Tab sites threatened with legal action...

[FMA]

Interesting piece in the New York Times today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/te...=1&oref=slogin
Now, if they'd only require tab site to publish accurate transcriptions...
Not a huge fan of tab sites, just throwing it out for discussion...

[TheGoodTexan]

Just means they'll have get real generic with the song name....like a fake book.

[woodman]

my position is, by the time a song reaches the point where people want to download the tab to learn it, it's made its money and is de facto (if not legally) public domain. how can somebody learning their song to play elsewhere hurt an established artist? fer cryin' out loud!

[firefrets]

Most tab on the net is done by complete earless morons, who often don't even get the right key, nevermind the right notes.

[woodman]

yeah, there's that, but if you got the ear, you don't need no tab!

[firefrets]

Originally Posted by woodman1

yeah, there's that, but if you got the ear, you don't need no tab!

I kind of agree with your earlier statement regarding artists.
If the guy's don't learn the songs, the songs don't get played in the bars.
This would apply especially to people in the genre's.
I was introduced to most blues artists, by hearing fellow players doing their songs on the local circuits.
Radio just doesn't cater for them nowaday's.
I think the ears can be confused by the mix quite a lot also, and it's handy to have a head start, especially for things with various tunings etc.

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by woodman1

my position is, by the time a song reaches the point where people want to download the tab to learn it, it's made its money and is de facto (if not legally) public domain. how can somebody learning their song to play elsewhere hurt an established artist? fer cryin' out loud!

It's not public domain, either de facto or legally. Period. And it's not about the artist, it's about the composer and publisher's ownership of the song.

It just astounds me to see threads on guitar forums where people blast performance rights organizations, publishers, etc. You'd think from reading these threads that no guitarist ever composed a song. How do you think composers and publishers get paid? Osmosis?

[Bones]

Originally Posted by Dave W

It's not public domain, either de facto or legally. Period. And it's not about the artist, it's about the composer and publisher's ownership of the song.

It just astounds me to see threads on guitar forums where people blast performance rights organizations, publishers, etc. You'd think from reading these threads that no guitarist ever composed a song. How do you think composers and publishers get paid? Osmosis?

I agree, but I also feel that so few songs are ever published in sheet music or tab form, that enforcement of this is detrimental to the community. If these lawyers ever had a plan to replace a service instead of just protecting the rights of a song that's never going to be bought in tab form, then I would be more sympathetic to the publishers and composers, but the fact is they are not going to see a dime on the vast majority of their songs from tab publishing.

They know there's no money in it and that's why they haven't come up with an alternative.

[brillocaster]

I respect the rights of owners of publishing rights to make money off their intellectual property.

I think that in this case they are being blinkered or unimaginative in finding a way to do that.

I would think that any 'Greatest Hits' compilation released with each song tabbed out in a .pdf as a 'feature' would sell like crazy. It'd put money in everyone's pocket from the publisher to the artist down to the session guy with a good ear who gets hired to do the tab.

Or they could do i-Tunes/Napsterize OLGA, scrub the tab (or start from scratch) and charge a couple bucks per song.

Maybe this push on OLGA et al. is a sign that something like the above is coming, much like it did soon after Sean Fanning and co. got zapped.

[TheGoodTexan]

Originally Posted by brillocaster

I would think that any 'Greatest Hits' compilation released with each song tabbed out in a .pdf as a 'feature' would sell like crazy. It'd put money in everyone's pocket from the publisher to the artist down to the session guy with a good ear who gets hired to do the tab.

Part of the business that I work in sells music to churches and church musicians. These are people that (1) want to play music that is familiar to the audience (congregation) and (2) want to make sure their copies of music on hand, recorded or printed, is legal.

So here's what has happened in the sub-genre of church music. Many, MANY label and artists have started to include with the purchase of the recorded CD:

1) .pdf files on the listening CD itself, obtainable through the CD-ROM drive on the computer. Piano, guitar and vocal sheets right there when you purchase the CD itself.

2) Also included in the purchase price of the CD - the right to print off and use those music sheets as much as needed.

What affect has this achieved? MORE SALES.

Like I said, I know that this is a sub-genre and may not be applicable to all mainstream artists, etc, but brillocaster I think you're on to something.

Let's take for example a popular country picker, Brad Paisley, who writes and co-writes almost all of his own music. Say that you could find his newest CD at most big-boxes for around $12.98. But what if they also put out an "enhanced" version of that same CD that included guitar TAB (plus piano and vocal/lyric sheets) to all of his songs, and the right to print them out and use them as much as needed.....for $15.98.

I think that's the solution. But the labels are resistant...with the often heard refrain..."There's no market for it."

[Seanycaster]

Many, MANY label and artists have started to include with the purchase of the recorded CD:

Many artists feature song lyrics in the liner sleeves. Probably most artists. So having bought the CD and been given the lyrics it's understandable to want the guitar chords. Or at least the one or two you can't decipher by ear.

[crawdad]

Originally Posted by TheGoodTexan

Part of the business that I work in sells music to churches and church musicians. These are people that (1) want to play music that is familiar to the audience (congregation) and (2) want to make sure their copies of music on hand, recorded or printed, is legal.

So here's what has happened in the sub-genre of church music. Many, MANY label and artists have started to include with the purchase of the recorded CD:

1) .pdf files on the listening CD itself, obtainable through the CD-ROM drive on the computer. Piano, guitar and vocal sheets right there when you purchase the CD itself.

2) Also included in the purchase price of the CD - the right to print off and use those music sheets as much as needed.

What affect has this achieved? MORE SALES.

Like I said, I know that this is a sub-genre and may not be applicable to all mainstream artists, etc, but brillocaster I think you're on to something.

Let's take for example a popular country picker, Brad Paisley, who writes and co-writes almost all of his own music. Say that you could find his newest CD at most big-boxes for around $12.98. But what if they also put out an "enhanced" version of that same CD that included guitar TAB (plus piano and vocal/lyric sheets) to all of his songs, and the right to print them out and use them as much as needed.....for $15.98.

I think that's the solution. But the labels are resistant...with the often heard refrain..."There's no market for it."

I think its a great idea. Even thought there is still a market for sheet music and tab, its pretty small in terms of profit on the average album. If record companies followed this idea, there might be a lot more people who would buy the CD, learn the song and give it that much more exposure. What it would hurt is the Hal Leonard's of the music publishing business, but even they could probably find a way to incorporate their work into the record releases for a fee and make more money.

I guess the downside is that the general public could care less if their CD has tab on it. What they want is more photos of the stars.