Symphonic Shorts

Symphonic Media Summit

Responding to the need for clear and direct communication among those most affected by symphonic recording issues, representatives from the AFM and ICSOM and ROPA orchestras convened in Chicago on January 13, 2003 for a historic "meeting of the minds."

Economic pressures of various kinds on the recording industry have resulted in a precipitous drop in the recording activities of most American orchestras. Players and orchestra managements are struggling to find ways to maintain their recording activity and have begun to explore a number of alternatives to the standard commercial recording model. Among those have been new ways of handling orchestra management-produced product, new uses for archival recordings, and internet distribution of product. Existing agreements have been modified to accommodate some of these ventures, raising concerns about how much flexibility to allow.

Questions have arisen over licensing and copyright protection and ownership. Debates about foregoing some or all upfront payments in exchange for profit sharing have been dampened by the realization that there generally is no profit to share. Discussions about crafting new agreements to address recording have been accompanied by questions about bargaining methods (traditional or "interest-based") and standards (local or national or some combination). Recorded product knows no national borders and so the global standards and future of classical recording have become important topics.

Some orchestra musicians and union leaders wonder whether we can afford to spend much energy on recording issues when the capacity of so many orchestras to continue to play concerts is threatened by a weak economy. Others argue that recordings provide an essential lasting legacy of an otherwise transient art form.

Allowing all of the disparate viewpoints on this complicated subject to be aired was crucial. By the end of the day, the mood in the room was upbeat, with a sense that we all understood one another far better than we might have expected and that discussion of a constructive course for the future could now take place in a climate of openness and inclusivity.

-Rochelle Gnagey Skolnick, Palm Beach Opera ROPA Delegate

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