Re-Pro Annual Report
Annual Report by Re-Pro Chairman Robin Millar
As a part of the AGM formalities, it is customary for the Chairman to try to sum-up the activities of the preceding year. This year has been a particularly pivotal one for Re-Pro - the year in which, in many ways, we came of age as an organisation. From attending overseas functions as representatives of the UK profession, to lobbying MPs about future income streams to setting out on a global 'Internet' expansion.
Re-Pro's membership has consolidated at around 180 this year yielding over £13k in subscription income. We have introduced a new category of association with Re-Pro - 'The Friends of Re-Pro'. This scheme enables companies to make a small annual contribution to the administrative costs of running the organisation - so far around 15 companies have joined the scheme yielding in the region of £3,500.
Sponsorship
Re-Pro has enjoyed the continuing support of the major tape manufacturers, 3M, Ampex and BASF and of FX Rentals. In addition SONY have provided not only the venue for this AGM but also the main prize in our membership gathering 'Prize Draw' held at the APRS - Audio Technology '95 Exhibition. Further prizes and additional assistance has been generously donated by HHB and Studio Spares.
Friends of Re-Pro
In addition, this year Re-Pro has introduced a corporate support scheme, Friends of Re-Pro, which is designed to providing funding for general administration as well as giving manufacturers and service suppliers a chance to help without taking too much of a chunk out of their marketing budgets.
Becoming a Friend of Re-Pro entitles a firm to an annual free mail-out to the membership and a regular appearance in Re-Pro which sustains the awareness of corporate identity and enables the promotion of new products our perfectly targeted market. The Friends of Re-Pro donation is �250.00 but some companies may wish to acquire separate membership for specific brand names which fall under their corporate umbrella.
Our Sponsors and Friends of Re-Pro are:
BASF MAGNETICS GMBH
QUANTEGY
FX RENTALS
SOUNDCRAFT ELECTRONICS
AMS NEVE PLC
FOCUSRITE AUDIO ENGINEERING LTD
CHOP 'EM OUT
TEAC UK LTD
STIRLING AUDIO
THE SCHOOL OF AUDIO ENGINEERING
RE UK LTD
CROOKWOOD
ROGERS INTERNATIONAL UK LTD
DOLBY LABORATORIES
To you all, Re-Pro is sincerely grateful and thankful for your generous input and faith in our organisation.
APRS
Once again the administration of Re-Pro affairs would not have been possible without the regular help of the APRS office and indeed, the financial support afforded us by our APRS subsidy - amounting in 1995 to some £5k. Our association with the APRS remains one of the primary foundations of the organisation and one which we hope will long continue.
Re-Pro Activities
In February we embarked on the first of our overseas adventures by setting up the first ever meeting of 'studio producer' organisations at the AES Convention in Paris. Held fittingly in a recording studio in the same exhibition complex as the Convention itself, around 50 delegates from 8 countries attended a meeting which focused almost entirely on 'neighbouring rights' issues as they are known in Europe.
Contact with the overseas organisations has been spasmodic since the February meeting, largely due to pressure of work on those who run the Re-Pros' in other countries. We hope to renew the contacts we made in Paris by holding another meeting(sponsor permitting) at the AES Convention in Copenhagen in May.
At Metropolis in March we hosted the first of Rupert Neve's 'Fireside Chats' to be held in the UK. Supported by Amek, a roomful of Neve admirers were treated Rupert's views regarding the 'digital/analogue' dilemma which include a section illustrated by circuit diagrams of different types of amplifier - a point in the evening when an unusual hush fell over the assembled multitude. Our blushes were saved by Mike Howlett who managed to retrieve from the darkest recesses of his memory a respectable number of technical terms gleaned from an electronics course he attended some 20 years earlier.
In April, we held a seminar at the the 'Sound City' event held in Bristol. Intended as an opportunity for the audience to pose questions on any subject relating to record production, in the event, and due in no small measure to the presence on the panel of Re-Pro member and education specialist, Dave Walters, the conversation rarely strayed from 'education' and the ramifications of the new 'National Curriculum' which includes giving pupils at every school an opportunity to learn about how to 'record' music.
In July, we held 'The 3M Independent Labels Forum' at Whitfield Street Studios - another well-attended occasion - which was illuminated by Derek Green's generous remarks about the growth of Re-Pro and his less than generous remarks about various other players in majors record companies.
In September the annual trip to Manchester for 'In The City' was supported by a collection of Re-Pro delegates. The show plans to move to Dublin next year but I hope it will still be possible for Re-Pro to be represented.
In October Re-Pro's International ambitions and personnel resources were stretched to the limit so that Mike Howlett could represent Re-Pro at the launch of 'Re-Pro Italia' in Moderna, northern Italy at the same time as Robin Millar, Peter Filleul and Jackie were in New York, representing Re-Pro at the AES Convention and launching 'Re-Pro International'. The Italian event was described by Mike as a great success and he was able to enhance our reputation amongst our Italian colleagues to the extent of being invited to help them present their case to the Italian government.
The Re-Pro presence at the AES Convention in New York was a huge success - problems caused mainly by the 6000 mile distance and the 6 hour communications void were largely circumvented - and a hard core of US producers and producer managers were encouraged to put their energies behind forming a US Studio Producer organisation - something much overdue in the States and which we envisage taking a while to gain any real momentum.
The 3M 'I'll do it myself' Forum entertained us in November. Held at Olympic Studios in Barnes, the evening began with a salutary demonstration of the problems of hearing loss and and work-place generated hearing damage. A number of brave souls were treated to hearing tests - the results given in strictest confidence (until we need to resort to blackmail.) Under the deft hand of Steve Levine, the Forum went on to discuss many issues relating to self-manufacture and speculative ventures.
Publications
During 1995 Re-Pro expanded the scope of the Re-Pro News newsletter both in its physical size and the nature of its content. We have benefitted from contributions from Mike Collins, Rupert Neve, Graham Blyth and Ted Fletcher. Other articles are in the pipeline including the second half of Ted Fletcher's 'Joe Meek' extravaganza. We would like to acknowledge the support we have received from Ampex to maintain production of the newsletter - we anticipate that during 1996 Ampex may choose to take over supporting our Forum Meetings and that the newsletter will appear under another 'flag'.
In March we produced the second edition of our much vaunted 'A&R' Guide. This would not have been possible without the help of Sarah Pearson who has assumed responsibility for collection the data or without the support of the Studio Accord division of the APRS who paid for the production.
In October 1995 we produced our new 'Brochure' courtesy of BASF and again with loads of help from Chris Hook. Sue Sillitoe was responsible for most of the text and the wonderful old equipment and the location was provided by Jonathon Miles at Soundfield Studios.
IMF-Producer Managers' Group
We have continued our association with the PMG which has largely focused on our attempt to establish a simple producer contract that can be used as a starting point by all companies and all producers. A draft contract is under review by the principal business affairs departments and we hope to incorporate an agreed version into the Re-Pro Legal Guide which we hope to publish in 1996. In addition, Stephen Budd continues to ensure that the
concerns of the studio producer are appropriately represented within the IMF especially in the area of their approach to PPL and the Rental & Lending Directive.
The Rental & Lending Directive
We, in common with the rest of the industry, have spent most of the year waiting for the government to publish the new legislation. That delay, is in itself, a sign that our lobbying efforts along with those of the other organisations, have caused the government to think again and it likely that, in one way or another, performers will receive a right to equitable remuneration for uses of their sound recordings from record companies.
PPL have announced that 50% of this revenue will be allocated to Performers and this they have done out of the goodness of their own hearts and not for any other reason than that they want to be fair to all concerned.
We shall continue during 1996 with our efforts to ensure that these new revenues are handled in a fair, accurate and transparent way and that our members participate in them according to the contribution that they make.
PAMRA
Re-Pro is represented as a founder member of the Performing Artists Media
Rights Association which held its inaugural meeting in December. PAMRA is
set to become the principal performers' collection/distribution society
for performance revenue and Re-Pro is proud to be represented by Benny Gallagher who has become one of the 'First Directors' of PAMRA.
In addition, Re-Pro is one of six organisations represented on the PAMRA Advisory Council and, in addition to Benny, Re-Pro should recognise the stalwart efforts of Peter Filleul, Mike Howlett and Mike Collins who have devoted hours of their precious time attending PAMRA meetings.
PAMRA is very important to studio producers as it is committed to supporting our claim that a part of the 'studio producers' role qualifies as a performance and so should participate in performance revenue.
Re-Pro International
In many ways, 1995 had very much an overseas focus as far as Re-Pro development was concerned and the culmination of this was the setting-up of the Re-Pro/APRS WWW site. Our Internet pages are designed to provide members of Re-Pro and members of other studio producer organisations with a conduit through which to exchange ideas, experiences and information that affects all of us who practice the profession throughout the world. The plan to establish this site was much easier to announce than the actual process of putting it together - but after a lot of hard work and a deal of trial and error our first pages are accessible now. We have retained the services of Mike Collins to edit and maintain the site and we hope to continue to improve what it offers as the year progresses.
ISRC - The much heralded 'ISRC Data Collection pilot scheme', whilst it has not yet got off the ground, has developed considerably during the year. The collaboration with MCPS will show its first public results in the spring when Re-Pro, along with the APRS, IFPI and the MCPS, present a whole-day seminar about usage logging and the future value of ISRC. Re-Pro was ahead of the game with this issue and is now being recognised as a prime mover in the attempt to ensure that uses of sound recordings are accurately logged so that all parties can receive compensation for uses of their talent.
A special thanks must go to all the Re-Pro members who have helped by attending functions and meetings - and have devoted time to the cause. One person in particular, who revived a long standing enthusiasm for Re-Pro to hold an 'awards' evening and was thwarted really by us being unable to commit enough human and finanancial resources to the project, is Nicky Graham. Nicky's efforts have not been entirely in vain - there is a plan to introduce or rather re-introduce the 'Deaf Awards' evening to coincide with the APRS Show and the National Music Festival in June. Nicky is also to be congratulatedfor his elevation to the Council of the PRS - a task which (it is said) will exhaust the fittest, frustrate the most patient and is recognised as the most thankless task in the whole industry.
Special thanks too to Gus Dudgeon who after many years as a council member of the BRPG, and latterly as a Directorate and Executive member of Re-Pro who has served the Guild with a passion second only to his passion for a snappy ensemble (and, of course, the lovely Sheila) has decided to stand down for the time being. We hope Gus will continue to represent Re-Pro as a worthwhile and positive organisation and that we continue to enjoy his
presence at Re-Pro and APRS functions.
1996 and beyond.....
On more than one occasion over the past few years, I have been impressed
by a recurring theme which, by virtue of the job that we do, describes our
position in the industry by the role we undertake. We are conciliators! We are used to being in that unenviable position balancing between the 'talent' and the business. There are some who accuse us of 'running with the hares and the hounds' and suspect us of wanting our cake and eating it too and, in a way, it would be churlish to deny the care with which we have tried keep all sides to all arguments and issues talking to each other. Although it is often easier to reside in the comfortable bosom of one 'side' or another, we have maintained our responsibility to our members who we cannot allow to become victims of any ill-considered, rash or partisan positions we choose to take on their behalf.
Whilst this attitude does not yield quick results or press headlines we shall, as your representatives, continue to take a long view - believing that, eventually, the respect we shall gain for making a mature and consistent contribution to the industry will reap rewards which recognise the growing role that our profession is set to play.
Perhaps you will allow me one word of caution. Re-Pro is only as good as the support of its members and the people that serve it. We have been particularly fortunate over the past four years to have a collection of dedicated members and helpers who have done a truly magnificent job but we cannot always rely on these individuals having the time to spend on Re-Pro activities. This year is the second year of my second term as Chairman and in December you may decide (or indeed, I may decide) that it is time for someone else to have a go.
More importantly, you must - to quote the BRPG's last Chairman, Bob Hine - decide for yourselves what you want from your organisation. Do you want more events? If so, can you help organise them! Do you want more contact with overseas producers? If so, can you please write some letters and make some phone calls! Do you want discounts, cheap insurance and free information 'Hot-lines'? Do you want health and pension schemes? If so will you please pester all your Producer friends to join so that we have enough numbers to set up such schemes! It is up to you! We are only here to respond to what you want us to do on your behalf!
There is just one slightly sad note that I must make. You may have heard through the press or the grapevine that 3M have decided to withdraw from the professional audio-tape manufacture. Contrary to rumour, the 3M decision is not, I understand, directly the result of the excesses of their Re-Pro promotional budget. However, we are indebted to 3M for the enormous support they have given us since 1992 and we owe a very special 'thank you' to Joe Clerken and also to Richard Wilson for their unerring loyalty. I wish them the very best with whatever their future holds and hope they will remember the Re-Pro Forums with as much pleasure as all of us who attended them.
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