Re: [ARSCLIST] Brunswick Records rights/Universal

[Karl Miller <lyaa071@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 30 Jan 2006, Mike Richter wrote:

> I have been in dialogue with Klaus Heymann on many matters including
> this. He is prepared to invest a good deal to secure the right to do
> what he feels is just (and profitable). He has offered royalties to the
> Met for the broadcasts he reissues so that they may be sold in the U.S.,
> but the Met will not discuss the possibility.

I find it an odd notion that public money underwrites
performances of the major classical organizations, yet, unless you happen
to be in the theater, or hear the original broadcast (and/or tape it) you
can't hear be privy to the information public funds have paid for.

Recently, it has been suggested that when the results of research, done
with public funds, are published, they should be made available free of
charge to the public (taking the middle man-the publishers of those high
priced scientific journals...some costing thousands of dollars a year for
a subscription... out of the loop.) I believe that situation could be seen
as analogous to a performance of music which is funded by public money.

The Met's lack of willingness to negotiate would seem to me to be
reflective of the hold the unions have on the organization. Yet, I find it
fascinating that organizations like the Milwaukee Symphony are exploring
the distribution of the concert performances via iTunes. I am amazed the
union agreed to such an arrangement.

The Met recently received a substantial donation...a quick, short time fix
to a major problem and probably aren't loosing sleep over the finances at
the moment.  When the new management team takes over shortly, I
cannot help but wonder if they will not look at other possible revenue
streams. I would wonder that since the incoming Managing Director, Peter
Gelb, has background in recordings (former President of Sony records) that
they might be in a holding pattern until they can see what he might want
to do...provided the union is willing to talk.

> I'm told that whether measured by number of discs or by dollar volume,
> Naxos is the largest publisher of classical music in the world. Their
> catalogue is remarkable, their economic models are unique and their
> success is admirable. Since it's Klaus's company, I am particularly
> gratified that he is both a sound (and creative) businessman and a
> committed music lover.

And as he is referred to on the moderated classical music mailing list,
Santa Klaus. I believe he has demonstrated the economic viability of
classical music and I wish his sort of thinking could be applied to
performing arts organizations. For me, he brings a brilliant,
practical/rational approach to the business side of music and has, from
my perspective, provided a working model of how to keep the performing
arts economically viable.

As for the MET...
Further, what good is served by having this stuff sit on a shelf or on a
hard drive? Even if I think I understand the "logic" of it, I still find
it fundamentally flawed.

Karl