Future of Music Summit

Interested in the future of music? Look into the Future of Music Policy Summit this January in DC:

Now in its third year, the FMC Policy Summit is a forum for musicians, lawyers, academics, policymakers and music industry executives to come together to discuss and debate some of the most contentious issues surrounding digital technology, artists’ rights and the current state of the music industry. Last year’s two-day Policy Summit included keynote speeches from Representative Rick Boucher, Representative John Conyers, California State Senator Kevin Murray, and Napster CEO Konrad Hilbers. Over eighty panelists also participated including Hilary Rosen (RIAA), Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Jonathan Tasini (National Writers Union), Mark Cuban (Broadcast.com/Dallas Mavericks), Marybeth Peters (US Copyright Office), Peter Jaszi (Professor, American University Washington College of Law), John Simson (SoundExchange), Danny Goldberg (Artemis Records), and Jim Griffin (CEO, Cherry Lane Digital), just to name a few.

The Policy Summit garnered positive news stories in some of the nation’s most influential media outlets including the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and National Public Radio, as well as coverage in the music industry press and online at Wired and CNET.

We are currently organizing the Policy Summit for January 2003. It is our continuing goal to bring the best and brightest people working in music and technology to discuss the most critical issues impacting our community. The Summit’s events will direct the agenda towards guarding the value of music for musicians, and guarding access to music for music consumers. In addition, we will look to the future and discuss the various models the music industry might adopt in coming years.

It is our belief that by continuing to organize events such as this one we will help the media, citizens, creators and our elected officials and policy makers have a more sophisticated understanding of the opportunities and effects of these new technologies on the guarding the value of music for musicians, and guarding access to music for citizens.

This year we are pleased to announce the following confirmations:

Senator Russ Feingold
(D-WI)
Member of Senate Judiciary Committee

Representative Howard Berman (D-CA)
Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Courts, Internet and Intellectual Property

More information will be posted as we confirm other keynotes.

2002 Keynote Speaker, Rep. John Conyers

Panels and Panelists
One of the best features of last year’s conference was its ability to anticipate emerging trends and to build panels that brought forward debates that would soon move from the margins to the center of discussion. In an attempt to recreate history, FMC is loosely organizing this year’s panels around broad themes until November when we will begin to commit to firm topics of discussion. Areas of focus for this year’s panels will include such issues as:

• The State of the Music/Tech Industry
• The Impact of Radio Consolidation on Musicians and Citizens
• The Webcasting Debate
• Illegal Imagination: Sampling and the Public Domain
• Musicians and Health Insurance
• Retail in the 21st Century
• Major Labels: Can They Innovate
• International Issues
• Control of Content
• Next Year’s Legislative Agenda