You can’t read the newspaper or hear the television news without hearing of some new technology that is moving Artificial Intelligence forward.  Well, if you are keeping up with Death Care on a daily basis, you will also notice that technology is moving forward fast and furious to help funeral service professionals everyday.

 

The latest news that I heard was livestream technology company OneRoom and its innovation to solve “long-standing music copyright risk” during recorded services.

 

You can learn of OneRoom’s new innovative technology here.

 

According to a press release from OneRoom that we received this week, “For years, funeral homes have faced a legal risk when recording and sharing services that include copyright music. It’s a well-known issue within the industry, one with no clear solution, until now. OneRoom’s new built-in Music Copyright Protection feature removes the exposure entirely, making recorded services safe to share while preserving the integrity of the experience.”

 

Again, as noted in a statement in the press release, International Cemetery, Cremation, and Funeral Association (ICCFA) General Counsel Poul Lemasters says this about the issue, “Once the live event and stream are over, then the licenses no longer cover any additional publication if the music is part of the service. This means that if you choose to record the service and post it on your site, the music must be muted, because neither license allows a recording and playback of copyrighted music”.

 

The press release from OneRoom goes on to say, “OneRoom’s Music Copyright Protection solves that. Music plays in full during the livestream. Then, in the recording, only copyrighted songs are muted, everything spoken remains untouched. Guests watching the service can see a discreet on-screen message showing the song title and artist, with a link to listen on YouTube.”

 

Brady Cox, CEO of OneRoom made this prepared comment in the press release, “This has been a known risk in the industry for years, but no one had solved it.  We’ve built a solution that’s respectful to the experience, no effort for the funeral home, and includes a playlist with links that keeps the experience whole for guests, so they can still listen to the music. It’s compliant, and it takes the worry off the table.”

 

The feature will roll out to existing OneRoom customers over the coming months. There’s no setup required and no extra cost.

 

Funeral Director Daily take:  As I alluded to in the first paragraph of this article, technology is rapidly moving forward in the Death Care space.  As a provider of Death Care news, I get press releases almost every day of some new technology feature available for Death Care providers.

 

I find myself thinking that the disposition of the dead human body is pretty much the same — burials and crematations, with a few other options now available.  However, the technology to help funeral service professionals handle the different tasks of caring for that person and also for providing the services and communication that survivors find necessary is changing every single day.

 

I’m a firm believer that the way funeral homes and cemeteries acquire, serve, and retain future clientele is changing drastically.  And, technology will be a big factor in how you do those things. . . . . it might even be that those that can capture the “technology savvy” consumer will have a leg-up on the competition when it comes to market share.

 

My advice, especially for the older, more traditional funeral directors like myself. . . .is that you cannot afford to put your head in the sand when thinking about technology.  My hunch, is that if you do, your competitors may zoom right past you.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• New online platform simplifies ordering flowers for bereaved families.  Yahoo Finance
• Flemish crematorium uses “water cremation” for the first time in Belgium.  The Brussels Times (Belgium)
• GiveWillow registry aims to ease pain of bereaved.  Jackson Hole News & Guide (WY)
• Funeral home worker crushed to death by by burial vault in freak accident.  New York Post (NY)

 

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