How to play copyrighted music on the forum

[James Lister]

Everybody shares information, it's a common agreement. Personally I believe it's time that all art and music were published for free, provided that the person using it states his source ie. agknowledges the autor, doesn't modify the integrity of the content in any way, and of course doesn't then sell the material to others for his own profit.

I don't think many artists or composers would agree that the free copying of their work is by "common agreement". Just because the practice is widespread does not make it right or fair. Are composers not entitled to make a living from their work?

James

[byronz]

There are no easy answers on this. Yes there are loop holes in the logic. it's all a matter of good proportion.
The way I see it music is something best experienced 'live' anyway. If you go to a concert the performance, the event, are unique and unrepeatable. People will pay a lot for that and rightly so. Trailing behind by a mile and second best is a good quality CD, aphysical item to hold in your hand.I'd give that to someone to motivate them to come hear the music live, and charge them a small nominal fee (or they can give a donation towards it).
(An exception to this I suppose are those pieces of music that can't be played live. So the CD of such a performance is the testament, like a book that is unique and is sold as such. )
But the skills of the artist, the composer, the performer will always be in demand because music is a very sophisticated art. So of course he can make a living, performing, commission fro composing, teaching etc.

Whose idea was it anyway that artists and sports personalities should become millionaires??? In which culture other than the European and American ones from the 19th century onwards did musicians get paid the extravagant amounts of money we see today, and have a status higher than a King? And wasn't that the demise of the quality of music to the point that today most of the music played is both unskillful and unmusical?
How much did Bach or Beethoven get paid?
What you've got are art dealers, record producers and those middlemen generally who create reality shows, trying to become rich by marketing an artist as a product, and who generally rip artists off anyway.
I hear today the advertising companies will break up composers' works into tiny little fragments, create a library of genres, and then use those butchered jingles as background advert music on TV.... the death of art is when you rob it of its integrity.
Love of money is the culprit and its the enemy of art, not its friend.
You see even if you paid an artist nothing, he would still go on creating! It's a compulsion some people have, we probably all had it when we were kids and would draw or improvise on an instrument for hours and for the hell of it. You can't stop that by saying "I'll stop paying you!"
I generally give my stuff away. I tell people "you can use it as long as you mention my name and you don't edit, add or take away anything from the music/performance".
Integrity is sacrosanct.

[byronz]

On the issue of performing composers' music, especially on Youtube, I think it's very revealing how many sites, including this one, go overboard being strict about copyright issues, when many composers themselves not only don't mind but actually encourage musicians to play their compositions in public and to publish the recordings of their performances on Youtube! For instance if you search for Nikita Koshkin on youtube you'll not only see many videos of his works but also in the comments section read Koshkin himself complimenting guitarists for their interpretations.

[George Crocket]

On the issue of performing composers' music, especially on Youtube, I think it's very revealing how many sites, including this one, go overboard being strict about copyright issues, when many composers themselves not only don't mind but actually encourage musicians to play their compositions in public and to publish the recordings of their performances on Youtube! For instance if you search for Nikita Koshkin on youtube you'll not only see many videos of his works but also in the comments section read Koshkin himself complimenting guitarists for their interpretations.

Members are free to solicit the permission of copyright holders to post works on this site. So long as the appropriate consents are received here, there is no problem. Further information is available here.

[orbiterred]

Just want to say that this is really great - this forum is an awesome resource for all things classical guitar and to get publishers and composers on board can only help!

[johannpeterson]

Its Great news..

[Ismael González Haro]

Maybe could I get the permission to "Romance Anónimo" or it's impossibe?¿?

[GeoffB]

Good luck with that! The first hurdle is to track down the true copyright holders.

Geoff

[RaphaelPazos]

Hello all!

I found on a publication from Irmãos Vitale, a nice song. We can record any song on any of their editions, as said on the copyright thread. That includes songs from copyrighted artists on their publications? And how would we post it? I mean, the composer is copyrighted, so what would be the title of the posting? Still composer's name followed by song title or a different format?

Thanks,
Raphael Pazos

[GeoffB]

Yes, you can post recordings by copyrighted composers, when the piece is published by Irmãos Vitale (or one of several other publishers), under the conditions found here:

The publishers Irmãos Vitale authorise all forum members to publish recordings of pieces from their editions on the forum. This applies only to music published by Irmãos Vitale, in their edition, and not to music they distribute for other publishers. Furthermore, the permission applies only to recordings uploaded directly to the forum, as MP3, WMV or MOV attachments, and not to Youtube files. The source publication should be quoted with any recording.

You would format the title exactly as normal, with the composer's name and the title of the work. The only differences are that you must say within the text of your message where the piece can be found (the publisher's name and the name of the collection), and that the recording can only be in the form of an attachment as described above. The permission we have does not extend to Youtube, but only to this forum.

Geoff

[RaphaelPazos]

That's all understood Geoff!
Thanks.
Raphael

[TheJazzer]

I trained as a painter. An artist. Don't ask me why, I guess it was just something I was good at and intuitively followed. Went to art school in London and graduated into a world (without realizing at that time) that there was no true industry any more because technology had taken away work that was once done by the likes of Leonardo Raphael Michelangelo just to name a few Renaissance virtuosos. For hundreds of years before and after artists had a reputable career. Not all of them are famous but they lived well off their talents.

The music industry has to accept that it's going the same way due to a technology revolution that will take away their ability to make a living of their craft. It will be impossible to halt. The artist will have to learn to make money with their talents in alternative ways.

I don't believe it's wrong by any means for artists and their agents to attempt to protect their product but it's sand slipping through their fingers. To stop the drain you'd have to kill the internet and withdraw all the devices that are basically designed for streaming and the industry is too big for that.

While a small percentage of the market still makes money, such as itunes, and it's not difficult to pay for the things you want to own, as a school teacher I have had conversations with kids who don't actually believe they are doing anything wrong by downloading from 'free' sites and think they are just sharing rightfully with friends.

It is however true that the artist is nothing but a money making slave to the big corporations. As a musician I have lived most of my live living on the bread line, but I did what I did for love, not because I wanted to be rich. I enjoyed my live well because of this and had interesting experiences. I have written music for theatre on several occassions and never accepted any fees because the projects were always self serving and run autonomously by those involved and for the love.

Its true many go into the music industry because they see it as a quick route to riches, we are all entitled to live and if we entertain to earn from it, but it's not a right.

It's a morally complicated scenario.

[sxedio]

Whose idea was it anyway that artists and sports personalities should become millionaires??? In which culture other than the European and American ones from the 19th century onwards did musicians get paid the extravagant amounts of money we see today, and have a status higher than a King?

I'd like to know how many classical guitar composers are millionaires.

[nasiaser]

That's fantastic news! Well done!

[PaulHardy]

Whose idea was it anyway that artists and sports personalities should become millionaires???

Economics 101. Scarcity and perceived value creates high price, independent of whose "idea" it was. Composers are not glamorous figures in society and do not command the exorbitant fees of sportsmen and performing artists. Most of them teach and perform as you describe to keep afloat to allow them to compose. To damage this even further by stopping altogether the revenue from composing seems heartless.