Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Opportunities for British Composers
- 2 Authors, Painters and Composers
- 3 Novello and the Music Publishing Business
- 4 Novello, Royalties and Copyrights to 1914 and the 1904 Royalty Agreement
- 5 Novello, Royalties and Copyrights 1914 to 1934 and other Music Publishers
- 6 Royalties and Copyrights on Elgar's Major Works
- 7 Elgar's Performing Fees and George Bernard Shaw
- 8 Elgar's Earnings from Broadcasting, Recording and Conducting
- 9 A Matter of Wills
- 10 Epilogue
- Appendix: Bank of England, Inflation Calculator
- Bibliography
- Index
8 - Elgar's Earnings from Broadcasting, Recording and Conducting
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Opportunities for British Composers
- 2 Authors, Painters and Composers
- 3 Novello and the Music Publishing Business
- 4 Novello, Royalties and Copyrights to 1914 and the 1904 Royalty Agreement
- 5 Novello, Royalties and Copyrights 1914 to 1934 and other Music Publishers
- 6 Royalties and Copyrights on Elgar's Major Works
- 7 Elgar's Performing Fees and George Bernard Shaw
- 8 Elgar's Earnings from Broadcasting, Recording and Conducting
- 9 A Matter of Wills
- 10 Epilogue
- Appendix: Bank of England, Inflation Calculator
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Broadcasting Fees
Between 1922 and 1934, Elgar and the BBC developed a mutually beneficial association. Elgar provided the BBC with a sense of stability, with an image of national popularity and music tradition, with a solid, sensible, popular, quintessentially English music figurehead. The BBC provided Elgar with publicity, attention, an audience of millions, and generous conducting fees.
To this quotation can also be added broadcasting fees, some performing fees and payments from the BBC to Elgar for commissioning a new symphony. The main parties involved in securing these broadcasting fees were the PRS, Novello and other music publishers, and the fees are set out in Source Material 3.
The BBC and the PRS
When the BBC began broadcasting in November 1922, the reaction of the musical establishment was a mixture of distrust, condescension and apprehension. The PRS took a cautious view, not least because the BBC refused to acknowledge that broadcasts were public performances within the terms of the 1911 Copyright Act: ‘It was willing to pay for the use of PRS repertoire, but would not admit formal legal responsibility.’ In the event, the PRS signed an agreement with the BBC in October 1923 which covered broadcasts from six main broadcasting stations. Each of them operated independently with its own programmes. It was for thirteen months and ran from 1 December 1922 to 31 December 1923. The total amount paid by the BBC was £866 13s 4d. Thereafter, a basic £800 was to be paid for 1924 and £1,000 for 1925, with additional amounts for each extra main station opened.
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- Information
- Elgar's Earnings , pp. 177 - 209Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013