David Lowery tries to talk sense to the Internet.

Without a way for artists to make money, soon we may be bereft of a musical middle class, that is, musicians who don't have day jobs but spend their time perfecting their craft, recording it, and then sharing it with the rest of us. For a few generations, being creative and working hard at this has afforded a significant number of musicians a lower-middle to middle class lifestyle. Sadly, the suppression of income, or elimination, for recorded works has all but eradicated this as a legitimate goal and threatens to take with it the benefits of professionally recorded music with it. For the last few weeks, David Lowery (Camper Van Beethoven, Cracker) has decided to tackle the complex issues at play here for working musicians. If you are a musician, work with them, love one, or just love music, David's writing clear and level-headed analysis of the current landscape. You may end up disagreeing with all or part of it, but I doubt you'll regret your time spent reading it.

A good place to start: Meet The New Boss, Worse Than The Old Boss? taken from his talk at the SF Music Tech Summit.

I was like all of you.  I believed in the promise of the Internet to liberate, empower and even enrich artists.  I still do but I’m less sure of it than I once was.  I come here because I want to start a dialogue.  I feel that what we artists were promised has not really panned out.  Yes in many ways we have more freedom.  Artistically this is certainly true.  But the music business never transformed into the vibrant marketplace where small stakeholders could compete with multinational conglomerates on an even playing field.

In the last few years it’s become apparent the music business, which was once dominated by six large and powerful music conglomerates, MTV, Clear Channel and a handful of other companies, is now dominated by a smaller set of larger even more powerful tech conglomerates.  And their hold on the business seems to be getting stronger.

I encourage you to grab a cup of tea, get comfy, and keep reading (on your lunch hour, of course.)

Thank you, David, for taking the time to get this all in one place at one time!

Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit 2011

Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit 2011 

Washington D.C. Oct 3-4

The summit was overwhelming and exhausting and packed with innovative and forward-thinking industry folk, artists, and fans. One option is I could ramble about the details of the panelists and panels. Instead, YOU can check out the panel topics HERE

Future of Music Policy Summit

Attending the Future of Music Policy Summit last week at Georgetown University was a great way to stay in touch with the industry.





Although there is still not much to say about where the industry is heading, or whether there is a silver lining in the near future, at least we have the FMC to keep the ideas and conversations flowing. Here is a glimpse into my notes from the three day event.



"Every musician and every artist should be buying music"- Hank Shocklee



Jill Sobule raised $80,000 in fan donations by offering her fans unique ways to get involved in her record and feel personally involved in her career. When she was asked if she ever had stalkers, she responded by saying: "Yeah, I put them to work, and then they get over you."



Marcus Johnson - Three Keys Music
Be a sponge - consume information, ask people to help you, ask for help on stage (“just like in church”), don't take no for an answer, don't find it, create it, make something new happen.



Amir Mohamed - Oddisee
There still needs to be quality music - put time away to create music; when it's time to write, cut the artist switch on and the business switch off until that record is done. Cultivate the music, don't let social networks consume you, be objective - view your music as others do.



Richard Burgess - Smithsonian Folkways
It's not DIY, its starting your own business, that is the main responsibility.



While studying abroad, I thought of creating an organization that would bring musicians from all over the world together to communicate with our universal language. But The Rhythm Road was way ahead of me! "The mission of The Rhythm Road is to share America’s unique contribution to the world of music and to promote cross-cultural understanding and exchange among nations worldwide." Apply Now for the Rhythm Road 2011–12 season. Deadline November 1st.



"Even if you only have 20 fans, how can you become the #1 fan of your #1 fan?" - Chuck D



“I can show you my iPod and turn you on to a whole new world of music.” - Hank Shocklee



"Next Big Sound provides a centralized place to monitor all the behavior and activity happening for artists both online and off."



Is a 1,000 true fans enough?

T-Bone Burnett Responds to Jawflapping

One of the highlights of the Future of Music Conference was "Greg Kot in conversation with T. Bone Burnett." Among other jewels, T. Bone said that the Internet is a "degraded medium" and that mp3s should be free if only because they sound so awful that the only thing they are good for is promotion. Immediately cries of "Dinosaur!", "Privilege!", and "Luddite!" rang out around the conference, as if he had personally attacked every single person there.

Today, the gadfly himself chose to respond via comments on Greg's blog. Mr. Burnett does not back down, but does ask for understanding of his position in support of music, sound, and musicians. Read here.

FMC10: Is a Download a Sale or a License? Part I

Dave Frey Silent Partner Management 
Ken Hertz Senior Partner, Hertz and Lichtenstein LLP 
Perry Resnick Senior Manager, RZO, LLC 
Ann Chaitovitz Owner, Ann Chaitovitz Consulting (moderator)

FMC10: Is a Download a Sale or a License? Part II

FMC10: Damian Kulash Talks to Neda Ulaby

FMC10: Rebecca Gates Adds a Touch of Class to "Dear New Orleans" Benefit

FMC10: Too Much Joy/Wonderlick Join Bonerama. Insert Punk into "Dear New Orleans" Benefit

FMC10: Musical Hero and Standup Guy Hank Shockley Rocks "Dear New Orleans" Benefit

FMC10: Greg Kot in Conversation with T. Bone Burnett

FMC10: Future of Music 2010. Where's My Jetpack?

Chuck D (!), Jim Griffin, Dina LaPolt, Ian Rogers, Tom Silverman, Fred von Lohmann, Kristin Thompson discussing past predictions (We are still screwed) and making a few new ones (Most of us will continue to be screwed for a good long while. Hooray!).

Q: Where the fuck is my hovercraft?
A: It is full of eels, of course.