In February, the Future of Music Coalition hosted their 2009 Policy Day event in Washington DC to examine the issues ?at the intersection of music, technology, policy and law?. The panelists tackled some of the most contentious issues surrounding the music industry?s future including media ownership rules, public performance royalties, network neutrality, copyright reform and fair compensation models in the digital music marketplace.

The Future of Music Coalition held its annual Policy Day here at the Washington, DC, headquarters of the National Geographic Society on Wednesday.The event itself was an interesting mashup, bringing together the wonks who are regular fixtures in DC tech policy circles with the artists and entrepreneurs who are actually producing all this “innovation” that good tech policy is supposed to promote. On purely aesthetic grounds, I feel I can die happy having seen Public Enemy’s Hank Shocklee seated next to policy geek ne plus ultra Ben Scott, of Free Press, at a panel on “Internet and Spectrum Policy and the Creative Class.” (In which context it’s actually Ben who deserves the moniker “Rebel Without a Pause.”) Here are some of the points from each speaker that leapt out at me.

Future of Music Coalition has just added several new names to its upcoming D.C. Policy Day at National Geographic Music and Radio and National Geographic Live! on February 11, 2009. The event offers an up-close look at how changes in the policymaking landscape could impact the music community, from artists and entrepreneurs to advocates and fans.

Hours before the inauguration of President Barack Obama, musicians and crew are scrambling backstage to catch their bus after the Big Shoulders Ball, at Washington’s Black Cat. Jon Langford, of the Mekons and the Waco Brothers, who played a blistering set tonight, talks with City Paper about the historic moment and about the Chicago takeover of Washington. He’s joined by his “bodyguard,” Columbia Law School grad, Future of Music Coalition co-founder, and Obama campaign supporter Walter McDonough.

Luckily, Chicagoans, just like the Daley machine on which they rely, are known for getting things done. In the absence of an official Chicago Ball (though to be fair, Obama?s Home States Ball did feature the South Side?s other favorite son, Common), the Hideout, a renowned hipster dive, partnered with community organizers Interchange and D.C. think tank the Future of Music Coalition (full disclosure: I briefly wrote for their blog) to bring a busload of Chicago musicians to D.C.?s Black Cat on the eve of the inauguration.