One of the first is Pick 'n Play, a platform offered by leading retailer, Pick 'n Pay, that was launched some time ago and now claims to be adding one thouSAnd tracks a day to its website – www.picknplay.co.za.

NORM news spoke to head of UniiverSAl Music Publishing, John Fishlock, about the association’s deal with Pick 'n Play:

NORM News: Pick 'n Play have launched, boasting more than one million music tracks, ringtones and more – what has been NORM’s involvement with the set-up of this new service?

John Fishlock: NORM has for sometime been negotiating a licence with Pick 'n Play to sell NORM’s represented Works through their Internet Download service. the MOU was signed some time ago, ensuring that Pick 'n Pay were legally operating..

NN: what is the nature of NORM’s deal with Pick 'n Play?

JF: In basic terms, Pick 'n Play has a licence from NORM to sell copyrighted works, either as Full Track Downloads (FTDs) or ringtones. in return for this license, Pick 'n Play will account royalties to NORM, based on the SAles achieved

NN: What have been the challenges in negotiating the deal?

JF: There have been no major challenges in negotiating this deal, Pick 'n Play has been very open and free with information for us to work together in closing this initial agreement. What has impressed me more was that Pick 'n Play refused to go live without the necesSAry agreement in place with NORM, which shows a proper moral and ethical approach from their side. It would be nice to have other SA operators follow this correct procedure.

NN: How do you think this new service is going to impact the SA industry – especially the business of music publishers and that of individual songwriters?

JF: it has always been my viewpoint that new technology will drive our industry into a variety of different areas of business, creating new opportunities outside the conventional physical selling of cds and tapes. For our own SA composers, authors and artists, the ‘reach’ is ever growing in this digital domain, which i believe will further help exploit their works and recordings to a wider audience, both in SA and the rest of the world. however, publishers and record companies must be on the cutting edge of this new technology to ensure that previous colossal abuses, like the former Napster, Grokster and other scenarios do not impact so heavily in the future. I would like to think that the new Pick 'n Play service will be a success and also pave the way for other legitimate entities to emerge in our marketplace.

NN: what is NORM’s approach to digital licensing in general?

JF: the publishing business has always been about the licensing of copyrights, so the digital domain is just a new arena of what publishers have been doing for many years. The difference is merely the contracting partners. As to NORM’s approach, so long as the user is operating a legitimate business, recognises and agrees to pay for the rights involved in the service they are offering, then NORM will enter into negotiations and close an agreement with this entity, so long as the terms are acceptable.

NN: Are there other players in this market and if so, what has been NORMs experience with them?

JF: There are a number of services in existence, with new operators emerging all the time. They are however more along the lines of internet service provider’s selling ringtones, mastertones, ringbacks and more, and only now are they moving into the full track download market. Sadly (I say ‘sadly’ because this service provider has been very closely linked to the retail side of the music industry for many years) one of the current FTD operators is still selling copyrighted works without a licence from NORM despite being advised that they are doing so illegally. They initially made no effort to negotiate or close an agreement and their operation remains unauthorised since 2004. This is not indicative of all ISP's as many agreements have been closed and operators legitimized.