The time for selecting South by Southwest panels has come around again! This year, Public Knowledge has submitted three different panel ideas, and we need your help to make them a reality.
Starting today, you can go to SXSW PanelPicker and send Public Knowledge to Austin, where we will have the chance to discuss the future of music outside of Washington. Our three panels will be competing against over 4,500 entries, so every vote matters!
We hope to contribute to this forum by examining the future of music in three different ways, by asking the questions:
- How is music discovered in a digital world?
- What is the current legal state of music licensing?
- How can musicians remix and collaborate legally?
Here is a brief glimpse at our submissions:
How Musicians Get Paid: The View from DC – Jodie Griffin
These days, there’s a lot of talk about reforming some, or all, of the music licensing system. Policymakers are considering reforming the rules that govern licensing for performing, reproducing, and distributing songs and sound recordings, and the results could have a huge impact on musicians and their fans.
This panel will answer questions such as: What is Congress doing about music licensing rules? How can individuals make their voices heard? Who else is involved in the music licensing debates?
In this session, Jodie will moderate a panel that includes Troy Stock, general counsel for Congressman Jason Chaffetz, and Casey Rae, Vice President of Policy and Education for the Future of Music Coalition.
Vote here for this panel to be part of SXSW.
The Potential Loss of Music Discovery – Sherwin Siy
This panel will examine how music is shared and discovered in the digital age. It used to be that you could spread the love of a band or a genre by letting your friend borrow your album or by listening to a parent’s vinyl records and “rediscovering” a genre. Now, the widespread acceptance and ease of downloading digital content has changed the landscape of music discovery and storytelling.
This panel will discuss how digital first sale, the idea that copyright law applies equally to digital content, prevents the distributing, modifying, or displaying of music. How does this legal attribute change and affect innovation, discovery, and creativity?
This discussion will consider important questions such as: How do old albums lead to your discovery of new music? What social/cultural aspects are lost in the transition to online media? What is future for physical media?
Sherwin will be moderating this panel, and it will include Jason Sigal from the Free Music Archive, and a digital preservationist and archivist to be announced soon.
Vote here for this panel to be part of SXSW.
How and Why to Let Others Remix/Mashup Your Work – Laura Moy
Remix and mashup media and culture are gaining prominence, but continue to face serious legal hurdles. That's because these artists rely on the ability to sample or build on the work of others, and most music isn't licensed in a way that lends itself to this purpose.
Many musicians would be happy if their own work were used in a remix or mashup, but just don't know how to make their work available for downstream collaboration while still maintaining ownership and the ability to profit. This panel will explain how. Learn about how to release your work under a Creative Commons license that allows others to use it, how to do so and still make money, and why it's important.
This discussion will pose important questions including: Why would a musician want to make their work available for remix and mashup? If a musician wants to make their work available for remix and mashup, what are their various options for doing so? If a musician does make their music available for common use, how will they make money from it?
Those involved in this panel include Laura Moy, Staff Attorney at Public Knowledge with a specialization in copyright, DJ Earworm, a successful mashup artist, composer Chris Zabriskie, and Creative Commons Manager Timothy Volmer.
Vote here for this panel to be part of SXSW.
We hope that these ideas are interesting for you and that even if you won’t be in Austin in March, you will vote for Public Knowledge to participate in this forum. Voting lasts from August 11th through September 5th. Remember to vote here and share it on twitter once you’ve done so.
Image credit: SXSW