Test-card music
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Test card music is the background music played during the broadcast of a test card by a television station. This music is usually composed by the station itself in order to avoid having to pay licensing fees for something that does not generate revenue.
The advent of twenty-four hour broadcasting has made test card music, along with the cards themselves, almost obsolete.
Test card music became popular in its own right when a group of enthusiasts discovered one another and realised they were not alone in enjoying the music played during the day in the 1950s, 60s and 70s while the test card was broadcast on BBC.
The Test Card Circle, formed in the 1980s, is such a group of enthusiasts.
External link
- The Test Card Circle (http://www.testcardcircle.org.uk/)