But at one time, I worked in a company that dealt heavily with music publishers and composers. That exposed me to the inner workings of music licensing. At one point, we were the ones paying license fees. At another point, we were the ones collecting license fees for independent songwriters.
Millions of pesos changed hands in legitimate transactions involving music copyright in more than six years that I stayed in that environment, some of them not so smoothly. In one negotiation the discussion went sour and one of the publishers threatened to send us to jail. At another point, we were the ones who sued someone else. Music copyright was real, very real.
When I got out of that environment, something stayed with me that I couldn't let go: the sorry sight of a chasm in the music industry.
On one hand I saw that music copyright was not an abstract thing. Lives and honors were at stake. On the other hand, I also saw that the public couldn't care less about those music copyright transactions we made. They just wanted to sing or listen to music at as low as a price as possible.
The great chasm lies between the demands of those who want music on one side, and the needs of those who create those music on the other side. One side wants everything free, while the other side needs to eat. Technology has deepened this chasm by rendering the pillars of the old system either useless or impractical.
Needless to say, there isn't much economic incentive for Filipino composers to create music under the present circumstances. A world without music because songwriters no longer get paid to create good music is impossible to imagine. But can that indeed happen?
To fill up this chasm again, we need to redefine a lot of things. One man cannot do that. No, not even one organization. No, not even legislation can do that.
There has to be a new consensus between the listeners and the creators. That means you and me, and anyone else who listen to FM radio, download stuff from Limewire, etc.
This blog is my contribution to making that consensus happen.