Category Archives: Musician Issues

Things Musicians Should know about…Tax Tips For Musicians!

Reprinted from the March 2013 issue of Allegro, the magazine of the New York City musicians’ union (AFM Local 802). For more information, see www.Local802afm.org. The original article can be seen at this link: http://www.local802afm.org/2013/02/all-tax-tips-for-musicians/

Text by by Michael Chapin

Tax time is around the corner. There are many business and job expenses musicians must pay to keep current in the profession and continue their career. Deducting these expenses can lower your tax bill or increase a refund.

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Union effort continues to pay off – Winter Jazzfest musicians enjoy a second year of a hard-won union contract

Reprinted from the February 2013 issue of Allegro, the magazine of the New York City musicians’ union (AFM Local 802). For more information, see www.Local802afm.org. The original article can be seen at this link: http://www.local802afm.org/2013/02/union-effort-continues-to-pay-off/

This January marked the second year of the contract between Local 802 and the NYC Winter Jazzfest. The festival, now in its ninth year, showcases a wide variety of jazz artists over two days in several Greenwich Village venues.

The union agreement was organized in 2011, when a committee of musicians who had played the festival, along with Local 802, brought the festival’s promoters to the table though an online petition drive.

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Justice For Jazz Artists movement: Speak truth to power – Lorraine Gordon, the owner of the Village Vanguard, still isn’t returning our calls. So we paid her a visit on the night of her awards ceremony…

Reprinted from the February 2013 issue of Allegro, the magazine of the New York City musicians’ union (AFM Local 802). For more information, see www.Local802afm.org. The original article can be seen at this link: http://www.local802afm.org/2013/02/speak-truth-to-power/

Text by Todd Bryant Weeks (Tweeks@local802afm.org)

Members of Local 802 and the Justice for Jazz Artists campaign came together on Jan. 14 to leaflet the 2013 National Endowments for the Arts’ Jazz Masters Awards ceremony. The goal was to draw attention to an injustice being perpetuated by one of this year’s honorees – Village Vanguard owner Lorraine Gordon.

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Guest Commentary by Marc Ribot: Piracy, Profit & Music

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Today I want to introduce you to  a musician, Marc Ribot, who’s not “just” a musician but also a music activist. For a couple of years he’s been fighting for musician rights, i.e. seeking better pay and conditions for musicians playing at the Winter Jazz Fest 2012. Since coming to NY I’ve been meeting Marc and found out that this gentleman is quite different from other NY musicians I know. So for a while I’ve been trying to find the right entree and timing to feature him as music activist and not as a musician.

Last week by chance I found an article written by Marc in Allegro and a video interview of him at allaboutjazz.com. which made me decide to make this feature.  I’m very sure what he writes in his article and says in the interview might be very interesting and inspiring for musicians and very informative  for music lovers.

As I’ve said and written a couple of times since becoming a music activist myself: to play and compose music is like any other job. We musicians should be paid for our “creative” work in the same way like a medical doctor, lawyer, worker, etc. We can’t play for free all the time. I think the time has come that the public and also people and companies who hire musicians and composers should start to understand that musicians and also composers are “really” workers like them. They need the same kind of respect for their work.

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