Washington, D.C.- Future of Music Coalition (FMC) (http://futureofmusic.org), a national education, research, and advocacy nonprofit for musicians, is holding its 14th annual Future of Music Policy Summit, which takes place at Georgetown University (http://www.georgetown.edu) in Washington, DC on October 27-28, 2014.
This year’s Policy Summit features keynote addresses by:
• Mignon Clyburn, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
• John Abodeely, Deputy Director, President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities
More than 80 expert speakers and panelists will be featured, including:
• Ceci Bastida, musician
• Felix Contreras, Co-host, Alt.Latino, NPR
• Ben Brannen, Co-founder and President, AtVenu
• Thomas Frank, columnist, Salon and author
• Kiran Gandhi, drummer/percussionist, M.I.A.
• Katie Alice Greer, musician, Priests
• Shawn King, musician, DeVotchKa
• Tracy Maddux, CEO, CD Baby
• Martín Perna, Musician, Antibalas and Ocote Soul Sounds
• Marc Ribot, guitarist, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits
• Harry Shearer, actor and musician, Le Show, The Simpsons, This is Spinal Tap
• Tom Silverman, Executive Director, New Music Seminar
• Fox Stevenson, singer, songwriter, and producer
• Astra Taylor, documentary filmmaker, musician and author
• Bill Wilson, Entertainment Metadata Consultant
“The goal of the Future of Music Policy Summit is to help our attendees gain knowledge, inspiration, ideas, new friends and contacts, and build a stronger community,” says Managing Director Hannah Byam, “We also want to help attendees better understand why it’s so important that everyone working in music today knows that national policy affects how money is made and how we can make sure everyone’s voice is heard.”
The 2014 Future of Music Policy Summit is co-hosted by Georgetown University and made possible by the support of the Department of Performing Arts at Georgetown University and an award from the National Endowment of the Arts.
The confirmed schedule is:
MONDAY, OCTOBER 27
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM: Introduction from Future of Music Coalition and “In Conversation”:
• Damian Kulash, Musician, OK Go http://okgo.net
• Casey Rae, VP for Policy and Education, Future of Music Coalition
http://futureofmusic.org/staff#crh
9:50 AM – 10:50 AM: In Service: Innovation in the Musicians Toolbox:
Musicians depend on technology now more than any other time in history. Platforms abound for creating, promoting and distributing music, for planning tours, engaging fans, raising funds and selling music, merchandise, concert tickets and more. Mostly, artists care about two things: can they get on the platform, and will it make life easier? Our experts will riff on what it takes to deliver a truly musician-friendly service with an eye towards productive partnerships. Learn about apps and services for managing money, tours, websites, fan relationships commerce and everything in between, and how they’re making sure their service is actually in service of musicians.
• Ben Brannen, Co-founder and President, AtVenu: http://atvenu.com
• KC Fox, Category Marketing Manager, Music, Eventbrite: http://eventbrite.com
• Randy Nichols, CEO, Force Media Management: http://forcemm.com
• Brett Sechrest, Co-founder and CEO, SoundScry: http://soundcry.com
• Craig Swann, Founder, looplabs: http://looplabs.com
10:55 AM – 11:35 AM: In Conversation: On Activism and Art:
• Ceci Bastida, Musician: http://www.cecibastidamusic.com
• Felix Contreras, Co-host, Alt.Latino, NPR (moderator): http://www.npr.org/blogs/altlatino/
• Shawn King, Musician, DeVotchKa: http://devotchka.net
11:40 AM – 12:00 PM: Keynote: The Honorable Mignon Clyburn:
• Mignon Clyburn, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov/leadership/mignon-clyburn
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM: LUNCH with Metadata for Musicians: Metadata for Musicians: a Hands-on Workshop About the Data Attached to Your Music That Powers Discovery, Attribution and Royalties
Metadata is all that information that describes and identifies your music. In some cases, metadata is text – composer and musicians’ names, dates, genre. In other cases, it’s numeric data such as UPC barcodes and ISRC codes. As the music landscape becomes increasingly digital and global – and where success is counted in streams and plays instead of sales – proper metadata is an increasingly important part of your release workflow.
Join us for a two-part lunchtime workshop on metadata for musicians. Panelists from mastering studios, digital aggregators, performance rights organizations, and digital retailers will walk us through the current digital music ecosystem, and describe what data is necessary, how to get it, where and when to embed it, and what musicians need to keep track of. The goal is to provide you with a better understanding of how your music and data work together to power discovery, attribution and monetization.
On Monday, October 27, we will focus on pre-release activities, including ISRC codes, UPC barcodes and title registration.
• Bryan Calhoun, Digital Strategy, The Blueprint Group; Founder, Label Management Systems and Music Business Toolbox; Board Member, Future of Music Coalition: https://www.facebook.com/TheBlueprintGroup
• Sean Hickey, VP of Sales and Business Development, Naxos USA: http://www.naxos.com
• Tracy Maddux, CEO, CD Baby: http://cdbaby.com
• Mike Petillo, Studio Manager, Airshow: http://www.airshowmastering.com/tag/mike-petillo/
• Kristin Thomson, Co-director, Artist Revenue Streams Project, Future of Music Coalition (moderator): http://money.futureofmusic.org
• Bill Wilson, VP, Digital Strategy and Business Development, Music Business Association: http://musicbiz.org
1:30 PM - 2:15 PM: Spotlight Sessions
A Road Plan for Jazz, Presented by Jazz Forward Coalition:
At last year’s Summit, Jazz Forward Coalition (JFC) brought together an outstanding group of thought leaders and stakeholders to re-examine jazz’s unique and essential role in the socio-economic cultural arenas. It was an animated, sometimes heated, but ultimately productive discussion, which began to suggest a roadmap to address jazz’s needs for sustained growth. Since that time, JFC has embarked on a year long study, supported by a planning grant of DDCF, to take a snapshot of jazz in order to delineate, define, and suggest programmable initiatives for community based activations. Please join us as we examine the interlocking needs of the jazz ecosystem, discuss fresh ideas that bring more jazz to more people and strategize how to mobilize and execute on the local and national levels.
Life with the Devil: Who Minds the Details? Artist Metadata & Royalty Payments
What happens when the information about who played on a record or who wrote a song is wrong or missing? For the groups distributing royalties to performers and composers, what are some of the complex challenges accompanying the age of digital micropayments? Get a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse at the machinery that drives the ups and downs of artist metadata and royalties, and what the future holds for more efficient artist payments.
• Ann Chaitovitz, Attorney-Advisor, US Patent & Trademark Office, Office of Policy & International Affairs (moderator): http://www.uspto.gov/ip/global/index.jsp
• Dennis Dreith, AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund: http://afmsagaftrafund.com
• Michael Drexler, Executive Director, Business Development, BMI: http://www.bmi.com
• Chris Yorks, Societies’ Council for the Collective Management of Performers’ Rights (SCAPR): http://www.scapr.org
Case Study: Youth On Record
Denver-based Youth on Record believes that young people – those who are both at-risk and written-off – have the potential to turn their lives around. In just four years, YOR has grown into the largest music provider for Denver Public Schools where they deploy 20+ local musicians to teach in alternative high school classrooms. Through a model partnership that brings together the local music community, public schools, the nation’s leading housing authority, and the philanthropic sector, Youth on Record has quickly become an example of what’s possible when musicians and nonprofit/public sector leaders embrace an entrepreneurial spirit and band together around a common cause. In 2012, YOR’s state-of-the-art Youth Media Studio was selected as the anchor tenant for the Denver Housing Authority’s award-winning La Mariposa District redevelopment project. La Mariposa District is a DHA-led initiative that has transformed a former public housing site into a vibrant, sustainable mixed-income community, catalyzed by a HUD HOPE VI grant. When completed in 2015, the media facility will serve as a centralized location for digital arts-based programming for at-risk youth in Denver. Join this session for an overview on Youth on Record’s mission and activities and insight on how their experience could be adapted by organizations in other communities.
• Jami Duffy Executive Director, Youth on Record: http://www.youthonrecord.org/learn-about-us/staff/
• Ismael Guerrero, Executive Director, Denver Housing Authority: http://www.denverhousing.org/aboutus/MeetOurExecutiveDirector/Pages/default.aspx
• Margaret Hunt, Director, Colorado Creative Industries (moderator): http://www.coloradocreativeindustries.org/news/releases/colorado-creative-industries-announces-new-director
• Adrian Molina, Lead Instructor, Youth on Record; Musician, Molina Speaks: http://www.youthonrecord.org/learn-about-us/staff/
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM: “Whose Transparency is it Anyway?”
The word “transparency” has become a music industry invocation: if you say it enough, no one can accuse you of a lack of it. But what does it actually mean? Musicians often call for transparency in accounting and royalty distribution. Indie labels want disclosure about negotiations between big labels and digital services. Songwriters worry about the lack of transparency in direct deals between publishers and music platforms. Music services want transparency about what catalog they can or cannot use. Globally, there are issues around “black boxes” and unattributed income that never makes it back to creators. Is there a common definition or set of principles that could be adopted to advance the goal of transparency? Who makes the call about what information is made available? How can technology and better data management lessen the burden of music industry middlemen while keeping them accountable to artists? This panel will explore issues around timely and accurate dissemination with an eye towards a less opaque industry.
• Jeffrey Boxer, IED/GC, Content Creators Coalition: http://www.contentcreatorscoalition.org
• Tanya Marie Curcio, Associate, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP: http://www.vorys.com/curcio
• Waleed Diab, Senior Counsel, Google: https://www.linkedin.com/in/waleeddiab
• Dave Herlihy, Attorney, The Law Offices of David Herlihy; Professor, Northeastern University (moderator): https://www.linkedin.com/pub/david-herlihy/5/318/244
• Tom Silverman, Executive Director, New Music Seminar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Silverman
• Darius Van Arman, Co-founder, Secretly Group: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_Van_Arman
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM: On Atomic Living: Kiran Gandhi:
• Kiran Gandhi, Drummer/Percussionist; MBA Candidate, Harvard Business School: http://kirangandhi.com
• Michelle Davis, Senior Articles Editor, Journal of Intellectual Property, University of Georgia School of Law: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgdavislaw
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM: Follow the Tribes: EDM and Industry Innovation:
A late 2013 valuation of the EDM industry came in at $6.2 billion in global revenues. This includes $4.2 billion from festivals and club dates alone. Largely drawing on fan networks of highly loyal young listeners, EDM artists, promoters and managers have led the charge on transforming the live music space, and are redefining how recorded music is accessed and monetized These savvy entrepreneurs are embracing or driving innovations in ticketing plans, VIP experiences, merch bundles, stage productions and fan engagement and more. At its core, the live concert remains a singular experience that can’t be duplicated or co-opted, but EDM’s growth isn’t limited to the stage. We’ll take a look at what’s working in EDM and what takeaways the genre might offer for the rest of the industry.
• Ben Hogan, Agent, Circle Talent Agency: http://www.circletalentagency.com
• Pete Kalamoutsos, Managing Partner, GLOW, Panorama Productions: http://www.clubglow.com
• Michelle Katz, Attorney, The Law Offices of Kurosh Nasseri (moderator)
• Jeff Rimmer, General Manager, Beatgasm: https://www.beatgasm.com
• Fox Stevenson, Singer, Songwriter and Producer: https://soundcloud.com/foxstevenson
5:05 PM - 5:15 PM: Day 1 Closing
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM: Cocktail Party
6:30 PM - 11:00 PM: Future of Music Honors
Future of Music Honors: This one-of-a-kind evening highlights musicians and industry leaders who have demonstrated consistent commitment to their craft and social change. Celebrate their service along with exciting musical performances at the 2014 Future of Music Honors.
• OK Go: http://okgo.net
• Youth on Record: http://www.youthonrecord.org
• Peter Jenner: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jenner
• Girls Rock Camp Alliance: http://girlsrockcampalliance.org
• Merge Records: http://www.mergerecords.com
• Congressmen Goodlatte, Conyers, Nadler & Coble
For complete info of the second annual Future of Music Honors event, please visit
http://futureofmusic.org/events/fmchonors2014 . Summit attendees can purchase a discounted Honors ticket during the Summit registration process; quantities are limited.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28
10:00 AM – 10:10 AM: Day 2 Welcome
10:10 AM – 11:00 AM: The Legal Geniuses Panel
2014 has seen a litany of copyright developments that will have a profound impact on the entertainment industry. Major issues as diverse as the nature of authorship, content distribution and pre-1972 sound recordings are just some of the topics that are being tackled by the courts or pondered by policymakers. The coming year should see clarification on a number of these matters, including the ability for musicians and songwriters to reclaim their copyrights. But there’s always the possibility of greater confusion, which our panel of some of America’s premier entertainment attorneys will endeavor to sort out before your very eyes.
• Jill Berliner, Partner, King, Holmes, Paterno & Berliner LLP: http://khpblaw.com/lawyers.html
• Ashlye Keaton, Attorney, Entertainment Law Legal Assistance (ELLA) Project; Adjunct Professor, Tulane University School of Law and University of New Orleans: http://www.law.tulane.edu/tlsfaculty/profiles.aspx?id=16267
• Paul LiCalsi, Partner, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP: http://www.rkmc.com/lawyers/paul-v-licalsi
• Walter McDonough Co-founder and General Counsel, Future of Music Coalition: http://futureofmusic.org/boards#wm
• Janine Small, Principal, Janine Small PLLC: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/janine-small/5/447/a57
11:15 AM – 11:35 AM: Keynote:
• John Abodeely, Deputy Director, President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities: http://www.pcah.gov
11:40 AM – 12:00 PM: Money from Music: The Industry Veteran Conversation
Pundits and prognosticators often surmise that today’s musicians and composers are living in an era of unparalleled opportunity. While it’s safe to say that musicians’ access to the marketplace has greatly improved, thanks to digital sales, social media, YouTube and the like, how have these changes impacted musicians’ ability to generate revenue based on their creative work? Almost all analyses of the effects of these changes rest purely on assumptions that they have improved musicians’ bottom lines. We hear often from record labels, music services, publishers, and entrepreneurs about the state of the music industry. Now it’s time to hear how musicians and composers themselves are navigating these enormous changes. In this conversation we will look at how revenue streams for an acclaimed soul singer who has worked in the industry for 50 years have and have not changed since the 60s, and the importance of transparency and reliable accounting for artists.
• Sonny Charles, Musician, Checkmates and Steve Miller Band: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Charles
• Dennis Dreith, AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund, http://afmsagaftrafund.com
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM:
Lunch with Metadata for Musicians Workshop II: Metadata for Musicians: a Hands-on Workshop About the Data Attached to Your Music That Powers Discovery, Attribution and Royalties
Metadata is all that information that describes and identifies your music. In some cases, metadata is text – composer and musicians’ names, dates, genre. In other cases, it’s numeric data such as UPC barcodes and ISRC codes. As the music landscape becomes increasingly digital and global – and where success is counted in streams and plays instead of sales – proper metadata is an increasingly important part of your release workflow.
Join us for a two-part lunchtime workshop on metadata for musicians. Panelists from mastering studios, digital aggregators, performance rights organizations and digital retailers will walk us through the current digital music ecosystem, and describe what data is necessary, how to get it, where and when to embed it, and what musicians need to keep track of. The goal is to provide you with a better understanding of how your music and data work together to power discovery, attribution and monetization.
On Tuesday, October 28, we will cover the variety of ways that data influences search and monetization – including music discovery apps, performance royalties, and music placement opportunities – and how you can effectively participate in this new landscape.
•
Bryan Calhoun, Digital Strategy, The Blueprint Group; Founder, Label Management Systems and Music Business Toolbox; Board Member, Future of Music Coalition:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryancalhoun (moderator)
• Scott Freiman Co-founder and CEO, Qwire: http://qwire.us
• Andrea Kremer, Founder, Shake & Howdy: http://shakeandhowdy.com
•
Kristin Thomson Co-director, Artist Revenue Streams Project, Future of Music Coalition:
http://about.me/kristinthomson + http://money.futureofmusic.org
• Bill Wilson, VP, Digital Strategy and Business Development, Music Business Association: http://musicbiz.org
1:30 PM – 2:15 PM: Spotlight Sessions:
Mash of the Titans: The Push for Monopoly in Music and Media:
Monopoly is back, like a lame song that’s stuck in your head. The impacts of corporate consolidation are rippling through many different sectors, including the music and entertainment industries. Competition policy and antitrust law are tough to wrap our heads around, but if we’re interested in a future built on access and entrepreneurship we need to figure out a way to talk about it. How does a tendency towards monopoly create economic, expressive and civic inequalities? What does the “vertical integration” of large media companies, Internet Service Providers and telecommunications giants mean for the future of music and media? What do independent artists, innovators and the public need to know about these pernicious power plays?
Barry C. Lynn is director of the Open Markets program at the New America Foundation and the author of two books, “End of the Line” and “Cornered,” the latter of which describes the dramatic return of monopoly to the American landscape. Both books and Lynn’s periodic articles in Harper’s Magazine describe the concentration of economic power across a range of industries.
Salon.com columnist Thomas Frank is a political analyst, historian, and journalist whose books include “The Conquest of Cool,” “One Market Under God,” and “What’s the Matter With Kansas.” Join them for a special conversation about a topic that will no doubt impact how you go about your own lives and careers.
• Barry Lynn Director, Open Markets Program, New America Foundation: http://newamerica.net/user/93
• Thomas Frank Columnist, Salon.com; Author, “Pity the Billionaire”: http://tcfrank.com
DIY? Do It Together!
Presented by American Federation of Musicians
A session on organizing your music community to find its power, create change and succeed. How can we as musicians develop power in today’s industry and protect our work and our careers? Join the American Federation of Musicians as we share the experiences of the Content Creators Coalition and demonstrate the varied approaches the AFM takes to help us to turn our own music communities into a force for change. Our future depends on it!
• Bruce Fife, Guitar; International Vice President, AFM; President, Local 99 Portland, Fair Trade Music: http://afm99.org
• Dave Pomeroy, Bass, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss; President of the Nashville Musicians Association; voted Nashville “Studio Musician of the Year”: http://www.davepomeroy.com
•
Marc Ribot, Guitar, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits; President, Content Creators Coalition; Recording artist, Cubanos Postizos:
http://marcribot.com + http://www.contentcreatorscoalition.org
• Andy Schwartz, Guitar; Executive Board, Local 802 AFM; Board of Directors, Recording Musicians Association NY Chapter (moderator): https://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-schwartz/28/428/653
Internships: Promoting Good Uses, Avoiding Abuses
This breakout session is designed for professionals looking to develop or strengthen an internship program and students eager to get involved. In addition to discussing recent trends and practices, the session will connect industry leaders with educators and students interested in shaping future internship policies and developing guidelines that strengthen networking possibilities and minimize system abuses.
• Anna Celenza, Thomas E. Caestecker Professor of Music, Georgetown University (moderator)
Bridging the Gap: Building Connections Between Local Music Advocates & the Public Sector, Presented by SpokesBUZZ
While many people talk in terms of a music industry FMC focuses our language on the music community – the vast network of community leaders, volunteers, small businesses and others who provide the critical infrastructure that supports music and musicians. In an increasingly digital world, innovators across the country are developing new models for local organizing and support. A primary goal over the next decade is to align these organic, grassroots passion project with both policies and resources to maximize their impact. This panel features innovators from across the country and asks how we more effectively integrate with local, regional and federal policymakers.
• David Freedman, General Manager, WWOZ-FM New Orleans: http://www.wwoz.org/about/staff
• Lisa Gedgaudas, Program Administrator, Create Denver: https://www.facebook.com/CreateDenver
• Dani Grant, Founder, SpokesBUZZ; Owner, Mishawaka Amphitheater (moderator): http://www.themishawaka.com
• Ellen Stanley, Executive Director, Minnesota Music Coalition: http://www.mnmusiccoalition.org/about_mmc/
2:30 PM – 3:10 PM: In Conversation:
• Greg Kot, Music Critic, The Chicago Tribune, Sound Opinions, author
• Harry Shearer, Actor, Musician and Host, Le Show
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM: Stopping Cable (and Telecomm) F*ckery:
2014 has seen the “net neutrality” debate reach a fever pitch. Musicians, indie labels, entrepreneurs, cultural organizations, arts nonprofits, and more have joined millions of Americans in urging the FCC to preserve an open and accessible Internet. Political satirist John Oliver memorably coined it a movement to “stop cable f*ckery” in an episode of “Last Week Tonight.” But what does this f*ckery entail? Is it data caps on apps, except those pre-selected by your Internet Service Providers? Is it digital payola, where the richest companies enjoy an online Autobahn and everyone else gets a dirt road? Is it the fact that many Americans pay hundreds of dollars a month to their ISPs only to receive speeds well below those advertised? Is it the cable companies rewriting local laws to prevent competition in the broadband marketplace? How does all this impact music communities and creators around the country? What are artists and advocates doing to push back? Our panel of experts and agitators will explore these issues and more in an ongoing effort to put an end to cable and telecom f*ckery.
• Jesse Elliott, Musician, Ark Life: http://www.arklifemusic.com
• Jodie Griffin Senior Staff Attorney, Public Knowledge: https://www.publicknowledge.org
• Sarah Morris, Senior Policy Counsel, Open Technology Institute, New America Foundation: http://newamerica.net/user/347
• Carla Murphy, Reporter, Colorlines, http://colorlines.com
• Casey Rae, VP for Policy and Education, Future of Music Coalition: http://futureofmusic.org/staff#crh
• Joe Torres, Senior External Affairs Director, Free Press: http://www.freepress.net/person/153/joseph-torres
4:20 PM – 4:50 PM: In Conversation: Astra Taylor & Katie Alice Greer:
• Katie Alice Greer Musician, Priests: http://666priests666.tumblr.com
• Astra Taylor Documentary Filmmaker, Musician and Author, “The People’s Platform”: http://www.hiddendriver.com
4:50 PM – 5:00 PM: Day 2 Closing
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM: Closing Party at the Gibson Guitar Showroom
As always, Summit 2014 unofficially kicks off on the evening of Sunday, October 26, with a Pho dinner in the DC metro area, where conference attendees are welcome to make connections over a relaxed, informal meal.
In order to ensure musicians are not left out conversations that affect their livelihoods, Future of Music Coalition offers artist scholarships for the Policy Summit so they can attend, learn, and network and share perspectives. The scholarship allows musicians to attend the Future of Music Summit on a sliding scale basis, starting at $25. The scholarship does not cover travel or lodging. Musicians can apply for scholarships at http://futureofmusic.org/events/future-music-summit-2014.
FMC Policy Summit 2014 banners can be found at http://futureofmusic.org/summit2014/outreach-images
About Future of Music Coalition
Future of Music Coalition is a national nonprofit education, research, and advocacy organization that seeks a bright future for creators and listeners.
FMC works towards this goal through continuous interaction with its primary constituency — musicians — and in collaboration with other creator/public interest groups. For more information, visit
http://www.futureofmusic.org .
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