Intermission Playlist

[SuncoastTech]

At my high school, we have various performances and assemblies throughout the year, such as the heritage assembly where various ethic groups put on tiny 5 minute acts. But between those acts, there's always a good couple minutes where everything is black and nothing is happening. Anybody have any suggestions on what we could do in the booth to keep the crowd interested in those awkward pauses? Such as a playlist of various songs (any suggestions?)

[howlingwolf487]

It would be a good idea to have an MC or two keep the audience entertained between acts…otherwise, it won't matter what music you play - the audience will just talk.

[cpf]

What I've seen done at a number of one-act competitions is that the incoming group will play appropriate intro music as the setup occurs - in yiur case, you could request pre-burned CDs or MP3s on memory keys or similar. No matter what, as the previous person said, you'll need an MC to calm everyone down for the next performance.

[SuncoastTech]

It would be a good idea to have an MC or two keep the audience entertained between acts…otherwise, it won't matter what music you play - the audience will just talk.

I'm sure this is somewhat of an amatuer question, but what exactly is an MC?

[Tex]

Master of Ceremonies.

[marmer]

Master of ceremonies. A living person to get up on stage and introduce the next performer. Coming from the classical music world as I do, I think they are often unnecessary, but this sounds like a time when they are necessary. They are very common when you have multiple performers with a significant wait time between them.

[Lightguy5]

Even 'MC Hammer' might be before your time...
The modern equivalent might be DJ?

[Grog12]

Even 'MC Hammer' might be before your time...
The modern equivalent might be DJ?

Not really...

Better modern day example would be Ryan Seacrest (out) on American Idol.

[museav]

What I've seen done at a number of one-act competitions is that the incoming group will play appropriate intro music as the setup occurs - in yiur case, you could request pre-burned CDs or MP3s on memory keys or similar. No matter what, as the previous person said, you'll need an MC to calm everyone down for the next performance.

A caveat to this, and in general, is to make sure someone obtains the appropriate rights for the content. And if you are recording or streaming the event then remember that the rights for those aspects may not be covered by any performance rights.

You can put all the language you want in your contracts stating that rights are the responsibility of the party providing the content but when the rights groups come calling there are a number of reasons they are likely to focus on the venue's responsibility.

[tk2k]

A caveat to this, and in general, is to make sure someone obtains the appropriate rights for the content. And if you are recording or streaming the event then remember that the rights for those aspects may not be covered by any performance rights.

You can put all the language you want in your contracts stating that rights are the responsibility of the party providing the content but when the rights groups come calling there are a number of reasons they are likely to focus on the venue's responsibility.

Could you give us a little info on exactly how this is done? I work at a college and we have many groups that come through, none of which have the rights to the music they play before or after shows. I've even had band members come up to me and hand me an ipod and say 'play this' big names too, like Gym Class Heroes... It seems like almost no one worries about this sort of thing unless it's being streamed/casted?

[josh88]

I know that in some cases university's have some kind of blanket policy that covers usage of some stuff but you still need to look into it and see if it is inside or outside of the umbrella


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[cpf]

Could you give us a little info on exactly how this is done? I work at a college and we have many groups that come through, none of which have the rights to the music they play before or after shows. I've even had band members come up to me and hand me an ipod and say 'play this' big names too, like Gym Class Heroes... It seems like almost no one worries about this sort of thing unless it's being streamed/casted?

Most people operate under the not-illegal-if-you-don't-get-caught mentality, or just do not know about rights in the first place. It's a problem that needs to be discussed, though, so if you're unsure you should ask someone higher up in the institution.

[Tex]

My school district (and most others I would guess) pays a yearly license fee to both ASCAP and BMI to cover performances in all district owned venues.

[Sayen]

I started looking into this a few years back. Blanket license fees for just performance are not that expensive, so there's no excuse for an educational group not to get one. Rights to record or distribute are a different beast. The "not-illegal-if-you-don't-get-caught mentality" that cpf mentioned is too common, but with recording companies increasingly cracking down on rights violations, you don't want to be in the "caught" category. In my research I found several schools who settled off the record after potential suits. Strangely, all of the faculty involved resigned after the incidents too...

Just as a thought - can you drill the groups to get onstage faster? When I produce variety style events, each group is typically given a time frame which includes their setup time and time needed to clear the stage. If you have three or four minutes between each group, that adds up to a lot of wasted time by the end of a performance for the audience.

What about asking each group or your school's media department to make a short video introducing themselves, and play those before the performances? Or Google "royalty free music" and put together some generic tracks.