The BBC has a Request for Information from potential suppliers of an Online Music Library. These suppliers are invited to provide details, within the next month, of the type of music content they can supply, the metadata that goes with it, the available audio formats, and any agreements with music industry publishers and licensing bodies. Full details are in the document you can download from this page.
Whether or not this is driven by the Graf Report into the bbc.co.uk web sites, it goes with the grain of the report’s recommendations. Assurances have been given that the BBC New Media output will not suffer — see, for example, this press release, this interview, and this article — but there will be a shift from internal staff to external production. While it’s part of the general trend of contracting out, the BBC Online Music Library may not count as ‘production’, since it’s part of their Information and Archives, and provides support for programme makers, rather than being broadcast or accessible directly to the public.
One of the main things that came out of the Public Service Broadband Content seminar earlier this year was a consensus that the BBC’s record on some areas of new media experimentation and innovation has outstripped anything the commercial sector has shown itself capable of. See, for example, the far-sighted ideas about applications of new media for supporting and re-inventing radio at a recent international conference, not to mention established services like the BBC Radio Player and podcasting. I hope the BBC will keep this valuable kind of R&D function in-house, because that’s often the best way to ensure the continuity and teamwork that fosters ‘long-view’ innovation.
5 June 02008: Important Note: Please do not post further requests for help in identifying or locating pieces of music in the Comments to this page. This is not a service that DJ Alchemi provides, and any such requests will not be published or responded to.
Dear sir, I am trying to find some recordings done by a school orchestra in 1949-51. The school was Highfield County Secondry Modern School in Broadgreen Liverpool. In all there were 6 records made which involved the school orchestra and choir. I was leader of the second violins and also took part in the choral recordins. I am interested in purchasing copies of these recodings for my grandchildren, as at the time we could not afford to buy them . Any help you can give me in this endeavour would be very much appreciated…yours very sincerely..Frank Line
Dear Mr Line, I regret I am unable to help you in your search. I cannot even find any record of the school you mention on the web. Sorry.
Dear Sir, I have been trying to trace a recording often played by Sir Terry Wogan on his morning show. It’s ‘YOU’ by the Carpenters, can you help by letting me know what album I can find it on.
Dear Mr Anderson, A quick web search reveals that it’s on the album A Kind of Hush. In return, could you do me a favour and explain what led you to think this is an appropriate and effective place to ask this question?
Dear Sir or Madame. Can you help me to locate a downloadable or hard copy recording of: When This Lousy War is Over from the film, Oh What A Lovely War. I have searched the web but am unable to find the name of the singer. He is not listed on the recently released DVD. A few years ago, the late Alan Kieth played it on his Sunday Evening radio programe so I assume it would be in your library. I hope you can help. Thanks and regards. Ralph Aspinall.
Dear Ralph,
No, I’m afraid I cannot. My library is a modest, personal one, which — I suspect — contains little or nothing played by Alan Keith.
I have no access to any BBC library, including the Online Music Library, which I suspect is still in development.
Sorry, and regards,
David
Please disregard my earlier email, I mistakenly thought you was a BBC Site. Thanks, Ralph.
Can anyone help me to locate a recording of a french song, Plaisir d,amour. Hope I have correct spelling.
Sincerely F Smith
Just to repeat my comments made earlier, this is not a BBC site or a general music search site. It is run by one person (me!) who has a full-time job doing other stuff.
That said, Mr Smith, I was able to find 184 different versions of Plaisir d’Amour in about a minute. If you got to iTunes Music Store and search on “Plaisir d’Amour” you will find 138. If you got to http://www.emusic.com and search on “Plaisir d’Amour” you will find another 46. If it’s not a digital version that you want, go to http://www.amazon.co.uk and search on “Plaisir d’Amour”, where they are offering 83 cassettes, records and CDs that seem to include some version of the song.
For 100% of enquiries, you will find these locations to be much better this page for pursuing your search. I encourage you to go there without delay.
on an easymusic download it shows an artist with the name of Beth Hartman singing House of sun. I have looked everywhere that I can think of for the past two months and keep coming up with no reference to this singer. I find this hard to fathom out as the singer and song are advertised on this site. I would be most grateful if you could help me please.
Dear Sir Can you let me know where I can purchase a march by the Central Band of the R.A.F.called ‘Out of the Blue’composed by Hubert Bath
I am still not sure why people request help locating or identifying songs on this page. I can only assume that my attempts to help with previous enquiries have encouraged others, despite my protestations that this is not a service I provide.
Henceforward I will not be responding to any requests of this kind in an attempt to discourage further similar requests.
In the late forties/early fifties, a radio announcer used to close the show with’See you all next week, same time, same place, same spot on the dial’ It would have to be on the BBC Light Programme or Radio Luxemburg. Can you name him please? Any help will be appreciated.
Some of the links provided are not working. I needed tender document. Can somebody help? Please!!!
Parminder, This post and the tender document to which it refers are over five years old. I don’t think it’s very surprising that five-year-old tender documents are no longer available, and I doubt that the BBC would be willing to make the document available again after all this time. But if you really want it, I would direct your enquiries to them.
The Wayback Machine has an archive of the 2005 BBC web page, but not of the tender document itself.
I have a 4 channel vinyl record-HMV 1970.s
Can anyone help regards playing it in quad sound?