I'm kinda surprised that the Irish Times printed such an ill-informed letter. And I'm also kinda surprised that a composer is so ill-informed about how this actually works.
"RTÉ’s Prime Timeof the November 28th on the bailout almost exclusively used incidental music composed by the Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer from his movie Inception. I know this because I own the soundtrack album and am a media composer."
Hmm... I watched it back and while it does use a lot of soundtrack music, there aren't that many Hans Zimmer tracks at all.
"It is ironic that for a programme reporting the devastation of the Irish economy our national broadcaster chooses to pay several thousand euro in royalties to a multi-millionaire composer from Hollywood for this one edition of Prime Timealone; rather than commission original music from one of the many exquisite composers in Ireland who could do with the work and who would do an outstanding job."
Simply wrong. I have experience of working in RTE and music used is covered by a blanket agreement. In addition, a programme like this one could be made in as little as 5 weeks and use 20 or more tracks. It would be simply unrealistic timewise and probably prohibitively expensive to have the music composed. It is simply easier to use soundtracks that work and are accessible. Having said that, I'm sure any director, producer or editor in RTE would love to use Irish music but until there is an easier way to do it, it won't happen. For example, I searched the web just now for music composed by Kevin Nolan and couldn't find anything, so how could anyone use his music? I think it would be a good idea for composers to get together and start a website that promotes Irish music and sets up fair licensing agreements. The technology is there and if the music is worthy then it will be used. An international one called Audio Network does well and I believe there is a new Irish one called Muziko that I plan to explore more. The key is to organise a group of composers and work together to do this.
"This is far from an isolated incident. I have totted up that RTÉ Factual has paid out several hundred thousand euro in music royalties alone in the past few years to major composers – rather than employ Irish composers."
Wrong and ill-informed again. The letter displays a complete lack of knowledge of how this actually works.
"This is disgrace, in my opinion."
I think this letter is potentially damaging to composers and also to producers/directors/editors who are working hard to do a good job. If the music is made available in an organised and simple way then there is a chance it'll be used. The internet has been around for a long time folks, so the technology is there.
Best of luck.
"RTÉ’s Prime Timeof the November 28th on the bailout almost exclusively used incidental music composed by the Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer from his movie Inception. I know this because I own the soundtrack album and am a media composer."
Hmm... I watched it back and while it does use a lot of soundtrack music, there aren't that many Hans Zimmer tracks at all.
"It is ironic that for a programme reporting the devastation of the Irish economy our national broadcaster chooses to pay several thousand euro in royalties to a multi-millionaire composer from Hollywood for this one edition of Prime Timealone; rather than commission original music from one of the many exquisite composers in Ireland who could do with the work and who would do an outstanding job."
Simply wrong. I have experience of working in RTE and music used is covered by a blanket agreement. In addition, a programme like this one could be made in as little as 5 weeks and use 20 or more tracks. It would be simply unrealistic timewise and probably prohibitively expensive to have the music composed. It is simply easier to use soundtracks that work and are accessible. Having said that, I'm sure any director, producer or editor in RTE would love to use Irish music but until there is an easier way to do it, it won't happen. For example, I searched the web just now for music composed by Kevin Nolan and couldn't find anything, so how could anyone use his music? I think it would be a good idea for composers to get together and start a website that promotes Irish music and sets up fair licensing agreements. The technology is there and if the music is worthy then it will be used. An international one called Audio Network does well and I believe there is a new Irish one called Muziko that I plan to explore more. The key is to organise a group of composers and work together to do this.
"This is far from an isolated incident. I have totted up that RTÉ Factual has paid out several hundred thousand euro in music royalties alone in the past few years to major composers – rather than employ Irish composers."
Wrong and ill-informed again. The letter displays a complete lack of knowledge of how this actually works.
"This is disgrace, in my opinion."
I think this letter is potentially damaging to composers and also to producers/directors/editors who are working hard to do a good job. If the music is made available in an organised and simple way then there is a chance it'll be used. The internet has been around for a long time folks, so the technology is there.
Best of luck.
