Since 2001, FMC has organized six annual Policy Summits to address the critical issues at the intersection of music, law, technology and policy. After a stellar event last October in Montreal and our DC Policy Day in May, we’re bringing it back to Washington, DC for our 7th Annual Policy Summit, which will take place at George Washington University’s Betts Theatre from September 17-18, 2007.
FMC welcomes keynote speakers
Sen. Byron Dorgan
and
Sen. Ron Wyden
Programming Highlights

FMC’s Jenny Toomey will welcome attendees to the Policy Summit, backed by New Orleans musician Al "Carnival Time" Johnson.
Marybeth Peters, Register, US Copyright Office, will participate in a special conversation with USPTO’s Ann Chaitovitz about her 40 years at the Office, and the impact of new technologies on the copyright system.
Attorney Rosemary Carroll, musician Bob Mould and Mac McCaughan, musician and co-owner of the independent label Merge Records - home of Arcade Fire, Spoon, M. Ward and others - will be joined by top names from law and technology to debate the state of the music industry.
Top representatives from some of today’s most innovative music services - Pandora, Rumblefish, Eventful, and Echomusic - will discuss the technologies that are empowering musicians and bringing artists and fans closer together.
International experts, including CISAC’s Director Eric Baptiste, Sarah Faulder from MCPS-PRS, RealNetwork’s Tim Quirk, DiMA’s Jon Potter and CMRRA’s David Basskin will tackle global licensing issues.
A star-studded list of panelists will debate about how broadband policy impacts musicians: Ben Scott from Free Press, Peter Gordon from Thirsty Ear Records, Jason Oxman from CEA, and Tim Wu from Columbia Law School.
Pho founder Jim Griffin will moderate a panel about how ubiquitous wireless access may impact the music and broadcast industries. The panel includes Ralph Simon from the Mobile Entertainment Forum, attorney Whitney Broussard, Microsoft’s Skip Pizzi, and others.
A three-part track on how musicians can better use technologies, with special sessions on social networking and blogging, podcasting, and DIY licensing.
We’re also thrilled to be working with Smithsonian Global Sound on an 4-part track on access to culture on Tuesday afternoon, jam-packed with some of the most interesting names in the field including Smithsonian Global Sound, American Folklife Center, Metabrainz, IODA and National Geographic. The session will start with a presentation by Dan Sheehy, director of Smithsonian Global Sound, followed by a talk by Peter Alyea from the Library of Congress’ music preservation division, a panel on orphan works, and a panel on how technology is improving access to culture.
And that’s not all. The Summit also includes panels about performance royalties, the state of retail, the new viability of niche musical genres, the sample license clearance process, major label contracts in the digital age, and a policymakers roundtable that includes some of Capitol Hill’s top staffers.
Check out the program details here | Register online now
Confirmed Panelists
Peter Alyea Digital Conversion Specialist, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound, Library of Congress
Paul Anthony CEO, Rumblefish
Eric Baptise Director General, CISAC
David Basskin President, Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency
David Beal President, National Geographic Music and Radio
Richard Bengloff President, American Association of Independent Music (A2IM)
Mario Bouchard General Counsel, Copyright Board of Canada
Michael Bracy Policy Director, Future of Music Coalition
Rudy Brioche Legal Advisor, Federal Communications Commission
Whitney Broussard Partner, Selverne, Mandelbaum & Mintz
Jennifer Buzzell Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Strathmore Arts Center
Bryan Calhoun Label Management Systems
Rosemary Carroll Partner, Carroll, Guido & Groffman, LLP
Ann Chaitovitz Attorney-Advisor, US Patent and Trademark Office
Brian Dear Founder and Chairman, Eventful.com
Corey Denis Vice President, reapandsow.com
Mike Dreese Co-founder and CEO, Newbury Comics
Jonathan Eaton Musician, Spinto Band
Sarah Faulder Public Affairs Director, MCPS-PRS
David Freedman General Manager, WWOZ Jazz and Heritage Station
Peter Gordon President, Thirsty Ear Records
Jim Griffin CEO, Onehouse
Peter Gutmann Member, Womble Carlyle Sandridge and Rice
Wayne Halper Attorney, Law Office of Wayne Halper
David Harrell Musician, The Layaways and blogger at digitalaudioinsider.com
E. Michael Harrington Professor of Entertainment and Music Business, Belmont University
Henry Harris President, Spiritco1 Christian internet radio
Michael Hausman Manager, Michael Hausman Artist Management
Ariel Hyatt Founder, Ariel Publicity
Richard Jankovich Musician, Burnside Project and Director of A&R and Licensing, Rumblefish
Peter Jaszi Professor of Law, Faculty Director of the Glushko-Samuelson IP Clinic, American University
Robert Kaye Mayhem & Chaos Coordinator, MusicBrainz
John Kellogg Assistant Chair, Music Business/Management, Berklee College of Music
Jon Kertzer Senior Music Programmer, Zune/Microsoft
Lady Kier Musician and DJ
Nick Krill Musician, Spinto Band
Sharky Laguana Musician and Founder/CEO, Mixpal/Bandago
Chris MacDonald General Counsel, Association of Music Podcasting/Indiefeed podcast
Josh Madell Co-owner, Other Music
Rachel Masters Director of Business Development, Ning
Mac McCaughan Musician and Co-owner, Merge Records
Walter McDonough General Counsel, Future of Music Coalition
Charlie McEnerney Producer + Host, Well-Rounded Radio
Kembrew McLeod Author, documentary filmmaker,Professor, University of Iowa
Oliver Metzger Policy Planning Advisor, US Copyright Office
Mark Montgomery CEO, Echomusic
Bob Mould Musician
Franz Nicolay Musician, The Hold Steady, Anti-Social Music
Jason Oxman Vice President, Communications, Consumer Electronics Association
Skip Pizzi Manager, Technical Policy, Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division
Lou Plaia Co-Founder / VP Artist Development, Reverbnation.com
Patricia Polach Attorney, Bredhoff and Kaiser, Counsel for AFM
Jonathan Potter Executive Director, Digital Media Association
Tim Quirk Executive Editor, Music, RealNetworks
Jessica Rosenworcel Senior Communications Counsel, Senate Commerce Committee
Mike Schmidt Office of Senator Feingold (D-WI)
Ben Scott Policy Director, Free Press
Rachel Segal Marketing Manager/Artist Relations, MusicIP
Daniel Sheehy Director and Curator, Smithsonian Global Sound
Molly Sheridan Managing Editor, NewMusicBox.org, Producer, counterstreamradio.org
Ralph Simon Chairman Emeritus and Founder, Mobile Entertainment Forum
John Simson Executive Director, SoundExchange
Gigi Sohn President, Public Knowledge
Atesh Sonneborn Associate Director, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Michael Taft Head of the Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center
Anastasia Tsioulcas Classical music columnist, Billboard
Marcy Rauer Wagman Program Director, Music Industry, Drexel University, CEO, Mad Dragon Unltd.
Tim Westergren Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Pandora
Tim Wu Professor, Columbia Law School
Billy Zero Program Director, XMU, XM Satellite Radio
Brian Zisk Technologies Director, Future of Music Coalition
Register today!
Seating is limited in the theater so act now to guarantee your space.
Regular Registration: $199
Student Registration: $139
Click here for secure online registration
See all the registration options and student rates here
Parties!
It’s not all policy talk. Start your Summit off right by joining us for FMC’s annual Pho welcome dinner on Sunday, September 16. All panelists, attendees, staff and volunteers are invited to join us for tasty Pho soup and conversation. It’s hands down the best way to get to know panelists and participants. More details here. RSVPs go to Chhaya Kapadia at chhaya [at] futureofmusic [dot] org (chhaya@futureofmusic.org)
On Monday, September 17, join us after the programming in the Grand Ballroom on the 3rd floor of the Marvin Center for a cocktail party hosted by the Consumer Electronics Association, with a performance by Al “Carnival Time” Johnson.
On Tuesday, September 18, we’ll close off the Summit with a cocktail party hosted by Microsoft in the Grand Ballroom on the 3rd floor of the Marvin Center.
Scholarships for Working Musicians
Every year, FMC offers scholarships to make sure that musicians are not left out of the music/technology debate. Thanks to some generous contributions from foundations, technology companies, sponsors, and musician advocacy groups, 80 musicians are able to attend this Policy Summit for free.
As of today, only 8 scholarship opportunities are still available. If you’ve been meaning to apply, now is the time. Musicians: go here to apply.
Volunteers
We’re looking for volunteers to assist in a variety of capacities, and 10 hours of volunteer time gets you into the Summit and all its jam-packed craziness for free!
Details about volunteering
More on the website
Programming overview
Confirmed panelists
Suggested hotels
Press credentialing
Volunteering
Still not convinced? Here’s why you should attend our Policy Summit
"…a kind of Geneva where all sides in any number of contentious music industry fights can get together and play nice for a few days. Even more importantly, it offers pinstriped Washingtonians a rare opportunity to hear musicians articulate their concerns in person instead of relying on competing lobbying groups that claim to espouse their interests." Washington Post, 2004
"…the coalition’s organizers are due a great deal of credit for representing a constituency that is often invoked by others but not represented."
Washington Post, 2004
"As independent artists develop and discover shortcuts to get their music out in spite of an inequitable and often corrupt industry, conferences like the FMC’s go a long way toward providing them a map." Village Voice, 2005
"You know the time between when a record leaves the artist’s hands and before it gets to listener’s ears? The Summit covers everything that happens in between."
Pitchfork, 2005
Please plan to join us us this year for another spectacular event!
"The Future of Music Coalition’s annual policy summits are where chain links meet cuff links as musicians and songwriters press the issues — and the flesh — with the political powerbrokers who help determine their future." Washington Post, 2004
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This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts
























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