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Licence

This is a third bite at the cherry - you pay for the music, then you pay again for the performing rights licence, then now you pay a third time for the right to transfer the music you paid for into a format where you can play it to the public (which you paid for the right to do)

At present you can copy store the sound recording in any digital format. However, please note that in the near future PPL will be requiring the storage of sound recordings in digital form to be protected by Digital Rights Management.

Within the current copyright regime, I don't really see it as unreasonable with asking DJ's to pay 200 for a licence. However, when you read the conditions of the licence (taken from PPLs site at http://www.ppluk.com/ppl/ppl_lf.nsf/PDFs/$file/Dig ital_DJ_Licence_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf), this is where you find the real unreasonableness of their demands:

3. Dubbing obligations
3.1 The Licensee hereby warrants, represents and undertakes that it shall:
(1) Dub each Track in its entirety provided that the Fade-down Section of any Track may be subject to the use of premature fade and cross-faded or overlapped with the Track following immediately thereafter provided that the period of audible cross fade or overlap does not exceed 2 (two) seconds;
(2) not Dub Tracks in such a way as to accelerate the rate of the Fade-up Section at the commencement of any Track;
(3) Dub Tracks so that all reproductions of Sound Recordings on a DJ Database or Back-up Database will be of sufficient technical standard so that the quality of the original Sound Recording is reasonably preserved for any person listening to the Service;
(4) not mix, remix, Segue, edit, change or otherwise manipulate the sounds of any Sound Recording so that the sounds on the Dubbed copy of the Sound Recording are different from those on the original Sound Recording

This section is a HUGE restriction on DJs. It basically prevents you from doing mash-up style mixing, or even to do an extended transition. It prevents you from dropping samples in from other recordings, from beat juggling, in fact section 4 prevents you from using the EQ to alter the sound of the recording! These techniques are de facto standard with all the DJs I know. It shows a complete lack of understanding or disregard of DJing as an expressive musical form. I can't see DJ Shadow or Richie Hawtin following those guidelines.

I suspect that the BBC "article" is a badly rehashed press release (probably that someone from Radio 1 thought would fill their midday news bulletin).

http://www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk/content/default .asp?targetitem=3461&searchFlag=1 has details of what the people collecting the licenses think is actually needed when. No mention of a specific digital licence there, although there is here - http://www.ppluk.com/ppl/ppl_lf.nsf/DigitalDJ?open Page .

Odd that they charge 120 quid for DJing from CDs and 200 quid from digital formats. I wonder what an MD would count as?

I know the question is being asked from the US, but I'm guessing there are /.ers in the UK who'd want to know about this kinda thing too, especially with the future possibilities of Access Radio opening up the airwaves to more non-profit organisations.

In order to set up a small scale radio station in the UK (or indeed anywhere else), there are number of things that you need:

People: A radio station needs a number of people to operate. You really can't just go it alone. You need people to present, you need people with technical knowledge to build and maintain some sort of studio, as well as know how to operate broadcast equipment. You need people to deal with the financial side of things, you need people to deal with record companies and other such outside organisations. In the student scenario, it is probably best to establish a society whose goal is to create a fully operational student radio station, which puts some basic organisational mechanics in place and provides a focus for all students interested in the enterprise.

Backing: All small scale radio ventures will need some sort of backing, both financial and in terms of general support. In the student case, this will likely be the student's union, who need to be persuaded to cough up at least some of the money needed, and help deal with issues like mounting antenna on buildings, and finding a suitable location for setting up a studio.

Licensing: Once you have people and backing, you need a license. In the UK, the Radio Authority is responsible for licensing all types of radio station. Small scale stations can currently apply for the various Restricted Service Licenses available, typically short-term (one month) FM licenses or long-term Low Power AM licenses. You need to research the different license available and decide which one suits you best. Music that is to be played on air also has to be licensed, both by PPL for record company royalties and PRS for artist royalites. Music licensing is dependent on the profit/turnover of a station as well as the type of broadcast license it holds, so music licensing should be a consideration in working out these factors.

Equipment: This is the expensive bit. A radio station will need some sort of studio from which to broadcast, which will minimally need CD players, a minidisc player (for jingles, trails, call signs, pre-recorded material, interviews, etc), a microphone, and a mixer to bring it all together. For short-term licenses it may be practical to hire out a complete kit. Long-term stations will need to investigating buying or building various of the bits needed. Equipment extends beyond the studio though. A transmitter will also be required, and intermediate kit between studio and transmitter will also be required. Places that specialise in radio studio and broadcast equipment include Alice and Radica. Canford also sell a huge range of audio and related equipment, from CD decks to rack bolts and everything in-between.

Content: Once a radio station has all the people, support, licensing, and equipment it needs to get off the ground, the final vital component is the content itself. Some of this needs to be obtained, for example a predominantly music-based station will need to obtain CDs to play on air (although music licensing does mean you can use your own CDs, as long as they are not pirated, afaik). Other content will have to be created, such as jingles, trails, call signs (the bits that say 'This is EnterStationNameHere broadcasting on SomeFrequency' which must be broadcast every fifteen minutes by law). Another major problem faced by small-scale stations is being able to provide round-the-clock broadcasts and being able to provide news content. IRN can provide the news (I forget the url, it's nearly 4 in the morning :-| ), however the option persued by most student radio stations in the UK is SBN, who provide overnight sustain programming as well as hourly news bulletins.

Well, I've tried to cover most the issues that a small radio station has to deal with, although none of them in particularly much detail. There's a whole lot more to it, and it does involve a fair whack of work, but it is great great fun, and I thoroughly recommend getting involved in projects like this to anyone who has the opportunity. I started out presenting a show at my college radio in my first year at uni, in my second year my involvement mushroomed. Now, as I approach third year (in about a week :-) ), we are poised on doing a spectacular outside broadcast, I'm running round like a headless chicken trying to make sure things work, and we look set to gain a big influx of Freshers to help the continuation of our station for many years to come.

What more can I say. It's nearly 4 in the morning nd I'm about to drop off to sleep, so I think I'll stop here. Hope I've given y'all some useful info to chew on :-)

Phil Stewart
RSL Development Officer, IT Manager, Library Manager, Presenter, and Random Bod at IC Radio, the student radio station of Imperial College, London.

Oh yeah, and occasionally I study for my degree :-)

Playing sound recordings for the benefit of a not-for-profit club, society or other organisation having charitable purposes as [its] main object, or the advancement of religion, education or social welfare, and where any charges for admission are applied solely for the purposes of the organisation.

Playing broadcasts or cable programmes that include sound recordings in a public place where the public have not paid for admission. (This also does not infringe copyright in the broadcast, cable programme and any film included in these). Note that paying for admission includes paying for goods or services at premium rates due to the playing of the broadcast etc.