Future of Music Coalition's Policy Summit 2005, (Sept. 11-13, 2005) Washington, DC)

I don't think so. Plus I'm too busy at work. I may go see members of the Mekons for free at the Kennedy Center Friday night at 6 (that show is sponsored by the FMC)

fans of BOC and the Clash take note:
Sandy Pearlman Visiting Scholar, McGill University

$150 for three days of panel-speak on how hard it is now to make money in the music business??

Based on the schedule, it doesn't look like an event for starving musicians - it's for industry types (big and small) to talk about new models for marketing and distribution. The panels cover some good topics. I've interviewed some of the panelists for different articles (Brian Camelio of ArtistShare is onto something really interesting), but we'll see how deeply they can get into it during a panel. The other attendees could be more interesting than the panels themselves.

Jenny Toomey, of the Future of Music Coalition, has in the past battled in letters to the editor sections with writers. Despite the fact that positive ink has ocassionally benefited her various bands and her former label, I think she's taken the negative stuff to heart so much that it may have affected her views on panel selection.

Last Train Home, The Hackensaw Boys, Mike Holden

The Wrens, The Nein, Andy Zipf

Some of the entertainment for the Friday night "Future of Music" is ok, but what kind of message are they sending by not having any r'n'b, rap,reggae, non-English language sounds, etc.? I've noticed this same problem in past years. You'd think after years of talk about multiculturalism and political correctness that an organization like this one could do better.

FOMC's Brian Zisk's wife Shoshanna is the head of business affairs for George Clinton Enterprises, so it's never surprising for George to be involved in FOMC activities.

Lawrence Lessig & Wayne Rosso tag-team VS Hillary "The Hammer" Rosen in mud-wrestling battle royale (is what this thing needs)

I bet they left off a lot of tech nerds who had interesting things to say.

Seriously, folks, is it possible that the absence of your personal dream teams of hand-picked panelists and/or live acts has something to do with budgets (or a non-profit coalition's lack thereof) and/or scheduling conflicts?

I don't think scheduling conflicts are the reason that there are so few folks from the hiphop, rock en espanol, reggae or reggaeton genres on panels. Also, why not more journalists or bloggers or radio people.

As for bloggers - I'm glad there's actually a music conference that passes them by to put on CEOs, entrepreneurs, and other people who usually just communicate via press release. Don't we hear enough from bloggers? They're always blogging, constantly. What else do they have to say? And how many of them handle business topics, anyway? (If there are any, I'd love to check them out.)

oh right, i forgot that lester chambers was on the "inclined plane" 7".

I am not so naive as to believe that such conflicts are completely unavoidable (and I recognize that FOM doesn't have the money or pull that CMJ or S x SW have), it's just that I think someone who did such a great job with the Simple Machines guide to putting out your own record, could do better in choosing performers and putting together panels.

Curmudgeon me still wants additional panels per my criticisms of them above. Oh, and I never called Jenny a trustafarian...

This is actually true, and ties into this:

inviting folks to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant!

A lot of this activity was spawned by an email discussion forum called the Pho list. Many of the FOMC folks have been vocal participants and/or lurkers there over the years. The list started as an actual Sunday gathering at an L.A. Vietnamese restaurant, where music and tech industry leaders would discuss stuff over pho. The email forum then followed. Lester and his wife happened upon the list, and he became something of a cause celebre when he told his tales of having received no royalties for his music over the years (his label apparently claims they never recouped, the usual bullshit). So Lester frequently has a place at the table at these policy gatherings, since he knows more of its specifics than most and is more willing to speak out than most.

Anyone who's going, shoot me an email offlist.

I ask because this is my first year attending and, as a law student (and an on-hiatus music photo/journalist), I was and am decidely more intrigued by the academic/legal topics on the agenda than I am or ever was about the afterthoughts (i.e. not the summit's focus) that are the concerts. As you said, this isn't CMJ/SXSW -- nor does it portend to be.

As to the panels, it appears to me quite a stretch to infer that just because something or someone is, or has been, absent means it or he/she hasn't been asked to participate. Could it be that for as much as you or I might like to hear The Avalanches or Josh Davis or DJ Danger Mouse talk about sampling, none of them is interested in being a panelist?

Furthermore, they left off a lot of tech nerds who had interesting things to say.!?!? I don't doubt tech nerds would have interesting things to say, but as a dot-com veteran I can safely say tech nerds aren't the most talkative lot (i.e. would they actually make great panelists?).

Or is it simply your wont to disparage tech-legal-academic-music-related summits that don't live up to your "$149-for-this-!?!?" standards?

1. maria [ill be the one with a camera and a badge that says "event photographer"]

2. Erik ["with a K"] -- (I'll be the stiff in the suit getting an aggro-indie rocker beat down).

3. Chris Dahlen - will be handing out my snazzy new Pitchfork b-cards

I'll definitely make at least one trip over to CD Warehouse.

clearly, because you havent gotten the acronym straight during the course of this thread!

Let's talk about the (hopefully) tasty box lunches!

I got an interesting and thoughtful e-mail from the FMC(or FOMC or whatever) in regards to an e-mail i sent 'em regarding increasing the non-rock presence at the FMC.

he spoke at last year's summit in SF and he was kinda funny. though he kept falling back on the "canada=smart, america=dumb" idea, and it got a little tiresome.

The labels panel had some fireworks, with the Magnatunes guy and Melissa Ferrick sparring. The policy one was a little drier, except for the intell. property attorney scolding someone for daring to say that Google wasn't evil.

As a dot com veteran it was also fun to be surrounded by eager tech entrepreneurs who thought that their new XML-based protocol would change the world. I miss those people.

It was great to meet Joe and Maria!

Oh, and the lunch box was kinda weak.

1. a lingering bad economy prevents people from paying for the conf and/or taking days off work

2. MUCH smaller media presence, I would bet

3. close proximity to CMJ, people either/or'ed it?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theoreticalgirl/sets/997475/

i can spot a couple ilxors there...

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0539,mccombs,68183,22.html

P.S. I failed to get my picture taken with George Clinton. :/

joe, i tried looking for you but you just disappeared so quickly!