[Dixielandjazz] RE: CD license fees

[Ministry of Jazz]

Shalom Jazz Fans,

Doctor Jazz just reprinted our CD called "Ben Yehuda Street Parade",
originally released in summer of 2004. We tried to license the original run
but could not get a response from the licensing agency (our equivalent of
ASCAP), and had a deadline, so we opted to go without the license. A "friend
in the business" promised us 1000 copies, glass mastered. A week later he
delivered 500 copies burned without a glass master, and no receipts, saying
he could not get the regular price without the license.

When it came time to reprint, we decided to make every effort to get the
license so we could see the difference and see if it's worth it for the
future. This time we found very friendly licensing people, quick and
courteous answers to questions. Cost for licensing 14 out of our 15 tunes on
the disk (the 15th is "The Saints") was about $400. With the license we got
our 1000 CD with the glass master for a bit less than we paid last time for
500. By the way, my aging ears tell me the sound quality of the glass
mastered CD is considerably better than the burned ones. Any comments on
this from you sound engineers? I hear a much clearer sound, more depth, more
alive, I even noticed parts that I hadn't noticed before. Not that the
burned disks were bad, but I felt the second run came out much better. We
also got a better print job and packaging job.

Now as we are getting opportunities for some air time on local radio, I am
not worried about the implications of not having a license. Also we can --
though we have not yet -- feel more free to sell in stores.

So am I glad we licensed? NOT ON YOUR LIFE! I hate the fact that a group of
lawyers who are little more than parasites can extort fees from us when they
do nothing in return except agree not to harass us. We make the music. We
bust our butts to get out and perform it and promote it, to try to make a
living at it. The alleged rights they claim to protect would be meaningless
if no one were performing their "clients'" songs -- not to mention that in
our genre most of the clients are dead. If they only maintained a damn list
of licensed works on the net or in print -- our disks, not just the songs --
that might at least serve as a form of advertisement. But we get NOTHING
from them. Not a thing. It's a protection racket, and if there were a way to
break it, I'd be first in line to help bring 'em down. I've got no objection
to paying rightful royalties to composers and their legitimate heirs. But
everything I hear about the system is that this rarely happens.

Oh, yeah, did I mention we have a CD for sale? $15 including international
air mail shipping, or come to Israel and pick one up in person for only 40
shekels. Order info on the website.

Enjoy,

Elazar
Dr. Jazz Dixieland Band
Tekiya Trumpet Ensemble
Jerusalem, Israel
www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
+972-2-679-2537