Roll over, Bach

Qualche tempo fa Bbc Radio 3 fece notizia nelle discussioni relative ai diritti d'autore nei media digitali con la sua decisione di mettere gratuitamente a disposizione degli ascoltatori le versioni Mp3 delle sinfonie di Beethoven, trasmesse dalla radio nel corso di una programmazione speciale. Sembra che l'industria discografica britannica non sia rimasta molto contenta. Le sinfonie digitali erano rimaste online per un periodo molto limitato, a ridosso dei giorni di trasmissione, ma pare che malgrado questi ostacoli il numero di download sia stato molto elevato, 1,4 milioni in due settimane. Una cifra che una normale edizione commerciale su Cd avrebbe impiegato anni a raggiungere (il che farebbe pensare che qualcosa di sbagliato nel mercato discografico ci sia, magari il prezzo dei singoli titoli?) Ora la stessa rete radiofonica si appresta a trasmettere le opere di Bach nell'arco di altre dieci giornate speciali natalizie. Il commento che segue è apparso sul Media Guardian.

BBC backs down over Bach
Julia Day, radio correspondent
Tuesday November 1, 2005
MediaGuardian.co.uk

The BBC has backed down in a row with the music industry over free classical downloads.
BBC Radio 3 will not offer complete classical music downloads for free during its forthcoming 10-day Bach extravaganza following complaints from the music industry after the surprise success of the station's Beethoven downloads.
The corporation will not offer complete works over the internet during its Bach Christmas special after the Beethoven symphonies were downloaded 1.4m times in two weeks in June, upsetting classical music record companies who feared the activity hit their sales.
The BBC has decided not to risk the ire of the industry again during the 10 uninterrupted days of Bach running from December 16 to Christmas Day, when thousands of people will be looking for music to download on to their brand new Christmas present iPods.
Instead the BBC is considering offering only parts of Bach's music as downloads, rather than whole works, but a decision has yet to be made whether it will offer downloads at all.
The corporation has entered into talks with the music industry on the million-dollar question of how to offer free music online without adversely affecting music sales and is due to meet classical music companies within the next week.
"We only envisaged the Beethoven downloads to be a trial to see what the response would be," said a spokeswoman for Radio 3, who admitted the massive take-up took the BBC by surprise.
"We are in communication with the BPI [British Phonographic Industry] and record companies to assess and analyse what the response was and we are still at that stage.
"Nothing will happen without consultation and, should it happen, it will be nothing on the scale of Beethoven."
The spokeswoman said offering downloads was a "sensitive" issue both inside and outside the BBC, and that "viable" solutions that work for all parties have to be found.
A spokesman for the BPI said its members were upset the BBC gave away Beethoven content for free without consulting the organisation, which represents major and independent record labels.
"If the BBC has decided that free downloads will not form part of Bach. It is encouraging that they are willing to take on board comments made after Beethoven ... and they've given us the opportunity to engage with them," he said.
The massive demand for Beethoven's complete symphonies on Radio'3's website over two weeks in June would have sent the Viennese maestro straight to No 1 in the pop charts were free downloads were eligible.
An equivalent commercial CD would take "upwards of five years" to achieve the same kind of sales figures, according to record company executives.
John Whittingdale, the chairman of the culture and media select committee, accused the BBC of failing to consult the UK record industry over the Beethoven downloads.
Classical music lovers from 26 countries all over the world flocked to Radio 3's website to grab Beethoven's symphonies for free, with the US accounting for 21% of the downloads with 17% being downloaded by Brits while fans from as far as Vietnam and Mexico joined in.
Some record companies are not opposed to downloading per se and believe that giving away snippets of music could encourage sales, Mr Whittingdale added.
With the corporation planning to launch new digital and download services, such as the forthcoming broadband TV service IMP, finding a way forward on the music rights issue is crucial for the BBC.
Andy Parfitt, the controller of BBC Radio 1 told MediaGuardian this week that resolving the issue was "key" to his station's development.
"We're absolutely sensitive to the people who invest a lot of money in the music ... all of this technology in the end is absolutely great for music because of the volume of music downloaded and interest in music being re-energised. The key is for it to be portable," he said.
Mr Parfitt believes one way forward may be to offer music on demand that would expire after seven days, covering a week-long public service window.