MCPS Begin Music Downloads

MCPS, the UK's performing rights organising and "one half" of the MCPS-PRS Music Alliance, has it's own "podcast". In a surprise move described by new media commentator Adrian Pegg as "Gamekeeper Turns Poacher" MCPS is running a new monthly series featuring the work of new members, giving out web addresses including bands' MySpace sites.

This represents a major turning point for music in the UK. MCPS-PRS are at the business of administering the rights of recording artists, writers and publishers, and with reciprocal agreements to collect and distribute mechanical (sales of objects, ringtones or downloads) and performance (broadcast time) royalties in most countries worldwide, many individual UK livelihoods and businesses are sustained by their royalty-collecting and payments.

These are audio downloads and not as yet RSS-driven podcasts - there is an RSS icon, but there are no files in the feed - and in an obvious nod towards piracy prevention, they are encoded at very low quality, 56kbps, and at a sample rate of 16khz. Nonetheless they represent a respectable showcase, the listening experience let down only by the lack of audio fidelity. The podcast also repeatedly explains the function of the Music Alliance and promotes the work they do.

More interestingly as far as the music business is concerned, these audio downloads are validated at the outset by both organisations. Presumably these non-DRM files also include permission from the music publishers, who have traditionally been the slowest to agree the release of any music on the internet for free.

The first podcast features music from The Dials, Audiocalm, My Pet Junkie and Mr Fogg, and the second, Chinchwoo, Part Time Heroes, Dumb Instrument and Ripchord.