Member AreaHere you will find a raft of useful information including documents and music to download as well as general BABS Business Information. More information will be added once we have seen what is required by our members. The Business Document Centre MAS Music Advice Service (MAS) A Guide to Help You To Choose Music Sources of Published and Unpublished Arrangements Copyright Guide and How to Acquire Rights Learning Tracks Music Downloads Polecats and Tags It's the Music That Brings Us Together Past Issues of HEX Affiliate News A Guide to Help You To Choose Music General characteristics of a song for your chorus 1) Ensure there is a good mixture of songs in the repertoire including: A) uptunes (a good opener and a good closer) B) rhythm C) ballads D) novelty (eg. Soul, Gospel, Comedy, Parody, Classical) 2) Ensure a choice of contestable uptunes and ballads. 3) When refreshing repertoire, dropping and replacing songs ensure you maintain a balance of songs in categories A to D above. Specific characteristics of a song for your chorus For example 1) one which the director and a majority of the chorus likes 2) one which the audience will like, 3) one which is within the capability of the chorus (e.g. tenors not above B, leads not above G, baris not above F, basses not below F). 4) one which is not too difficult to learn for other technical reasons eg chromatics, rhythm and the genre of the music (e.g. Calypso !!) 5) one which has manuscript music and associated learning tracks readily available 6) one which is within the budget of the chorus 7) check the lyrics especially with respect to controversial areas e.g. racist, misogynist, sexual, religious connotations. 8) check whether you have enough songs suitable for contest BABS choruses and quartets can check if the next song planned for their group has been previously used in contest, and how it scored. To access this database please click here The results include data up to Quartet Prelims, each year. The current listing is for 2019. LABBS and Sweet Adelines should contact their Music Judges to see if an arrangement fits the judging requirements. Factors to Consider Buy a publishedarrangement Buy anunpublished arrangement Commission anew arrangement Simplicity The most straightforward More complicated The most complicated Arranged yet? Already arranged and ready to go. Already arranged and ready to go. You’ll have to find an arranger, but it will be bespoke for your group. Copyright Clearance? Copyright clearance is usually already obtained (but check it is valid in the UK). You will have to get rights from the copyright owner in the UK You will have to seek permission from the copyright owner in the UK to have it arranged and to buy the right to print copies. Unique? Lots of other groups could sing this arrangement Less likely to be sung by other groups If you have an exclusive agreement with the arranger only your group will be allowed to use the arrangement. Cost This depends on the source of the music and can be complicated by shipping and sometimes import duty costs. This can be the lowest cost especially for small groups like quartets and octets. There may however be arrangers fees that have to be paid This is usually the most expensive as you may have to pay the arranger and for permission from the UK Copyright Holder Usual copyright rules… Every member of your group must have a legal, original copy (or photocopy) of the music. See the Copyright Section for more information.