Musicians and engineers who have an interest in creating music but don't make a living from it are being encouraged to join the Music Maker Category D, which cost £75 per year. Benefits include technical advice via a dedicated e-group, quarterly bulletins, invitations to APRS social events, a copy of the APRS handbook and a listing in the handbook and on the Association's website.
Musicians and engineers who do earn their living from making music can now join the Professional Music Maker Category C, which costs £125 per year. This category is aimed at people who own their own studios and recording equipment but don't rent it out commercially to third parties. They receive all the above benefits, plus technical advice via specialist technical user groups, invitations to APRS networking meetings, access to members only sections of the APRS website and a listing under the freelance section of the website and handbook, which incorporates CV information.
Professional Music Maker/Studio Owner Category B is aimed at people who own their own studios and also hire them out to third parties. Costing £275 a year, this category entitles members to all the above benefits, plus the use of Benefit Provider services such as legal, insurance, shipping etc at special APRS rates. They also get access to the Croner Consulting Business Support help line, representation at trade exhibitions, the ability to upload new music to the APRS website so that it can be accessed by A&R staff and access to www.creditsafe,com credit management.
The final category, Commercial Recording Facility Category A, costs £365 per year to join and is aimed at facilities offering a professional recording environment that is only hired out to third parties. These facilities, which may already be members of Studio Accord, are inspected on application to ensure they qualify for membership. Benefits include detailed listings and a website link to the APRS site, use of APRS logo on stationary and promotional material, full voting rights, access to all e-groups and the ability to set up new e-groups, regular H&R and industry news updates, trade show support, membership certificates and the ability to buy an APRS plaque.
APRS has also announced a comprehensive review of the standard Terms and Conditions that recording and audio post-production facilities are encouraged to use when dealing with their own clients. Once again, these have been updated to reflect changes occurring within the industry.The new Terms and Conditions include a number of clauses that refer to technological advances, particularly the way in which studio output is delivered. The Association has also incorporated important clauses dealing with studio security; this follows a number of well-publicised incidents where pirated recorded material has been released onto the Internet before its official release. The new clauses are designed to protect recording studios from any legal liability should any of their clients face a similar incident.
(Lee Baldock)
