This post relates to the legal side of record labels like Columbia Records, their artists work and the music industry as a whole again. Regulatory is 'serving or intended to regulate something'; I believe it is important that I learn about this section as a whole (as well as the copyright issues, etc) because it allows me to become more knowledgeable about specific areas of the record labels and how they work; I believe that understanding the legal side to companies like Columbia Records is essential in then pinning together how the rest of the label works.
For example, in 2012 Columbia Record's mother company, Sony Music, introduced a whole new copyright royalties system in the summer! Although this does not sound like a big deal now, it obviously was actually rather essential for the companies continued success; after all, if legal issues such as copyright ones continued to take place. the record label would continuously lose sales/revenue generated from them. Sony Music stated 'as part of this transition to an improved technology platform, we have created a new and improved state of the art statement format, and simplified our product numbering for the digital age'; as complication as this sounds, I believe that it essentially means that because nowadays, when it is so easy for people who have laptops and an internet connection to download music illegally, Sony have had to basically tighten their copyright laws even more!
The picture above is of course the Sony Music logo
The regulatory bodies also have to be particularly careful with product placement in music videos, as well as discussed agreements they have with artists.
A copyright owner definitely does have certain rights that the regulatory bodies have to control:
1) Reproduce the work (the rights to make copies of the work.. YouTube covers, ie)
2) Distribute copies of the work (the right to distribute and sell copies of the work to the public)
3) Perform works publicly (copyright owners of songs control the rights to have their song performed publicly - ie if an artist wanted to sing a cover song live)
4) Make derivative works (a derivative work is a work that is based on another work, like a remix or a parody lyric)
5) Perform copyrighted sound recordings by means of a digital audio transmission (a right recently added by Congress that give copyright owners in sound recordings the rights to perform a work by means of a digital audio transmission... ie performances of songs on satellite radio station, like XFM and Sirius)
6) Display the work (rare but it still happens - ie when the lyrics to a song are displayed on a karaoke machine)
No one can do any of the above without the permission or authorization (usually given in a license( of the owner of the copyright.
Furthermore 'BPI' plays a huge role in the relegating; they are committed to driving and supporting initiatives that inform and educate consumers about the value and importance of music, alongside raising awareness of legal digital music services, and the issues surrounding illegal downloading.
They launched a 'Why Music Matters' initiative in March 2010, and it helps music fans to identify where to buy music safely and legally online. They also have the Parental Advisory Logo, which helps to inform parents that songs or music videos contain explicit lyrics/images, which may be considered offensive or unsuitable for children!
On their website there is a whole tab dedicated to 'digital music', and the misuse of it. For example, they mention that according to Kantar Worldpanel, over 20% of the adult population bought at least some music digitally in 2012 and for over a fifth of music buyers, digital is now the only format they use!
BPI is so essential to this section because it explains perfectly the issues music downloads have on artists today, they have set up organisations that help to enforce the rules and they are very informative on what not to do; they're a brilliant website!
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