1. Future of Music Policy Summit 2009: awesomeness roundup!

There was so much great stuff at this year's Future of Music Policy Summit, it's hard to pick which bits to tell you about. We want to say thanks to the 500 registered attendees, and the thousands of people who watched the programming via a live webcast from web.illish.us. Then there's the bloggers, tweeters and dreamers who helped make this year's Summit a viral spectacular. Here's some evidence of the general awesomeness of the event.

Key Policymakers
FMC was honored to welcome Sen. Al Franken, Rep. Mike Doyle and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to Gaston Hall for newsmaking speeches and conversations. Franken cracked wise about this "new band" R.E.M. before launching into a thoughtful and sensible speech about why he supported net neutrality. After his remarks, he sat with R.E.M.'s Mike Mills for a Q&A, which ranged from health care to why he felt compelled to run for public office after the death of his colleague Paul Wellstone in 2002.

C-SPAN was onsite to film Senator Al Franken's keynote and discussion with Mike Mills of R.E.M., as well as FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's keynote. Unfortunately, the segment is no longer available on the C-SPAN site, but here's a clip of the Senator's appearance (starts at 3:42).

Amazing Panels
On Monday, the panels covered everything from new business models to network privacy. Greg Kot led the way with a forward-thinking discussion about how artists and indie labels are embracing technology and change. Then the conversation turned the complexities and unresolved issues associated with the sample license clearance process. Perhaps the most memorable moment happened on an afternoon panel when Rhapsody's Tim Quirk held up his iPhone and explained that Rhapsody had been forced to get a separate license from content owners to push music into its iPhone app, despite the fact that they already had a license for making music available on mobile devices. When the RIAA's Steve Marks responded, "Well, maybe you should've negotiated a better deal to start with," there were audible gasps in the audience.

The "most engaging panelist" award goes to manager extraordinaire Peter Jenner, who was an equal opportunity critic, with sharp words for the RIAA, Google, even the Department of Justice!

Musicians and Attendees Supporting Sweet Home New Orleans
As part of the programming, FMC and Air Traffic Control worked together to organize "Musicians Bringing Musicians Home" – a benefit concert that took place at Rock and Roll Hotel on the night of October 5. With the amazing New Orleans trombone band Bonerama holding it all together in front of a packed and boisterous house, special musical guests Martin Perna, Erin McKeown, Nicole Atkins, Wayne Kramer and Mike Mills each took their turns on stage. Until you've heard Nicole do "When the Levee Breaks" or MC5's "Kick Out The Jams" with three trombones, you haven't fully lived.

Here's some pics from the show.

Breakouts: Completely Packed
On Tuesday afternoon, attendees and panelists left Gaston Hall and headed over to the Georgetown Conference Center for two rounds of breakouts. The most popular breakouts? The conversation about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was standing room only (remember, this is DC), and every seat was full for the boisterous session on the Future of Music Journalism.

Summit liveblog
Read a handy play-by-play of the entire Summit right here (thanks to Courtney Bennett for her tireless posting).

Some other great blog coverage from attendees:

Paul Rapp/Rapp on This • George Howard/9 Giant Steps •
Brian McTear/Weathervane (3 days worth) • Hypebot

Photos
Our wonderful photographer, Caroline Deutermann, snapped tons of shots of this year’s event.

Got your own photos from the event? Upload them to Flickr and tag them FMC09.

Video archives
The web.illish.us multimedia team was onsite live webcasting all of the conversations in Gaston Hall.  They have now compiled some of the "greatest hits" from the Summit webcasts, which was watched by over 9,000 unique viewers.

Audio-visual mashup artist Mike Relm showed us how he does his thing, then sat down for a conversation with Urb Magazine founder Raymond Roker.

Brian Message, who is part of Radiohead's management team, sat down for a discussion about artist empowerment in the digital age with WIRED correspondent Eliot Van Buskirk.

Closing Town Hall with musicians Nicole Atkins, Vijay Iyer, Erin McKeown, Martin Perna and FMC.

Media coverage
But you don't have to take our words for it: here's some of what the press have to say about the Policy Summit. (And stay tuned for a Summit-themed episode of NPR's "On the Media.")

FCC Chairman Uses Springsteen Titles to Explain Internet Policy
Rolling Stone, October 6, 2009

D.C. Summit asks: Who will save music?
Chicago Tribune, Oct. 11, 2009

Future of Music: Spotify's imminent arrival could boost legit digital market
Chicago Tribune, Oct. 6, 2009

Future of Music: Sen. Al Franken weighs in on net neutrality
Chicago Tribune, Oct. 5, 2009

Future of music: FCC faces challenge to reconcile Internet access, artists rights
Chicago Tribune, Oct. 5, 2009

Future of Music Summit: 115,000 albums and only 110 'hits'
Chicago Tribune, Oct. 4, 2009

FCC Chairman Channels Springsteen to Explain Internet Policy
Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2009

Future of Music Policy Summit Comes to Town
Washington Post, October 2, 2009

Franken can't resist high-tech humor
Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 5, 2009

Franken Stumps For Network Neutrality
Broadcasting & Cable, October 5, 2009

Selling CDs No Way to Make a Living
CNET, October 7, 2009

Who was there?

497 registered attendees represented a robust cross section of musicians, technologists, educators, policymakers and attorneys:

Musician/Songwriters: 22%
Student/Educator: 22%
Nonprofit/Advocates: 10%
Lawyers: 9%
Tech/Internet industry: 6%
Journalists: 5%
Label/Entertainment Ind: 5%
Government: 3%
Entrepreneur: 3%
Manager/Promoter: 3%
Other: 3%
Studio Engineer: 2%
Music fans: 1%

Evaluations

Attendees gave the event high marks. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best, the summary totals were:

"I found this event valuable" 4.7/5.0

"I thought it was well organized" 4.6/5.0

"The event addressed important topics" 4.8/5.0

"The event met my expectations" 4.6/5.0

Attendees: if you didn't fill out an evaluation onsite, click here to fill it out online.

Shout outs

"While I'm typically not real big on conferences, I can enthusiastically recommend this one. The values of the conference and the caliber of speakers/workshops makes this - in my mind - the go-to conference. Get yourself registered for 2010 asap." – George Howard, manager for Carly Simon and entrepreneur

"Expectations far surpassed. Loved it. It was great!" – conference attendee

"Thank you for an awesome conference." – conference attendee

Thanks again to all panelists, attendees, volunteers and sponsors who made this event such a huge success. We're already planning for 2010, so stay tuned!

2. FMC, PBS' Independent Lens & Community Cinema present COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS

One of the most fascinating and fun parts of the 2009 Future of Music Policy Summit was the screening of COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS — a documentary by Benjamin Franzen and University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod that examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and money. The free movie screening at Georgetown University on October 4 was incredible. Of course, so was the conversation with Kembrew and entertainment attorney Tony Berman, who is featured in the film.

COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS traces the rise of hip-hop from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry. Sampling, or riffing, is as old as music itself, but as technologies developed in the 1980s and 1990s that made it easier to sample existing sound recordings — and when record label company lawyers got involved — everything changed. Years before people started downloading music off the internet, hip-hop sampling sparked a debate about copyright, creativity and technological change, and the debate still rages today.

The documentary includes interviews with some of the most important and influential voices in hip hop, DJ culture and copyright law: Public Enemy, De La Soul, Tommy Boy Records, George Clinton, Definitive Jux and the funky drummer himself, Clyde Stubblefield.

If you weren't at the DC show (or any of the 13 other screenings that have already taken place), you may still be able to catch COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS at a venue near you.

Here's a list of upcoming screenings:

10/22/2009 Kansas City, MO: Tivoli Cinema 7:00 PM
10/23/2009 Columbus, OH: OSU Mendenhall Labs, 4:30 PM
10/23/2009 Jamaica Plain, MA: First Church in Jamaica Plain, 7:00 PM
10/24/2009 Chicago, IL: Chicago Cultural Center 2:00 PM
10/25/2009 Indianapolis, IN: K.I. EcoCenter 4:00 PM
10/25/2009 Washington, DC: Jewish Community Center 3:00 PM
10/25/2009 Iowa City, IA: Bijou Theater 7:00 PM
10/26/2009 San Diego, CA: San Diego Public Library 6:30 PM
10/26/2009 College Station, TX: Texas A&M, Evans 204E, 7:00 PM
10/27/2009 Hayward, CA: Hayward Public Library 5:30 PM
10/27/2009 San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Main Library 5:45 PM
10/27/2009 Denver, CO: Starz FilmCenter 7:00 PM
10/27/2009 Salt Lake City, UT: KUED, 1275 Fairfax Road, 6:30 PM
10/27/2009 Statesboro, GA, Dos Primos, 6:30 PM
10/28/2009 Washington, DC: Busboys and Poets 6:30 PM
10/28/2009 Miami, FL: Miami Dade/Wolfson Campus 5:00 PM
10/28/2009 Miami, FL: Florida Intl University/Madique 7:00 PM
10/28/2009 Omaha, NE: Girls Incorporated of Omaha, 4:10 PM
10/29/2009 Charleston, SC: Charleston County Public Library 6:30 PM
11/14/2009 Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation, 7:30 PM

Remember, if COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS isn't playing in your town, you can still see it when it airs on PBS in January 2010. Can you set a TiVo that far ahead?

FMC's support for Copyright Criminals screenings is just one part of our ongoing work understanding and documenting the sample license clearance process. In 2010, Duke University Press will be publishing Creative License, a book by Kembrew and FMC's former research director Peter DiCola that includes interviews with nearly 100 participants in the sampling culture, and offers a thorough economic and legal analysis of the underpinnings of sampling.

3. Music 2.0 and the "29 Streams"

Following this year's Policy Summit, we got tons of requests to make available some of the key information presented in the musician-oriented programming. Well, our Education Director, Kristin Thomson has recorded her popular "New Business Models" presentation and posted the corresponding spreadsheets that explain if/how performers, songwriters and copyright owners are compensated. As an added bonus, we've also included slides from ReverbNation co-founder Jed Carlson's presentation that offers practical tips on building a "fan funnel" that will drive your fans from casual listeners to active promoters.

You can check out all these goodies right here.

Kristin also wrote a super-interesting blog post that outlines all the revenue streams currently available to musicians, what they are and where they come from. So far we can think of 29. Can you think of others? Check out the list and let us know what we're missing in the comments.

4. Big Wins for Low Power FM

We're thrilled to report that the Local Community Radio Act passed out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in a 15-1 vote on Thursday, Oct. 15. Having worked on this issue for nearly a decade, we couldn't be more excited.

The Local Community Radio Act would allow for the creation of hundreds of new Low Power FM (LPFM) radio stations in communities across the country. LPFM stations are great for local, niche and indie artists who have little shot of getting on the commercial airwaves due to the rampant consolidation of station ownership. But don't take our word for it — check out these video testimonials by artists in our I Support Community Radio campaign. (Interested in being a part of this project? Send an email to caseyATfutureofmusic.org for details on how to submit your own video testimonial.)

Now that the legislation is out of the House Commerce Committee, the House can pass their version of the legislation. Then, it's on to the Senate.

Check out this cool Prometheus Radio Project graphic about the road to LPFM passage. Kind of "Schoolhouse Rock," huh?

OK, one more Summit mention: Local Community Radio Act co-sponsor Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA) appeared with New Jersey songwriter/musician Nicole Atkins for a special conversation about how LPFM can strengthen arts and cultural communities. Check out the video right here.

5. Performance Rights Act passes in Senate Committee

On the same day that the House Commerce committee was voting on the LPFM legislation, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed their version of the Performance Rights Act of 2009 in voice vote. This is the farthest that this legislation has gotten in the 30-plus years that performers have been advocating for legislation that would ensure that performers and sound copyright owners (usually the labels) are compensated when their music is played (or "performed") on over-the-air radio.

Check out our Public Performance Right fact sheet for more info on why this is so important for performing artists who aren't currently compensated when their music is played on terrestrial radio.

Or watch FMC's Communications Director Casey Rae-Hunter speak to MusicFIRST — a group including labels, musicians, unions, SoundExchange and hundreds of musicians – about the performance right.

FMC is pleased that the Performance Right Act has passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and you can be sure we'll be reporting back about any further developments.

6. Still Fighting for Net Neutrality

Now that we're close to having net neutrality become the law of the land, it's no surprise that the big telecom and cable companies are pushing back.

Currently, a handful of powerful Internet Service Providers (IPSs) are putting pressure on the Federal Communications Commission to "tone down" its planned introduction of expanded net neutrality principles (and the accompanying public discussions) on the way to possible rulemaking.

Why are the ISPs and their lobbyists in such a tizzy? Well, for one, they want to be able to charge content providers (you, know, people like musicians who put stuff on the web) a higher fee for the faster delivery of their sites and services. Those who couldn't afford to — or didn't want to — pay the "toll" would be stuck in the slow lane of the information superhighway.

FMC started its Rock the Net campaign in 2007 because we recognize that musicians are not only America's cultural ambassadors, but also part of its entrepreneurial backbone. Just about everywhere you look, artists are finding new platforms to turn people on to their music. In the absence of net neutrality, these platforms may be only available to those who could cut big-money deals with the telecom and cable companies.

Head here to learn more about the current fight to preserve the open internet.

7. FMC's Michael Bracy on NPR's Sound Opinions

On October 2, Chicago music critics Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot talked to FMC Policy Director Michael Bracy about the recent appointment of Victoria Espinel as the new Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator. Michael explains how this position will play a coordinating role, because there are now many different agencies that deal with copyright issues. He also says that, until a legitimate digital media marketplace fully evolves, it remains to be seen how copyright laws should change and be approached differently in the courts. You can listen here.

8. FMC, musicians and speech

You probably got the memo that Future of Music Coalition supports artists' access to media technologies (like radio and the internet) and the idea that creative expression has value. But did you know we also stick up for musicians' right to free speech? 'Cause we definitely do.

FMC has been part of the ongoing court debates over the FCC's current indecency policies, which have a chilling effect on creativity and speech. Back in 2008, FMC filed an amici brief (amici means "advisers to the court who are not parties to the case") with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. On Sept. 16, we filed a brief at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals that once again takes the Federal Communications Commission to task for its "vague and arbitrary" indecency policy. How does this translate to musicians' speech? Well, firstly, like all Americans, artists in the U. S. of A. have a right to a diversity of voices and expression on the public airwaves. Sadly, in a highly consolidated media environment, this promise isn't always fulfilled. Second, musicians (and again, all Americans) are granted the right to free speech. And yes, that does cover creative expression.

On Sept. 23, we filed reply comments at the FCC regarding a MusicFIRST petition alleging that certain broadcasters have been dropping artists from playlists because those artists are on record supporting a public performance right for terrestrial radio. If true, this is pretty serious business, and definitely worthy of FCC attention.

These court proceedings and Commission filings are fairly lengthy (and complicated), but our corresponding FutureBlog posts will give you an idea of what we've been up to:

FMC: Fighting for Musicians' Speech Since 2000!

The Good Kind of Feedback (Musicians and Speech, Pt. II)

9. Travel and appearances

FMC is going global once again. On Friday, Oct. 23, FMC Communications Director Casey Rae-Hunter will be at the CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival in NYC, where he'll appear on a panel called Internet Radio: a Free For All. Joining him will be Emch Subatomic (DJ, KEXP; Manager, Subatomic Sound; Producer, BrooklynRadio.net), Peter Ferraro (GM, East Village Radio), Jerimiah Lewis (Radio Promotions, Yep Roc Records) and Peter Schiecke (AOL Radio Programming Director AOL).

On Saturday, Oct. 31, FMC's Jean Cook will in Copenhagen, Denmark to participate in this year's WOMEX conference, where she'll lead a discussion called "Strength in Diversity: Better Living Through Cooperative Action." Joining her in discussion are Alison Wenham, AIM (UK); Paulo André Moraes Pires, Astronave/Porto Musical (Brazil); Marc Benaïche, Mondomix Media (France) and Anton Carter, Pacific Arts Alliance (Samoa/New Zealand).

10. SanFran MusicTech is back!

We wanted to give you an early heads up about the next SanFran MusicTech Summit, which takes place at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco, on Monday, December 7.

Founded and organized by FMC technologies director Brian Zisk, SFMT brings together visionaries in the music/technology space, along with the best and brightest developers, entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, journalists, musicians and organizations who work with them at the convergence of culture and commerce.

Discounted tickets are available for a limited time; head here for more info.

You can also check out this FMC podcast interview with Brian, conducted shortly before the last SFMT back in May.