SOFIA: Bulgaria’s public radio has been given a surprise boost in listeners after a copyright war limited the broadcaster to airing music recorded at least 70 years ago.

The station has been playing classical music and long-forgotten jazz and folk pieces for almost two months now after its management refused to pay increased annual royalty fees to the Musicautor performers’ rights organisation.

The refusal has forced the radio to drop contemporary music and dig up older tunes from its dusty archive. Under EU regulations, copyright lasts for 70 years after a composer’s death.

The change in tune unexpectedly struck the right note with listeners, particularly among older generations. Pensioners make up around a third of Bulgaria’s 7.4-million-strong population.

“Instead of punishing us, the switch has boosted our listener base,” BNR spokeswoman Nikoleta Elenkova said this week, as a new round of talks with Musicautor failed. A listeners’ survey conducted by the IPSOS institute showed a 20-per-cent boost in listenership in January, when the changes entered into effect, compared to the average monthly levels in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2017