DC Deputy Mayor Convenes Task Force to Promote DC Music + My SAW Article

On Friday, I participated in an important meeting near the White House featuring representatives from the DC Deputy Mayor's office and the Washington DC Creative Economy Partnership (WDCEP).  As part of a new Task Force convened to work with local government to elevate the DC Music both in the region and nationally, I was excited to see so many music community leaders present, discussing the various issues and opportunities before us.

The primary focus was on a pressing need - how to curate and promote a lineup of the best musicians and bands representing DC area music that will perform at an official DC showcase at SXSW in the Spring.

Several points of view were discussed - some felt we should be giving rising stars the national exposure as well as create a "home away from home" for festival attendees from DC, while others felt we needed bigger names, artists with DC roots who may no longer be based in the area (like Trouble Funk or Dave Grohl), in order to draw a more diverse crowd.

It brought up a larger issue, in that we need an infrastructure in the DC area that supports and nurtures musical talent, and allows them to stay here even after they've achieved national or international success.  My thoughts on staying local and investing the local music ecosystem were publicized in a recently article written by Nicole Belanus for the Songwriters' Association of Washington (SAW).  You can read the article here.

I'm confident, with a Task Force comprised of artists, forward-thinking venue owners, community organizers, producers, managers, and more - all working in partnership with the DC government, we can assemble a fantastic group of artists and bands to play SXSW.  More challenging, however, will be tackling the broader concerns about how government can help facilitate public and private sector support (financial and otherwise) for the local music economy - one in which the high cost of living and transient population make it challenging for music professionals.

Another challenge: teaching musicians to becoming astute businesspeople - learning how to maximize their potential from all available revenue streams and advocate for fair, but more favorable deals with venues as well as corporate partnerships.  In the meeting, I offered to find a way to take elements of the Music Business Strategy I provide my clients and offer them to the public as a government resource.  Business education is key for musicians to achieve greater exposure and attract outside investment.

Also, we need to continue building the local music infrastructure - creating synergies amongst music creators, supporting industries, local government, and private companies - in order to build a more thriving music economy in the DC area - and keep the talent here!

One of the attendees suggested doing a SWOT Analysis (look it up if you don't know what it is).  It got a few chuckles, but for some time, I have had all my consulting clients do this type of analysis from the artist perspective.  We highlighted some of the challenges facing local musicians, and I asked the DC Deputy Mayor's committee if it would be willing to help remove some of the barriers facing the music community today - parking restrictions outside venues, noise ordinances, official festivals that don't pay musicians, busking restrictions on the Metro, etc.  I didn't get a real response, but it was just our initial meeting, and these things will take time to sort through and address.

Overall, I'm optimistic about how this group might be able to foster a better local music economy.  It has to be based on a win-win scenario - the recognition that arts (and not just fine arts a la the Smithsonian, but an indie music scene) are a proven driver for the economy, but we cannot pay lip service to the musicians driving it - there must be real, tangible investment in the music scene if this is to work.

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Obama Sends Strong Message to FCC to Preserve Net Neutrality

Today, President Obama weighed in on the Net Neutrality debate, with a position urging the FCC to reclassify the Internet as a Public Utility.  Who knows if Obama has any real power to influence the FCC's decision, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.  Here's a great article from Gizmodo breaking down the issue and Obama's comments.  And you can watch the video of Obama's statement below.

Just last week, I wrote about this, encouraged by the 4 million Americans who made their voices heard during the FCC's Public Comment period.  Now that the White House has taken a firm position, it's an even better time for YOU to get involved.  Here's an easy way to send a message to the FCC.  Let them know you don't want big ISPs controlling who gets what internet content and how fast they get it.

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Takeaways from the Future of Music Summit 2014

Last week I attended my 6th Future of Music Summit, a conference focusing on the intersection of policy and technology as it relates to musicians' rights, revenue streams, and impact on society.  This is not your typical music conference - at times it can be wonky and sometimes dry - but it is also extremely important.

One of the discussions that reached a fever pitch at this year's Summit was focused around Net Neutrality.  You've heard me speaking out on this before, asking you to contact your congressperson to ensure the giant ISPs aren't able to pick winners and losers on the internet.  We don't need a fast lane for the big companies who can pay more to deliver their content to you at higher speeds.  This will be disadvantageous to smaller companies and indie artists who would otherwise benefit from a level playing field on the internet.  Over 4 million people made their voices heard during the FCC's Public Comment period, and the FCC has proposed a hybrid solution of sorts.  Please take a moment to read about the far-reaching implications of this and get involved here. 

It's a bit dismaying to hear some of the same issues discussed at the FMC Summit each year, where no progress has been made.  One of these pertains to the problem of metadata in recorded music.  Today's music business is all about micropayments - you're WAY more likely to get an aggregate of fractions of cent for streaming on Spotify than you are to get $17 for a physical CD.  So it's important that recordings played on the radio, streamed over the internet, and used in other media are accurately identified and tracked, so that the content owners and creators can be paid what they're owed.  As metadata evangelist and orator extraordinaire Jim Griffin explained, we have a system for internet domain registration that requires everyone to register their unique domain names.  The incentive for companies like Go Daddy to maintain global databases and accurately manage registration data is PROFIT, which is arguably why it works.

We do NOT have such a system for registering musical recordings.  There are metadata, such as ISRC codes, that are used to track recordings and allocate payments, but these codes are not across all platforms and there is no globally accessible database in which to store them.  The result?  Tons of recordings go into a "black box", where royalties are distributed to the larger, more powerful companies, according to their market share  I share Jim Griffin's belief that it would be a step towards a more sustainable and thriving musicians' middle class if we could just develop a system to track and pay for all recordings used throughout the world using a common database (or databases) using globally unique identifiers (GUIDs).  A very technical subject, but one that impacts the financial stablity of nearly all musicians today.  So what can you do?  Make sure you report accurate data about your recordings to all of the services you use (e.g. SoundExchange).  For more info, check the FMC website for video clips from the Summit as they become available,

Last, but not least, I attended a great panel featuring representatives from the musicians union, among others.  I didn't expect it from the title of the session, but this ended up being a great discussion on Fair Trade Music.  It was great to find out the unions are no longer dictatorial, rigid organizations that only support their members' activities - they're more collaborative, and want to engage with local initiatives to organize around fair treatment for musicians.  I had an opportunity to share the progress we've made with Fair Trade Music DC, and believe that we're ready now to tap into the resources and strength of the AFM as we move forward.  For more info on our initiative, click here.

I'll write more on these topics in the coming weeks, but the main takeaway from FMC is that we all need be hyper-aware of the policies and legislation impacting musicians, and organize at the Federal level and in our local communities to fight for a better future for musicians.

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