Text by Marbin’s Dani Rabin
Many people asked us about how we transformed our band Marbin into a sustainable business (touring 250 days a year). We decided to share what we’ve learned in the past couple of years in the hopes that it would get more good bands out and about.
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.
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.
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.
I attended only the Thursday panels (State of the Recording Industry and Technology Tools for Artists, Labels, and Concert Presenters) because they were related to musician issues. I wanted to find out what’s working and and what’s next in the music business. Honestly there wasn’t anything new the panelists could tell me. They just confirmed me that all the things I have done in NY in the last 5 years were correct or “standard procedures”. At the end all panelists agreed that musicians have to take care of their own businesses: be their own managers, publicists, labels and distributors. They have to learn very fast how Internet technology works and how to use it properly. Why? Because the ultimate goal for any musician is to have a fan base. Without fans nothing can happen or work, whatever you try to do. It doesn’t matter how many fans you got. One fan is already enough for the start, but the number must grow gradually.
