Broadcasting Libraries: Arrangements, Rights and DutiesAuthor(s): Diane WardSource: Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 30, No. 1/2 (Januar-Juni 1983), pp. 8-10Published by: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres(IAML)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23505321 .

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IAML Annual Conference in Brussels

BROADCASTING LIBRARIES

The nature of the discussions within the Professional Branch of Broadcasting Libraries in Brussels does not call so much for a full written report. We are happy however to be able to present two papers for Fon

tes, by Christine Pratt and by Diana Ward respectively. G.C.M. van Dijck

President

Broadcasting Libraries: Arrangements, Rights and Duties Diane Ward (London)

Early in 1982 questionnaires were distributed to 35 broadcasting libraries around the world, 18 replies were received, mostly from Western Europe but also from as far afield as Canada

and Japan. I regret the absence of replies from America, Australia and Eastern Europe as

these may have made a considerable difference to the overall picture. I should like to thank all

the librarians who filled in the questionnaires and particularly those who also sent a copy of

their agreement. Lucas van Dijck deserves special thanks for organising the distribution and

collection.

The number of arrangements commissioned per month varies considerably from country to

country, the lowest being 1 and the highest 250. The average is about 45 with over a third of

those who replied commissioning between 40 and 50 new arrangements in a typical month.

From the comments added to the questionnaires it is clear that in the majority of cases the pro duction offices are more actively involved with the routine of commissioning arrangements and authorising payment to music writers than the libraries. This is not necessarily the case in

the BBC, where although some regional production departments and local radio stations do

commission work from arrangers, there are 3 main, specialist areas dealing with arrangements and music copying. They are Television, Radios 1 and 2 and Radios 3 and 4. For Television and

Radios 1 and 2 arrangements and copying are the responsibility of departments separate from

the production offices and music library but working closely with both, whereas for Radios 3

and 4 they are commissioned through a department of the Central Music Library. One agree ment, drawn up between the BBC and the Musicians' Union, applies throughout the Corpora tion, for television and radio, national network, regional and local services. This agreement is

renewed annually and any necessary adjustments made to the rates. The rates for music copy

ing are agreed at the same series of meetings and are part of the same agreement. The meet

ings are chaired by the BBC's Flead of Copyright with representatives drawn from the special ist BBC areas mentioned above and from both the arrangers' and copyists' sections of the Musicians' Union.

Comparing the routines operated by the various broadcasting organisations I found that in

77% the production departments are responsible for obtaining the permission of the copyright holder, in a few instances this duty may be shared with the music library but in no case is the music library solely responsible. In 17.5% the arranger is expected to clear the copyright, in

only 5.5% is this considered to be the responsibility of the Copyright Department, though such a department would seem to be the logical choice for this routine. In practice this part of the routine is reasonably trouble free as permission to make an arrangement is rarely with held.

In the majority of cases the arranger delivers only his full score, leaving the broadcasting organisation to copy all necessary performing material. In only 6% of replies received is it stat

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IAML Annual Conference in Brussels

ed that the arranger delivers both score and parts. In 23% the routine is flexible as some

arrangers deliver only the score while others prefer to organise the copying of the parts as well.

66% of broadcasting organisations work with a formal agreement between themselves and

a union or association representing music writers. This figure is not as high as I expected it to

be. It is interesting to note that 33% of those working with formal agreements find it necessary at times to pay a higher rate than the one listed. It is impossible to cover all eventualities in a

written agreement and I am sure we all find occasions when the agreement can be nothing more than a guideline.

The BBC/Musicians' Union agreement defines the difference between orchestrating and

arranging thus:

"Orchestrating:

Orchestrating is scoring and/or rescoring the various voices and/or instruments of a compo sition (including a piano score) or of an arrangement without changing or adding to the melo

dies, counter-melodies, harmonies and rhythms.

Arranging:

Arranging is preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in oth

er than its original form. Therefore an arrangement shall include reharmonization, paraphras

ing and/or development of a composition so that it contains a fully realised melodic, harmonic

and rhythmic structure and requires no changes or additions."

Different rates are paid for each category. Your replies indicate that a similar distinction is

made in 60% of the agreements with music writers. The same percentage of agreements,

though not necessarily the same group of agreements, allows extra payment for things such as

introductions, bridge passages, and codas, and imposes restrictions on the use of arrange ments. Mostly these restrictions limit use to rehearsal and one performance only, further per formances being negotiable or on payment of 50% of the original fee. One agreement is slight

ly more complicated in that it allows for any number of uses up to 5 years from the first date of

broadcast for arrangements and up to 3 years for orchestrations. Further use being possible on

payment of 50% of the fee allowing for any general increase in the rates in the intervening

years. The majority of arranging agreements (66%) are renewed annually, most of the rest

every two years, but one reply stated "by agreement"; I took this to mean that the duration of

each agreement is stated when it is drawn up and can vary from time to time.

I expected the absence of a formal agreement would indicate very little activity in this field,

but this is not so; of the 33% of organisations working without an agreement most commission

between 40 and 50 arrangements per month, which you may remember is the average number.

In this group where the payment for each item is negotiated individually, the routine of com

missioning seems to be wholly the responsibility of the producer, unlimited use of the arrange ments so commissioned seems to be the norm. However in only 33% of these organisations is

the fee for music copying paid by the same method, i.e. separate negotiation. This implies that

more broadcasting organisations have formal agreements with their musicians' union, or simi

lar group, for music copying fees than for arranging fees.

The comparison of fees paid, whether based on a legal agreement or individually negotiat

ed, proved to be very difficult as three quite different methods of calculating fees are used.

The most popular method is so much per bar, other methods are so much per minute and so

much per page of full score. Thinking of the English saying "what you lose of the swings you gain on the roundabouts" I expected to find that where extra fees are not payable for introduc

tions, bridge passages and codas, where there exists no difference in rates between orchestrat

ing and arranging and where there is unlimited use of arrangements, the rates paid would be

much higher. This is not so, but then the reverse is not true either, in fact no clear pattern

emerges. Converting all the rates given as examples to sterling I discovered there is a con

siderable variation. Using the lowest rate paid by each organisation I calculated that the aver

age rate per bar for up to 9 instruments is 45 pence, for 16 to 20 instruments is 63 pence and for

30 or more instruments is 84 pence. There was insufficient detail to calculate a similar average fee per score page or per minute, but the information received indicates there could be a wide

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10 IAML Annual Conference in Brussels

variation here too. Obviously some agreements are quite sophisticated and detailed while

others are simple, basic documents.

The practice of loaning arrangements to third parties is fairly widespread, particularly be

tween broadcasting libraries. The average number of enquiries a month being 4, though for

some libraries the number is considerably higher. I know as far as the BBC Central Music

Library is concerned the borrower is usually the arranger himself. Sometimes it is the conduc

tor or artist involved in the BBC's performance; as long as they already have the arranger's

permission to use the item or items there is no problem. In 70% of your replies the music li

brary refers the enquirer to the arranger; in many cases not only for his permission but also for

the score and parts as often these are returned to the arranger after the initial broadcast. Since

this group includes all those who said they have unlimited use of the arrangements commis

sioned I presume that the libraries concerned have no trouble borrowing the material from the

arranger should they wish to use it again themselves. As long as all those dealing with such

enquiries are aware of any copyright problems and of the rights of the arranger there should be

no problem. From your replies it is obvious that you are all familiar with the dangers but we

must ensure that all staff in our respective music libraries who may be called on to deal with

such enquiries are as well informed. In most cases where loan of material from a library is

involved no charge is made by that library. Those that do make a charge mostly expect to

recover expenses involved in the loan only. The final section of the questionnaire dealt with manuscript paper and the trend to a stand

ard size. 65% of you said you use a standard paper, mostly B4 (365 mm x 257mm) whether 10

or 12 staves on a page. Since my department handles a wide variety of music we have several

different sizes of paper with different numbers of staves to a page. The most used of these we

know as "large 12" which measures 15" x 11" (367mm x 272mm). We are hoping to re-draw

this ruling onto a B4 size paper without losing too much of its capacity for bars. A reasonably priced, plain paper photocopier that prints onto B3 paper (i.e. 2 sheets of B4 side by side) and

prints satisfactorily on both sides of the paper would be an advantage to all broadcasting li

braries and anyone involved in the preparation of music for performance. Manufacturers

please note!

In the short discussion that followed two important points emerged. The particular concern of one of the librarians present at the meeting was the disbanding of orchestras. This not only means loss of work for the musicians themselves but also for the music writers used to working for those orchestras. Other librarians expressed concern over the decline in the numbers of

good music copyists. This is fortunately not a problem in England where there are many young people showing interest and ability in this field. Perhaps music copying as a skill could usefully be added to the teaching programmes in music colleges.

Any alterations to routines for commissioning arrangements, methods of payment or dras tic changes in the numbers of arrangements commissioned and requested on loan, in fact

anything that might up-date the information gathered from the questionnaires will always be welcome.

Music Hire Christine Pratt (London)

The paper was written in response to a questionnaire sent to members of the IAML Broad

casting Commission during the early part of the year 1982. Since the hire of music for perform ance and recording is an ever increasing part of the music librarian's task and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, it was felt that it would be helpful for all members to exchange experiences and ideas in this field.

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