I got a reply to my letter to The Today Programme – from Nicola Stanbridge, the reporter involved, in fact. I haven’t replied yet but will do so tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s her email:
Dear Steve,
Thank you for your email to the Today Programme. To answer a couple of points:
– I talk to a range of people, from all points of view, for background information in relation to every story.
– We were not promoting the industry position, we have no interest in doing that, instead we were looking at the Gowers review, which is hearing evidence until the end of the week, and picking up on a current campaign which highlights the disparity between songwriter and performer & other countries. We approached Sir Cliff because he has wide appeal and his main objective was to stand up for those 1950s stars who can’t get by and would like copyright royalties extended.
– My first question to Sir Cliff looked at when a recording is out of copyright, anyone can publish it , often at bargain prices which benefits the consumers.
– One point given some time in the piece was that some musicians want a “use it or lose it rule.” Horace Trubridge of the Darts explained how he felt his record company had let his band fall into obscurity, while there was a market for their records and while the band could’ve capitalised on that.
– On your final point if you know of historic, creative works under threat or an expert concerned about such a situation maybe we could do another piece on that. We are a very interactive programme with our email audience and always open to ideas.
Regards
Nicola Stanbridge
There’s a challenge… and an opportunity.
waaaah, I think she hangs herself with your rope:
‘We approached Sir Cliff because he has wide appeal and his main objective was to stand up for those 1950s stars who can’t get by and would like copyright royalties extended.’
bollox, that’s the industry spin, I rest your case