Category Archives: Musician Issues

AI

A Deep Dive Into How A.I. Affects Musicians

Commentary by Jerome Harris (MFM)

(Note: this is Jerome Harris’ submission for  Local 802’s A.I. series who has been a member of Local 802 since 1979. Sohrab who’s also a member of Local 802 read this article in ALLEGRO – the Local 802 digital publication of news, articles, and discussions about issues that are important for organized musicians – and got permission from Jerome to share it with the MFM community.)

When thinking about artificial intelligence from the perspective of those for whom music making is a livelihood, it’s useful to note a distinction. There are various forms of AI; the one that is most concerning for workers in creative fields is generative AI. This technology can assemble (“generate”) new material based on the patterns it finds in old material. This involves feeding vast amounts of digitized data — including recorded music — into powerful computer systems designed to analyze and isolate patterns. This is called “training” these AI systems. The systems can then be ordered to fabricate recordings based on those patterns, as specified by commands such as text-based prompts. Note that the underlying compositions and their recordings that are being used for AI training were created by humans and are owned by them or by business entities unless they are in the public domain.

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No PUA Payments Anymore…What’s Going to Happen With Us Working Musicians?

PUA“85% of people are more scared of financial ruin than dying of Corona.” – Keith Levenson

Text by Dawoud Kringle 

Yesterday, yes yesterday!, on July 31st, 2020, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) or the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) $600 weekly payments to individuals who are unable to work because of a COVID-19-related reason but are not eligible for regular or extended unemployment benefits expired. The Senate failed to agree on an extension.
Many of our members applied for it. Some of them – including our President Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi – got some help and assistance by brother Keith Levenson.

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TikTok: A Blessing or a Curse for the Professional Musician?

TikTokBy Dawoud Kringle

Blink your eyes, and a new social media platform pops up. And with it, a new set of questions for the professional musician, and a new set of variables to complicate an already treacherous territory of the music business.

TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming (ByteDance also owns Toutiao, Xigua Video, TopBuzz and BuzzVideo).

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Bipolar Syndrome and the Arts

The Fine Line Between Genius and Madness: High Functioning Bipolar Syndrome and the Arts

By Dawoud Kringle

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: This article is for general information purposes only, and is NOT intended to diagnose or cure any illness or condition. The author invites the reader to further research. If you suspect yourself to suffer in any way described herein, you are urged to seek professional help.)

Bipolar Syndrome“There is no great genius without a mixture of madness.” – Aristotle

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Agent of Change UK

Agent of Change Battles Threat to UK Live Music Scene – A Proactive Solution to a Universal Problem

Text By Dawoud Kringle

Music Venue Trust is a UK based network of grassroots music venues and their supporters. Their base concept, Agent of Change, was first introduced into the music scene in Australia, and then, three years ago, into the UK. Agent of Change is a term that is used to describe various approaches to controlling the relationship between newly built development (typically residential), and extant noise sources (typically, music venues).

The Agent of Change campaign believes that the cornerstone of the UK music industry is under threat and needs protection. Music venues are threatened with closure because of changes in planning laws to encourage residents to move into town centers. This change in policy was originally intended to address housing shortages (specifically, offices, car parks and disused buildings to be converted into residences. The problem arose with the UK’s music venues being next door to those offices and car parks. Music venues were subsequently forced to fight noise complaints, abatement notices and planning applications. The locations of the venues were deliberately chosen so that the music wouldn’t create problems for residents. With the aforementioned housing policy changes, residents made complaints about sound. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the developers of the residential properties have no legal obligation to soundproof these new residences. UK law mandates that the business or person making the noise is responsible for its management.

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