BlueBeat Music (BlueBeat; BlueBeat.com) is an internet music service that features unique sound-alike recordings of previously recorded musical works called “Psycho-Acoustic Simulations.”

Background

BlueBeat Music, then called Music Public Broadcasting, launched in 2003. At the time, founder and CEO Hank Risan said that BlueBeat's song catalog would cover the “full gamut of musical tastes, from 15th Century

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

music and

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

to today’s pop idols.” The BlueBeat website currently claims to offer more than 2.2 million tracks.

Business goals

BlueBeat CEO Hank Risan started BlueBeat to restore degraded 20th century sound recordings, develop and patent a

Serial Copy Management System The Serial Copy Management System (SCMS) is a copy protection scheme that was created in response to the digital audio tape (DAT) invention, in order to prevent DAT recorders from making second-generation or serial copies. SCMS sets a "copy" bit ...

(SCMS), protect digital content from piracy, and ensure that artists and composers receive due compensation for their works.

Psycho-Acoustic Simulations

BlueBeat uses proprietary and patent-pending technology to create sound-alike recordings of previously recorded musical works, called “Psycho-Acoustic Simulations,” based on

psychoacoustics Psychoacoustics is the branch of psychophysics involving the scientific study of sound perception and audiology—how humans perceive various sounds. More specifically, it is the branch of science studying the psychological responses associated wit ...

, a branch of science that studies the psychological and physiological responses associated with sound (including speech and music). In a 2009 interview, Risan said the Psycho-Acoustic Simulations are "akin to songs performed by 'cover' bands." To create Psycho-Acoustic Simulations, BlueBeat sound engineers (a) analyze and deconstruct original sound recordings into their component parts, (b) create compositional scores based on the deconstructions, (c) synthesize replacement sounds, and (d) fix the sounds in a virtual 3-D

sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format.

BlueBeat licensing

To lawfully create, broadcast, and distribute the simulations, BlueBeat obtained composition licenses from

Harry Fox Harry Fox (born Arthur Carringford; May 25, 1882 – July 20, 1959) was an American vaudeville dancer, actor, and comedian. Biography Fox is most notably famous for being related as name-source to the Fox Trot dance in New York. In "Dance Mad ...

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

(ASCAP),

Broadcast Music, Inc. Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 20.6 milli ...

(BMI), and

SESAC SESAC is a for-profit performance-rights organization in the United States. Founded in 1930 as the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, it is the second-oldest performance-rights organization in the United States.

. BlueBeat also ha
Section 112 and Section 114
commercial

webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...

ing licenses and pays artist

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

through

SoundExchange SoundExchange is an American non-profit collective rights management organization founded in 2003. It is the sole organization designated by the U.S. Congress to collect and distribute digital performance royalties for sound recordings. It pays ...

. To protect the simulations, BlueBeat Music licensed th
Media Rights Technologies’ SCMS Patent Portfolio
to monetize and secure its content.

Beatles controversy

In November 2009 BlueBeat sparked a copyright controversy when it offered simulated songs for $0.25 per download, including, for the first time,

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

songs. London-based EMI Group Ltd. filed suit, accusing BlueBeat of violating copyright law by offering the Beatles’ entire catalog without EMI's permission. A spokesperson for EMI said the company had "not authorized content to be sold or made available on Bluebeat.com." In court filings, BlueBeat asserted that it legally licensed the Beatles simulations and was paying royalties due. BlueBeat further claimed that it lawfully simulated the Beatles songs under the sound-alike provision o
Section 114 (b) of the Copyright Act
" After listening to the BlueBeat simulations, Federal Judge John F. Walter issued a temporary restraining order against BlueBeat.com to stop selling the Beatles song simulations online, opining that differences in the sound recordings were not discernible. BlueBeat agreed to stop selling the Beatles simulations until the

U.S. Copyright Office The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that maintains records of copyright registration, including a copyright catalog. It is used by copyright title searchers who are ...

issues a registration for the simulations, and settled the EMI lawsuit with no admission of liability for $950,000.

References

External links

* {{official, BlueBeat.com
Media Rights Technologies
Internet radio in the United States