National Geographic Music and DC Policy Day

Tomorrow, FMC will be presenting our annual DC Policy Day at Grosvenor Auditorium at National Geographic Music and Radio and National Geographic Live! Before the big event, we wanted to tell you about our Policy Day partner National Geographic’s recently launched record label, National Geographic Music.

The label will record, release, promote and distribute modern music from around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Africa. The newly formed imprint plans to represent genres ranging from African pop to Arab classical.

National Geographic Music will be distributed through INgrooves — a digital media distribution company based out of San Francisco that provides clients with marketing, promotion and sync licensing. The label will also operate National Geographic’s Cinema Ventures; feature Films, Kids Entertainment and a radio division.

National Geographic Entertainment, the umbrella of National Geographic Music, is headed by David Beal — a speaker at tomorrow's Policy Day. He'll appear on our Fair Trade Music: Toward a Legitimate Digital Music Marketplace panel.

Online registration for Policy Day is now closed, but we'll be accepting walk-ups. If you can't make it to DC, you can watch a live webcast of the event here.

Meet the Policy Day Panelists: Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

This post is part of a series on DC Policy Day, which takes place on Wednesday, February 11 at National Geographic's Grosvenor Auditorium in Washington, DC. Read previous entries here.

Alec Ounsworth is the lead singer and songwriter of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — the posterboys of indie success in the digital era. Alec was a participant in FMC’s most recent Artist Activism Camp in New Orleans, and will be on hand for DC Policy Day this Wednesday, February 11. So let us tell you a little story about a college kid in a band who cut out the middleman and sold thousands of CDs with no label backing.

Born in Philly, Alec Ounsworth’s interest in music began when he was encouraged by his mother to learn the piano and later guitar. By the age of 17, he was writing and recording his own demos. In 2004 he formed Clap Your Hands Say Yeah with bassist Tyler Sargent, keyboardist Robbie Guertin, drummer Sean Greengalgh and Tyler’s guitarist brother, Lee Sargent.

Before long, the Brooklyn-based group had begun to generate some serious buzz. Their self-titled debut was released in 2005 without the benefit of label backing — how’s that for indie CYHSY had minimal expectations when they started selling the record through their website, yet within a few months it had sold a startling 25,000 copies. Did we mention that this was all done with out ANY label backing or distribution?

Accolades from MP3 blog sites and a Best New Music review from Pitchfork Media — which Alec calls the group’s “defining moment — followed. As of today, CYHSY have sold over 200,000 CDs and have had the likes of David Bowie and David Byrne attend their often sold-out shows.

This kind of DIY success story isn’t likely to happen for every band, but one thing is for sure: CYHSY wouldn’t have been able to move this many “units” without a level online playing field. Net neutrality — the principle that protects the open internet — allowed Alec and co. to reach their fans directly on the same “series of tubes” that iTunes and Amazon use. (Click here to for more info about why net neutrality is so important to musicians.)

Of course it takes a lot of time and envelope licking to deliver CDs to your legions of fans without any help. So for 2007’s Some Loud Thunder, CYHSY signed a distribution deal with the UK label Wichita Recordings. So far so good: the song “Satan Said Dance” was one of Rolling Stone’s top 100 songs of the year and was featured in the second season of “The Office.” The band also released Live at Lollapalooza 2007, a digital-only live album available through iTunes.

Alec will appear on the “Fair Trade Music: Toward a Legitimate Digital Music Marketplace” panel with CD Baby founder and moderator Derek Sivers, National Geographic Entertainment President David Beal, music manager Peter Jenner and Justin Ouellette, CEO & founder of Muxtape at DC Policy Day 2009.

Time is almost up for online registrations — head here to reserve your spot now!

Meet the Policy Day Panelists: Justin Ouellette of Muxtape

This post is part of a series on DC Policy Day, which takes place on Wednesday, February 11 at National Geographic's Grosvenor Auditorium in Washington, DC. Read previous entries here.

Way back in March 2008, 25 year-old graphic designer and photographer Justin Ouellette unveiled Muxtape — a gloriously simple online music service that quickly endeared itself to music fans around the world.

Based on the old-school cassette mixtape, Muxtape 1.0 was a user-friendly, clutter-free website that let users upload their own playlists using music from their own collections, to be streamed by others. "[Muxtape's] intended purpose is to introduce you to new music that you would then hopefully go and buy," Justin said at the time. The idea caught on incredibly quickly, with 8,685 registered users in the first day, and 97,748 in the first month. The facilitated music discovery, and everyone seemed to love it.

Well, maybe not everyone.

Pretty much from the moment the site went live, Justin received notices from the RIAA (the trade group that claims to represent the US recording industry) and the major labels about infringing content. The RIAA asked Justin to remove a handful of specific mixes, and he complied. Not long after, Justin entered negotiations with the majors to find a way for Muxtape to continue while providing compensation to copyright holders. (You can read the story in Justin's own words here.) Although the negotiations had their hiccups, Justin was certain the negotiations were taking place in good faith and that the terms for a legit Muxtape might eventually be agreed upon.

(Re)enter the RIAA. Justin hadn't heard from them in a while, which he chalked up to the negotiations with the majors, Then, in August 2008, he received notice from Amazon Web Services (who hosted Mutape's files and servers) that he had one business day to business day to remove all the songs on his site or have the Muxtape servers shut down and all data deleted. Still thinking it was some kind of misunderstanding, Justin hastily tacked up a not about “a problem with the RIAA," and the site went dark. And it stayed that way until recently.

And so I made one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever faced: I walked away from the licensing deals. They had become too complex for a site founded on simplicity, too restrictive and hostile to continue to innovate the way I wanted to. They’d already taken so much attention away from development that I started to question my own motivations. I didn’t get into this to build a big company as fast as I could no matter what the cost, I got into this to make something simple and beautiful for people who love music, and I plan to continue doing that. As promised, the site is coming back, but not as you’ve known. I’m taking a feature that was in development in the early stages and making it the new central focus.

The new Muxtape is a service exclusively for bands. It will, in Justin's words, allow indie acts to "upload their own music and offer an embeddable player that works anywhere on the web, in addition to the original Muxtape format." The redesigned service is currently in beta, but will be relaunched "in the coming weeks," according to a notice on the site.

We're thrilled to have Justin appear on the "Fair Trade Music: Toward a Legitimate Digital Music Marketplace" panel at DC Policy Day on Wednesday, February 11 at National Geographic's Grosvenor Auditorium. The clock is ticking for online registrations (we'll be taking walk-ups as space permits) — head here to reserve your spot.

Can't make it to DC? Policy Day 2009 will also be webcast live, via web.illish.us.

Meet the Policy Day Panelists: Hank Shocklee, Super Producer

In case you were wondering if anyone from the urban/electronic music community would be at our upcoming DC Policy Day, no worries — production legend and FMC advisory board member Hank Shocklee will be ready to represent in Washington on Wednesday, February 11.

A Long Island native and two-time Source Magazine “Producer of the Year,” Hank is currently president of Shocklee Entertainment — a music, film media and technology info portal through which users can exchange information and discover valuable tools to advance their own careers.

Hank revolutionized the sound of hip-hop with his production unit the Bomb Squad, introducing the world to Public Enemy with their 1987 debut, YO! Bum Rush the Show. Hank’s deft touch helped elevate the role of the producer in hip-hop music — after Hank and the Bomb Squad hit the scene, it was no longer just about the MC. Hank’s unique production style became a cornerstone of the classic Public Enemy sound, and paved the way for a whole new generation of producers from the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA to Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg.

During his rise to prominence, Hank also extended his production skills to such artists as Madonna, Janet Jackson and Peter Gabriel. He’s also scored and produced film soundtracks for movies like Juice, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Dangerous Minds and most recently, American Gangster — which earned him a Grammy nod.

Currently, Hank is working on a series of projects that he calls the Future Frequency. “I’ve always had a good sense of where entertainment needs to go next and right now I’ve honed in on the next dimension of sight & sound,” he says. Hmm, if you add “mind” to that mix, you’d be in the Twilight Zone! Bad jokes aside, we’re psyched to have Hank at DC Policy Day — he’s got a brilliant mind for media issues, and brings a whole range of perspectives often lacking in the stuffy world of public policy.

Hank will join moderator and FMC Technologies Director Brian Zisk, Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott, New America Foundation’s Sascha Meinrath (one of Ars Technica's "Tech Policy People to Watch") and Consumer Electronics Association Senior Vice President, Government Affairs Michael Petricone for the “Broad-band: Internet and Spectrum Policy and the Creative Class” panel. The conversation will examine how broadband policy intersects with intellectual property concerns and other issues likely to be tackled by policymakers in 2009. The clock is ticking on registration — reserve your spot now!

DC Policy Day
When: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Time: 9:00 AM — 6:00 PM with cocktail party to follow from 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Where: National Geographic Music and Radio and National Geographic Live!
Registration: $50 through February 9 11:59 pm ET.
Registration with 6.0 CLE credits: $200 through February 9 11:59 pm ET.

Onsite registration and onsite CLE sign-up will also be available.

This event has been approved in Virginia for 6.0 hours of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit. Additionally, CLE credits from Virginia can be claimed in the states of New York, California, Delaware (additional fees apply), North Carolina, Pennsylvania (additional fees apply), and West Virginia.

Have you already registered but want to upgrade your registration to qualify for CLE credits? Click here to upgrade.

Can't make it to Washington, DC? This event will be webcast live on February 11.

Meet the Policy Day Panelists: Peter Jenner

We definitely have an interesting Policy Day panelist to tell you about today: legendary manager and artist advocate Peter Jenner (you can listen to an earlier FMC podcast interview with Peter here).

Hailing from across the pond (that’d be the UK), Peter serves as Emeritus President of IMMF (International Music Managers’ Forum) — an organization that represents worldwide music managers and their acts. Comprised of fifteen managers’ forums around the world including France, New Zealand, South Africa and Norway, this organization aims to ensure the respect and rights of a global community of managers and talent.

Peter’s story kicks off when he became the 21 year-old Lecturer at the London School of Economics. His four-year stint ended when he resigned to manage a daring young band that had caught his ear. That group was Pink Floyd, who subsequently went into "interstellar overdrive" (that one's for the fans!). Peter’s voice can even heard on Floyd’s 1967 song “Astronomy Domine” from the classic album Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

It was during this time that Peter and his business partner Andrew King formed Blackhill Enterprises and began putting on free concerts in London’s Hyde Park, which concluded with the famous Rolling Stones appearance in 1969 (the group’s first gig following the death of founding guitarist Brian Jones). From there, Peter went on to manage a long list of successful acts such as The Clash, Ian Dury, Robyn Hitchcock and Baaba Maal. Peter currently represents British folk firebrand Billy Bragg.

Peter is doggedly persistent in his fight for musicians' rights, and is a true artist champion. He also embraces technological change, particularly when it comes to creators getting paid. He’s been a strong advocate of the “music access charge” — a small fee on consumers’ internet bill that would let them legally obtain music from file-sharing services. (FMC hosted some of the earliest discussions of this idea at our 2004, '05 and '06 Policy Summits.) Peter's background in artist rights and representation makes him particularly well-equipped to understand the benefits and challenges of implementing such a plan.

Recently, a proposal was floated by the government of the Isle of Man — a small island in the Irish Sea — to allow the Isle’s 80,000 citizens to download unlimited music from P2P services for a nominal fee from their internet service provider. (The Isle of Man has a forward-looking history when it comes to technology; it was the first place in the world to offer 3G cellular service and broadband is available in every home.)

When asked what his role in all of this is, Peter says, “I’m an evil genius. I’m Doctor Strangelove.” (He’s actually a consultant.) Although the music access charge currently faces opposition, Peter believes it might eventually become commonplace. “If it happens, it sets a huge precedent,” he says. “If the sky doesn’t fall in it becomes more and more possible for the record companies to see it as a way to bring in revenue.”

He dismisses claims that an ISP surcharge would set a permanent price for digital music, calling it “absolute f**king nonsense.” (In a British accent, of course.) “By that logic, it means that if you listen to radio you won’t buy another record,” he says. “That’s what they said about cassettes; Disney said it said it about the VCR. It’s probably what the stagecoach companies said when the trains came along. If they’re clever they’ll figure out how to work with the new technology.”

Peter stresses that this structure would not upset existing digital music services and their own artist compensation mechanisms. “This is only an access charge for non-commercial use — commercial services will have to pay extra,” he explains. “The service providers, the ISPs and the music providers should all benefit from developing new services and new commercial services. This should make licensing very much easier; currently there is not a sensible licensing system. The dam is bursting — the industry can’t go on living a fantasy.”

So why the Isle of Man? “Because they wanted to do it,” Peter relates. “They already have a really strong tech infrastructure, and they hope people come in and try new services. They wanted another string to their bow.” (The Isle of Man is well known as a online gambling destination and tax haven.)

Peter will appear on a Policy Day panel called “Fair Trade Music: Toward a Legitimate Digital Music Marketplace” alongside David Beal (President, National Geographic Entertainment), Alec Ounsworth (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), Justin Oullette (founder of Muxtape) and moderator Derek Sivers (founder, CD Baby). The conversation will focus on how technology is changing the marketplace and the ways to ensure fair compensation to creators.

This is just one of several fascinating panels at Policy Day 2009. The clock is ticking on registration — reserve your spot now!

DC Policy Day
When: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Time: 9:00 AM — 6:00 PM with cocktail party to follow from 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Where: National Geographic Music and Radio and National Geographic Live!
Registration: $50 through February 9 11:59 pm ET.
Registration with 6.0 CLE credits: $200 through February 9 11:59 pm ET.

Onsite registration and onsite CLE sign-up will also be available.

This event has been approved in Virginia for 6.0 hours of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit. Additionally, CLE credits from Virginia can be claimed in the states of New York, California, Delaware (additional fees apply), North Carolina, Pennsylvania (additional fees apply), and West Virginia.

Have you already registered but want to upgrade your registration to qualify for CLE credits? Click here to upgrade.

Can't make it to Washington, DC? This event will be webcast live on February 11.

Meet the Policy Day Panelists: Bryan Calhoun

With DC Policy Day around the corner, today we decided to keep it local and introduce fellow Washingtonian Bryan Calhoun — Vice President, New Media and External Affairs at SoundExchange and FMC Board member.

Bryan is no stranger to FMC events; he’s been one of our most captivating panelists at past gatherings. He’s also the founder/CEO of Label Management Systems and the Music Business Toolbox — a music business and marketing solutions company based out of Atlanta, Georgia. This service is designed to help indie musicians and record labels compete on a level playing field with the majors by providing tools to efficiently run their operations and market their releases.

Over the course of 15 years in the music business, Bryan has worked with hip hop icons such as Kanye West and Ludacris — in fact, he was previously the Chief Operations Officer for West’s Good label. Bryan has also pulled stints with Warlock Records, Red Distribution and Relativity Records, with a focus on concert promotion, marketing, A&R and radio promotions. So you can see why we’re psyched to have him as a guest panelist next week.

At Policy Day, Bryan will join Michael Bracy (FMC Policy Director), Peter Gordon (president, Thirsty Ear Recordings), Brian Austin Whitney (founder, Just Plain Folks), Parul Desai (Associate Director, Media Access Project), Randy Hawke (Operations Manager, Mid-West Family Broadcasting) and Frannie Wellings (Legislative Assistant, Senator Byron Dorgan) on the “Adjust Your Dial: Radio for the 21st Century” panel. This in-depth conversation will look at some of the key issues facing the FCC and Congress and their potential impact on the music community.

Still not registered? Get to it!

Info | Schedule | Register | Musician Scholarships | Tell Your Friends!

DC Policy Day
When: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Time: 9:00 AM — 6:00 PM. with cocktail party to follow from 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Where: National Geographic Music and Radio and National Geographic Live!
Registration: $50 through February 9 11:59 pm ET.
Registration with 6.0 CLE credits: $200 through February 9 11:59 pm ET.

Onsite registration will be available as well.

This event has been approved in Virginia for 6.0 hours of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit. Additionally, CLE credits from Virginia can be claimed in the states of New York, California, Delaware (additional fees apply), North Carolina, Pennsylvania (additional fees apply), and West Virginia.

Meet the Policy Day Panelists: Rick Carnes

Rick Carnes of SGA

Next up in our “Meet the Policy Day Panelists” series is Rick Carnes. Hailing from Nashville Tennessee, this multi-platinum selling songwriter is currently president of the Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) and has written tunes for Sony Music International, Elektra Asylum Music and Peer Music International. (He's also on the FMC advisory board.)

The Songwriters Guild of America was founded in 1931 with the mission to help advance, promote and benefit the profession of songwriters. SGA offers services for both the developing and professional songwriter, including online and offline classes, in-depth song evaluations, contract reviews, royalty collection, catalog administration and more.

Carnes’ calling kicked off when he narrowed his job choices down to schoolteacher, guitar player or wallpaper hanger. Naturally, he chose to hang wallpaper, which led to him meeting his wife Janice. The two began performing duets, which ultimately led to Rick becoming a hit songwriter. Not your typical vocational path, but what musical career is typical?

To date, Carnes has written Number One hits for Reba McEntire (“I Can’t Get the Blues No More”) and Garth Brooks (“Longneck Bottle”). His credits also include three Top Ten hits for the Whites, as well as songs written for Dean Martin, Alabama and Conway Twitty. All told, Carnes has helped to sell more than 20 million records with tunes he has either written or co-written.

On February 11, Carnes will participate in our D.C. Policy Day on a panel called “Copyright and Innovation in the Digital Age,” which also includes Zahavah Levine (Chief Counsel, YouTube),
Steve Marks (Executive VP and General Counsel, RIAA), (Hal Ponder Director of Government Relations, American Federation of Musicians), Gigi Sohn (President, Public Knowledge) and Walter McDonough (General Counsel, FMC).

If you’re a musician or songwriter wondering how technology and copyright law might impact your own career, you’ll definitely want to attend. And if you act now, you could get in for free — a limited number of musician scholarships are available. Click here to apply!

Meet the Policy Day Panelists: Derek Sivers

Derek Sivers

With so many cool and interesting panelists on board for our upcoming DC Policy Day (February 11!) it’s hard to choose which guest to be more excited over. That said, there is one speaker that every musician attending should take special note of: Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby and the mind behind DIY music info hub Sivers.org.

For those of you who don’t know, Sivers founded CD Baby in after quitting his job at Warner Music to become a full time musician. Instead of trying to score a record deal and conventional distribution, Sivers began selling his CD on his personal website. Soon he was helping his musician friends do the same, and CD Baby was born. Since those humble beginnings, the site has grown to include more than 267,000 acts, sold more than five million CDs to online customers and has paid more than 98 million dollars directly to artists (whoa!).

No doubt those are impressive numbers. But in 2008 Sivers decided to move on from CD Baby in order to focus on informing and inspiring indie musicians at Sivers.org. (Did we mention that prior to all of this he toured with the circus as a ringleader/musician? And that he's never tried coffee?)

So with CD Baby, Warner Music and the circus behind him, this FMC Board member following through with his mission. Through his website, Sivers offers numerous projects to help out the everyday musician trying to pursue their art and hopefully earn a buck.

From his free e-book full of tips on how to successfully promote your music to MuckWork, a concept involving the outsourcing of promotional and design chores, Sivers is always dreaming up ways to help musicians become more empowered and self-sufficient. Particularly interesting is his grassroots music biz documentary, which lets musicians interview magazine writers, club promoters and radio programmers (to name a few) to better understand the how the gears turn.

Sivers will be moderating a panel at Policy Day ’09 called “Fair Trade Music: Toward a Legitimate Digital Music Marketplace,” which also features legendary British manager and artist advocate Peter Jenner and Pandora founder Tim Westergren (they’ll be joined by one more soon-to-be-named individual). Expect a fascinating conversation about new applications and technologies that help musicians promote and sell their music, and how policy decisions affect the viability of these sites and services.

As always, we’ll be offering a limited number of musician scholarships to Policy Day; click here to apply!