The final schedule has been released for the Future of Music Summit, happening next Monday and Tuesday, October 28 – 29. The agenda for the 12th annual summit features 20 sessions and events with more than 50 speakers, advocates, musicians and experts on the music industry.
When I spoke to Future of Music Coalition interim executive director Casey Rae last month about the summit, he reinforced how radio is an important stakeholder in the discussion. He told me “Commercial radio has made it difficult for artists to have access to the airwaves, no matter how talented. Radio is still a big resource. This is why the musician community rallied around LPFM, they knew instinctively that the local was important.”
A topic of particular importance to both musicians and radio of all types is performance royalties. Monday features multiple discussions dealing with aspects of this issue, with the 2 PM “License to Thrive: Direct Licensing, Compulsories & Artist Compensation” addressing it head on. This panel includes Ann Chaitovitz, an attorney-advisor for the US Patent & Trademark Office, attorney David Oxenford who writes the Broadcast Law Blog and Bruce Bouton, first vice president of Recording Musicians Association International.
Other sessions addressing radio include a policy briefing from Prometheus Radio Project’s policy director Sanjay Jolly and the Tuesday afternoon keynote from FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. Wrapping up the summit NPR Music’s All Songs Considered will host a listening party Tuesday evening, featuring Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton for “a night of unreleased tunes, debate and drinks.”
The future of radio is tightly bound up with the fortunes of musicians and the music industry. This is especially true for non-commercial stations and independent artists and labels. Broadcasters cannot take these musicians for granted, while artists cannot afford to ignore radio’s still vital ability to reach new audiences and solidify fan relationships. Thus it’s important for there to be more continuous dialog between broadcasters and music makers. I expect the 12th Future of Music Summit will continue its tradition of fomenting that discussion.
The full schedule is available at the FMC website. Registration is still open, and musician and student scholarships are still available. For those (like me) who can’t make it to DC for the Summit, FMC is kind enough to stream the summit panels live, for free.
