn't get the answer you wanted.

I think the fact that it's such a big project - whether commercial or not - probably doesn't assist your cause. People uploading personal recording onto YouTube is very small scale, but when there's a product involved and it's intended to reach so many people they probably falsly look at it as a form of promotion.

Who did you contact at MusicSales? I might be able to point you towards someone that can help.

On a side note, have you ever read Kafka's 'The Trial'? Well worth a read. When it comes to authorities, probably better just not to ask...

[theuni]

Josh, on 12 November 2009 - 03:22 AM, said:

Thanks for keeping us updated, and I'm sorry you didn't get the answer you wanted.

I think the fact that it's such a big project - whether commercial or not - probably doesn't assist your cause. People uploading personal recording onto YouTube is very small scale, but when there's a product involved and it's intended to reach so many people they probably falsly look at it as a form of promotion.

Who did you contact at MusicSales? I might be able to point you towards someone that can help.

On a side note, have you ever read Kafka's 'The Trial'? Well worth a read. When it comes to authorities, probably better just not to ask...

Heh, funny you mention, I'm a big fan of Kafka. And yes, that's how I feel many days in the software world. Though I'm not ok with "It's better just not to ask", afterall, we see where it got K.

To be clear, there's no product or service for sale, just something we create because we love it. Even the source code is available. In the music world, it's the equivalent of handing out free cds as well as the sheet music to anyone who wants it.

I emailed the US contact here: http://www.musicsale...aspx?tabId=2584
but never got any response. A few days later I called the phone number... They were very unprofessional, I never got a name, nor did I get the impression they were a bit interested in my request.

As a bit of background, XBMC is a rather large-scale multimedia application and as such we familiarize ourselves very much with intellectual property happenings, so none of this is anything new. Add to that, we live in the open-source realm, where we distribute everything for free, and take our rights and freedoms very seriously.

For those reasons, I take artists' rights very seriously as well. However, we spend so much of our time fighting with the labels and production studios, catering to them is very low on my list.

So I guess the short of it is that it's the Artist's blessing I'm after here. Not necessarily in this particular matter, I'm just curious to know how Mr. Einaudi feels about the free exchange of his music to those who might not be otherwise exposed. Afterall, I discovered his music on LastFM and bought Divenere immediately.

[Josh]

Check your PMs I'll point you towards someone at the UK department of Music Sales who may be able to help.

Edit: Last FM is completely legit, just so you know Ludovico gets paid for every time somebody listens to a track on Last FM. Not very much, mind you, but still something. But yes, I'm all for Copyleft and the Creative Commons movements. I make all my music available for free. The biggest questions which record companies have yet to answer is 'how did musicians survive before recording technology became available?' The answer? Commissions and live performances. Donation boxes for recordings are the way forward, since even if people don't pay for them, then the free distribution is - as you say - free advertisment for the artist.

[theuni]

Josh, on 12 November 2009 - 05:49 AM, said:

Check your PMs I'll point you towards someone at the UK department of Music Sales who may be able to help.

Edit: Last FM is completely legit, just so you know Ludovico gets paid for every time somebody listens to a track on Last FM. Not very much, mind you, but still something. But yes, I'm all for Copyleft and the Creative Commons movements. I make all my music available for free. The biggest questions which record companies have yet to answer is 'how did musicians survive before recording technology became available?' The answer? Commissions and live performances. Donation boxes for recordings are the way forward, since even if people don't pay for them, then the free distribution is - as you say - free advertisment for the artist.

Josh

I love to see that emerging musicians are so well-informed about these things. We operate under the GPL, and accept only GPL/CC artwork and music, so it sounds as though we're on the same side.

Sure, I realize that LastFM is legit. In fact, it's integrated into our software. The point i was trying to make is that freely giving people the music can actually be far more valuable than charging for it, but I can see we're on the same page there.

Thank you very much for the contact, I'll give him a shot.

By the way, how absurd this all is for a 5min clip!

[Josh]

theuni, on 12 November 2009 - 12:04 PM, said:

Josh

I love to see that emerging musicians are so well-informed about these things. We operate under the GPL, and accept only GPL/CC artwork and music, so it sounds as though we're on the same side.

Sure, I realize that LastFM is legit. In fact, it's integrated into our software. The point i was trying to make is that freely giving people the music can actually be far more valuable than charging for it, but I can see we're on the same page there.

Thank you very much for the contact, I'll give him a shot.

By the way, how absurd this all is for a 5min clip!

Indeed! If we aren't informed about our own industry, then who will be?

At first the film industry said that VHS would destroy their business because people could record films. Now they say downloading will kill it. Lies lies lies.

Anyhow, smaller budgets require greater creativity. If downloading means that the film industry, for example, have to be more creative then that's all the more reason to download. People are always happy to pay for something good quality when they can see the artist needs it. But these industries are so greedy that nobody believes they need their cash. If anything will destroy these industries, it will be their own greed and lack of creativity.

The world is evolving, and the industries are slow to catch up. Even the idea of internet tax is a good idea, making downloading legal and ensuring that artists get a cut. If the whole world does it, how can it be criminal? That's not much of a democracy, if you ask me.

Let me know how you get on

[theuni]

Josh, on 12 November 2009 - 06:22 AM, said:

Indeed! If we aren't informed about our own industry, then who will be?

At first the film industry said that VHS would destroy their business because people could record films. Now they say downloading will kill it. Lies lies lies.

Anyhow, smaller budgets require greater creativity. If downloading means that the film industry, for example, have to be more creative then that's all the more reason to download. People are always happy to pay for something good quality when they can see the artist needs it. But these industries are so greedy that nobody believes they need their cash. If anything will destroy these industries, it will be their own greed and lack of creativity.

The world is evolving, and the industries are slow to catch up. Even the idea of internet tax is a good idea, making downloading legal and ensuring that artists get a cut. If the whole world does it, how can it be criminal? That's not much of a democracy, if you ask me.

Let me know how you get on

Just thought I'd give you an update. I mailed your contact and never got a response. I guess I'll give it a few more days and give it one last try.

[Josh]

theuni, on 17 November 2009 - 03:36 AM, said:

Just thought I'd give you an update. I mailed your contact and never got a response. I guess I'll give it a few more days and give it one last try.

Thanks for the update. I'm sorry you didn't get a reply yet, but I guess he's a busy guy. :s