July 15, 2020

Efteling music composer Hartveldt wins in court

Filed under: General,Music by Orangemaster @ 3:19 pm

Composer Maarten Hartveldt, famous for composing the music heard throughout the Efteling amusement park, had his day in court recently and won one of the two battles he was fighting: getting paid more for his work. The other battle, claiming that his music was not akin to filling station music, he unfortunately lost.

For years Hartveldt had been paid a measly 198 euro a year for music that everybody associates with the Efteling and other locations, and decided that Buma-Stemra who is there to defend his rights was not paying him properly. The court decided that Buma/Stemra never should have paid Hartveldt as if it his creations were background music, adding that music in theme parks make up a significant part of the experience and atmosphere. However, the court also said that Buma-Stemra doesn’t have to expand its background music category, which Hartveldt fell under for so long.

Hartveldt’s music needs to fall under and be given the same consideration as music used for radio and television, based on the actual music used in the park. The music Hartveldt composed for the Efteling can be heard everywhere in the park by 5 million visitors each year since 2006 on almost 54,000 square metres of land.

(Link: bd.nl)

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June 2, 2020

Efteling music composer dissed as ‘filling station music’

Filed under: Music by Orangemaster @ 1:10 pm

Composer Maarten Hartveldt is mainly famous in The Netherlands for the music he composed for the Efteling amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, Noord-Brabant, normally heard everywhere in the park by 5 million visitors each year since 2006 on almost 54,000 square metres of land. While the Efteling banks more than 200 million euro a year from its visitors, Hartveldt gets a measly 198 euro a year for his work.

Hartveldt is currently fighting Buma Stemra, the collecting society with a monopoly, as not only does the amount of money he received makes no sense, it’s been labelled ‘filling station music’ by them, adding insult to injury. Buma Stemra’s decisions are known to be unclear and random, a problem that has been pointed out countless times by others. The collecting society has a reputation for chaotic administration while employees get paid handsomely and composers have to beg to find out where their money is.

Later today the court of appeal will rule on the matter. In this case, it’s a long-drawn out situation where Buma Stemra blames Hartveldt for not filing certain documents properly, but in previous cases threw money at him right before hearings with no explanation, which makes it all very complicated.

Here’s some music by Hartveldt for when you park your car at the Efteling:

(Link: volkskrant.nl)

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May 27, 2009

Biggest carpaccio

Filed under: Food & Drink by Branko Collin @ 11:44 am

Restaurant De Lakei from Kaatsheuvel, Noord Brabant, has made the biggest carpaccio in the world last Sunday.

So claim Brabants Dagblad (Dutch) and various other publications who all seem to be based on this Hart van Nederland broadcast (Dutch, about 10:45 minutes in—here‘s the stream link for those allergic to Windows Media Player). The attempt took place in the old fire station and the record claim was verified by an unnamed notary in jeans and a light brown jacket. The proceeds went to a good cause.

(Photo of a totally unrelated plate of carpaccio by Flickr user highlimitzz, some rights reserved.)

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