Advice From The Dj@ In Respect Of The Produb License

[Dream Catchers 0]

It has come to our attention that a small minority of DJ's in some areas are resorting to a form of dirty tricks campaign by misrepresenting the terms of the ProDub licence to venues and clients, usually on the basis of informing them that ALL DJ's require the proDub licence to be able to work at their venue, in order to monopolise on work for themselves.

 

The requirements of the ProDub License and the situations in which it is required by law are clearly detailed on the official ProDub website at www.produb.co.uk and from this source, it is obvious that DJ's who continue to use genuine CD or Vinyl formats are not required to purchase the Pro Dub License, and are not obligated to produce any form of license at any venue. We fear that the scaremongering and misinformation which a minority are spreading may one day result in a genuine, non licensed CD / Vinyl using DJ losing bookings or worse still, being turned away by the venue and being unable to fulfil their obligations to their clients.

 

If this situation should occur, nobody will benefit as the industry will take yet another public knock on its reputation - devaluing it even further.

 

Clients and venues will always remember who had mislead them or fed them the incorrect information in the first place and will perhaps wonder about the motives behind it, perhaps to the point of looking at alternatives to booking a DJ altogether.

 

DJ@ therefore strongly recommends that DJ's who are exempt from obtaining a ProDub licence through the use of non format shifted, original CD / Vinyl material, first obtain permission from ProDub to print out the terms from their website, and then carry a copy of those terms with them to show to venues and clients where the matter is queried and demonstrate that they are entitled to work using this type of media. You can contact the ProDub team via email at info@produb.co.uk

 

If you feel that any literature or website is incorrectly or unfairly describing the ProDub license terms and issue, then please contact us with the details and where it was obtained and forward to the DJ Associates Association at

chairman@djassociates.org

 

Jim

[Dream Catchers 0]

DJ@ has contacted the MCPS to bring to their attention the issue regarding potential abuse of the ProDub License.

 

It was brought to the DJ@'s attention that a small minority of DJ's had resorted to effectively using the ProDub license to obtain a pecuniary advantage over their competitors, by skewing and misrepresenting the pro dub license terms to venue managers. This included the bulk sending of letters and emails to their local venues, [wrongly] stating that ALL djs are required to carry this licence, regardless of whether they are exempt ( e.g. through the sole use of CD's or Vinyl). It was also noted that some DJs had communicated to venues that ONLY DJs with the ProDub license should be booked / allowed entry to their venue.

 

This is being done for one purpose only, and that is to ensure that the author of the letter is the ONLY DJ in the area able to work at the venues who have been contacted!

 

This could lead to genuine, legitimate non ProDub license holding DJs being wrongly refused entry to a venue, purely through incorrect facts, rumours and scaremongering being spread to venues which would ultimately result in a refusal to work and subsequent loss of revenue, and reputation damage to an entertainer, plus the very real risk that a bride and groom could be left without an entertainer and their big day ruined, all at the eleventh hour, and all down to a situation which previously did not exist and has now been created by the introduction of this new license.

 

 

DJ@ proposed a potential resolution to prevent this abuse and to restore the previous competitive balance:

 

(1) That the terms of the ProDub license are updated to warn against such a situation occurring, and to warn against other license holders pursuing the same path, that MCPS will perhaps consider extending this to suspending or investigating any Pro Dub license holder who is found / proven to be misrepresenting the ProDub license terms to obtain a financial or competitive advantage by misinforming clients and venues.

 

(2) That MCPS act expeditiously in personally contacting all venues and entertainment license holders within the UK to explain exactly what has changed as per the entertainment licensing and why the dubbing license exists, what it covers and under what terms the visiting entertainer is required to be in possession of one. According to MCPS website, there are genuine reasons as to why an entertainer will not require a license and therefore should not be turned away from a venue if they fall into these criteria and certainly not as a direct result of an unauthorised letter from an unauthorised source.

 

DJ@ believe that the only reason why a few DJ's are actively able to exploit this license and act in a manner as to preventing their competitors from working in the same venues by spreading rumours that ALL DJs should be asked to produce evidence of being a license holder, is down to the lack of publicity and the slow rollout to venues in relation to the actual requirements surrounding the ProDub license.

 

DJ@ believe that once all venues have been correctly informed and educated, this niche' will not exist and the opportunity for such exploitation will no longer exist - the problem solved.

 

 

MCPS agreed that individuals who are seeking to use any means at their disposal to unfairly advance their interests over those of others in similar occupations were probably a limited number.

 

MCPS assures us that when such individuals seek to use one of their licences in this way, they do not welcome or condone such actions and welcome DJ@ forwarding specific details of such individual's. The MCPS legal team will be more than happy to follow-up and take appropriate action.

 

MCPS also agree that it is in everyone's best interests that venues and licence holders in the UK are educated quickly and effectively about the key terms and scope of the ProDub licence.

 

MCPS stated that articles will be going into pub and licensed premises magazines this week that provide information on the ProDub licence and clearly point out that entertainers who use vinyl or original CDs will not require one.

 

Jim

[Andy Westcott 0]

Thankyou for your efforts - as a CD user myself this is something that has bothered me slightly, as we are all aware that unscrupulous individuals lurk in our midst.

 

Carrying a copy of the MCPS terms & conditions (by permission) seems to be the most sensible way forward for DJs in the immediate future, just in case they visit a venue that has been 'polluted'.

[Paul Forsyth 0]

Good advice, I think we all need to work on getting correct information out there (although the main burden should be with MCPS / The ProDub team.

 

With the ammount of confusion surrounding this licence, it is a shame that any DJ would use it in the manner described.

 

That said there are also some DJ's that are informing venues of the licence in a responsible way, the same way many DJ's in the past have informed venues about PLI, PAT and Risk Assesment, and I feel that these DJ's should not be lumped together with the first group that are obviously going out to misinform. I just feel this needs to be stated.

 

For the record I have not used this tactic myself, but do inform potential clients about the licence. I see no reason why a DJ that plays certain venues should not truthfully inform the venue about the licence and also (potentially putting there mind at ease) let the venue know that the DJ has the licence).

 

Vinnie

[UKHero 0]

Good advice, I think we all need to work on getting correct information out there (although the main burden should be with MCPS / The ProDub team.

 

With the ammount of confusion surrounding this licence, it is a shame that any DJ would use it in the manner described.

 

That said there are also some DJ's that are informing venues of the licence in a responsible way, the same way many DJ's in the past have informed venues about PLI, PAT and Risk Assesment, and I feel that these DJ's should not be lumped together with the first group that are obviously going out to misinform. I just feel this needs to be stated.

 

For the record I have not used this tactic myself, but do inform potential clients about the licence. I see no reason why a DJ that plays certain venues should not truthfully inform the venue about the licence and also (potentially putting there mind at ease) let the venue know that the DJ has the licence).

 

Vinnie

 

I agree with what you say but the problem is there are are many djs who do not need this licence.. And my worry is they could be turned away from a job incorrectly by a venue owner or duty manager... Untill they have all the correct details at hand this could easily happen...

 

As you know I am not keen on associations, but I have paid and joined the DJ@ as they seem to be doing something possative for the working DJ where I felt other assocs were just interested in showing off the latest kit IMHO.

 

Nik

Edited September 6, 2008 by UKHero

[Paul Forsyth 0]

"I agree with what you say but the problem is there are are many djs who do not need this licence.. And my worry is they could be turned away from a job incorrectly by a venue owner or duty manager... Untill they have all the correct details at hand this could easily happen..."

 

Completely agree and that's why I don't have a problem with anyone putting out correct information, the last thing I would want to see is any DJ being turned away when they don't require the licence.

 

"As you know I am not keen on associations, but I have paid and joined the DJ@ as they seem to be doing something possative for the working DJ where I felt other assocs were just interested in showing off the latest kit IMHO. "

 

Fully understand your views on this and they are not uncommon, I feel that choice is a good thing, and for some an online association is a good thing for others an association with meeting etc is good, and there is a place for all of these, plus forums etc. Sometimes it is very useful for people interested in buying "the latest kit" to be able to get their hands on it at a local venue and have expert advice on it.

 

 

I wish Dan and the team all the best with DJ@ and with the campaign and hope that you get what you are looking for, the PLI deal looks great apart from anything else.

 

You are very welcome to come and attend a SEDA meeting if a visit down this way ever coincides with a meeting night, that way you may be able to have an informed opinion, I really hope that we (DJ's) can get away from much of the negative stuff that has gone on in the past.

 

Vinnie

Edited September 6, 2008 by Vinnie