Posted 10:46 AM by Dave Allen
August 18, 2002


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Dear Seattle music community member,

At 7 p.m. August 29 in the JBL Theater, EMP is hosting a free panel that really means a lot to me. It’s called “Where Do We Go From Here? Artists, Technology, Activism and the Industry.” Here’s why I’m so excited about it.
These past few years have been a whirlwind for all of us involved in music. New technologies have utterly changed the rules. Home recording studios grow ever more efficient, and the Internet provides new means of distribution, so that independent artists can find an audience more readily than ever before. At the same time, the consolidation of the music industry, including major record labels and commercial radio, makes the mainstream harder to enter than ever before. Music makers negotiate between extremes as they try to satisfy themselves creatively, reach people, and live healthy, satisfying lives.
How can one person comprehend the intricacies of copyright law and webcasting and the Federal Communications Commission and major label accounting practices and mechanical royalties and …. It’s very hard to absorb all we need to know to thrive in the music world. Yet if we don’t become informed, musicians and their allies risk being swept up in change, rather than mastering the possibilities it creates.
With “Where Do We Go From Here?” EMP and the Future of Music Coalition invite you to become part of an ongoing public discussion of these matters. The panel features artists and artist-rights advocates frankly discussing how they deal with the myriad upheavals in the music industry. Topics raised will include the state of radio; the wild world of the Internet; the battles in Congress over topics like radio consolidation and the work-for-hire law; musicians and health care; and artists’ relationships with the system that (we hope!) supports them, including labels and the concert industry. Many of us entered these conversations around the time that Napster made file-sharing a hot debate; so much more has transpired since then, and we all need to educate ourselves and share information.
The panel includes Jenny Toomey and Michael Bracy of the FMC, a not-for-profit think tank that examines the music industry in search of policies, technologies and business models that can benefit artists and fans. You might know Jenny from her stellar recording career with Tsunami and other ensembles, or Mike from his work with the Low Power Radio Coalition and Misra Records. Also joining in will be musicians Krist Novoselic, Dave Dederer and Dave Allen. But the audience is going to make this event work – we need people like you to share your experiences and opinions. As a group, we can share in a vision that may shape policy and the business world in significant ways.
We hope you will attend our forum. If you know nothing about these subjects, it’s a chance to learn. If you know a lot, it’s a way connect with others. Please help make EMP a home for discussion about the most important aspect of music-making – integrating it into a whole and happy life.

See you there!

Ann Powers, Susie Tennant, and Sarah Sternau