Byta Presents:
#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation with
Kevin Erickson – Director of The Future of Music Coalition
Fairness in Future: Compensation & Advocacy for Artists
Wednesday, November 30th – 9am PT / 12 pm EST / 5 pm BST
Live online via Zoom
Free registration here: https://byta.co/hwl-live-kevin-erickson
Digital has taken over, music streams have been acknowledged. Now, as an artist, how do you get paid? With so many services available to help people hear your music, who is fighting for the artist’s rights? The Future of Music Coalition is fighting the good fight. Our next guest, Kevin Erickson is their director. He works at the intersection of DIY music, community organizing, and policy. His experience spans the full range of the music industry, from community radio to live show booking and promotion to brick & mortar music retail management.
Kevin Erickson has contributed opinion pieces to outlets as disparate as The Nation and Pitchfork. He volunteers with Positive Force DC, and remains active as a musician and record producer, with Swim-Two-Birds recording studio in DC.
Future of Music Coalition (FMC) is a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit organization supporting a musical ecosystem where artists flourish and are compensated fairly and transparently for their work.
The FMC’s work is rooted in the real-world experiences and ambitions of working musicians, whose perspectives are often overlooked in policy debates. The FMC works with musicians, composers and industry stakeholders to identify solutions to shared challenges. They promote strategies, policies, technologies and educational initiatives that always put artists first while recognizing the role music fans play in shaping the future.
#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation is a monthly online event that will be presented in two parts:
- A workshop: Tips & insights for tomorrow’s artists & music industry leaders with Byta founder Marc Brown.
- An in-depth interview with Kevin Erickson, Director of The Future of Music Coalition. He will talk about raising a voice for musicians and creators as fewer of those voices are heard under the weight of the digital world.
About the Event
This series is designed to deliver the knowledge to enable tomorrow’s artists and industry leaders to better manoeuvre their way through the music ecosystem. Providing fun and insightful Q&A along the way!
#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation is hosted by Byta’s founder, Marc Brown, whose deep music business background and digital audio knowledge have helped him deliver unique insights to audiences from Tallinn to Toronto. Marc is a former label owner, A&R, manager and radio plugger.
Key takeaways:
- How do I get paid?
- What new technologies are helping artists the most?
- How to strategize music distribution?
- Where are the biggest threats to artists today?
- How can artists protect themselves?
- What can future policies do to help artists?
- What is a developing artist in a developing country to do?
Event Format
#HowWeListen Live (part 1):
The workshop will introduce industry insights that Marc has picked up from his work in A&R departments, running his own radio promotion company, plus years of experience managing artists and significant large-scale projects. Some of the topics he will touch on include artists’ teams, timelines and connecting the web of the music industry. Plus, most importantly, tips on what you can do yourself to better increase the chances of your success.
#HowWeListen In Conversation (part 2):
Each event will feature an in-depth one-to-one conversation. This time around our guest is Kevin Erickson – Director at The Future of Music Coalition. He will explore the best steps in protecting artists’ and creators’ ability to get fairly compensated. He will also explain how The Future of Music Coalition serves the future of music.
About Byta
Byta (“Bee-tah”: the Swedish word for exchange) is unrivalled in taking advantage of the unique properties found in audio files. By simplifying the reading and writing of file metadata, conversion of file formats and delivery of fast yet secure streaming, the platform enables everyone to send and receive digital audio in a clean, simple and secure way. Additionally, Byta launched #HowWeListen, a not-for-profit organisation. It complements the company’s ultimate goal: providing artists and their teams with the tools and knowledge needed to move their careers forward.
About Kevin Erickson
As FMC’s director, Kevin Erickson works at the intersection of DIY music, community organizing, and policy. His experience spans the full range of the music industry, from community radio to live show booking and promotion to brick & mortar music retail management. Before joining FMC’s team in 2012, he directed the All Ages Movement Project, a national non-profit network of all-ages music venues and youth music programs. Kevin has contributed opinion pieces to outlets as disparate as The Nation and Pitchfork, volunteers with Positive Force DC, and remains active as a musician and record producer, operating Swim-Two-Birds recording studio in DC, alongside husband Hugh McElroy.
About Marc Brown
Marc is the founder of Byta / byta.com. Run as a distributed team across three continents, Byta enables sending and receiving of digital audio in a clean, simple and secure way. Built for everyone working with music today.
His extensive music business background and considerable digital audio knowledge have helped him deliver unique insights to audiences from Tallinn to Toronto.
Marc got his start at murderecords, Canada’s premier artist-owned label, during the mid-90s. After working in A&R at the legendary London indie, Creation Records, and then at Alan McGee’s Poptones, Marc started his own boutique UK radio promotion company off the back of his success with The Hives. For over ten years, Marc worked with an impressive list of indie rock luminaries, including Wilco, Bloc Party, Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes, Spoon, and Refused as well as legends such as Tom Waits, Yoko Ono, Booker T and Mavis Staples.
Marc currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.