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Posted by Mannieb on 09/08/06 23:28
by David Wimble, The Indie Bible - http://www.indiebible.com
As you visit the hundreds of music podcast and MP3 blog sites you'll
notice that most them feature something called PODSAFE MUSIC. For this
article I have gathered information from various internet sites in
order to help clarify what podsafe music is and how it can become
another helpful tool to place into your marketing utility belt.
Definition of podsafe music (from Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org)
Podsafe is a term created in the podcasting community to refer to any
work which, through its licensing, specifically allows the use of the
work in podcasting, regardless of restrictions the same work might have
in other realms. For example, a song may be legal to use in podcasts,
but may need to be purchased or have royalties paid for over-the-air
radio use, television use, and possibly even personal use.
The effective definition of "podsafe" for a given work depends entirely
on the contract through which the podcaster licenses the work; there is
no single podsafe license. The concept of podsafety, in its true form,
greatly favors the artist and the profitability of the artist's
product, in exchange for only very limited concessions to the
podcasting community.
While some works such as public domain works or works under some
Creative Commons licenses are inherently podsafe, the only actual
requirement for a work to be podsafe is that any licensing requirements
it has, if applicable, allow for the work's free use (typical broadcast
use in its original form, if in no other form, depending on the
specific license) in a podcast or web broadcast. This gives specific
favor to podcasts only, allowing the artist to impose more traditional
constraints on everyone else. Podsafe licensing can, for example,
continue to require non-podcast consumers to pay for the work, require
royalties on derivative works, and profit significantly from the work's
use in traditional radio, television, or film.
The licensor of any podsafe work must be legally capable of making it
so. An artist cannot distribute his or her own work through a podsafe
license if doing so would break any laws or breach any standing
agreements (e.g. with the RIAA). The creator of a derivative work may
also not claim this work podsafe without express permission from the
original copyright holders. (PMN has more specific and stringent terms
to this effect in its agreement.) Another point of contention is that
not all podcasts are non-commercial works; in fact, an increasing
number of podcasts are taking on sponsors and looking to make a profit.
In general, no significant distinction is yet made between podsafe for
non-commercial use and podsafe for commercial use, but it could easily
arise at any moment.
Motives for the podcaster to use podsafe music (from Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org)
As podcasting grows more and more popular, illegal use of heavily
licensed music (as through the RIAA) becomes increasingly difficult to
hide. This is in general of greater concern to podcasters than to the
typical sharer of music, because podcasters usually produce their shows
for and promote them to the public-a far more overt and traceable
action.
Including such licensed music legally has its own set of caveats.
Indeed, under many jurisdictions it's currently impossible, but the
message from those in the know is that many licensing agencies, if they
do intend to allow the use of their music on podcasts, will require not
only the payment of royalties but also the use of DRM on the shows.
(DRM, because of its proprietary, system-specific nature, would be
destructive to the general openness and system independence of
podcasts.)
Use of podsafe music instead of more stringently licensed material
allows a podcaster to continue to produce an inexpensive, legal program
with little hassle. Not least important for an independent podcaster is
the promise of being able to avoid the confusing maze of licensing
organisations.
Motives for the artist to use podsafe music (from Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org)
Conventional radio (and television) can present a difficult, and not
always logical, barrier of entry for a musician or other media artist
involving large sums of money and often a great deal of surrender in
both ownership and creative freedom.
In contrast, podcasting, an increasingly popular medium for audio
programs, is as a whole very receptive, indeed thirsty for artists and
input. This is due in part to the creative and economic nature of the
largely independent podcasting community and further fueled by its need
to avoid repetition. While a conventional radio show may be able to
risk replaying a large part of its music selection from day to day,
there would be little point in downloading a music podcast whose
selection did not vary significantly from a previous show. Podcasting
is thus a voracious medium. With a growing and international audience
podcasting is now becoming an effective means for inexpensive artist
promotion often aimed squarely at the people most like to be interested
in that type of music.
What is The Podsafe Music Network?
The Podsafe Music Network (music.podshow.com) is a comprehensive source
for podsafe music. It was founded in 2005 by ex MTV VJ and current
podcaster Adam Curry (Daily Source Code). PMN brings a large group of
podcasters together with a wide variety of all-podsafe music and the
artists who produce it.
According to PMN, podsafe music is music that meets all of the
following conditions:
1. Works submitted to the Podsafe Music Network are the property of the
artist, and all rights to these works, including lyrics and music, are
the property of the artist.
2. All works contain no recordings, lyrics, copyrights, or other
elements that are the copyright of any other artist, except under the
limited provisions of the Creative Commons License Agreement
www.creativecommons.org
3. Despite any recording contracts with RIAA, ASCA, BMI or other
recording industry entity, the artist retains ownership of the works
and is free to distribute, broadcast, license or sell these works at
the artist's discretion.
The licensing agreement between the artist and PMN:
music.podshow.com/music/artistTerms.htm
What are Creative Commons Licenses? (from www.creativecommons.org)
Creative Commons Licenses help you publish your work online while
letting others know exactly what they can and can't do with your work.
When you choose a licence, we provide you with tools and tutorials that
let you add licence information to our own site or to one of several
free hosting services that have incorporated Creative Commons.
1. Standard License License your song under your terms. Our set of
standard licenses will let you share music with fans while protecting
your song from limits you put in place. Or, choose a prepared license
for audio works.
2. Sampling License People can take and transform pieces of your work
for any purpose other than advertising, which is prohibited. Copying
and distribution of the entire work is also prohibited.
3. Share Music License This license is aimed at the musician that wants
to spread their music on web and filesharing networks legally for fans
to download and share, while protecting the music from commercial use
or remixing of any kind.
How does a Creative Commons license operate?
Creative Commons license are based on copyright. So it applies to all
works that are protected by copyright law. The kinds of works that are
protected by copyright law are books, websites, blogs, photographs,
films, videos, songs and other audio & visual recordings, for example.
Software programs are also protected by copyright but, as explained
below, we do not recommend that you apply a Creative Commons license to
software code or documentation.
Creative Commons licenses give you the ability to dictate how others
may exercise your copyright rights-such as the right of others to copy
your work, make derivative works or adaptations of your work, to
distribute your work and/or make money from your work. They do not give
you the ability to restrict anything that is otherwise permitted by
exceptions or limitations to copyright-including, importantly, fair use
or fair dealing-nor do they give you the ability to control anything
that is not protected by copyright law, such as facts and ideas.
Creative Commons licenses attach to the work and authorize everyone who
comes in contact with the work to use it consistent with the license.
This means that if Bob has a copy of your Creative Commons-licensed
work, Bob can give a copy to Carol and Carol will be authorized to use
the work consistent with the Creative Commons license. You then have a
license agreement separately with both Bob and Carol.
Where are the forms that I have to fill out?
Creative Commons licenses are expressed in three different formats: the
Commons Deed (human-readable code), the Legal Code (lawyer-readable
code) and the metadata (machine readable code). You don't need to sign
anything to get a CCL. Just select your license here:
www.creativecommons.org/license
Hmmm ...what if I change my mind?
This is an extremely important point for you to consider. Creative
Commons licenses are non-revocable. This means that you cannot stop
someone, who has obtained your work under a Creative Commons license,
from using the work according to that license. You can stop offering
your work under a Creative Commons license at any time you wish; but
this will not affect the rights with any copies of your work already in
circulation under a Creative Commons license. So you need to think
carefully when choosing a Creative Commons license to make sure that
you are happy for people to be using your work consistent with the
terms of the license, even if you later stop distributing your work.
Before you do anything, make sure you have the rights!
Before applying a Creative Commons license to a work, you need to make
sure you have the authority to do so. This means that you need to make
sure that the person who owns the copyright in the work is happy to
have the work made available under a Creative Commons license.
Where do podcasters find podsafe music? (from Dave's Imaginary Sound
Space soundblog.spaces.live.com)
Discovering new music and the ability to use it fairly without fear of
copyright infringement is a key issue for podcasters and listeners
alike. Artists, composers, producers and consumers can all benefit from
clear, fair and flexible copyright licenses that embrace new
technologies. 'Podsafe' means non-RIAA audio and video that can be used
legally in podcast productions and freely distributed online for
downloading. Podsafe music can be found in many locations on the web
including: artists websites, MP3 blogs, open source music communities,
podcast directories, netlabels, P2P networks and BitTorrent hosts. A
quick search for "podsafe" in a podcast directory like PodcastAlley.com
reveals a rich and diverse array of productions featuring podsafe
music. Unfortunately it becomes extremely time consuming for podcasters
to source available music and listen to it. Recommendations by
listeners and fans play an important part in the podcast production
process.
The definitive list of podcasting safe music sites can be found at
http://soundblog.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!1pXOS7l93k8mqeQ7FlEEmOSQ!907.entry
It's always about the music
For an artist just entering into the podcast/MP3 blog universe, the
amount of information to take in can be overwhelming. It's not unlike a
lifelong typist being plopped in front of a computer and asked to
create a spreadsheet with colored charts.
As you watch the internet continue to explode with new technologies, it
may feel like life has passed you by and left you lying in the dust.
However, the truth is we're all still tightly bundled together. No one
is ever left behind. The opportunity to move towards the cutting edge
is available to anyone (my father-in-law has just learned how to use a
computer at the age of 81). Don't let fear (and the excuses it can
conjure up) lessen your attempts to succeed.
Remember, it has always been, and always will be about the music - that
unique expression that you have to offer to the world. Podcasts,
podsafe music, MP3 blogs, Creative Commons licenses and all that other
bounce-off-the-head stuff is simply a collection of new and useful
tools to help you get your music heard by more people.
Final thoughts
For the newbie, my suggestion would be to take it slow. Open one small
door at a time and get a feel for it all. You'll eventually discover
that bloggers and podcasters are simply human beings with a passion for
music - a collection of music lovers that are ready and willing to help
you get your songs heard by a new stream of potential fans.
*** Subscribe To The Free Indie Bible Newsletter!
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airplay, distribute your music, sell your songs, and music more! Visit
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