Future of Music Coalition

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Future of Music Coalition is a national nonprofit organization that works to ensure a diverse musical culture where artists flourish, are compensated fairly for their work, and where fans can find the music they want. More

FMC on Twitter

Best article yet on streaming by @marathonpacks 4 @pitchforkmedia. And not just cuz we're in it - http://t.co/prvclz10wJ

4 hours 43 min ago
@coreyarice @cashmusic They rule!

8 hours 18 min ago
Corrected link CLICK+APPLAUD: musician empowerment via open tech - @knightfdn #newschallenge w/ @CASHmusic https://t.co/0zcmMR5Azc

1 day 2 hours ago
Recap of last week's awesome "Saving College Radio" symposium. @WMUCexhibit http://t.co/HzuDTpDM7E

1 day 3 hours ago
Save the date! We're excited to present the 2014 Future of Music Summit on October 27-28 with support from @NEAarts #NEASpring14

1 day 6 hours ago
We're so proud to welcome @emwizzle to FMC's board of directors!

1 day 7 hours ago
Get your last minute applications for internships and paid summer fellowship with FMC http://t.co/jNttjffidD

2 days 4 hours ago
FMC's @kristinthomson chats with @SeedsofMusic about musicians' revenue streams. http://t.co/A1jqgyNpeo

2 days 6 hours ago
RT @jessevondoom: Polished the CASH/FMC #newschallenge entry a bit. All comments/applause/feedback helps. Let us know what you think! https…

4 days 21 hours ago
FMC's @caseycontrarian is live on @MPR's The Current at 10AM CST. Tune in!

5 days 7 hours ago

FutureBlog

Internet Task Force Plots Summer Tour Dates

Every rising garage rock band or upstart emcee knows that when you’ve got a bunch of untested new material, one of the smartest things you can do is to load up the van and take your new stuff out on the road to see what the audience thinks.

Well, that’s exactly what the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) are doing. Last year the Internet Task Force at the Dept. of Commerce authored a massive “Green Paper” addressing a wide range of digital copyright issues and asked for public comments. After an initial round of feedback, now they’re taking it on the road, hosting four roundtables around the country for the purpose of soliciting more public feedback to inform the agency’s recommendations. And you’re invited!

Guest post by Owen J. Sloane (@osloane) and Rachel M. Stilwell (@rachelmstilwell)

As nearly two hundred artists, producers, engineers, and music professionals traveled to Washington DC for “GRAMMYs On The Hill” last week, now is a great time to review the status of an important and recurring issue facing recording artists. Artists and record labels, large and small, do not get compensated for the use of their recordings on AM/FM (“terrestrial”) radio. The recording industry would like to see a change in this area, so that working musicians (not just the superstars) can make a fair living making recordings that we as fans want to hear on our local radio stations. It costs money, time, as well as talent, to create great records.

High costs, crappy customer service and speeds well below what’s advertised. How much do you love your Internet Service Provider (ISP)? If you have Comcast or Time Warner Cable, chances are not a lot. These two cable behemoths consistently come in at the top of “worst companies ever” lists, and we’re sure plenty of musicians can count themselves among the frustrated. Now these two companies wanna get married. But will the government allow it?

That’s something that Washington, DC is grappling with as we speak. On one side of the debate you’ve got well-heeled corporate lobbyists working on behalf of ISPs keen to make more money from controlling even more of the broadband marketplace. On the other, you’ve got regular Internet users, consumer groups and creative entrepreneurs who are tired of being promised one thing and paying out the nose for another.

Just today, more than 50 organizations, including Future of Music Coalition, signed on to a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) explaining many of the reasons that this is a bad deal.

Musicians are a very adaptable bunch, particularly independents. We’re the ones who turned the original MySpace into a powerhouse of music discovery; we’ve made Twitter an important platform for conversations about music; we continue to drive eyeballs to YouTube. Unfortunately musicians have also experienced the hassles of having a once-dependable platform disappear or transform into something that isn’t so useful, like when MySpace went Murdoch or the recent changes to Facebook.

Musicians’ needs in the digital realm might not be simple, per se, but they should be recognized. Although artists are generally enthusiastic about digital tools to reach fans, raise capital and sell stuff, we’re less thrilled when an online service goes away or is modified to the extent that its less useful. When news broke recently that streaming on-demand site Beats Music had acquired Topspin—a well-liked, direct-to-fan commerce solution for musicians—many wondered what this would mean for artists who had come to depend on its suite of services.

by Mary Willson, Communications Intern

You might think a two-time Grammy-nominee more than once named America’s Best DJ by DJ Times would be immune to label pressures. But as DJ and producer Kaskade explained in a series of tweets last month, that’s not the case. The frequent festival headliner (real name: Ryan Raddon) announced he is “in between labels,” leaving behind former label/publisher/mangement company Ultra Music (part owned by major label Sony): read more

Current Features

FMC on Twitter

FutureBlog

Internet Task Force Plots Summer Tour Dates

The Quest for Royalties for the Use of Sound Recordings on AM/FM Radio: In Full Swing

Comcast + Time Warner Cable: Out of Rhythm With Musicians

Built to Last: The Importance of Sustainable Digital Tools for Musicians

Label Battles Remixed: EDM in the Era of Consolidation

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