In Offstage …Beyond the Music EP7 | PT1 Wendy and Charles and I spent a fair amount of time discussing the “industry” of music; that is to say, how does how often a band or artist perform affect their career standing? Does a band that plays every week, often two or more times a week, suffer from overexposure and how does it affect popularity and earnings?
This issue of earnings is prevalent among musicians today, all the more so now that the U.S. Copyright Office has released a 245 proposal, Copyright & the Music Marketplace, transforming the fundamentals of music copyright concerning both recorded works and the underlying composition/publishing rights.
“The Copyright Office’s recommendations address almost every aspect of the music landscape, including the existing statutory licenses, the role of performing rights organizations, terrestrial performance rights for sound recordings, federal protection for pre-1972 sound recordings, access to music ownership data, and the concerns of songwriters and recording artists. These recommendations present a series of balanced trade offs designed to create a more rational music licensing system for all.” http://copyright.gov/docs/musiclicensingstudy/
Equally, a story in Westword this past week, that also appeared in other “Westword” publications around the country, raised the ire of many in the local scene when the author lists six reasons Why Musicians Don’t Deserve to Get Paid …including:
6. Most Music Sucks
5. Art Has Never Made Money
4. You Are Already Rich
3. Feeling Pain Makes You Better
2. No One Deserves Anything
1. You Care Too Much (about financial compensation)
Nobody practices law, medicine, or plumbing as a hobby. Perhaps ironically, most who pick up an instrument do just that – take up music as a hobby. So to use the example comparing plumbers to musicians appears to be a non-sequitur to my mind.
Far less than 1% of all the musicians I’ve ever known in my life have taken up music as a lifelong professional career – and there are as many examples of how they earn their living as there are examples of those who have tried. The freeway to profitability in music, dance, acting, art is littered with the forgotten names of tens upon tens of thousands of those who have stepped onto a stage, or drawn or sculpted an image. And that’s just in my lifetime.
I can’t say with any degree of confidence that I know what’s fair when it comes to how much to pay someone for a performance, or for the right to access their music via publicly available means such as the internet or broadcast radio or television. My hope is that those who wish to establish a full time sustainable career in music (art) are able to navigate what is simply a chaotic and overly confusing and sometimes frightening life as an independent businessperson selling something that too many take for granted as available for free.
VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK
PLAYLIST S9|EP6
HOUR 1
Dan Fogelberg “Stars” from Live From Ebbet’s Field Vol. 4 (2010)
Townes Van Zandt “Snowin’ On Raton” from E-Town Live Two (1999)
(D) All Chiefs, No Indians “Union (Zack Dare Remix)” from The Danger Mission (2015)Fierce Bad Rabbit “Do You Want Me Now?” from Do You Want Me Now? (2014)
The Sound and Color “Tug of War” from The Sound and Color (2015)
(D) Selasee and the Fafa Family “Mama Africa” from Time for Peace (2015)
Drew Emmitt “Take the Long Way Home” from Long Road (2008)
Whiskey Blanket “Dinner with Ghouls” from From the Dead of Dark (2014)
(N) Bill Frisell “Surfer Girl” from Guitar In the Space Age (2014)
(N) Gasoline Lollipops “Homesick Remedy” from Spokes Buzz Band Together Vol.5 (2014) (N) Chris Daniels & the Kings “Joy” from Funky To the Bone (2015)
Ben Haugland “Point of No Return” from The Point Of No Return (2012)
HOUR 2
Super Band “Acid Indigestion” from Psychedelic States: Colorado in the Sixties (2007)
Sugarloaf “Rusty Cloud” from Spaceship Earth (1971)
(N) Blake Brown & American Dust Choir “White Rose” from 3 (2014) (N) Brother’s Keeper “Chamberlain” from Todd Meadows (2014)
Strange Americans “The Scene” from That Kind of Luster (2014)
Jeff Austin “The Simple Truth” from The Simple Truth (2015)
Churchill “Change” from Change EP (2012)
Wendy Woo “Drunk In Love” from Austerity (2011)
(D) Land Lines “Plans” from The Natural World (2015) Bad Weather California “I’ll Reach Out My Hand” from Sunkissed (2012)
(D) Paul Mullikin Quintet “Just A Tuesday” from Time Is Now (2014)
Please visit my friends’ sites. They keep this thing going. Much appreciated.
Colorado Case Company a Fort Collins based, Colorado family owned business specializing in insulated soft cases, gig bags, case covers and rigid cases for most instruments, including hard to fit instruments.
SpokesBUZZ, a Colorado non-profit with a mission to develop the professionalism of artists, promote and connect progressive cultural destinations, amplify music scenes, and grow local economies. See event calendar for Spokesbuzz band shows.
The historic Mishawaka Amphitheatre, Northern Colorado’s Musical Playground, and seriously one of the most badass music venues in the state.
Chris K's Colorado Playlist 