Sensoria (April 23-25) will offer a mix of screenings, performance, talks, events and exhibitions in the UK town of Sheffield that will be followed by Sensoria Teasers – events, activities and collaborations “as and when the opportunity arises”. Events include “Music for real airports”, a screening of “12 Angry Men” with live music, “Man of Aran” with live music by British Seapower and an interesting Pro section. These talks will include discussion about synch licences, monetisation in the digital world and a masterclass with Paul Leonard-Morgan. Details at Sensoria.

Midem 2010, the place were the global music community comes together, will feature a number of exclusive licensing events. Are your songs good enough for the next DJ Hero® videogame, a movie trailer, a US popular show, or even a Pantene campaign?

If you’re attending Midem, submit them for up to five Listening Sessions via Activision Blizzard, Grey Advertising, RipTide Music, MTV and Zync Music, all taking place only at MIDEM 2010, January 23-26, 2010 in Cannes!

The MOFFOM Music on Film/Film on Music Minifest & Market will take place in Berlin on the original dates of the now cancelled Popkomm international music market. This event includes both a market part aiming at film and music professionals as well as a small film festival part targeting the broader audience of film and music aficionados.

Throughout the day of September 17, three panels will offer insights on soundtrack marketing strategies and the creative collaboration between filmmakers and musicians, as speakers like Mikkel Maltha (Zentropa), Andro Steinborn (NEU Filmproduktion), Thomas Jamois (Naïve Label) or Hannes Stöhr (“Berlin Calling”) share their experiences. The panels are moderated by John Groves (Vice President, Federation of Film & Audiovisual Composers of Europe – FFACE). For details, visit Just Temptation.

To discuss the issues of film and music, Just Temptation is organising the Music on Film/Film on Music (MOFFOM) Minifest & Market on the original dates of the now cancelled Popkomm international music market in Berlin. This event will include both a market part open to film and music professionals as well as a mini festival part targeting the broader audience of film and music aficionados.
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The Council of Europe’s European Audiovisual Observatory has just released a very interesting report on music rights in audiovisual works. The publication covers the various legislations applicable in different European countries, and their implication on contracts and usage. In our experience, many producers are not aware of the complexity of the issues – let alone the actual music creators. So both can benefit from this excellent overview. Who holds the actual copyright in music for audiovisuals, for example? The answer is not quite what you would expect.

The report can be downloaded from the Observatory website. A print version was also made available at the Cannes Film Market. It contains further information, such as recent court cases, that show that one’s opinion of what might seem right can be very different from what a court might decide. So whether you are a producer or a music creator, remember to check your contracts occasionally. Highly recommended.

In a move that shows the ongoing devaluation of music on the web, music library Pump Audio sent out a message to its music suppliers that has caused considerable debate. In essence, the message announces a major change in the payment Pump Audio makes to music producers. Previously, the company split upfront licence fees 50/50 with creators, while also taking 50% of the publishing rights in the highly debatable “re-titling” practice. The new split is now 35/65 in favour of Pump Audio, while maintaining the share on the publishing revenue.

Many users have noted the difficulty in actually tracing the uses and therefore of seeing any performance rights within a reasonable timespan. In fact, it is thought that Pump has realised that music publishing is far from being the automatic money-spinner it is often thought to be, as it requires considerable resources to ensure that music users provide accurate cue sheets and the performance rights companies track them and pay accordingly. So they are asking more money on the front end. Their blog, meanwhile, talks about offering “the best deal in the music business”, which is a little cheeky.

There are music publishers who consider licensing as a core of their business, part of the ongoing job of exploiting a title. There are other companies that focus on the licensing part without touching publishing income.