Couple of interesting interviews today, one more of a group interview with a production crew in the BBC, the other with the head of post-production for one of the largest (and expanding) independent tv companies in Wales – he is directly in charge of 25 editing suites, + the company also awns a large editing facilities house. What was said by both seemed to turn the arguments about a bit, but also make things clearer.

The future might look like these pictures: these are the KPM drives which are sent over every six months or so, loaded onto the system so that the editors can use – but the AVIDS aren’t online, for obvious reasons, so the music used has to be loaded like this. Can you imagine a similar system which included music of Welsh origin, which opened up as another drive for all editors, easily searchable with clearly labeled ‘libraries’ from Sain and whoever else? KPM is actually quite a few different studios + libraries, so why not have all library music, from whoever, collated under the same brand, with the same delivery mechanism, a clear pricing structure (which would have to be competitive……).

So, some good practical ways of thinking about the future, but not necessarily good for a toolkit for musicians – because production music needs that infrastructure and won’t necessarily make people a lot of money (so to be realistic, you need that mechanism for things to improve…). However, there’s definitely a market out there, and a lot of good will from Welsh editors – but the delivery mechanism has to be quick, easy and with enough information for those who have to clear everything.

BBC interviews pointed once more to the larger strategic picture – v. experienced producers who had also worked in the independent sector for many years. The BBC has a blanket agreement which makes it easier for producers, S4C doesn’t have this; the use of Audio Network (the cheapest) seems to be too widespread for many, so many programmes sound the same.

There’s a lot of scope here for further work: we’re getting people to talk and think about the issues involved + offer advice about the best way forward, even though this won’t necessaily be part of the toolkit. This is a useful network for the WMF to tap into hopefully.

Hwn di’r olygfa o’r swyddfa dros y deuddydd diwethaf yn y Galeri……

Y sgwrsio gyda pobl am y prosiect yn mynd yn dda, wedi gallu recordio dipyn o rhain i allu pigo’r pwyntiau pwysig i’r ymchwil. Yn sicr, fel sydd wedi ei grybwyll yn barod, mae’n ymddangos fod pawb isio un lle hawdd i fynd i chwilio am gerddoriaeth, gyda costau (isel) clir – ond sut bydda hyn yn gweithio wedyn ar lefel y cerddoriaon ochor arall? Lot awgrymiadau gan bobl, felly byddai’n pigo rhain i’r adroddiad wythnos nesaf.
Mae cost ac amser yn ffactorau mawr, a’r shift i gwmniau cymeryd fwy o gyfrifoldeb am gynnwys (o S4C) wedi golygu newidiadau dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf, gyda tueddiad i gael mwy o buy-outs etc. Y cwestiwn sy’n codi yn aml yw’r cwestiwn ’1940s french accordeon played by clown’ : os mai dyma beth mae cynyhyrchydd/golygydd isio i eitem, pam mynd i chwilio am ddeunydd o Gymru, pan does dim byd ‘cymreig’ am y peth a mae’n haws a llai o hassle ei gael o rhywle arall ar y funud…….un awgrym oedd sustem haws i gomisiynu cerddorieth yn sydyn fel hyn, un pwynt o gyswllt i gerddorion a chynhyrchwyr. Mae’r cwesrtiwn o faint mae pobl wedi trwytho eu hunain mewn diwylliant cymreig yn codi ei ben dro ar ol tro hefyd.

Hefyd, wedi dod yn ymwybodol o bobl sydd yn barod wedi trio gwneud rhywbeth am y broblem yn eu ffordd eu hunain e.e. Traciau Cymraeg – Nici wedi rhoi fi ar drywydd Catrin ac Emyr Rhys/ARAN felly fyddai yn trio tracio nhw i lawr nes ymlaen ar bod yn Barcud.

Hyd hyn, wedi siarad gyda pobl sydd mwy ar yr ochor gynhyrchu, ond heddiw am gael sgwrs gyda rhywun sy’n dybio lot o raglenni a sydd yn cael dipyn o fewnbwn i’r ‘feature music’. Golwg agosach felly ar peth o’r mechanics o sut mae cerddoriaeth yn cael ei ddewis wrth dybio.

Di bod yn cyfweld yn Rondo a gyda cwpwl yn Cwmni Da, ac mae’n swnio fel fod ethos da iawn yma gan y cwmniau yma tuag at ddefnyddio cerddoriaeth o Gymru gymaint a phosib – mae rhai yn ei weld yn ddyletswydd arnyn nhw. Oes, mae na broblemau gyda’r gost, ond y peth mwyaf yw gallu cael hyd i popeth yn hawdd, fel mae’n bosib ei wneud gyda gwasanaethau eraill. Mae ‘na agwedd agored iawn i’w glywed gan bobl, ac mae rhaglenni fel Rownd a Rownd yn agored i gynnwys gymaint a phosib.

Sgwennu hwn yn y Galeri, dros lobscows – dwi di gallu hysbysebu rhywfaint ar y digwyddiad CULT a’r lawns i’r toolkit hefyd.

Bit of a clearer idea of the way ahead now, and some of the underlying themes for the question framework. What hit me was that, the underlying driver for many themes in our dicussion was technology, so I think gaining a perspective on the use (by producers and editors) of current web-based services will be essential (last.fm and the like or music blog aggregators e.g hypem.com ), with web-based technologies being particularly disruptive. Memory has never been cheaper, and vast libraries of tunes are the norm for all. So we know people (including music producers) are listening and consuming music differently, compared to even a couple of years ago etc. etc. – how does this affect current practices and approaches, consciously or unconsciously? This is bound to affect the next generation of editors and tv producers: so how can the music producers respond to that? However, people aren’t just bound to the technology, obviously, and good practice is more than following the latest trend. How important is company ethos, reproduced through informal/formal training etc.?

It’ll be interesting to compare biographies and professional backgrounds for those concerned. Though it’s not a scientific sample by any stretch, there might be some underlying themes which cut across working for larger bodies such as the BBC or coming from a smaller independent company background etc. What’s the ethos? Cheap and cheerful, or thought out with more quality? Also, what the attitudes to local consumption, in this case the sense of pride in using Welsh-sourced goodies, not just four-legged varieties? There’s a whole heap of understanding about economics and culture behind the decisions people make I guess.

Looking forward to hearing how our editors/producers view these distinctions between ‘featured’ and ‘production’, what it actually means for them in practice, how they make their decisions and on what basis – my hunch is that cost wil be one of the biggest issues, but this we can explore using the question framework. From initial discussions with some contacts, the whole issue of ‘searchability’, tagging the information properly in a single database, would seem to be a consistent theme, but we shall see. It was remarked that the difference in price is always going to be an issue and that there has to be some flexibility in this – but also, time restraints/pressuresetc.

More links added, including to Rhys’s site.

Writing is well under way, but there are always reports popping up which I need to take into account for the final draft. This is just to remind me …….. the former Consumer Council which has been folded into Consumer Focus/Consumer Direct , and they produced a series of reports about ‘internet inequality’, including a response to the European Commission’s report in 2005 - though I don’t know yet how up to daye this will be to be honest, because the whole issue is so fast moving. What was true in 2004-05 probably will have changed by now. A further report/consultation on ‘e-Wales’, refresh of 2001′s Cymru Ar-lein, completed in 2007.

Atkins report remains one of the most authoritative recent documents, including good background information about the WAG strategies for the last few years. Background to the built and being-built networks which are connecting services both in the public and private sectors, such as Fibrespeed Wales – this site has a regularly updated news section on the project.

More on the education side, some important reports into harnessing technology for learning from Becta, and a really intersting site based in the states, Educause.

Love this Bloor (2004) quote: ‘the real opportunities for social researcher influence lie closer to the coalface than the head office’, and I think the diss will be looking at practitioners more than any other. Drug ‘practitioners’ in particular come across so many different areas: law, housing, probation, medicine, prison etc. So I guess it’ll be where ‘community safety’ meets a ‘hidden population’….. I’m also interested in how perfomance management and audit interact with this, interesting journal piece by Gilling & Barton (2005), about the ‘colonisation’ of services such as drug services, by the whole idea of ‘audit’ and various forms of governance. Certinly this is also tru from my experiences on the managment committee – this is getting more and more part of the agenda….Foucault? What are the officially sanctioned ideas of ‘pr0fessionalisation’ in this field?