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AFIMSC consolidates enterprise chapel music licensing under one contract

  • Published
  • By Shannon Carabajal
  • AFIMSC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center recently awarded a contract to deliver a music and media copyright license to chaplain programs across the Department of the Air Force.
 
AFIMSC’s Chaplain Corps Division worked with the 773rd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron to replace 82 installation copyright licenses with one consolidated contract that costs 20% less than individual license agreements, saving wings money and time.
 
Chapels and churches need a copyright license to display Christian song lyrics, distribute printed lyrics, or record and broadcast worship services, explained Lt. Col. Gregory Brunson, resource management branch chief for the AFIMSC Chaplain Corps Division.
 
“We are always looking for innovative ways to better serve our installations so we combined all these subscriptions into one contract,” he said.
 
In addition to removing the burden of managing and paying for local licenses, the contract delivers legal access to more than 200,000 song lyrics and the rights to live stream worship services which raises the level of services for some installations and ensures all bases have equal coverage and access to the same resources and tools.
 
Music is an important part of worship services for many faiths, said Maj. Keith Manry, a chaplain with the 502nd Air Base Wing on JBSA-Lackland where 20 different faith groups meet every week.
 
“In most faith traditions, music is a means of connecting the individual with their community of faith and with their God. Music moves the heart and will in ways that mere words cannot accomplish,” he said.
 
Across JBSA-Lackland, the consolidation serves the largest worship program in the Air Force with more than 4,000 Airmen and their family members in attendance each week. The live streaming license included with the contract provides an essential benefit, especially for the Air Force Basic Military Training program.
 
Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, live streaming has become critical to worship programs supporting AF BMT and countless other chapels across the Air Force, Manry said. At BMT, the live streaming of worship services is now an important part of graduation weekend for Airmen and their families.
 
“The new graduation schedule does not permit families to experience worship services, so we elected to live stream as many of our services per weekend as possible. Doing so has multiplied the opportunities for trainees and their families to feel connected through the medium of worship even if just through sharing the same virtual space,” he said. “Without the proper licensing which this consolidated agreement provides, we would be unable to provide this critical connection between trainees and their families.”
 
The copyright license demonstrates AFIMSC’s ability to support installations through an enterprise view of chaplain programs and services, Brunson said.
 
“This is one example of how (we) can serve the entire DAF Chaplain Corps, ensuring vital services and reducing the cost and workload for local installations.”