Connecting Artists with the Media Reform Movement
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Topics:
Broadband, Broadcast, Censorship, Internet, IP/Copyright/Digital Use Rights, Ownership, Public/Community media, Radio, Regulation, Spectrum/wireless
Budget
Raised to date: $65,450.00
Estimate to complete: $130,000.00
Total Estimated Budget: $195,450.00
The budget numbers above are accurate as of 01/01/2009
Key Personnel
Michael Bracy
Policy Director
Michael Bracy is a partner in the government affairs firm Bracy Tucker Brown & Valanzano. He also co-founded the Future of Music Coalition and currently serves as a board member and Policy Director and co-owns Misra, an independent record label based in Austin, Texas.
Michael is known for his policy work in front of Congress and the FCC, including media consolidation, radio regulation (including Low Power FM), and ensuring public interest principles are at the heart of the legal structures that will help dictate new technological frameworks. Michael is a recognized public advocate both for the music community and for the need for increased citizen participation in the policy process. He has testified before the Congress and the FCC, and speaks often on these issues at conferences and in the media, including CNN, MSNBC, National Public Radio, Washington Post, New York Times, Billboard and elsewhere.
Funders
| Name | Amount | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media Democracy Fund | $40,000.00 | 12/24/2008 | |
| Nathan Cummings Foundation | $25,450.00 | 05/07/2008 |
Short Synopsis
Future of Music Coalition is committed to raising awareness about media issues by facilitating the engagement of artists in advocating for positive change.
Description/Treatment
Working in coalition with key media reform leaders, as well as musician advocate groups that share our concerns about the impact of media consolidation, FMC brings arts-focused, data-driven research together with a clear understanding of policy implications to educate and activate musicians, policymakers and the press about issues such as media consolidation, net neutrality and low power radio.
This project supports FMC's 2009 Artist Activism Camp (see below), and it includes funding for a part timeproject director and a full time dedicated staff person to regularlyinterface with artists, and develop, implement, and promote strategiccollaboration and campaign opportunities on a range of media issues for 2009-2010.
For the past eight years, we have worked on media reform, compensation and telecommunication issues, documenting musician experiences and representing their voices in emerging technology debates through research, education and advocacy. Musicians have been historically under-represented in debates on issues that affect their livelihood and ability to reach potential audiences. Bringing their stories forward highlights the importance of media reform, and also introduces new audiences to these complex issues.
Some examples of our work:
• Producing the "Tell Us the Truth Tour" bringing together activist artists like Billy Bragg, Mike Mills of R.E.M., Steve Earle, Tom Morello, Boots Riley, Lester Chambers, Jill Sobule, and Jeanane Garofalo on an eight-day tour from Madison, WI to Miami, FL and back through Washington DC. In each city, the artists held news conferences with local activists, culminating in a Washington DC concert that featured an appearance from FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.
• Building a coalition of nearly 1,000 musicians to form theRock the Net Campaign to affirm the basicprinciples of Net Neutrality, helping Pearl Jam cement the connectionbetween censorship and a non-neutral net, and introducing OKGo to theHouse Judiciary Committee as the little band who became Grammyaward-winning YouTube sensations because of an open internet.
• Facilitating opportunities for artists such as the Indigo Girls and Mac McCaughan (Merge Records/Portastatic) to advocate for Low Power Radio or to testify about the impact of media consolidation on the music industry on the Hill.
Additionally, FMC produces an annual "Artist Activism Camp" designed to give progressive musicians the historical context, the media training and the political experience to effectively move their messages. Each of these camps has inspired cohorts of musicians whose post-retreat levels of engagement have increased dramatically. Past camps have created over a dozen cause-driven collaborations that will reach hundreds of thousands of music fans and raise tens of thousands of dollars for progressive causes.
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