Place des Arts in Montreal was decorated like a holiday gem. The square was readied to receive hundreds of orchestra librarians from around the globe for the 33rd Annual Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association Conference. This year’s featured event was a panel discussion titled “Current and Future Delivery Methods of Rental Music.” I was invited to participate in the panel alongside Elizabeth Blaufox of Boosey & Hawkes, and Peter Grimshaw of BTM Innovation. It was moderated by Vi King Lim, Library Manager of Symphony Services International (Sydney).
Digital Music Rental Survey
In preparation for my presentation it was important for me to obtain real feedback from orchestra librarians on their vision of digital rental. Therefore, I created and circulated a survey among the entire MOLA membership with questions regarding a tentative digital distribution system for concert music materials. I wanted to know from those who would potentially be using a digital rental system in their daily operations if there’s a need for such a thing at all and, if so, what they envision this system might look like and how it would behave. The response rate was very high and the comments were surprisingly positive.From the survey I was able to retrieve very good data which I presented during the session. The panel took place with a record attendance of approximately 200 orchestra librarians. In my presentation I addressed significant points that arose from the data.
Read the full report along with the results of the survey here.
Special thanks to Tomas Wise, Chris Butler, James Rushton, Robert Thompson, David Fetherolf, David Flachs, Ed Matthew, and Allison Weissman for their endless support and invaluable advice.
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