Magnificent Union of Digitally Downloading Artists
John Parres points out this BBC report that Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno are launching a new musician's union to help artists in the digital age.
"Some think that we want to cut out parts of the music business, but that's not the case," Gabriel said.
He said musicians needed the record industry, because they were "good at making music and not necessarily good at marketing".
But musicians should not be the slaves of record companies either, he said.
"We need a model partnership where every artist should have a controlling influence in the whole production process - if they want it."
I am happy to see Peter Gabriel taking the lead here. A musicians union organized around digital distribution is over due. Artists, particualarly independent artists, need lots of support in this arena as they are caught between free downloading and the big labels who take and control everything.
I've been working with an independent musicians coalition at CalabashMusic.com. One of the artists we work with is Sevara Nazarkhan who toured with Peter Gariel last summer. She has her own self-produced recording that was not getting any air play and we helped her get it broadcast (via her music video) on the national televison channel LinkTV.
LinkTV has around 1 million people who watch their world music programs each week and Sevara has gone from relative obscurity to one of the most downloaded artists in the collective.
You can find her music at http://sevaranazarkhan.calabashmusic.com or on the LinkTV website at http://sevaranazarkhan.linktvstore.org The CalabashMusic.com collective now has over 400 independent artists.