One of the key reasons that Future of Music Coalition embarked on our Artist Revenue Streams project in 2010 was to bring some tangible data to the ongoing debates about copyright, compensation and creativity.

To that end, for our latest release, our research team has put together a series of mythbusting articles using qualitative and quantitative data collected in this project to examine four common assumptions about musicians and money: that they’re rich; that they make all of their money from touring; that they don’t make any money selling sound recordings; and that they make all their money selling t-shirts or merchandise. (Spoiler alert: none of these assumptions hold up.) 

Will this mythbusting series put these debates to rest? Probably not. But we hope that the data provides musicians, advocates and fans with a better sense of the changing nature of the music ecosystem, and some data to reference in ongoing conversations.

 From coast to coast, here are some opportunities to hear from FMC staff in person at some of the industry’s most exciting music events.

Tuesday, February 19

SF MusicTech Summit XII brings together visionaries in the music/technology space, the best and brightest developers, entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, journalists, musicians and organizations who work with them at the convergence of culture and commerce. Held at San Francisco’s Hotel Kabuki, the event features a proactive, conducive-to-dealmaking, B2B environment. Speakers include J Sider of BandPage, Malthe Sigurdsson of Rdio, Tamara Mendelsohn of Eventbrite, Nic Adler of The Roxy, Zoe Keating, our own Kristin Thomson, and many more!

For tickets and more information, visit sfmusictech.com and save 20% with the code “FoM”.  

Wednesday, February 20 - Thursday February 21

Digital Media Wire combines Digital Music Forum East and West into one large event simply named DMW Music on February 20-21. Join 500+ of the most influential music and digital media leaders as they gather in downtown New York to socialize, share ideas, do deals and learn about new technologies and services. This year’s event features a music-tech crawl, classroom style presentations, interactive Pit sessions, and an Awards Dinner. Current speakers include executives from Sony, Warner Music Group, Pandora, LyricFind, Shazam, VEVO, Clear Channel, and FMC’s Kristin Thomson!

For more info, visit http://www.dmw-music.com. You can save 15% on registration with the code “FMC15”.

Future of Music Coalition is always working to find a better balance between the needs of musicians and a more functional digital marketplace for music. Recently, we filed comments with the US Copyright Office in their Orphan Works inquiry. Orphan works are those whose rightful owner cannot be located. For a decade, policymakers have wrestled with a solution, but failed to issue proposals that satisfied creators as well as copyright owners. 

We think that there’s a way to “fix” orphan works while respecting the interests of musicians and songwriters. Our proposal provides the Copyright Office with specific ways to include creators in any forthcoming recommendations to Congress.

For the full story, check out our blog post on the topic:
http://futureofmusic.org/blog/2013/02/04/cracking-orphan-works-riddle

and read our full offical comments:
http://futureofmusic.org/filing/fmc-orphan-works-filing-us-copyright-office

FMC is on the lookout for some stellar interns to join our team in our DC office for the upcoming summer and fall semesters. Think you’ve got what it takes to get your music-tech-policy nerd on in our nation’s capital? Check out the current openings. Deadline for summer applicants is March 1st.

You can always contact us at suggestions [at] futureofmusic [dot] org if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Lissa Rosenthal
Jean Cook
Michael Bracy
Walter McDonough
Brian Zisk
Bryan Calhoun
Tamara Saviano
Kristin Thomson
Erin McKeown
Farnum Brown
Peter DiCola
Casey Rae
Kevin Erickson
Chhaya Kapadia
Alex Maiolo
Anna-Kaisa Kaila