Discord over BBC Beethoven downloads

Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven: BBC downloads became the most popular of all time

Discord over BBC Beethoven downloads

The BBC has been accused of failing to consult the UK record industry before launching the hugely successful free downloads of the complete Beethoven symphonies earlier this summer.

The complete symphonies were downloaded 1.4m times in the two weeks they were made available in June, a figure record company executives say would take "upwards of five years" for an equivalent commercial CD to achieve.

The allegations, made by the chairman of the culture and media select committee, John Whittingdale, go to the heart of the corporation's plans to launch new digital and download services, such as its forthcoming broadband TV service, IMP.

The new services will be paid for out of the new licence fee, should the 2.3%-plus inflation increase the BBC wants be approved by the government.

Critics say the corporation is failing to take into account the market impact of its online and digital expansion, in spite of the new service licences introduced by the BBC chairman, Michael Grade, which were supposed to address this issue.

At the Edinburgh TV festival in August, the director general, Mark Thompson, promised the BBC would "work with, rather than against, the market", when it launched new services.

But Mr Whittingdale said the BBC had so far failed to consult, or issue new licences, for either IMP or the Beethoven downloads.

"In terms of market assessment it's right that you say you should tread carefully when it comes to new media," he said.

"But in Beethoven week there were 1.4m free downloads at a time when record companies are saying that people should pay for music and the archive trials are going ahead without any market impact assessment.

"The inference is that you are not treading carefully but having a dramatic impact on a number of small and fledgling concerns."

Mr Grade said the IMP and Beethoven trials were "incredibly valuable" in assessing market impact.

"These are not permanent BBC features and we dip our toes in very carefully. They are of a limited scale and can only help process information on market impact."

But Mr Thompson told the committee that the controller of BBC Radio 3, Roger Wright, had talked to "record companies" prior to the launch of the Beethoven week, saying there had been no resistance to the plans.

"We made clear that it was a pilot and we talked to the record companies beforehand, but there was no sense of anxiety," Mr Thompson said.

But Mr Whittingdale said record industry organisations, including the EMI label, had told him they were "unable to trace anyone" who had been contacted by the BBC prior to the launch of the Beethoven symphonies, which became the most popular downloads of all time.

The BPI, which represents the big record labels in the UK, confirmed today it had not been consulted prior to the Beethoven downloads.

A spokesman said negotiations with the BBC were ongoing, but they had been sparked by the Beethoven week rather than happening before it.

Chris Craker, the head of classics at Sony/BMG, also told MediaGuardian.co.uk that no one from the BBC had contacted the company prior to the download.

EMI declined to comment, but sources said negotiations with the corporation began after the June downloads and not before.

Mr Thompson said he would write to the select committee chairman to let him know who was contacted and when.

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