I sometimes wonder about musical licensing agreements. While you have the license, you may perhaps make copies of various pieces that fall under the agreement. But what a about later on when the licensing period has ended and you’ve decided not to renew or your successor has no interest in maintaining it. Then you are left with a file cabinet full of copies that, quite probably, can no longer be legally used. What is the long-term merit in that?
I don’t get involved in licensing deals because they can’t possibly cover the entire gamut of music I am interested in performing with my choir. By budgeting with the worship committee to purchase and own the music, we are never nebulous about whether the choir has the right to perform it, this year or decades later. Moreover, we always acquire more copies than needed — for a possible future increase in the number of our members.
I think musical directors ought to leave a legacy of quality music publications in a church library that may freely used for years to come. It is also helpful if the various titles are entered into a database which may be used for printing out box labels and doing keyword searches later. Such a database helps in coordinating with sermon themes and liturgical year programming as well.
