On Wed, 2007-11-07 at 11:59 +0000, Brian Butterworth wrote: > >> Various parts of its non-DRM on demand radio proposals > (book readings, > >> classical music) failed the Public Value Test due to the > BBC Trust's > >> fears over the negative market impact of non-DRM > downloads.
> > Yes, more people would have learnt about classical music > and > > read more books > > This is something that you should be taking up with the BBC > Trust. The BBC *wanted* to deliver books/ classical music, and > we weren't allowed to. As with a lot of the other issues > mentioned, we are regulated by the Trust. > > £45 million a year is spent on BBC Radio 3. It seems a poor use of > this spending to not allow the classical music to be podcasted, I was > shocked when the Trust showed a certain myopia on this front. It's > not like any of this music has copyright issues, for a start. The BBC has many fine orchestras, and through their concerts, and the broadcast of these, unquestionably enriches the musical life of the nation. However, puzzlingly, Radio 3 has a very small audience. Podcasts could certainly be one way of getting more people listening to and enjoying serious music - it certainly worked with R3's Beethoven event, and the popular download of the symphonies. Hmm - inform, educate, entertain :) I find it puzzling that two of the things I value most are not being supplied in the on-demand service, failing the ``public value test.'' Does it mean that the BBC does not value them - or rather that they are too valuable for the public? It seems to be that spurious commercial interests [1] were put before the BBC's remit :-/ - Richard [1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/foi/docs/bbc_trust/trust_consultations/BBC_OnDemand_Proposals.pdf 3.5 Non-DRM audio downloads ``In our consultation, 66 per cent of respondents (4,676) felt that the BBC should be allowed to offer either all or some radio broadcasts of classical music as downloads over the internet. Many regarded the MP3 format of audio downloads as inferior in quality to CDs and therefore unlikely to serve as a substitute for CD purchases.'' ``This view was echoed by organisations representing consumers, such as the Friends of Radio 3 who suggested setting an annual limit on the number of downloads of classical works (an option we considered in our provisional conclusions). The Voice of the Listener and Viewer pointed to the unique role of BBC ensembles in presenting unfamiliar repertoire and new music.'' ``... The Musicians’ Union was against exclusion of classical music and asked the Trust to re-visit allowing some classical music to be included. It pointed out that there is little classical music being recorded by the major record companies, with most new recordings coming from labels set up by musicians themselves – who were also working closely with the BBC to secure their rights in on-demand offerings. The Radio Independents Group suggested the BBC could partner with specialist record labels to co-ordinate free downloads of performances of BBC orchestras and follow-on commercial CDs.'' - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
