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.
New Music from Lateef the Truthspeaker
Some incredible music for the movement just came out today. Lateef the Truthspeaker‘s new solo album ‘FIREWIRE‘ features 2 songs written in reaction to the current political and economic climate. The best is the summer-in-winter jam for the people, “We the People” which is guaranteed to keep the movement warm. Take a listen here:
And please help spread the word:
1.) Send it to your friends, networks and constituents to get them energized. http://bit.ly/sYkiBP
2.) Buy it and ask them to buy it (we’ve gotta keep these artists in their jobs too!) http://amzn.to/ufQqxm
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.
Guest Post: Martín Perna on Immigration
In May of 2011, ATC & FMC brought a group of musicians on a fact-finding trip to Tucson, AZ to explore the multitude of issues at play in the immigration reform debate, including the role of the criminal justice system and media rights, and to hear directly from affected communities and experts. What follows is a first-hand account written by musician and retreat participant, Martín Perna, founder of the musical groups Antibalas and Ocote Soul Sounds.
Part I: Landing
Support for Artists Raising Money for Causes
In the past fifteen years, ATC’s team has helped artists raise, direct and re-grant over $10 million to social change and social justice organizations. These donations go far beyond fulfilling immediate and dire monetary needs of great organizations. They also, and perhaps more importantly, inject energy and excitement into these organizations and the tireless efforts of their staff and volunteers.
This donation is more energizing to our movement than much bigger donations because of who it came from! –an Executive Director after hearing that a musician was giving her organization a small donation.
10th Anniversary of 9/11: How to Get Involved
As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches we are also reminded that October 7th–the anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan–will mark ten years of our nation continuously at war. The significance of these events provides us with a unique opportunity to honor those who have lost their lives, to remember the sense of community that arose in response to the attacks, and to lay out a vision toward more peaceful outcomes in the future. Outlined below are several ways to get involved in commemorating the anniversaries by promoting peace, creativity and community service or by generating funds to continue important work in this area. Please help spread the word by sharing the following recommendations with your fans and networks.
Support NOLA & The Gulf on the 6th Anniversary of Katrina
The end of this month will mark the 6th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the floods that followed. In conjunction with the 6th anniversary, ATC is offering the ‘Dear New Orleans’ compilation for $6 to generate more awareness and funds for the album’s excellent beneficiaries–Sweet Home New Orleans and Gulf Restoration Network.
Help us spread the word. We are asking all of our colleagues, retreat alum, friends and family to help us spread the word about this push by posting language about the promotion to their Twitter, Facebook, blogs and/or websites starting this Thursday (8/25) until the follwing week (8/31). We have included some sample text below and would VERY much appreciate any support you can give.
Vote for Our SXSW 2012 Panels
It’s that time of year again. Please vote for ATC’s proposed panels on the official SXSW 2012 Panel Picker website or by clicking on the direct links below. Voting begins 8/15 and runs though 9/2. See below for panel descriptions and links. We have some really great content and speakers on board again this time around. 
It’s an Election Year!: http://bit.ly/mUK3nA
Go Green: Strategies For A More Sustainable Tour: http://bit.ly/pMNpFq
Responding to Natural Disasters: http://bit.ly/n1NRVH
Artists Write List of Reasons to Support ATC & Celebrate Its 6th Year (It will make you laugh.)
At ATC we take a different approach to working with musicians (i.e.: we do not “use” them for social justice but rather, we are here to be used by them as a resource). In this same tradition, we also take a different approach to fundraising.
To celebrate our 6th anniversary (which is today!) & to ask for your support, we are not going to send you the typical, boring fundraising appeal. Instead, we have complied a list of reasons, as written by some of the artists, managers and organizers that we work with, to donate to ATC.
Tips for Musicians Navigating the Health Insurance World
ATC recently came upon this guest post with some great information for musicians looking for best practices on finding health care coverage. The post’s author, Dennis Carlson, runs Bespoke Benefits, an insurance agency in Davis, California as well as Gaslight-East, an artist development and licensing company.
Using his direct knowledge of the complexities of both the health insurance industry and the music business, Dennis put together a list of some of his best tips and tricks. While they provide no guarantee of getting coverage – they do provide some very helpful guidance and direction for navigating the health insurance world.
The BP Oil Spill One-Year Later: How You Can Help
This Wednesday, April 20th, 2011 will mark the 1-year anniversary of the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As that date approaches, we turned to our friends and colleagues at the Gulf Restoration Network (healthygulf.org), a New Orleans based environmental organization who have been following, monitoring, reporting and activating concerned citizens since day one of the disaster.
From today through the 20th sales from ATC’s Dear New Orleans digital benefit album will be dedicated to @HealthyGulf. http://bit.ly/dhYrNx. Help spread the word by tweeting, re-tweeting or posting this message to Facebook.
Music Tech Tools for Causes
There are a number of great online tools that provide a variety of solutions for independent musicians in a post-major label world from direct-to-fan marketing to booking your own gigs to DIY licensing/distribution services. ATC has also started to see an influx of online tools targeted at helping musicians raise money for various charities and causes. Here are a few that are using these new technologies and funding models to connect musicians and their fans directly to the causes they care about.
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.
HOW ARTISTS CAN SUPPORT WISCONSIN + BEYOND
ATC’s network has been inquiring about helpful and meaningful ways to support the current protests in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere. Below are a few suggestions that came from recent conversations with artists, managers and on-the-ground organizers. Please contact us directly if you would like to discuss any of them further and/or would like some support for your own idea.
HOW ARTISTS CAN SUPPORT:
Send a Message of Support + Take Action
Artists and fans can send messages of support and solidarity via the AFL- CIO website. The site also has some additional actions for supporters to take. Click here for more: aflcio.org.
ATC AND TOPSPIN HELP MUSICIANS SUPPORT CHARITIES & NONPROFITS
A recent Topspin blog post highlights how ATC and Topspin having been working in partnership with several musicians to create successful and engaging social change campaigns. The post also notes some of the ways in which ATC can help to support artists in their efforts – helping to identify a beneficiary, collecting & delivering funds, managing compliance paperwork, evaluating the donation’s impact and more. Below is the original post showcasing some of the most successful case studies from the past year.
(Original post by Topspin can be found here: http://www.topspinmedia.com/case-studies-2/musicians-for-charity/)
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
ATC HOSTS INAUGURAL “SUPPER CLUB” WITH THAO NGUYEN
ATC Supper Club is an intimate dinner event series designed with a guest artist with the goal of hosting an evening of music, food and community. Each event features a guest musician who curates and cooks a full dinner menu before giving a private acoustic performance.
ATC developed this idea with Thao Nguyen in the middle of 2010, after she attended one of our Artist-Activism Retreats in New Orleans. Thao piloted the first event, which sold out in a matter of days of its limited announcement and raised over $1200 for ATC and People’s Grocery. Future ATC Supper Clubs will be presented according to artist schedules.
MUSIC COMMUNITY SUPPORTS GAY RIGHTS THROUGH SONG
While policies around gays in the military and same-sex marriage remain unmoved and harassment of gays in schools has led to dozens of suicides across the United States, pop music remains an arena where gay rights and tolerance is embraced. Several songs such as Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R”, Taylor Swift’s “Mean”, Pink’s “Raise Your Glass” and Katy Perry’s “Firework”, many of which were written in response to the recent wave of gay teen suicides and anti-gay bullying incidents, contain themes of overcoming persecution and self acceptance. Lady Gaga, who has spoken out many times against “don’t ask don’t tell” both in public appearances and on her website, will also add her upcoming single “Born This Way” to this list.
MAKING FUNDRAISING FOR CHARITY EASY + LEGALLY SOUND: PROCESS AND CHECKLIST
Raising money for a charity should be easy for bands. But beyond consideration of the issue or organizations to support, there are also legal issues to think about that differ by state. These laws and regulations are overlooked by bands and their managers.
To streamline the information on this legal compliance, ATC and Joe Voss, a lawyer at Clark Hill’s Entertainment Division, have created a checklist on the process that you can download here. ATC has also created a philanthropic advising program that can provide focus, administrative oversight, identification and vetting of organizations, management of compliance and nonprofit relations, and impact reporting to bands that want to raise funds for charities. For more information about this work, please contact us by emailing tara at atctower dot net.
URGENT ACTION: GETTING OUT THE VOTE FOR NOV 2
Recent polls and studies report that young voters do not plan to vote in the upcoming midterm election: just 27% of 18 – 29 year olds say that they will vote on Nov 2. This is unfortunate news after their record turnout in the historic 2008 Presidential Election, not to mention that the outcomes from this election will influence the direction of this country for years to come. Here is what is at stake: 435 House seats, 37 of 100 Senate seats, 37 states will elect governors, and countless ballot initiatives will be voted on.
OUT TODAY! DEAR NEW ORLEANS DIGITAL BENEFIT COMPILATION
It feels really good to say it and sell it! The response to Dear New Orleans has been overwhelming and wonderful. The album has garnered much press and coverage. On Monday, Amazon offered the 31 track album as its daily deal and the compilation quickly reached #1 of Amazon’s most purchased Mp3′s and remained in that position until just yesterday evening.
Dear New Orleans is available for purchase from all of the major on-line music outlets: iTunes, Amazon, emusic and Rhapsody. But of course, we prefer it if everyone purchased it from our own TopSpin store on www.dearno.la so ATC can raise more funds for New Orleans and you get 3 bonus tracks and stream the full album before purchasing.
OUR 5 FAVORITE WAYS TO SUPPORT CHANGE ON TOUR
Touring season is upon us and ATC is working with many musicians and managers to implement strategies that support the causes and issues artists care about while on tour.
If you are touring band or active manager and would like more information about any of these activities, please contact us.
1. Voter Registration + Engagement For Midterm Elections
Musicians whose audiences includes women, people of color and/or young people have a huge role to play in encouraging fans to vote in the Midterm elections. Midterms are the elections between Presidential elections and include federal, state and local seats and initiatives and always suffer from low turnout. Research has shown us that musicians can help fans—many of which were groups of people, like young people, that were critical to the 2008 election–to return to the polls on Nov 2nd. Here is how:
