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Review of the BBC’s Royal Charter

The Music Publishers Association’s responses to the DCMS Consultation

March 2004

Introduction

The MPA represents some 200 music publishers and more than 3,000 associated and administered companies, together accounting for over 90% of turnover from music publishing in the UK. The membership includes the five majors (BMG, EMI, Sony/ATV, Universal and Warner/Chappell), independent pop music publishers (including by way of example Bucks Music, Carlin Music, Chrysalis Music, Essex Music and peermusic) and classical publishers (including by way of example Boosey & Hawkes, Faber Music, Music Sales, Oxford University Press and ABRSM Publishing). The membership of the MPA is therefore concerned with the broadest possible range of genres of music.

The business of music publishing is concerned with representing the interests of composers and songwriters through the promotion of their music to the widest possible audience and licensing the use of the music, ensuring that such use is paid for and that creators are duly remunerated. Some 10% of music publishing turnover is derived from sales of printed music. All MPA members have a direct interest in the operation of the BBC due to the BBC’s extensive use of music across all its activities. Music publishing accounts for 12% of the value of the British music industry (worth almost £5 billion a year) and 36% of the industry’s net exports (worth £0.5 billion in total).

In view of the MPA’s interests the responses in this paper will be directed towards the activities of the BBC in so far as they are concerned with music.

The MPA is a member of British Music Rights and the Music Business Forum and has accordingly contributed to, and is supportive of, the responses submitted by each of those bodies to the DCMS Consultation.

The delivery of arts programming in general and music in particular is central to the BBC’s role as a public service broadcaster, as evidenced by one of the BBC’s key values, namely the fact that creativity is its lifeblood. We welcome the fact that the Governors’ primary objective for 2003/2004 is "to underpin the BBC’s public service remit by extending the range and quality of its radio and television services, with a focus on broadcasting more high-impact, memorable programmes, particularly arts [and current affairs]" and the BBC’s acknowledgement that arts programming has been previously under-represented on mainstream British television and that this needs to be remedied.

Responses

The BBC Today

What do you value about the BBC?

1. What do you think of the BBC’s contribution to the life of the United Kingdom and to the wider world? Should this change over the next decade and, if so, how?

The BBC plays a central role as purveyor of information and in the provision of education and entertainment in the UK. It has earned a reputation for quality and reliability in each of these areas, a reputation that deservedly extends across the entire world.

A corollary of the BBC’s role has been the provision of a platform for the delivery of music and the arts to audiences on a scale that no other medium can easily offer. The BBC is however more than merely a broadcaster. It has established itself as one of the country’s foremost patrons of the arts. In the case of music the BBC has achieved this through its investment not only in music programming, but in the commissioning of new music and in the musical infrastructure of this country, particularly through the BBC orchestras and choirs and its support for live music. Such patronage has arguably become the mainstay of classical music in the UK.

Music programming provides an excellent opportunity for reflecting cultural diversity and the BBC grasps this opportunity by broadcasting a broad range of both high profile and other local musical events, including festivals, concerts and other live performances. Every effort must be made to ensure that this continues to be the case as our culture becomes even more diverse in itself. Radio 1 in particular must play its part in this and resort less often to standard or safe playlists such as might be expected on commercial radio.

The BBC has built a very valuable archive during its lifetime and this resource must continue to be carefully preserved. If it is to be made more widely available to the nation and its potential realised then this must be done in partnership with music publishers and other owners of the rights in the archive materials.

The BBC has successfully exported British music, largely through the BBC World Service, and the contribution this has undoubtedly made to the British music industry being one of the country’s top net exporting industries is an important consideration for the UK economy. There should be even more emphasis in the BBC’s programming on home grown talent in order for this to continue to be the case.

The BBC has set high standards of broadcasting and has served as a unique training ground in relation to every aspect of broadcasting. The BBC should continue to invest in training to ensure the continuance of high standards in the UK’s broadcasting services.

The BBC has also contributed to our children’s education through its educational programmes which have supported the work of teachers. We do believe, however, that the BBC’s new Digital Curriculum should not be anything more than supplementary to the existing provision of teaching and teaching materials.

2. What value does the BBC add to the wider provision of public service broadcasting?

The BBC sets high standards to which other public service (and commercial) broadcasters must inevitably aspire if they are to attract audiences. Such standards do not prevail in most countries and this is to the detriment of the quality of broadcasting generally in such countries.

The BBC should be free, subject to normal constraints of taste and decency as well as costs, to be innovative and dynamic in its programming in fulfilment of its role as a public service broadcaster and this should in turn encourage others to take similar risks. High quality original programming will educate and stimulate audiences.

Another area in which the BBC should take the lead amongst broadcasters and add value to public service broadcasting is in raising awareness and understanding about copyright. The BBC, an owner of copyright itself, naturally upholds and respects copyright. It has a responsibility in this area, in partnership with the creators and rights owners (including music publishers) it works with, to educate its audiences about the meaning and importance of copyright at a time when copyright is under attack from so many quarters.

3. How well has the BBC met its purposes over the Charter period? What evidence do we have that the way in which the BBC does this is successful compared to other broadcasters?

The BBC has invested more in music and arts programming than any other broadcaster, so earning its position as a key patron of the arts. This has served to support and strengthen its role as public service broadcaster. The BBC should however take even more responsibility for programming music and arts as commercial broadcasters do less and less in this area. We share the BBC’s view that arts programming has been under-represented on mainstream British television and we fully support the BBC in its objective to remedy this.

We are concerned at the way in which the BBC has recently tended to schedule music programming. It is increasingly rare to find music programmes which are not purely pop orientated scheduled on mainstream television other than late at night or during the night. New and cutting edge music is generally broadcast very late on a Saturday night on Radio 3. And significantly, high art programmes involving contemporary music are more often than not only aired on the digital channels which are inaccessible to more than half the potential audience for those programmes. To the extent that this is happening, the BBC is not making music programming sufficiently accessible.

We are also concerned by the increasing trend for the BBC to compete with commercial broadcasters for audience share, for example, by paying disproportionate sums for the right to air popular films at peak viewing times, most particularly on Christmas Day. Such sums should be applied towards more arts programming and other programming that would be more consistent with the BBC’s role as public service broadcaster. The BBC should be relieved of the pressure to compete in this way if it is to fulfil its role as a true public service broadcaster.

4. What is it about the BBC that makes it unique? How do we make sure that it is distinct from other broadcasters? Are there better ways to deliver some of the contribution that we have traditionally relied on the BBC to provide?

The BBC is unique for the reasons outlined in our response to question 1 above, but most particularly for its role as patron of the arts. The BBC’s strength as a patron of the arts distinguishes it from mere broadcasters who largely only give airtime to music and the BBC should be encouraged to continue with this role.

In addition, the BBC’s reach and its reputation for quality throughout the whole world is unparalleled and must be supported in the interests of promoting our British culture abroad.

5. How well does the BBC serve the constituent parts of the UK, including Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions? What changes, if any, would you like to see?

Radio 3 has proved itself to be a particular ally of locally based music activities and all BBC radio should be encouraged to reflect more events in the regions in this way. This will contribute to the diversity of the BBC’s programming and at the same time improve its servicing of all parts of the UK.

6. Is the current balance between national, regional and community level programming right?

We believe that the current balance is about right in so far as programming of music is concerned. We would not favour any change that would in any way diminish national programming. This is not to say that there is not room still for enhancing and strengthening regional and local programming.

7. Does the current regional and community content reflect the diversity of the regions and communities served, and deliver what you want? If not, what should be changed?

We are generally satisfied that regional and community music programming is reflective of local cultural diversity but there is no room for complacency and this should be carefully managed. BBC local radio plays a crucial role in local communities and should be alert to and reflect local music developments as far as it is appropriate to do so. This in turn should feed into national programming wherever possible. As we have said, we are particularly concerned that Radio 1 does not fall into the trap of resorting to standard or safe playlists such as might be expected on commercial radio.

A Changing Landscape

How should the BBC adapt to cope with changes in technology and culture?

8. How should the BBC respond to the development of new technologies and to changing viewing and listening habits?

We believe that the BBC has responded appropriately by taking such a strong lead in adapting to changes in technology through its provision of an increasing range of digital services. It is particularly important for the BBC as public service broadcaster to take such an approach in the lead up to analogue switch off, so encouraging audiences to adapt accordingly.

We welcome the fact that the BBC’s digital services provide further opportunities for music programming. We are, however, concerned that the BBC should ensure that the audiences for its digital services match those for its analogue services before making so much of its top music and arts programming available exclusively on digital platforms.

New technologies now make it more possible than ever for the BBC to exploit the valuable asset it has in its archive. Whilst we commend the BBC for its imaginative approach to such exploitation, we would reiterate the importance of securing the appropriate licences from all relevant owners of rights in the archive material that may be necessary for such exploitation, consistent with the BBC’s traditional practice as a respecter and upholder of copyright.

In its response to new technologies we would also suggest that the BBC takes the opportunity to explore new ways of raising copyright awareness and improving understanding of its importance (see response to question 2 above).

Publicly-Funded Services and Functions

What do you think of the television, radio and online services the BBC provides?

9. What do you think of the publicly-funded services provided by the BBC, on television, radio and online? What changes, if any, would you like to see?

We are broadly satisfied with the range of publicly funded services currently provided by the BBC in that they offer scope for diversity and would appear to offer "something for everyone" in satisfaction of the BBC’s remit as a public service broadcaster. The breadth and scope of BBC radio represents exceptional value for money. The value of the World Service in promoting all that is British, including our music, to the rest of the world is immeasurable and deserves special support. It is however important for the BBC to continue to review its range of niche services and to respond to changes and developments within the regions in particular.

10. How well do the BBC’s publicly-funded services deliver its core purposes?

The BBC continues to provide excellent value for money and to increase the range of its offering to audiences in response to changing technology as well as changes in our society. However, the BBC is clearly coming under increasing commercial pressures which are manifesting themselves in various ways and which are compromising the BBC’s ability to fulfil objectives.

For example, the funding available for music programming appears to be reducing and is threatening the BBC’s ability to maintain, let alone increase, the levels of such programming, so jeopardising the Governors’ objective to make improvements in this regard (see Introduction above). In particular, this is threatening more expensive music programming of operas and ballets.

It is also driving the less than satisfactory scheduling of music programming to which we have referred above (see response to question 3 above).

11. In what way should the BBC’s services differ from those of commercial public service broadcasters and other purely commercial broadcasters in order to add value? To what extent should the BBC provide ‘something for everyone’

We believe that it would be unrealistic for the BBC to be expected only to fill gaps left by commercial broadcasters and that, in any event, this would conflict with the BBC’s remit as a public service broadcaster which should extend to the provision of "something for everyone". However, the BBC needs to strike a careful balance between the provision of popular entertainment, which brings them directly into competition with commercial broadcasters, and the provision of other public service broadcasting which, by nature, is likely to attract rather smaller audiences. The BBC should not have to compete with commercial broadcasters for audience share to the extent that it is offering high quality alternative programming which seeks to inform, educate and even entertain audiences.

Commercial Services

Should the BBC run commercial services?

12. Do you think the BBC should continue to run commercial services alongside its licence fee-funded services?

We believe that it is entirely appropriate that the BBC should maximise the commercial potential of the programming in which it has invested, subject to always securing any necessary licences from copyright owners to do so. However, to the extent that any such secondary exploitation involves engaging in areas of business that are extraneous to the primary business of broadcasting and selling programmes, we believe that the BBC should contract such forms of exploitation to third parties expert in the relevant fields.

13. If the BBC should continue to run commercial services, how should we ensure that the relationship between the public and commercial services is fair to the BBC’s commercial competitors?

To the extent that the BBC engages in such activities itself, it enters into direct competition often with the very partners it needs to work with for the purpose of producing its programming in the first place. The BBC should limit its activities more directly to its role as broadcaster.

For example, the covermount CD attached to BBC Music Magazine more often than not contains recordings of entire works (where excepts should be sufficient for the purposes of the review and criticism contained within the magazine) which then often compete with recordings that are already available and in which commercial enterprises have invested heavily. The BBC is at a commercial advantage in producing such recordings since it has the infrastructure in place to do so and is able to take advantage of its position by giving the CD away with its magazine, so potentially undermining the commercial market for that recording.

Another area of competition in which the BBC has an unfair advantage is the Digital Curriculum. Whilst the BBC’s involvement in and support the school curriculum is commendable, the BBC must be careful not to undermine the legitimate interests of music publishers and other publishers of educational materials in its roll out of the Digital Curriculum. The BBC can fund its Curriculum from public monies. We reserve our position for the time being as to whether the condition that 50% of materials must be supplied by third party providers will be adequate to protect the commercial interests of the traditional suppliers of educational materials.

We support the BBC’s commitment to fair trading and believe that the BBC, as a public service broadcaster, should be setting the very highest standards in this area. The BBC has shown itself to be increasingly acquisitive of rights in the material it commissions and accordingly the Fair Trading Commitment should extend to the scope and other terms of such acquisitions and not merely the price. In particular, the BBC should not engage in the buy-out of rights.

14. Should there be any limits on what the BBC is allowed to do commercially and, if so, what should those limits be?

Please see our responses to questions 12 and 13 above.

Paying for the BBC.

How should we pay for the BBC?

15. Does the licence fee remain the best way to pay for the BBC’s public services?

We support the view that the licence fee remains the best way to pay for the BBC’s public services. This is a financial model that has endured well and we doubt that alternatives would work easily. We suggest that there are lessons to be learned from the impact that alternative models have had on public service broadcasting in other countries. For example, there has been a considerable deterioration in the quality of arts programming in Australia since the introduction of direct Government funding. Further, we have seen how intrusive advertising can be from the American experience of public service broadcasting.

We suggest that a subscription model would be inappropriate, particularly to the extent that it might allow subscribers to pick and choose between different services given the vast range of both television and radio services offered by the BBC. Further, such model would almost certainly defeat the BBC’s ability to be an effective public service broadcaster.

16. If not, what alternatives would you like to see explored?

Please see our responses to questions 15 above.

17. Does the BBC deliver value for money?

The BBC delivers extraordinary value for money on both television and radio. Subscription services to commercial broadcasters are notably more expensive than the BBC licence fee and yet they do not necessarily offer the same quality or diversity of programming. It is all the more impressive that people wishing to enjoy BBC radio alone are not required to pay any licence fee.

  1. Does grant-in-aid via the FCO remain the best way to pay for BBC World Service?

We suggest that this method of funding be reviewed to ensure that the FCO grant-in-aid really is the best way to pay for BBC World Service. However, we have no reason to believe that this needs to be changed given the benefit that BBC World Service provides to the UK as a whole.

Organisation and Infrastructure

Is the BBC organised in the most effective and efficient way?

19. How should the BBC be organised to deliver its functions and services? Should it continue to operate as a single organisation?

We would suggest that the role of BBC Worldwide should be carefully reviewed, but that in any event it should remain entirely separate from the BBC itself in the light of our responses to questions 12 to 14 above.

20. Does the BBC broadcast the right balance of independently produced and in-house productions? How important is it that the BBC makes programmes as well as commissioning them?

We support the statutory provision of a quota for independent productions and would urge that the BBC be as transparent as possible in showing that it is fulfilling such quotas. It is important for the health and diversity of public service broadcasting that BBC should both continue making its own programmes and commission independent third party producers as well as co-producing programmes with appropriate third parties.

21. How should we ensure that the BBC continues to foster world-class broadcasting talent?

By concentrating on home grown talent and continuing to commission new works on fair trading terms the BBC should be able to continue to foster world class broadcasting talent.

Governance, Regulation & Constitution

How should the BBC be governed and regulated?

22. Do you think that, in the regulation of the BBC, there is the right balance between the Governors and OFCOM?

We believe that Parliament has set the right balance between the BBC and OFCOM in the Communications Act 2003 and that this should not be interfered with.

23. Does a Royal Charter continue to be the most appropriate basis for the establishment of the BBC??

We would support the continuance of the Royal Charter and its review on a ten yearly basis. Anything shorter than this would be unduly onerous and prevent the BBC from being able to plan strategically. We would however urge that music should be expressly identified as being part of the BBC’s remit under the Charter given the importance of music in the BBC’s activities.

Accountability

How do we ensure that the BBC is properly accountable to the public and Parliament?

24. Is the BBC sufficiently responsive to its viewers and listeners and to Parliament? What improvements, if any, could the BBC make?

We are broadly satisfied with the mechanisms in place for ensuring that the BBC remains accountable both to audiences and to Parliament, but we do believe there is room for greater transparency on the part of the BBC in relation to its commercial undertakings to the extent that these may continue given our responses to questions 12 to 14 above.

Conclusions

The MPA fully supports the continuance of the BBC and the renewal of its Charter, subject to the following:

Music Publishers Association

March 2004

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