Sold/Expired RIGHTNOWMUSIC.COM: Work in Progress

[rightnowmusic]

Dear Fellow TMPers

As some of you will be aware, we are currently in the middle of launching a brand new website which will be bringing the music distribution business into the 21st Century !

We are currently working with Brass Band composers, including: Phil Lawrence, Nigel Hall, James McFadyen, Naomi Cornish with more to follow, and will be offering their music (Full Band Sets and Individual Parts) online. We will be looking to included Orchestral, Educational and other groups in the near future.

Customers will simply order music via the website, and instead of having to pay extra for postage and having to wait for parts to be printed (if necessary), and then waiting for the post to be delivered, they will be able to download their order immediately !

This will be very beneficial for those of us who from time to time have "mis-laid" band parts, and need to replace them asap. Also, for bands who want to "try" something new at rehearsal -that night-, you'll be able to get everything you need at the touch of a button.

We will be set up to accept all major credit cards, which in turn means that customers will have no problems in ordering in any currency.

So, if you're a composer / arranger that wants to make use of this additional outlet for your music, or a customer who wants to know how to use the site to order music, please do contact me at:

mark@rightnowmusic.com

We will be in the UK from 7-12 September 2004 (including the Harrogate Nationals), so if you want to arrange to meet with us at a mutually convenient time and location, please email me BEFORE 31 August 2004, and let me know your schedules and meeting preferences.

In the meantime, please look at our "work in progress" website (ignoring any prices or descriptions at this stage):

www.rightnowmusic.com/catalog



Any comments / suggestions are always welcome, so please do not hesitate to contact us.


Kind regards


rightnowmusic.com

 

[Robin Norman]

Good luck Mark with your venture.

I have just one cautionary remark (although I'm sure you wil have already thought of it), beware of copyright laws on such websites and publication/downloading.

When copyright holders license arrangements to a publisher/arranger very often it will only be for a specific territory (World excluding America, Europe only etc. etc.). Using a web-based business is a fantastic global window but if these territory restrictions are not adhered to then the sale is an illegal one and so everyone should be aware of this.

I'm also not sure how the license will reflect 'web-based' download sales and whether this would be covered, especially if the 'publishing'/downloading company is not UK based. These things would all need to be checked out properly and all the correct licenses obtained.

Will you be requiring to see the licenses for any copyrighted arrangement you distribute ? This will probably be essential to protect yourself as much as anything. Perhaps some people on the list who may be more familiar with copyright laws than me may be able to advise.

Please do not get me wrong, I am not trying to 'poo-poo' the idea at all as I think, in essence, it is a good one that, in particular, could help bands obtain spare parts or 'emergency' urgent set quickly but I would hate to see anybody fall foul of the law and the related fines that go with it.

 

[rightnowmusic]

Robin,

Many thanks for you comments, and I agree entirely with every one of them.

As far as the licencing is concerned, we have of course looked into this in great detail, and we already know that some of our composers currently are only allowed to sell in certain parts of the world.

When customers have chosen the piece of music they want, our system will then know by the postal address of the customer whether that particular licence is valid in that country. Yes, we are relying on addresses / country being correct, and this would have to relate to the Credit Card details used when buying the music. We feel that this is a more (although, not fully) guaranteed way of ensuring the music is performed in the appropriate countries as apposed to someone buying music in a store, photocopying it, and posting it elsewhere.

All licence's are held with the Publisher, and our contracts are with them. If any composer wants us to act as their Publisher too, please contact us, and let us know what we can do for you.

We feel this is a Fantastic Opportunity for New and Existing composers / arrangers and Publishers to have use of this FREE (No costs to use) facility.

For anybody who provides Rental music, this is also ideal..... You would have the facility of charging your customers for the rental period, but more importantly, you would not need to replace the printed parts due to them being torn, written on, not returned etc etc. Rightnowmusic's server would act as your "online library".


If you would like to get involved in this project (and basically, you have nothing to lose), please email me direct: mark@rightnowmusic.com


Thanks again for yor comments, and I hope to hear from you soon.



Mark