A while back, we invited the world’s leading broadcasting music licensor to Denmark, brought together music professionals from the Nordics and had a great discussion — about music licensing, technology, diversity and more. We’d like to share the highlights with you.
We’re of course talking about the BBC, the biggest name in the broadcast space. Every week, it reports an average of a quarter of a million items of music across multiple platforms, such as television, radio, the World Service and the iPlayer.
Our guest was Paul Moore, the BBC Music Rights & Reporting Manager whose teams are responsible for the licensing, clearing and commissioning of new music, as well as reporting all music usage across the BBC’s platforms.
Sitting down for a fireside chat with AIMS co-founder Einar Helde, Paul shared how the BBC’s music licensing has evolved, which technologies he encourages his teams to use daily, and what advice he has for publishers looking to get their music on the BBC.
BBC evolution: Trends in the new era
Broadcasting pop music in fresh ways
As a part of branding and catering to fans, artists are seeking global audiences for their music — which includes performances that were once exclusive to festival goers. The BBC is doing its best to deliver; this year, Glastonbury Festival’s coverage raised the bar.
“We got the rights to stream Dua Lipa’s and Coldplay’s performances online, globally. Nobody’s ever done that before.”
Paul added that the viewing numbers were "extraordinary" and acknowledged Warner’s willingness to help.
“It shows that if people really want their music to be played out to a global audience, an effective broadcaster can work with rights owners to make these things happen.”
Doubling down on production music
For the BBC, part of adapting to a changing climate demanding that content be increasingly monetized and future-proofed is using more production music.
“Production music is important to us as it gives it the rights we need. That’s not to say we’re not using commercial music — we very much are — but production music complements it.”
But make no mistake; this doesn’t mean it’s turning exclusively to familiar talent. More and more, the BBC has been striving to go beyond UK borders for great music.
Sourcing authentic music globally
Since the BBC operates worldwide, there are plenty of opportunities to support diversity and creative industries.
“We supply our content to a global audience, so we want authentic music in it. That means finding composers and musicians from the right places in the world, sometimes via production music libraries who are equally committed to authenticity.”
In addition to looking solely at new artists, Paul is eager to find hidden gems that may have been forgotten about or gotten buried deep in a catalog.
“We found some production music from a specific region in Kenya using local musicians for use in a World Service program — it was amazing to use authentic sounds ... Using authentic music is an important part of the creative process and this means that we may commission local artists to create sound beds and themes for our content.”
Embracing technology via BBC Music Box
Launched more than two years ago, BBC Music Box is the BBC’s music library. Paul is a key stakeholder in the platform and was part of the procurement team looking to find a tech solution for sourcing and clearing music. Even he didn’t expect it to be such a success.
“We thought within a year, we’d have a couple of million tracks sitting on it. Two and a half years later, we have nearly 36 million, including around 8.5 million production music tracks.”
The platform has made a world of difference for production teams, and it’s been a great incentive for more technological improvements. As Paul said, change may be met with apprehension — but once the results speak for themselves, pushback quickly dissipates.
The role of AI: Searching, tagging & curating
Finding alternatives to commercial music
Paul has been a proponent of AI music searches by AIMS for several years, encouraging his Music Rights team to use it to find great music fast, as production turnaround is so high.
“It’s an incredible tool, especially for finding quick solutions to difficult problems. Similarity Search helps discover music you wouldn’t find otherwise. And I think similarity is just the beginning.”
With a growing focus on tagging content with maximum detail and consistency, Paul’s team is exploring AI tagging solutions and playlist creation to make music easier to find, and to showcase a library’s full repertoire.
Committed to humans above all
While the BBC is proudly open to technological advancements, there’s a line between helping professionals and replacing them.
“We are absolutely committed to human creativity and will always take a robust stance to protect BBC content and talent rights. The BBC is committed to using music created by humans.”
Here, Einar added his two cents to the discussion, explaining why no major agencies or broadcasters are currently turning to generative AI for music: “The risk of being sued for using AI-generated music that doesn’t comply with copyright just isn’t worth it. No point in trying to save some money on licensing when a mistake could cost the entire production budget of a TV series.”
Advice window: Getting music placed on the BBC
How essential is it for publishers or labels to be on BBC Music Box if they want to increase their chances of being placed on the BBC?
“The best way to get your music used in our content is if you’re on BBC Music Box, which we want to become a one-stop shop for people making content for the BBC. If you have a catalog you want to make available (and I encourage you to do so!), you can supply to Soundmouse and go from there.”
As a reminder, Paul added that when hoping to get your content synced, you need to make sure it’s properly registered. And in terms of getting music placed, there’s no magical hack. As with any other broadcaster, you have to find the right people to pitch to.
Paul did share one tip: increase your discoverability with detailed metadata — especially the language of vocals, which advanced auto-tagging products like AIMS’ can provide.
“Provide descriptive metadata like ‘Danish language’ or other descriptors. Because we’re appealing to a global market and do a lot of co-productions with other public service broadcasters and VOD platforms, I can guarantee there will be somebody interested in that.”
Future of music: Tackling unconscious bias
The BBC has long been actively working to support diversity within the music industry. What have been some of their initiatives?
“We actively engage with the music industry by attending events, meeting composers and rights owners as well as actively listening to music and seeing bands, artists and orchestras play live.”
Other efforts include focusing on regions both inside and outside of London by running events with the Ivors Academy and the Musicians’ Union to encourage new composers and musicians to meet people in the industry. But there’s more to be done.
“I think the way to address it is through open discussions and tackling unconscious bias. You still make decisions based on the quality of the music, but you need to ensure that diverse talent has the opportunity to compete. The BBC is absolutely committed to diversity across all that we do, as we have a duty to represent our most important stakeholder — our audience.”
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