Since 2001, FMC has organized five annual Policy Summits in Washington, DC to address the critical issues at the intersection of music, law, technology and policy. This year we’re taking these discussions to the world stage by programming the 6th annual Future of Music Policy Summit at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music in Montreal, Canada, in collaboration with the Pop Montreal International Music Fest. Over the course of three days, through keynotes, special conversations and 24 panels and workshops, we will focus on the critical issues that are affecting musicians and music communities as production, promotion and sales increasingly move to a global digital platform.

Join us for conversations about international copyright issues, new revenue streams, digital rights management, and how orchestras are navigating change. Learn how musicians are dealing with new marketing and licensing options. Attend special sessions on audio fidelity, archiving and preservation, international touring/visas, and sampling/remixing.

Recently confirmed: DAVID BYRNE!

STELLAR PANELISTS
Panelist and speaker outreach is in full swing. We recently confirmed a special conversation with David Byrne; Kent Nagano, director of Montreal Symphony Orchestra, has agreed to a videotaped interview; and there’s a lot more cool stuff in the works.

Early panelist confirmations include:
• Kevin Arnold, Founder/CEO, IODA
• David Basskin, President, Canadian Music Reproduction Rights Agency
• Laura Brownell, Symphonic Services Division, AFM
• David Byrne
• Ken Freedman, Station Manger, WFMU-FM
• Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, University of Ottawa
• Graham Henderson, President, Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)
• Kent Nagano, Music Director, Montreal Symphony Orchestra
• Jeff Remedios, Arts and Crafts Records
• Ryan Schreiber, Editor, Pitchfork
• Derek Sivers, President and Programmer, CD Baby
• Paul Spurgeon, VP, Legal Services and General Counsel, SOCAN
• Frank Yang, Editor and Founder, Chromewaves Blog…and more!
Check out the daily-updated list of panelists

OUR COOL PARTNERS
As one of North America’s oldest and most prestigious music schools, McGill University’s Schulich School of Music and its state-of-the-art New Music Building provide the perfect setting for forward thinking debates about the present and future state of the music industry. Plus, the Summit will run concurrently with this year’s Pop Montreal International Music Festival (October 4-8, 2006), an international music, film and art festival that showcases the vibrant independent Canadian music scene, with an expected attendance of more than 37,000 independent musicians and avid music fans.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!
Superpass: $215 US ($241 CAN) - price valid only until September 1
Access to all Summit panels, workshops and Summit-related parties, as well as access to all paid Pop Montreal events including shows, Film Pop and Art Pop. FMC can only sell 50 of these special passes so reserve yours today!

Regular Summit Registration: $150 USD ($168 CAN)
This three-day pass gives you access to all Summit panels, workshops and Summit-related parties.

See all the registration options and student rates here

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR WORKING MUSICIANS
Every year, FMC offers scholarships to make sure that musicians are not left out of the music/technology debate. Thanks to some generous contributions from foundations, technology companies, sponsors, and musician advocacy groups, 100 musicians are able to attend the Policy Summit for free. Musicians: go here to apply.

PERKS and PARTIES
Montreal is a city renowned for fabulous food, wine, strong coffee and delicious pastries. Toss Pop Montreal into the mix, with hundreds of shows, films and parties every night, and you’ll be needing that second espresso in the morning. Already scheduled for October 5 is a breakfast sponsored by BUMA-STEMRA, and an evening cocktail party hosted by SOCAN. And it wouldn’t be a Summit without our welcoming Pho dinner, which will happen Wednesday, October 4. It’s hands-down the best place to network and meet other attendees.

MORE on the WEB
Programming overview
Special block rates on hotels
Travel details for Montreal
Sponsorship opportunities
Press credentialing
Summit web files/oldsite/images for your website or MySpace page
RSS feed for news: Paste this link to subscribe: http://www.futureofmusic.org/events/blogindex.cfm

SUMMIT 06 SPONSORS
SOCAN • BUMA-STEMRA • MusicIP • CD Baby • Merge Records • IODA • EFF • Creative Commons • Just Plain Folks • Starpolish • Indie-music.com • Exclaim • KEXP • Nightlife

Media Ownership? Huh? Didn’t we do this already?

The FCC is at it again, and even though attempts to raise ownership caps and allow cross-ownership within specific markets were resoundingly defeated in 2003, the rules are now back on the table. On June 21 the FCC launched a proceeding reviewing existing ownership rules, and once again media corporations are pushing for relaxation of ownership caps while public interest groups must work to hold the line on consolidation.

Word on the street is that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is pro-deregulation and would like to use this proceeding to rework the 1975 cross-ownership ban in order to facilitate ownership of newspapers and television stations by a single entity.

Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein have voiced objections to the rulemaking process, which limits the comment period to 120 days and includes only six public forums around the country. Commissioner Copps stated, “This innocuous-looking document initiates the single most important public policy debate that the FCC will tackle this year. Don’t let its slimness fool you. It means that this Commission has begun to decide on behalf of the American people the future of our media. It means deciding whether or not to accelerate media concentration, step up the loss of local news and change forever the critical role independent newspapers perform for our country.”

Chairman Martin has been unclear about the format, participants, and locations for field hearings, but it is critical that when the hearings do occur the Commissioners hear from the public how a lack of localism, diversity, and access to the media negatively affects communities. It’s particularly important for musicians to participate in these hearings so the FCC can hear about the importance of radio to their careers.

FMC will be filing comments with the FCC to emphasize the negative impact that further consolidation would have upon already homogenized programming. We’re concerned that the past promises of deregulation haven’t materialized and that further consolidation will further lessen the amount of localism and diversity on the airwaves.

In 2002, FMC’s highly referenced report, “Radio Deregulation: Has It Served Citizens and Musicians?”, was critical to understanding the rarely heard perspectives of musicians and local communities. To that end, we plan to submit an updated study that describes the impacts of consolidation since 1996 and possible remedies.

Since the public is the rightful owner of the airwaves, we encourage all citizens to submit comments as well. To do so, visit one of the following links:

To electronically submit short comments of up to a few paragraphs
To electronically submit longer comments
To submit comments by mail (scroll to the bottom of the page for instructions)

Clear Channel Lobbies for Change
Clear Channel is considering filing a formal petition to the Federal Communications Commission seeking to raise the caps limiting how many stations one company can own in the largest individual U.S. markets. FMC’s Jenny Toomey comments on the negative impact of media consolidation.
Ron Orol, The Deal, August 4, 2006

Future of Music Coalition, Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America and Consumers Union Urge FCC to Take Employment Effects of Their Policies into Account During Upcoming Review of Media Ownership Rules

On August 9, 2006, FMC released a study entitled The Employment and Wage Effects of Radio Consolidation, which found that the vast majority of major U.S. cities has experienced both layoffs and lower wage growth within the radio profession, associated with the unprecedented consolidation of radio station ownership over the last decade. The study also shows that the job losses in radio impede federal policy mandates to promote localism and diversity in media. ?Consolidation in radio ownership hasn?t just homogenized music formats,? said Jenny Toomey, musician and executive director of FMC, ?it has devastated the broadcast profession and virtually eliminated the ability of radio stations to provide unique coverage of local news, music and community issues. Before the FCC moves forward to further loosen already weak ownership limits, it should understand the impact that deregulation has had on jobs and communities.?

Our study?s findings include:

• The combined market share of the top four radio companies in each local market increased by an average of 14.3 percent between 1993 and 2004 across 265 markets.
• Cities with higher degrees of radio consolidation had greater job losses among news reporters and broadcast technicians from 1996 to 2003.
• Cities with higher degrees of radio consolidation experienced smaller wage growth for DJs and news reporters from 1996 to 2003.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 eliminated the cap on the number of radio stations one company, organization, or individual may own nationally, and loosened limits on ownership of stations within a single market. Radio companies claimed ownership limits prevented them from taking advantage of ?economies of scale.? The study found that, since 1996, as radio companies have consolidated, they have cut costs by centralizing some operations in distant markets, such as on air DJs, programmers, reporters, and engineering or broadcast-technician jobs.

To view the complete press release
To view the study

It’s been ten years since Congress passed its 1996 Telecommunications Act, and technology has changed rapidly during that time. Much of the 1996 Act is now outdated and Congress must pass a rewrite in the near future. The House settled on its version in May when it passed the C.O.P.E.(Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement) Act, but the Senate has been slower to come to consensus on the best approach to some very complicated issues encompassed in the bill. Senator Ted Stevens, Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced S. 2686 in the spring and brought it before the committee for consideration in July. A sprawling bill containing over 200 amendments, S. 2686 addresses critical issues concerning broadband deployment, video and broadband access, video franchising, wireless spectrum, community internet, the universal service fund, and network neutrality.

Of the many portions of this year’s telecommunications reform bill, FMC is especially concerned about issues of spectrum scarcity and net neutrality. FMC has always felt that innovation can trump spectrum scarcity as long as Congress doesn’t make a series of historically bad decisions that turn the open internet into a proprietary network controlled by a handful of cable, telephone, and wireless companies. Now this is the exact scenario we face as Congress considers passing a major telecommunications policy overhaul.

S. 2686 poses a number of issues in preserving a free and open internet. In July, FMC wrote two articles to address these issues - an opinion piece in The Hill and a rebuttal piece in abcnews.com, that articulate the concern from the musicians’ perspective.

Indie-rock Revolution, Fueled by Net Neutrality
In an opinion piece for The Hill, FMC’s Executive Director Jenny Toomey and Policy Director Michael Bracy highlight the issues at the convergence of radio, payola, and media consolidation.
Jenny Toomey and Michael Bracy, The Hill, June 13, 2006

NET NEUTRALITY

Net neutrality has become quite the buzz phrase these days, and with good reason. Essentially the founding principle of the internet, net neutrality ensures that users and content are not prioritized, rather the internet simply functions as an open platform for transferring data. Thus, the music of the indie musician selling on EMusic is equally accessible technically as a major-label artist selling tracks on iTunes. Now cable and telephone companies would like the right to act as gatekeepers, charging premiums for data to be put on a fast track. FMC believes that this is unacceptable, and we are not alone. The following are links to some of our favorite YouTube clips discussing the net neutrality issue.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart featuring Jon Hodgeman
Net Neutrality and the Internet Freedom Report
This Spartan Life
Ask a Ninja explains Net Neutrality
DJ Ted Stevens Techno Remix
And courtesy of our friends at the Prometheus Radio Project: A Series of Tubes t-shirts

Over 20 Grassroots Groups From Across Ideological Spectrum Join Sens. Snowe, Dorgan Today Calling For Preservation of Internet
FMC, along with a broad coalition of 760 other groups - including Moveon.org, Christian Coalition, Free Press Consumers Union and many others, was present at a news conference on June 15, 2006 to express its support for the Internet Freedom Preservation Act (S. 2917), legislation introduced by Senators Snowe and Dorgan to ensure the principle of net neutrality is preserved.
Press Release from offices of Sens. Snowe and Dorgan, June 15, 2006

LOW POWER FM RADIO

But the news is not all bad. Although FMC still opposes Senator Stevens’ S. 2686, we are thrilled that the Senate Commerce Committee recognized the importance of Low Power Radio (LPFM) while reviewing the Stevens bill. The LPFM movement celebrated a significant victory earlier this summer when the Senate Commerce Committee approved an amendment to the Stevens bill that approves expansion of the LPFM service. The amendment, sponsored by Senators McCain and Cantwell, received overwhelming bipartisan support with a 14-7 vote.

LPFM is of critical importance to the music community. Since the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the commercial radio marketplace has experienced drastic ownership consolidation, which has left radio listeners and the music community with narrowly tailored, hit-driven playlists, a loss of localism and the elimination of significant musical genres from the airwaves. LPFM provides a vital local connection through a non-commercial platform willing and eager to broadcast classical, jazz, zydeco, punk, folk, big band and many other musical genres that reflect our diverse musical heritage.

January 2007 is shaping up to be a busy month for FMC in New York with appearances at both Chamber Music America, International Association for Jazz Education, and Association of Performing Arts Presenters!

On January 10, Jean Cook will lead a day-long technology and policy seminar at Chamber Music America’s annual New York conference. On January 11 FMC’s Kristin Thomson will appear at the International Association for Jazz Education’s 34th annual conference speaking on “How to Get Paid in the Digital Age”. And for January 19-23, Jean has been working again with the Association of Performing Arts Presenters to help design a technology and policy track for their 50th annual member conference in New York City.

More details to come later this fall (post Montreal!) - especially on the Chamber Music America seminar, which will feature sessions on promoting and distributing your music online, how to podcast, rich interactive website experiences, and a primer on the future of radio.

Another reason to stay tuned? FMC will offer a limited number of FREE musician scholarships to the CMA Seminar on January 11th!

For more information on any of these events, email Outreach Director jean [at] futureofmusic [dot] org (Jean Cook).

FMC IN THE NEWS

Reasons Musicians Might Hold Their Fire
Musicians John Mellencamp, Dixie Chicks, and REM Manager Bertis Downs discuss artist activism and possible reasons for caution in future forays into politics.
Geoff Boucher, LA Times, July 2, 2006

Musicians Seek Money to Help with Bandmate’s Bills
Local musicians discuss views on health insurance and several health insurance resources for musicians, including FMC’s HINT project, are discussed.
Ian Hill, The Record, July 11, 2006

NEW BUSINESS MODELS

YouTube Talking to Record Labels on Music Videos
YouTube is currently negotiating with record labels to create a business model that will allow the popular home video sharing website the rights to post all music videos ever created on its website.
Reuters, August 15, 2006

Swap CDs and Pay Musicians
Lala.com, a new CD trading website, aims to give musicians a major cut of the proceeds from sales by contributing 20% of every sale to its “Z” foundation.
Associated Press June 7, 2006

POLICY

France’s DRM-busting Plan Becomes Law
Apple will now have to provide necessary information to rivals to enable competitors’ MP3 players to be interoperable with iTunes. This move, if other countries were to follow suit, would undercut Apple’s digital music business model of controlling both the hardware and software related to iTunes.
Jo Best & Estelle Dumont, CNet, August 7, 2006

INDUSTRY NEWS

A Cheap Trick
Check out this Chicago Sun-Times feature on how digital download fees are divided between record labels and artists - a rare inside look at exactly how the pie is split. The band Cheap Trick has filed a lawsuit on behalf of all artists signed by Sony before 2002 alleging the label has been systematically shortchanged artists.
Jim DeRogatis, Chicago Sun-Times, May 21, 2006

Performers Orchestrate Rescue
In the wake of the recent security scare at London’s Heathrow airport, the effects of heightened security were felt by members of the Italian Academia Montis Regalis orchestra who were forced to leave their instruments at home and improvise on arrival at their performance in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Matthew Kwong, The Globe and Mail, August, 15, 2006

Rights Renewed, ‘Eyes on the Prize’ Returns
“Eyes on the Prize”, the award-winning 14 hour civil rights documentary, has finally succeeded in clearing the rights on the many songs, filmclips, and still photographs included in this groundbreaking production. “Eyes on the Prize” has not been broadcast since 1993 because clearance rights had expired.
Catherine Foster, The Boston Globe, May 26, 2006

You can always send an email to suggestions [at] futureofmusic [dot] org with your comments.

Thanks as always,

Jenny Toomey
Michael Bracy
Walter McDonough
Brian Zisk
Kristin Thomson
Peter DiCola
Jean Cook
Chhaya Kapadia

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