The Power Of Music and the Pentatonic Scale

What is it about people and music that makes the two inseparable? The TED post that I chose has to do with both. The name of it is "Bobby McFerrin hacks your brain with music".  Bobby McFerrin used music to communicate to a room full of people and never says a word. Being a professional musician for 20 years, I have always been amazed by people, who have never play instruments and still have an ear for good music. I call them some of the world’s greatest musicians. What is it about the art of no words, people, and music that makes the three “ONE.


The beauty of this TED video is that Bobby McFerrin did not use words to build trust with the audience, he uses the “pentatonic scale”. I do not believe that the audience was aware that they would be singing and entertaining themselves when they saw Bobby McFerrin. The audience was completely involved in singing notes and eventually took trust to another level. The trust factor is important because he never used words to get his audience to sing the notes that he sang to them. They took control of their own musical capabilities and figured out a way to sing with the movement of his body. 

I was personally inspired while watching Bobby McFerrin and it led me to this thought. Music is a universal language and people do not have to speak the same language in order to communicate. This video showed the audience and me that one could communicate and trust without talking. The use of body language and common sense is an attribute to a world of new possibilities. The audience trusted one another and they communicated with one tone at a time. The panel that watched this was just as amazed. I will end this by saying “ Music is the greatest inspiration for communication”. 

Please check out Bobby McFerrin's website at: http://bobbymcferrin.com/ 

TED. (2010). http://www.ted.com/talks/bobby_mcferrin_hacks_your_brain_with_music.html

The National Music Publishers’ Association

The National Music Publishers’ Association is the leading trade association in the United States for music publishers and songwriters. The NMPA serves as a lobbyist for publishers and songwriters in the press, the Congress, the courtroom and federal agencies. They have over 2500 members. The NMPA protects its members’ property rights on the legislative, litigation, and regulatory fronts. The NMPA continues to represent its members in negotiations to shape the future of the music industry by fostering a business environment that furthers both creative and financial success. (NMPA, 2011)

The NMPA has several programs that music publishers can get involved in and learn more about the music publishing industry. The first program is a program called The Gold and Platinum Composition Program. The NMPA will certify songwriters of the RIAA- Recording Industry Association of America certified singles with 500,000 downloads. They certify platinum singles with sales of 1,000,000 downloads. There was one artist this year that received a platinum certification from the RIAA, which the artist sold 1,000,000 in cd sales. The RIAA certifies Gold and Platinum sales by using an independent sales audit of each title. A single must sell 500,000 downloads to receive gold status.

The second program that the NMPA offers is the National Music Publishers Association/Harry Fox Association/YouTube Licensing Offer. It is also known as the YouTube Licensing Offer. The NMPA and the HFA work in conjunction with YouTube to assist independent music publishers. This license grants YouTube the rights to license a publisher’s works with certain YouTube users to receive royalties from YouTube for user-generated videos for which YouTube receives worldwide advertising revenue. This does not cover any rights for a public performance.

The third program is the NMPA Partnership Program. This program came about due to the decline of mechanical royalties commissions and piracy. This was the bread and butter of this organizations revenue stream. Due to the loss, the NMPA was not able to handle expensive litigation and copyright infringement cases as well as statutory rate cases. They also had low annual dues.

I chose this subject matter because there are countless musicians and songwriters that work on recording sessions and never see a dime from their works. They either do not know or most do not care. I was one of those people until I learned the hard way that the music business is a business. I hope that this serves all that are interested in the music publishing industry to take a look at the NMPA website.

 References:

(NMPA)(n.d.) NMPA is about the music. Retrieved on January 8, 2012 from: https://www.nmpa.org/home/index.asp

(NMPA)(n.d.)NMPA Partnership Program. Retrievedon January 8, 2012 from: https://www.nmpa.org/NMPApartnershipprogram/index.asp

(NMPA)(n.d.) Gold and Platinum Program. Retrieved on January 8, 2012 from: https://www.nmpa.org/awards/rules.asp

(n.a)(n.d.) YouTube Licensing Offer. Retrieved on January 8, 2012 from: http://www.youtubelicenseoffer.com/

(RIAA)(n.d.) Representing Music. Retrieved January 8, 2011 from: http://www.riaa.com/