Report by Dawoud Kringle
On Thursday, December 7th, 2023, MFM held its Annual Membership Meeting via Zoom Conference. Adam Reifsteck hosted.
The first order of business was the candidates introducing themselves (and David Belmont shared statements from those who couldn’t attend, such as Mario Guarneri). The votes for the Board of Directors were tallied and passed unanimously. 10 people voted in person, and 22 voted via email or text. 15 people did not vote. Of these, 5 are non-paying members (including Dr. Cornel West, an honorary member of the Advisory Committee).
The candidates were:
· Adam Reifsteck (Pianist, composer, label owner, and founder and President of Music Producers Alliance)
· Barry Heyman (music attorney)
· David Belmont (Vice President, multi-instrumentalist, producer, label owner and political activist)
· Keith Levenson (PUA expert, composer, music director, and conductor of The Who)
· Mario Guarneri (trumpet, educator, President of SF’s JAZZ IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD and Independent Musicians Alliance)
· Peter Wetzler (composer, pianist, and radio host)
· Roger Blanc (guitarist and arranger-composer)
· Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi (President, saxophonist, and band leader)
· Stephen Johnson (Hudson Valley Chapter leader, guitarist, band leader and activist)
After the vote, Roger Blanc offered his report on MFM’s achievements in 2023, and & 2024 New Tasks Report. He spoke briefly about the following:
1. AI concerns
2. Streaming royalties.
3. AFM contracts.
4. The state of post-pandemic MFM.
5. The only live event MFM is producing is scheduled for December 18th, 6-8 pm (The MFM Mixer at Big Bar, 75 East 7th Street, NYC).
6. The webinars MFM produced, pointed out the concentration of African music on our webinars.
7. MFM’s participation in the South By Southwest (SBSW) Music Workers Alliance strike.
8. The MFM Speaks Out Podcast.
9. Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi joined the Music Workers Association and the Independent Musicians Association.
David Belmont shared the results of the vote. The slate got 31 votes, with no votes against the slate. Voter participation comprised over 64% of MFM’s membership.
Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi gave his President’s Report. After thanking the members for their support, he discussed his vision for MFM in 2024. The most important things are:
1. We need more members. He pointed out the recruiting manual that was put together last year. The membership did not increase in 2023. He admonished the members for not making effective attempts to bring in new members.
2. Sohrab wants to collaborate with other organizations, He mentioned the American Music Fairness Act (which will determine how/if musicians will get paid for terrestrial radio, and is still in the House and should go through the Senate soon) the SBSW issue, Spotify’s pathetic payments, AI concerns on how to regulate the emerging technology, . He believes that collaboration with other musician’s rights organizations will serve to empower everyone and move legislation in our favor.
3. Internal collaborations with MFM members. He pointed out how MFM had helped Australian musician/composer Keyna Wilkins get gigs and maneuver in her first US tour. MFM members should help and support each other’s efforts.
4. Promoting one’s membership in MFM in one’s social media, personal links, etc.
5. Using and updating the member platform in MFM’s website directory.
Vice President David Belmont offered the 2023 Financial Report. 2023’s income came primarily from membership dues, but also from contributions and t-shirt sales.
The total income for 2023 was $4,947.00. This was a slight increase over last year’s income.
Owing to efforts to expand and grow qualitatively, MFM’s spending and operational costs increased this year. One of the biggest expenditures was transferring MFM’s website out of GoDaddy and into JustHost (approximately $1,200, and ancillary fees) and upgrades for the website. We also ran two FaceBook ad campaigns ($600). All included, we spent almost $8,000 (an increase of approximately $3,000 from 2022).
Our surplus assets after operation costs are $3,392.
Peter Wetzler offered his report on the MFM Hudson Valley Chapter. He began by quoting a message from Stephen Johnson, which reiterated the importance of MFM members supporting each other. The new members, Peter Einhorn, Henry Lowengard, and Steve Swallow, represent a 25% expansion in the Hudson Valley chapter’s membership. Mention was made of the recent radio interview and the potential for more radio interviews. The possibility of an MFM event was brought up. Joe Lovano had suggested a venue for the event, but other venues are being considered. A church located in Kingston is being converted into a music school and music performance venue by an organization called the Kingston Music Initiative. Johnson has already reached out to them, and they are receptive to holding MFM events there.
Some discussion followed about the harsh realities of running music venues.
David Belmont offered Mario Guarneri’s report on the IMA (Independent Musicians Alliance). The organization is formulating standards for wages and working conditions. They have an advocacy committee that meets with union representatives to coordinate procurement standards in the Greater Bay Area (San Francisco, CA). He is collaborating with other trade unions and working on a standardized contract based on the model Ladjevardi sent him. Guarneri has also done work with venues in the Bay Area, which might be advantageous for the Hudson Valley chapter to replicate.
Adam Reifsteck followed with his report. He began with the MFM Podcast; which has been out of commission since my (Dawoud Kringle’s) retirement as host and co-producer. We are looking for my successor. He discussed the MFM website upgrade, the aforementioned migration from GoDaddy to JustHost, some technical obstacles that needed to be overcome, changing the backend structure, and a new registration and payment processing system (including auto-renewals). The upfront costs for the upgrade were sizable but set us up for reduced operation costs in the long term. He went on to discuss the upcoming 12/12 AI ZOOM Panel Discussion announcement which will experiment with a new format.
Barry Heyman interrupted his attendance at the Independent Association of Music Publishers holiday event to offer a report on Music Rights Issues and Developments in 2023. He mentioned bills such as the RAP Act (legislation seeking to protect artists from having their lyrics used against them in court) and other bills centered around royalty rates and fair compensation for public performance of sound recordings He said that nothing has moved forward with these bills. He went on to mention some changes in how corporations operate that affect musicians, such as Spotify’s refusal to pay royalties below a certain minimum of streams. Ladjevardi mentioned the recent sale of BMI. Heyman casually mentioned that a few executives with ASCAP and BMI were at the event he was attending, and wondered if he could pick their brain a little. He mentioned Live Nation’s $1,500 stipend that they offer touring musicians for every performance they play. He mentioned the advantages touring musicians get from this, but that there are undesirable effects upon independent venues and the associations that represent their interests. He also mentioned the AI issues that will be discussed at the Zoom talk.
David Belmont finished with a mention of the December 18th Mixer at the Big Bar in Manhattan.
The meeting was a success. It neatly wrapped up 2023 and set the stage for MFM’s endeavors in 2024.