FMC Fall Event Details!

Remember when we told you about the “What’s the Future for Musicians?” events in Chicago and New York City? Well, now we've got more details, including a date and venue for our sampling panel (also in NYC). An incredible array of panelists and presenters are lined up to inform on a range of topics crucial to today’s musicians. Whether you play rock, jazz, folk, country, world, classical or hip-hop, these events will get you up to speed the issues that affect you — now and in the future.

The Chicago event takes place on Monday, September 22 at the Old Town School of Folk Music. In addition to your pals at FMC, panelists include Nan Warshaw, co-owner of Bloodshot Records — the label for Firewater, The Waco Brothers and Justin Townes Earle, to name a few — Frank Mauceri from the eco-friendly label Smog Veil Records, the Chicago Independent Radio Project's Shawn Campbell and many more. There will also be a special conversation between music critic Greg Kot and the music preservationists behind The Numero Group record label, who will talk about rescuing some of the most interesting and overlooked albums from the dustbin of musical history, and how they build bridges between the analog past and the digital present.

What’s the Future for Musicians? Chicago
12:00 PM – 7:00 PM, Monday, September 22, 2008
Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL
Registration: $25, but a limited number of musician scholarships are still available
Register
Scholarships

While we’re in Chicago, FMC will also be taking part in One Web Day — a global celebration of the open Internet. For our part, we’ll be hanging out at the annual Hideout Block Party on Sept. 20-21 (right before our musician education seminar), spreading the word about the importance of net neutrality to musicians. If you’re a Windy City native or will be in the area, head to 1354 West Wabansia Ave and hear sets from Neko Case, The New Pornographers, Ratatat, Black Mountain and more. Make sure you swing by and say hello!

Can’t make it to Chicago? Demonstrate your support for network neutrality by joining our Rock the Net campaign.

After Chicago, we’ll be bringing our “What’s the Future for Musicians?” event to New York City’s Public Theater. Join us for this day-long event that includes three panels and a set of simultaneous breakouts, featuring TuneCore’s founder Jeff Price, digital PR expert Ariel Hyatt, Jennifer Wright Cook who is Executive Director of The Field, new music podcaster Molly Sheridan, producer/musician Joel Hamilton and many more!

What’s the Future for Musicians? NYC
12:00 PM – 6:00 PM, Monday, October 6, 2008
The Public Theater, New York NY
Registration: $25, but a limited number of musician scholarships are still available
Register
Scholarships

We’re also really excited to announce the date and venue for “Creative License: a Conversation about Music, Sampling and Fair Use,” which takes place at the Public Theater in NYC on Monday, October 6. That’s right — it’s the same day and location as the “What’s the Future for Musicians?” forum. The panel, which is co-presented by the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, starts at 7:00 PM. Admission for the sampling discussion is $25, though attendees of the earlier event will be able to attend “Creative License” free of charge.

This subject couldn’t be more relevant, particularly with all the interest in Girl Talk — a DJ/producer who skillfully combines well-known pop, rock, hip-hop and R&B tunes in a party-ready concoction that’s infectious and possibly illegal.

Girl Talk’s latest release, Feed the Animals, illustrates the hurdles in licensing samples for new creative uses. More than 300 songs are sampled on the record, none of which were properly licensed. FMC took a look at what it would take to legally use these works in a blog post about the current sample license process. Girl Talk claims he doesn’t need authorization as his sampling falls under the doctrine of fair use. We’ll be discussing the fair use aspects of sampling at the Oct. 6 event.

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