Klarinet Archive - Posting 000016.txt from 2010/09

From: Jennifer Jones <helen.jennifer@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Pros and Cons of Free Sheet Music
Date: Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:22:22 -0400

Now that I've read Sy Brandon's newsletter, I would like to add that
value is also a social/psychological thing. Although, it is often
measured in terms of dollars, even if you make the payment, you can do
it in such a way that it still makes the seller feel bad. Part of the
value of transfer of printed music (or anything), is in the
interaction with the person over the counter at the store. And vice
versa with the customer across the counter, if you are the seller.
Goodness knows it gets tiresome having to ring the register all the
time for repeated sales.

So, value lies in what the seller and buyer each needs. If the seller
needs money for dinner, then value lies in the cost of the dinners the
seller needed in the process of producing the music.

It does nobody any good to sit over their computer all alone feeling
guilty or indecisive over downloading a piece of music from the web.
So, if one wishes to consider devaluation caused by downloading free
music, reasonable steps seem to be checking to see if it looks like
the music has been put up freely by the publisher or composer or
whether it is something randomly put up on the web by someone who is
not thinking or maliciously trying to release music. You can also
consider whether the music is in the public domain or whether it is
posted by a reputably responsible organization.

There is also the copyright provision for personal use. Since it
takes a lot of work to download and print a whole orchestral score and
parts from the web, that probably does not happen very often. So,
probably most of the music downloading will be small scale.

I guess if one was out to get printers of pirated music; one should
look for big printing operations. Then, it does seem reasonable that
they are doing work and therefore should receive compensation for it
and if the composer of the music wants royalties, they need to work
with the printers, or keep tighter control over their music, so that
it doesn't get into the hands of such printers.

-Jennifer

On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:02 PM, Jennifer Jones
<helen.jennifer@-----.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 7:28 AM, retiredprof55 <retiredprof55@-----.com> w=
rote:
>> I am sharing an excerpt from my monthly newsletter with this group with =
the hope of stimulating some dialogue.
>>
>> Have you ever walked into a music store and come across a bin of free mu=
sic? Perhaps, but more often, it might be a bin of >music at half price bec=
ause the music has not sold well. What about finding everything in the shee=
t music department for >free? I bet your answer to this question is no. How=
ever, I would suggest that the internet has radically changed our >expectat=
ions regarding sheet music.
>>
>> With the advent of technologies like Sibelius=92 Scorch Player and PDF f=
iles where downloading and self printing of sheet >music is as easy as clic=
king your mouse, have we lost sight of what actually goes into the creation=
of music? Is the >availability of free music beneficial or detrimental to =
the music world?
>
>
> I don't think it makes sense to think of it in terms of beneficial or
> detrimental to the music or any world. =A0I think it makes more sense to
> think of it in terms of individual people's needs (e.g. the
> performer/composer). =A0One may be in an economic situation where one
> must obtain remuneration for one's work. =A0Others may not be.
>
> It can be a bit more difficult when you get into large organizations
> such as publishing companies, where there are a lot of people with
> different needs involved. =A0This can make it difficult to adjust to
> individual's needs.
>
> On the other hand, large organizations that produce a consistent
> product at a consistent price are good if most individuals (employees
> and customers alike) are able to get what they need.
>
> For that matter, if having music online for free is detrimental to the
> music industry, so is oral tradition, where people sing their own
> songs and pass them down without the middle man producing printed
> music.
>
> Probably more important to the music industry is keeping people and
> thus the economy healthy.
>
> After all, if more sheet music is printed at home, that extra toner
> and paper for the printer will have to come from somewhere. =A0So, the
> music industry might produce musically specialized printing equipment,
> and people interested in music will probably go into the printer
> business and do musical stuff on the side, including donating to the
> arts.
>
> The music industry is also quite a bit different from other industries
> such as those involved in food, fuel and housing. =A0These things need
> to be consistently available at a reasonable price. =A0Music, though
> people may feel the absence of printing, if they have prior experience
> with it, can be transported solely through oral tradition. =A0Yet they
> will pay high prices on individual occasions for particularly nice
> things, such as a well crafted musical instrument.
>
> Quality of copy (editing and even whether music is, for example,
> scanned clearly) can be important, which may deteriorate in the case
> of free music. =A0Files get corrupted. =A0There is work involved in
> producing new files. =A0The aesthetics of the paper used is also a
> consideration. =A0Home printer paper does not provide the variety that
> comes with purchased music.
>
> I think in the case of a music store, there is also a psychological
> and social element, where the music store can represent a territory of
> sorts. =A0It can feel invasive and hurtful to the proprietor to not have
> some sort of transaction. =A0That proprietor did put effort into
> organizing and caring for the store. =A0It can also feel awkward for the
> "customer", especially when conditioned to "pay" for things. =A0I think
> this is illustrated in differences in behavior between small
> communities where everyone knows one another and large cities. =A0Also
> in a protectiveness small communities can exhibit against outsiders.
> Less money is exchanged when people know one another.
>
> Oliver Seely has a good point that it takes a lot of work to download
> a whole score and individual instrumental parts. =A0Printing things
> drives me nuts. =A0Plus I can be a bit of a perfectionist and put way
> more work into something than it really needs. =A0On the other hand, I
> could imagine a school orchestra having a subscription to a music
> clearing house site (something like sciencedirect), where students are
> required to go download their parts as "homework" before the first
> rehearsal. =A0This could work for a national orchestra too. =A0It would
> save time with music distribution during rehearsal. =A0However, the
> digital divide would have to be accommodated; for example library and
> computer lab facilities may need to be augmented to accommodate extra
> printing. =A0Things could get really fancy with "kindle" music stands
> (if they haven't already).
>
> -Jennifer
>
>
>
>> To read more on this subject, please go to my newsletter at http://www.c=
ooppress.net/page9/page15/page50/page50.html
>>
>> Dr. Sy Brandon, composer and arranger
>> Professor Emeritus of Music
>> Millersville University of Pennsylvania
>>
>> retiredprof55@-----.com
>> Website =A0http://cooppress.net
>
>
> Miscellaneous thoughts I did not incorporate into the above:
> Community members or employees that are part of that community can
> serve as the interface for individuals who cannot adapt to the large
> company's system.
>
> That is one of the things that frightens me about the supreme court's
> ruling in the states giving corporations person-hood such that they
> can make campaign contributions. =A0It will make it more difficult for
> individuals to get their needs taken care of; especially if that
> individual has a submissive and self deprecating personality. =A0If they
> are not good at expressing their needs, or do not know what their
> needs are, they will either acquire that skill by sink-or-swim
> learning or end up on the streets.
>
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