Category Archives: Musician Issues

Open Letter to all Professional Musicians: Your Success Is Everybody’s Success!

Professional musicians: Music Is Not Free 1An Editorial and Commentary on Musical Professionalism By Dawoud Kringle

Look, I get it, OK? This is a hard life we chose. We are trying to cultivate our skills and build a career and a reputation for ourselves. And somehow, through it all, we have to pay the bills, keep a roof over our heads, and put food on the table.

As we all know, there is some sort of mythological historical model that musicians must pay their dues. And despite the vague details surrounding this idea, there is certainly some truth to it. A musician must prove him or herself, must cultivate his or her skills, and build one’s business from the foundation up.

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Adele, Neil Young, Foo Fighter, Isaac Hayes, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith: Politicians don’t Steal their Music!

Presidential Hopefuls Historically Steal Music to use as Political Propaganda

Text by Dawoud Kringle

Musicians in the USA have often been the victim of political candidates appropriating their music for the purpose of campaigning and propaganda. This is always done without the artist’s permission.

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“Freelance Isn’t Free” – Freelancers Union Makes a Show of Support to End Abuse of Freelance Workers

Freelancers Union Legislation Hearing logoText by Dawoud Kringle

Photos and video by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

One would think that freelance work is lucrative. On paper, in theory, this is true. The reality, however, is very different. The sad fact is that 1.3 million freelancers in New York city lost an average of $6,000 a year to nonpayment. The reason for this is simple. There is no legal protection for freelancers. If a freelance worker is hired for a job, often he / she is not paid. They may be underpaid, paid late, or never paid at all. If they sue the company, there is no legal framework clearly defining freelancers’ rights in the way a regular W2 employee’s rights are protected. Even if they do win the case, freelancers have no way to actually collect what they’re owed. To add insult to injury, freelancers who dare to challenge having their rightfully earned wages stolen are often blacklisted. The situation is, quite simply, intolerable.

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BASIC TIME MANAGEMENT By Michael Dean

ClarinetMikes 101 Clarinet Tips: #30 Time Management (Posted on April 6, 2015)

Crunch Time! April is often a super busy month for many musicians with lots of challenges time-wise. Therefore, I offer the following updated version of a time management article I published in the NACWPI Journal several years ago (citation below).

BASIC TIME MANAGEMENT By Michael Dean

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