FMC in the News: 2013

Music industry eyes House changes

By Kate Tummarello

The Hill

December 26, 2013

The music industry is preparing for changes on the House Judiciary Committee, as Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) is set to leave.

Watt, ranking member of the Judiciary subcommittee on intellectual property, was confirmed as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency earlier this month and is set to assume his new role on Jan. 6.

According to committee procedure, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) is next in line for Watt’s ranking member spot on the intellectual property subcommittee, should he want the position.

[…] read more

Your Call: How Are Musicians Making Ends Meet?

By Your Call with Rose Aguilar

KALW

December 3, 2013

On today’s Your Call, we’ll talk about how the Internet continues to change the music economy. Because of services like Spotify, Pandora and YouTube, musicians are constantly looking for new ways to make a living. How do these services compensate musicians? As for touring, even musicians who have a solid fan base say it’s difficult to get the number of bookings they need to earn a living. So how are independent musicians surviving? It’s Your Call, with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests include Kristin Thomson, consultant for the nonprofit Future of Music Coalition. She is co-director of FMC’s Artist Revenue Streams research project, a study examining how US-based musicians’ revenue streams are changing, and why.

Copyright, activism, and making a living in the age of streaming

By Adam Witkowski

Allegro

December 2, 2013

Now in its 12th year, the Future of Music Coalition recently convened its annual summit on the scenic Georgetown University campus in Washington, D.C. The two-day conference brought together people from all walks of the music industry for interviews, workshops and panel discussions focusing on a broad range of issues affecting musicians and the music industry as a whole.

The Future of Music Coalition is a nonprofit group that is, in its own words, “committed to serving as an ongoing resource to musicians, policymakers, and the public about the many challenges and opportunities facing artists today.” read more

Will Play for Health Care (at Least at One Music Event)

By Ben Sisario

The New York Times

November 15, 2013

In the national debate over health care and the Affordable Care Act, one sliver of the population has received relatively little attention: musicians, artists and other creative workers, who are often self-employed and frequently uninsured. A recent survey by two arts groups found that 43 percent of artists of all kinds said they had no health insurance; for musicians, the number was 53 percent. The national average, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, is 17.7 percent. read more

Obamacare Offers Musicians A Lifeline— If They Can Understand It

By Glenn Peoples

Billboard

November 5, 2013

Musicians, uninsured at greater rates than the general population in the United States, are coming to grasp the impact of the Affordable Care Act, the health-care reform law known as Obamacare. But like most Americans, they have a lot of learning to do.

A new survey found that 43% of creative artists and 53% of musicians lack health insurance. Conducted in July and August by the Future of Music Coalition and the Artists’ Health Insurance Resource Center, the survey covers musicians as well as visual artists, filmmakers, actors and other creative professionals. Previous FMC surveys found 42% and 33% of musicians were uninsured in 2002 and 2010, respectively. read more

43% of [Artists] in America Lack Any Form of Health Insurance

By Paul Resnikoff

Digital Music News

October 29, 2013

That’s according to a recent survey from the Future of Music Coalition, which found musicians to be ‘chronically under-insured’ and drastically below national (US) insurance averages. And perhaps unsurprisingly, the more dedicated you are to your craft,the less likely you are to be insured.

The reasons are strikingly simple. Also unsurprisingly, roughly 88% of all [artists] lacking health insurance simply couldn’t afford it.

[…] read more

Artists twice as likely not to have health insurance, study shows

By Nate Rau

The Tennessean

October 21, 2013

Twice as many musicians, actors, dancers and other artists lack health care insurance than the general population, according to a study by the Future of Music Coalition and the Artists’ Health Insurance Resource Center.

The study, which surveyed 3,402 professional musicians, actors, dancers, visual artists and filmmakers, found that 43 percent lack health insurance. That compares to 18 percent of the general population, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Of the respondents without insurance coverage, 88 percent said they couldn’t afford it, according to survey results. read more

Survey: 53% of musicians are uninsured: are you?

By David Greenwald

Oregonian

October 17, 2013

At the Jeremy Wilson Foundation and Cover Oregon’s health care event on Monday, the audience was told that musicians are twice as likely to go uninsured — a stat that matches with another from the Future of Music Coalition, who reported this week that 43% of the musicians they surveyed don’t have health insurance.

Here’s what else the FMC had to say:

Of those respondents who do have health insurance, 39 percent said they are paying for coverage themselves. This is over six times greater than the estimated 6 percent of the general population that pays for private, non-group insurance, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. read more

Obamacare for Creative Types

By Deirdre Fulton

Portland Phoenix

October 17, 2013

[…]

“Essentially, the more personal income derived from art, the less likely the respondent is to have health insurance,” the study states. read more

Radio stations would pay for music under House bill

By Kate Tummarello

The Hill

October 1, 2013

Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) introduced a bill Monday that would require radio broadcasters to negotiate with musicians for the rights to play their songs. Watt’s bill – which he called the free market solution – was applauded by members of the music industry and decried by broadcasters.

[…]

Watt’s bill would put the U.S. on a level playing field with the rest of the world, according to Casey Rae, interim executive director of the Future of Music coalition, a musician advocacy group.

Because the U.S. does not have a performance royalty right for musicians when their songs are played on radio stations, “American artists are currently unable to collect royalties owed to them when their music is played abroad,” he said. read more