BUS NOISE - more pollution and cost

YouTube users will be aware that noise aka MUSIC has been removed from some postings because of disputes over royalties.
BIG money is involved and no doubt some pop stars and publishing businesses will be getting a pay-rise soon. Obviously though, the musicians deserve to be paid for their work.
BUT there is no need to go on YouTube to experience the same problem because wherever recorded music is played in public in Jersey there is a liability to pay a royalty fee through the Performing Rights Society (PRS).
AND if you travel on a Connex Bus in the near future you will probably discover that it is agreeably more quiet because the radio has been thrown out of the window.
At least one local customer has dared to complain of the excess noise and having found the usual smug company complacency or driver rudeness at local level, and little interest from the TTS Minister, the matter has now been raised with PRS. AND lo and behold it seems likely that neither Connex nor TTS has the appropriate licences for each vehicle as the law requires.



SO stay tuned to this blog - not to the bus radio - to discover what happens next. BUT once again you might like to ask just who should be responsible for ensuring that the law is complied with in Jersey on this matter? AND you might also like to consider whether we really do need to have music or Roger Bara played to us on the buses, or in taxis and cabs ad nauseum AND we might also like to consider whether people with hearing impairments might find the noise especially unpleasant?


Of course the licensing requirement also applies to cafes and pubs and offices, in fact any public access places where more than a few people are gathered together.



Those people who cannot tie their shoe laces or clean their teeth unless they have noise blasting in their ears will have another excuse to moan but for those who dread the thump thump of mindless music, there might be some hope of a more considered use of background audio in future. There is nothing quite like the payment of money to inhibit freebie misuse and if we enjoy the music then we should pay the musicians their due.