Creative Responses to Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Musicians has launched as an online tool for “sound engineers, sound artists, producers, DJs, instrumentalists, composers, and lyricists” who support Occupy Wall Street and its affiliated protests.
The new initiative seeks to focus the incredible support the movement has received from the music community into a petition and public statement of solidarity. The site will also serve as a resource to musicians, helping tp put on musical performances at Occupy protest sites and providing a hub for the documentation of audio, video, and writings from artists who support the 99 percent.
How to Support Public Radio: Resources & Actions for Musicians
Accessible non-commercial radio is a vital part of both the music business and the process of creating an informed and engaged democracy. Over 90% of Americans listen to traditional radio every week, and half of all Americans listen to public radio.
The non-commercial radio space is one of great turbulence and great opportunity. In the past year, we have simultaneously seen both an attack on public radio and the passage of a law that will create up to 1,000 more low-power community stations.
SPOTLIGHT: Call To Action Music Videos
Current research shows that the numbers of Americans who are watching and sharing videos online via sites like YouTube and Vimeo has more than doubled over the last 5 years to a whopping 71 percent. Watching videos online now outranks social networking, online banking and other activities as the most frequent online activity.
As new features and capabilities are being added to video sharing sites including the ability to sell music, merch, tickets and more, it is clear the potential impact call to action music videos can have in raising awareness, generating funds or promoting action for a cause or issue an artist cares about–while at the same time promoting an artist’s music and brand.
Songs About Water & Land
ATC came up with a playlist of songs about water and land for a recent presentation about our work with musician’s on climate change and environmental issues. Here are some of our favorites:
Small Actions to Support Economic Justice
Throughout the country people are taking to the streets to demand changes to the economic system that will take care of Main Street before Wall Street. Many artists have reached out to us asking for advice for how to take small actions to support economic justice issues, so we have put together some recommendations on simple ways to get involved below.
From visiting or supporting the protests that are spreading throughout the country to moving your money from big banks to smaller community-based ones that support local economies, there are many things that musicians can do to support economic justice. To find out more about these protests and campaigns, please see the reference section below.
Pass Along Our Tools to Your Digital Strategists
ATC has been getting an increasing number of requests about how to support the causes you care about through your social network channels and online assets. We recently went through all of our resources to identify the tools we think would be most helpful to the digital strategy community. Many are focused on particular channels or technologies and include sample text for simple and effective calls-to-actions that can easily be pushed out to various fan bases through multiple channels.
Net Neutrality Back in Court
ATC has been monitoring the status of the Net Neutrality debate and paying close attention to several policies in play in Washington that will determine whether access to the Internet will remain open and accessible for all. These rules will impact every aspect of our world today, including the lives and livelihoods of artists, musicians and entrepreneurs who rely on open internet policies to treat all websites equally — from the busiest online music store to the smallest blog allowing for a legitimate digital music marketplace where artists have access and fans can find the music they want.
WHO SAYS THERE AREN’T ANY CURRENT (AND GOOD) PROTEST SONGS?!!
Over the last five years, there have been many articles lamenting a false conclusion that there are no good protest songs these days. In fact when asked, most writers and even many music fans think that the art of the protest song died in the sixties. In an effort to both highlight some of the great and creative examples that came to mind when pondering the question, and to attempt to curtail those naysayers continuing to report that they are none, here is ATC’s list of the best protest songs of THIS YEAR. Please email us with any we may have missed: info @ atctower.net
URGENT ACTIONS: BP OIL SPILL + NASHVILLE FLOODS
ATC has compiled quick facts and actions for musicians and their fans on how best to direct donations and support to two recent events: the BP oil spill disaster in Louisiana and the recent floods in Nashville.
BP OIL SPILL DISASTER
- British Petroleum’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and caught fire on Tuesday, April 20th, killing eleven workers. When the oil rig sank, the pipe that connected the rig to the well broke and fell 5,000 feet to the ocean’s floor with oil escaping from either end of the pipe and at two other points.
BP OIL DRILLING DISASTER IN LOUISIANA: UPDATE FROM OUR PARTNERS IN NOLA
Aaron Viles, Campaign Director of Gulf Restoration Network, writes about the BP oil disaster, the environmental impact and how to take action.
[http://www.healthygulf.org/blog/|BP's Oil Drilling Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico] Written by Aaron Viles, Friday, 30 April 2010 06:33
MUSICIANS + IMMIGRATION: BY THE TIME I GET TO ARIZONA
On Friday, April 23, Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona signed SB 1070, a bill concerned citizens are calling anti-immigrant and unconstitutional.
Here are some actions ATC has compiled for musicians and their fans:
1. May 1st is a national day of action for immigration reform.
Find a local event to attend or participate in: http://bit.ly/9SkCGQ
2. Post links to May Day events and other actions on band websites + social media.
On websites, bands can include the iconic Shepard Fairey Immigration Reform images which are available for download at: www.cimarrones.org.
For social media, copy and paste the messages below, or write your own.
TIBET EARTHQUAKE RELIEF – RECOMMENDED ORGS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO
At approximately 7:40am, Wednesday, April 14th a 6.9 magnitude earthquake followed by several powerful aftershocks struck in eastern Tibet.
Media are reporting nearly 600 people killed and more than 10,000 injured. Tibetans with contacts in the area have heard the death toll may be as high as 4,000.
The following is a list of organizations that our colleagues at Students for a Free Tibet recommend. ATC staff knows many of these organizations well and have worked with a few of them in the past when producing the Tibetan Freedom Concerts. We will continue to monitor the situation and update accordingly.
CHINA DENIES BOB DYLAN PERMISSION TO PERFORM
China has denied Dylan permission to perform in Beijing and Shanghai. As a result, Dylan has canceled his Asian tour stops including Hong Kong and South Korea.
Ever since Björk made a call for Tibet independence at a Shanghai concert in 2008, Chinese officials have scrutinized performers coming through China.
The Guardian reported:
China’s ministry of culture, which vets planned concerts by overseas artists, appeared wary of Dylan’s past as an icon of the counterculture movement, said Jeffrey Wu, of the Taiwan-based promoters Brokers Brothers Herald.
LILITH FAIR: VETTING BENEFICIARY ORGANIZATIONS FOR TICKET SURCHARGE
Lilith Fair will be donating a $1 from every ticket to a local charity in each city the festival stops in.
Vetting the charities can be challenging and Lilith Fair is facing some scrutiny for a few of their choices.
The Chicago Reader reports:
”After becoming a fan of the fest on its official Facebook page, people can vote for which organization in their town they want Lilith’s bucks to benefit. The pulldown menu includes about ten choices for most cities, most of them women’s shelters or health centers for the underserved, with a synopsis of the services each offers.
MUSICIANS RESPOND TO HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL
Paste magazine published a series of musician responses to the recent Health Care Reform Bill. Some artists we have worked with are quoted in the article.
From PasteMagazine.com
Nellie McKay: “Well, it’s something. We need a public option. We don’t need mandatory payments to some of the worst corporations on Earth. The President’s support of abortion restrictions is deceptively benign; Obama, why is it always poor women who pay the price? Reform represents a hard-won step in the right direction. But to quote Dave Chappelle, ‘Where would a black man be without his paranoia?’ We are right to be paranoid when something like health care is in the hands of people who are only motivated by profit.”
HAITI UPDATE: TWO MONTHS LATER & HOW YOU CAN HELP
An informative editorial in today’s New York Times outlines the current status of the relief efforts and the major players.
It highlights the very small dent that has been made in the on-going relief efforts and what is still required.
The NY Times Editorial states:
”There are four main strands to the campaign to make sure 1.2 million homeless people are sheltered and safe as the weather turns fierce. All are inadequate…
DAMIAN KULASH’S OP-ED FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Check out this great op-ed by OK Go’s Damian Kulash re: frustrations with their label (EMI) and their policy to not allow OK Go’s fans, video viewers, bloggers etc. to embed their music videos.
Kulash writes:
In these tight times, it’s no surprise that EMI is trying to wring revenue out of everything we make, including our videos. But it needs to recognize the basic mechanics of the Internet. Curbing the viral spread of videos isn’t benefiting the company’s bottom line, or the music it’s there to support. The sooner record companies realize this, the better — though I fear it may already be too late.
WhoseTube?
By DAMIAN KULASH Jr., Published: February 19, 2010, The New York Times.
WHITE HOUSE HONORS MUSIC FROM THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Calling the civil rights movement, “a movement sustained by music,” President Obama, along with legislators and musicians, honored both the music and the movement on Tuesday night.
The evening is part of a series of music events hosted by Michelle Obama at the White House. The program was the Black History Month event titled, “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” and will be broadcast this Thursday night on PBS.
ARTIST & MANAGER MEMO: HOW CITIZENS UNITED SUPREME COURT RULING AFFECTS YOU
The recent Supreme Court ruling (a.k.a. “Citizens United”) greatly changed election law and regulations and, because most bands are incorporated, these changes greatly impact musicians.
To help us better understand the Supreme Court ruling and how it affects artists and bands we asked our Federal Election lawyer to write the following MEMO. It outlines various scenarios specific to musicians as well as the areas of federal election law that have NOT CHANGED.
Read the full Memo below or download a PDF of it here:
Memo for Artists and Managers: Citizens United and Supreme Court Ruling.pdf (190.74 Kb)
REVERB LAUNCHES THE GREEN MUSIC GROUP
Reverb recently announced their latest project, Green Music Group, a coalition of musicians, industry leaders and music fans working for environmental change within the music industry and around the globe.
Reverb founder and Guster guitarist, Adam Gardner, recently wrote about the new venture for The Huffington Post and noted the inspiration behind the new organization:
Reverb feels very fortunate to be working with so many great individual talents in the music community and leaders in the non-profit environmental world. We recently realized that we were in the unique position to bring all aspects of the music community together into a powerful coalition.
“HOPE FOR HAITI NOW” IS FIRST DIGITAL ONLY RELEASE TO HIT #1 ON U.S. CHARTS
Hypebot.com reports: The benefit recording of the recent “Hope For Haiti Now” telethon will enter the U.S. album charts at #1 this week with about 175,000 units sold.
You can read the full article here:
“Hope For Haiti Now” Becomes First Digital Only Release To Reach U.S. #1
By Hypebot.com, January 27, 2010.
THE LATEST ON THE LIVE NATION/TICKET MASTER MERGER
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the restrictions placed on the proposed Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger. Thanks to our friends at Future of Music Coalition (FMC) we were able to better understand the restrictions.
This is how FMC breaks it down on their blog:
”Although it’s too early to predict final outcomes, it’s possible these conditions will have an impact on the entire live music ecosystem, from ticket sellers to venues to artists to concertgoers….
Now on to today’s developments. Here’s a breakdown of the DOJ-issued conditions placed upon the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger.
HAITI AID: RECOMMENDED ORGS FOR MUSICIANS + FANS AND HOW WE SELECT THEM
ATC’s suggestions are the result of talking with disaster philanthropy experts and reviewing what worked and didn’t in previous disaster efforts by musicians.
We focused on those organizations that have a long-standing presence in Haiti, and were focused on poverty and health infrastructure (important for both relief and rebuilding). An added bonus were several have worked with our musicians in the past (Oxfam + Yele). Also, Yele can receive gift via mobile for musicians in a concert setting when people aren’t in front of their computers but motivated to give on-the-spot.
HAITI EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RELIEF>> WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
Immediate Support: Established disaster recovery organizations and national governments have been mobilized. These organizations are also raising funds for relief efforts:
Oxfam: www.oxfam.org
Click here to donate.
Doctors Without Borders: www.doctorswithoutborders.org
Click here to donate.
Wyclef Jean’s Yele Foundation: www.yele.org
Click here to donate.
Long-term Support: Crucial recovery and rebuilding efforts are always under funded in comparison to immediate relief efforts. ATC will continue to research and resource the music community with organizations and projects working on long-term recovery efforts that have a long-standing, grassroots presence in Haiti. Here are three that have distributed staff in the country now and are well positioned to aid in the long-term recovery effort.
