The Future of Music is Everyone's Concern

By Noel Ramos, InterMixx IndieGate (more articles from this author) 2001-01-15

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The Realization

On January 10th and 11th, at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, in a grandiose old room filled with ancient religious ornamentation, several hundred musicians and music industry members met with politicians and policy-makers to discuss the "future of music."

Many notable discussions ensued, filled with fiery and impassioned rhetoric, and witty and insightful commentary. While I felt that most of what was being said flew well over the heads of the very musicians that this "Policy Conference" was supposedly designed to assist, I also gleaned so much knowledge that WAS truly of use, that it more than made up for the disparity. It should be noted, however, that the VAST majority of artists who make up the industry are NOT "Billy Joels" or "Don Henleys" whose ilk seemed to be referred to whenever the "artists" were mentioned.

Despite the difficulty that the Panelists sometimes had in maintaining relevancy for the typical musician, I feel they all made an extremely admirable attempt, and one of the most inspiring and encouraging realizations that I came to, was that there are many good people on all sides of these issues.

While I have never advocated the "villainization of the major record labels," as Attorney Rose Meade Hart put it... I must admit that I have often felt that way personally. Whenever I hear another story of a major label artist who has been badly exploited, I can't help but feel some animosity toward an outdated, corruption-infested corporate system that has had a stranglehold on an entire world-wide industry for almost 50 years.

However, things are changing, perhaps it's painfully slow, but it's happening, and considering the length of time that the system's been broken, it may be that we have to apply a serious reality check to our expectations. We need to realize that positive change will be a long, and hard process.

The most wonderful enlightenment that the Future of Music Coalition Summit afforded me, was the fact that there are indeed people from all facets of the industry who truly want to see those positive changes occur. Though the number of them may be small, especially on the Major Label side, if we seek out these people and work together on the problems from all sides, our progress will be multiplied.

People like: Debra Rose, Richard Harrington, Jay Cooper, Giovanna Imbesi, Fred Von Lohmann, Kenneth Kaufman, Rick Karr, Brian Goldstein, Suzette Toledano Becker, Whitney Broussard, Jim Griffin, John Perry Barlow, Anthony Berman, and all the many other Panelists and attendees that I had the pleasure of meeting, speaking with, and listening to, all offered hope of a new partnership for the "future of music."

The time has come to end the "villainization," and re-focus ourselves on the actual problems facing the industry. We must accept that the change will be slow and painful, we must be willing to hunker down and get our hands dirty. For every exploitative situation that we discover, we need to devise a positive and productive solution. For every ineffective process that currently exists, we must engage in creative brainstorming to envision innovative new methods. For every new curve in the road that rapidly changing technologies throw at us, we must be prepared to react swiftly and adjust our course.

The Gist of the Problem

In a nutshell, I see the major problem this way... Technological progress and other changes in our society have made it possible for a massive number of creative people to successfully earn a living at their craft. The result of this huge number of talented people "following their dreams," is an unprecedented glut in the sheer quantity of aspiring professional musicians. The Major Label system has NEVER been designed to accommodate even a small percentage of the millions of musicians seeking a professional career in the industry. Quite the contrary, it's purposely designed to DISCOURAGE a large number of producing musicians, so much so that many labels frequently engage in "shelving," (the process whereby an artist is signed to a restrictive contract and then "shelved" to keep them off the market) just to keep the herd thinned out.

This elitist system may have been the norm for so long because the corporations running the industry controlled all the tools and resources an artist needed to be successful. That is obviously no longer true, and the longer the big corporations fight to hold on to their antiquated ways in the face of unstoppable technological advances, the slower and more painful change will be.

The Utopian Vision

In a perfect world, the major congloms currently in power would accept responsibility for the exploitative nature of the industry, and resolve to re-tool it, so that more musicians would be able to successfully earn a career, and earn a fair and reasonable percentage of the profits gained from their creative output. I imagine these corporations could do this while redesigning their business model to stay profitable in the face of the new economy.

The reality is that this will not happen, at least not until the congloms are faced with no other choice. The best way to hasten the needed changes is to "work where we can." Artists have historically been the front-line of societal change, calling attention to injustices and problems through their work, and advocating positive change through activist methods. Because of the ease with which aspiring professional musicians can now earn a successful career by the "indie" method, this is what I encourage. Change the market one small chunk at a time.

Action Items

Many of my beliefs and suggested Action Items regarding the Nature of Indie can be read in an earlier article, so I will simply provide a link, rather than reiterate:

What I'd like to focus on now, are my ideas which were inspired by the Future of Music Coalition Summit.

One of the points that Debra Rose, Counsel - US House of Representatives, made during the "Work For Hire Clause" Panel and then again later, when I spoke with her, is that Government Officials were often frustrated by a seeming lack of adequate, and more importantly, ACCURATE representation of the Artists' concerns. Basically, you're not being heard, and it's because there is no easy way to tap representation of your needs and wants.

In response to this, several people mentioned the efforts of veteran superstars, Don Henley and Billy Joel, who formed the "Recording Artists Coalition," represented at the Summit by Jay Rosenthal. This Coalition was formed to combat the Amendment which affected the Work For Hire Clause, and its prominent founders led to the sustained references to the "artists" as the types of musicians who are at least somewhat as successful as Billy and Don. However, though we know that the bulk of the 62 million musicians in the US are not anywhere near that level, the points made were important. Representation is KEY, and the Government WANTS to hear you, but it is not possible for them to call each of you and ask, you need to organize and speak up!

The other surprising and welcome info which came out of this panel, from Cary Sherman specifically, the General Counsel of the RIAA, is that once the Amendment was reacted to so vehemently by the Artists Community, the RIAA and the Copyright Office realized and corrected their error in judgment. The Amendment has since been unconditionally and retroactively revoked, through the sincere efforts of those on both sides of the situation. Cary's quick willingness to acknowledge that there had been rash judgments and erroneous actions, which then needed to be corrected, was so very refreshing to me, and an incredibly positive sign in my eyes.

Debra Rose and others made the point that there are millions of Artists, and therefore no easy way to represent all the diverse viewpoints and concerns by appointing one Representative. They also quickly pointed out the inadequacy of the organizations that would currently be the most likely places to look for representation of the Artists.

Therefore, I suggest that a variety of Advocacy Groups be encouraged, both newly formed groups and expanded existing groups, such as an Independent Musicians Coalition, the Recording Artists Coalition, The Future of Music Coalition itself, the American Federation of Musicians, and many others. Furthermore, I suggest that a Panel be created featuring one representative from each of these Advocacy Groups, and that it is this Panel that the Government turns to easily, in order to begin seeking information on the needs and concerns surrounding Artists' Rights. This Panel would be an "Artists' Senate" of sorts.

I also strongly suggest the immediate formation of an Artists' Ad Council, which would oversee the public awareness campaigns that would help further the goals being worked on by the various Advocacy Groups and the Artists' Senate. This Ad Council should receive Government Funding, as well as matching funds from large music manufacturers, and even the Major Record Labels.

While there are many more ideas I might "put out into the ether" at this time, I think those two are enough for now. I hope my ideas spur on those with the resources to act, and I offer my humble assistance in any way I am capable.

One inescapable conclusion can not be denied; if we are to see improvements in the protection of Artists' rights, and the way the Music Industry is being run, we all need to work together for the common good.

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