Westminster resources for music: 2014

Thursday 2 October 2014

Missed your orientation? Cant remember anything about the first week? or still confused?

Get ahead, refresh your memory of what was said in your orientation session with 9 short library videos on this youtube playlist.

The drop down menu in top left of the video will help you navigate to the different topics which include wifi access, using the self-issue, the purpose of reading lists, how to renew books and much more.

Friday 26 September 2014

Welcome to new and returning music students at the University of Westminster

I've just discovered the oatmeal and love this cartoon on the state of the music industry

Guidance on copyright in sound recordings

This week the Intellectual Property Office has issued guidance to copyright in sound recordings.

Copyright in a sound recording will usually be owned by the record producer and is separate from any copyright in the content of the recording. For example:

the composer of the music will be the author of the musical work and will be the first owner of the copyright in that music
the lyrics of the song are protected separately by copyright as a literary work and will usually be owned by the person who wrote them

This guide gives an overview of the copyright and performers` rights in a sound recording, including how long they last.

More information here. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/copyright-in-sound-recordings/copyright-in-sound-recordings

Friday 8 August 2014

621.3893 - What happened to the music tech books?

If you have recently strolled down the first floor of the library to go to the shelves to look for your favourite music technology books at 621.3893, you may have asked yourself - What's happened? Why are the shelves empty?
Not to worry - the shelves have been emptied as the books were increasingly out of date - instead you can now search for the most up-to-date information in recent editions and look for specific chapters on your topic in Safari E-books. You even have access to substantial training videos on your topic.All available via your desk-top
Safari E-books are available through Library Search - just type Safari and click on the online access link.

Next Big Sound

Next Big Sound is well worth investigating if you are interested in researching musicians and the impact of social media. It measures fan interactions with artists and claims to cover 85% of the recording industry. Next Big Sound have released an overview of 2013 which shows the artists with the most social media reach and the top artists on streaming sites.

The university library doesn't subscribe to this resource, but a free sign up gives you basic reports on artists which you can customise and are sent to you as an email update. As an example here's the report on Lady Gaga.

Top Performers

February 2, 2014 – February 8, 2014