Oh come on now.

 

My oldest granddaughter has liked to dance since she was old enough to stand. You could see it coming. A good tune would come on. She would stop what she was doing. Her face would get a look of "Hmmm, what is this?" Her shoulders would start going in circles, one going up as the other was going down. Then the movement would work its way down her body and find its way its way to her feet. She would improvise some dance steps and spin in circles.

One time I managed to get a video of her doing her dance while grooving to Sinatra's I've got the World On A String. It was so cute I wanted to share it on Facebook. The video had no sooner uploaded when I got a message saying that the video contained copyrighted material and could not be shown.

While disappointed, I had no real problem with that. The video was forty seconds long and while there was indistinguishable conversation in the background, the song was clearly heard. It is intellectual property and they have to draw a line somewhere.

Rick Beato is a music producer in Atlanta, Georgia. He also teaches college courses in Music. He has a web site, rickbeato.com,  where he offers many resources for music education. He also has a YouTube channel where he offers many different videos for the musician or anyone interested in music. He has technical discussions. He has a series called "What makes this song great" where he disects famous recordings and explains what makes them work. While you may not be interested in every video he has done, you are sure to find something to catch your interest.

Rick Beato

He has a number of videos where he ranks what he considers to be the best example of a particular element. His videos include The Top 20 Rock Guitar Solos of All Time, The Top 20 Rock Guitar Solo Outros of All Time, The Top 20 Rock Bass Intros of All Time, and many more.

Beato has done enough videos that he knows those artists who will be trouble to him. Some artists just do not want you to even think of their music when you are anywhere near YouTube. As such he does not have a problem with that. He will just avoid those artists or find a way to work around it.

He understands the concept of intellectual property. He has had videos demonitized, about which he doesn't really care. However he has had some videos removed altogether because the music publisher or group representative got their knickers in a knot.

There are times, however, where it is taken to extremes. Last week Beato did a video on The Top 20 Debut Rock Albums of All Time. On the list were two groups who Beato knew would be trouble.

One of those groups is Guns N' Roses. Beato played four seconds of the intro to Sweet Child of Mine from the groups first album. Beato ranked that at number 4. No problem there.

Another group that gives him trouble is Led Zeppelin. Their debut album topped Beato's list. Knowing he had no leeway with Zeppelin, Beato himself played a brief medley of guitar licks from that album. Again he was safe.

There was one group whose representatives caused the video to be pulled -- King Crimson. Their debut album was in 1968 -- fifty-two years ago. Apparently the group is still performing, but who these days have even heard of them? Beato played nine seconds -- nine seconds -- of their album from fifty-two years ago and the band's representatives took this as an affront to their very existence. Nine seconds.

A few years ago Beato did a video on some classic jazz tracks. One music publisher felt that Beato had infringed on the copyright by playing a cut from 1958. As if that weren't asinine enough, they had mis-identified the cut. Beato did not even play the cut for which the video was pulled.

I cannot understand the point of these publishers and representatives. Beato is not playing the entire cut. He isn't even playing much of the cut. What he is doing is saying, "Here is something from a long time ago that you probably have never heard and probably would not hear if I did not bring it to your attention. You should check this out and perhaps go out and buy it for your collection." In other words, he is bringing a new audience to music that no one has sought out for years.

Beato once explained how serious the issue is. He said he could appeal a decision to demonitize or remove a video, but that it was unlikely that he would win. If he lost three appeals, he would lose his YouTube channel.

Apparently music publishers and groups do not want new life brought to their old recordings. They would just as soon their music remain in rigor mortis.

I don't watch many of Beato's videos. His taste in music and mine can be graphed with a Venn Diagram with a small overlap. While I do not consider myself to be illiterate when it comes to music theory, some of his educational videos are like rocket science to me. That being said, Rick Beato does present many interesting things if you are interested in music. He presents much for you to enjoy and learn.

Beato repented for his sin against King Crimson and the video is back up, minus the offending nine seconds.

He deserves support for what he brings to the field of music.