don't know how this will look, standard cut and paste...link provided at bottom.
Marc
****************************
Musicians In Need
Via Glenn: No, we do not want to help these rapacious mothersuckers crush the recording proletariat:
What if you worked for a company for 30 years - say, starting in 1967 and ending in 1997 - and then realized the company had never paid into your pension fund? You'd be pretty steamed.
That's what happened to Sam Moore from the famous R&B group Sam & Dave. He had hits with Atlantic Records, which is part of Time Warner, like "Soul Man," "Hold On I'm Coming" and dozens of others.
Even though new hits stopped coming, the old ones kept selling. He figured that when he reached retirement, Atlantic would have been paying his pension into his union, which is called AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists).
When Moore applied for his pension, he was told that he had benefits coming to him. What a relief, he thought. Then he got the bad news. AFTRA was all set to pay him a whopping $67 a month. This is the same AFTRA that now boasts a $1.2 billion surplus.
That $67 figure came not from the money Sam thought he was getting from Atlantic, but from radio and television appearances he'd made over the years. It turned out that Atlantic had never paid one dime into his pension fund. Nothing. Nada.
So Atlantic sucks swamp scum and I hope Moore gets his million plus punitive damages, and I hope this opens the floodgates for every other artist, songwriter, producer or janitor to get what they are owed.
BUT, I also know it's much tougher on the artists if they DON'T SELL ANY RECORDS. So this doesn't change my thoughts on FREE CDs for Bloggers one bit.
Back to the reamed artist issue - there are a number of foundations and organizations specifically set up to aid musicians in need:
The Rhythm and Blues Foundation, an independent nonprofit service organization founded in 1988, promotes wider recognition, financial support, educational outreach and historic and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music through various grants and programs in support of R&B and Motown artists of the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.
Their programs include:
Doc Pomus Financial Assistance Grants
Named in the memory of the Foundation's founding trustees, this program supports the current and specific financial needs of legendary rhythm and blues artists whose contributions have been seminal in the music's development and growth. Since its inception, the Foundation has provided over $500,000 in service and Financial Assistance Grants.
Gwendolyn B. Gordy Fuqua Fund
This Fund was established in 2000 by Berry Gordy, Founder of Motown Records. It provides emergency financial assistance to living artists in need who performed R&B music of the 60s and 70s under the Motown label.
In November of last year Motown and Universal also announced the formation of the Motown/Universal Music Group Fund :
The Universal Music Group today announced the donation of a $2 million gift to the R&B Foundation for the establishment of the Motown/Universal Music Group Fund in order to provide grants for financial assistance to R&B recording artists who were formerly affiliated with UMG or any of its wholly owned labels.
One of the largest contributions ever made by a music company on behalf of its artists, the Motown/Universal Music Group Fund will be used for health, welfare and medical purposes for artists or their surviving spouses in the form of monetary grants. The grants will be determined and dispensed by a specific committee created by the R&B Foundation. The $2 million will become the �corpus� for the fund, which will generate monies for the needs of artists in perpetuity.
....Added Berry Gordy, Founder of Motown Records, �I am pleased that the Universal Music Group has stepped up with this very generous donation for the welfare of its great artists. Now, more than ever, it is evident that music has the power to heal and bring people together. I commend Universal for recognizing the importance of the R&B Foundation�s great work toward the benefit of artists.�
Jim Fifield, Vice Chairman of the R&B Foundation, commented, �I couldn�t be more pleased with the $2 million contribution by the Universal Music Group. They have set a new standard in the industry for giving and recognizing the need for assistance for artists.�
Among the classic labels affiliated with the Universal Music Group are A&M Records, ABC Dot, ABC Paramount, Argo, Blue Thumb, Cadet, Casablanca, Checker, Chess, Commodore, Coral, Decca, Def Jam, Def Soul, Duke, Dunhill, Geffen, Gordy, GRP Records, Interscope, Island, MCA, Mercury, Motown, Peacock, Polydor, Rare Earth, RSO, Soul, Tamla, Uni, Universal Records, and Verve, among others.
The cynical would call this a preemptive strike.
The great jazz writer Nat Hentoff discusses the Jazz Foundation of America here:
Last Sept. 24's concert for and by the Jazz Foundation of America at Harlem's Apollo Theater raised money for rent, car repairs, medical prescriptions and other necessities for musicians in need. But the week after the concert, Wendy Oxenhorn, the Foundation's executive director, wrote: "Before the concert, we were assisting twice as many musicians as we had ever helped, about 6 to 8 musicians a day. This week, I found I'm working on 10 cases before 2 pm, and by night's end, I add a few more."
It's not only in New York and surrounding cities that there are jazz musicians out of work and out of luck. In the March 5 New York Times, Rick Bragg told of musicians in similar straits in New Orleans: "The outside world-the world of rent checks and health insurance and retirement plans-is for other people, not musicians." New Orleans singer-pianist-songwriter-producer Allen Toussaint added, "It can happen to so many people" - including musicians listed on jazz reissue recordings, who keep clips from old mentions in jazz magazines. Oxenhorn notes that a musician who is on one of the reissue CDs released in connection with Ken Burns' Jazz series "came into our offices and was unable to pay for his $150 diabetes medication."
....Back in New York, Oxenhorn is working on a new project for the Jazz Foundation. "Half of the battles that the JFA fights," she writes, "are eviction-related because many of the elderly musicians live in rent-controlled apartments that landlords could rent for more money." Landlords are trying to evict their tenants at every chance. "Many of the musicians we assist," she continues, "do not make enough to pay their rent or are behind in their rent, because they are not able to play as many gigs as they did when they were younger because illness and ailments slow them down."
Hentoff puts out a call:
I would appreciate hearing from musicians whose recordings from years ago are now out again. Are they receiving any royalties? Write to me in care of JazzTimes.
Oxenhorn's new project is a Players Residence in New York City. "Housing," she emphasizes, "is not affordable for the aging jazz musician. The musicians that are lucky enough to receive social security, get about $500 a month at most. It's almost impossible to find even a room for rent that is below $600 a month in New York City." The Jazz Foundation is trying to renovate a building that will be a home for elder jazz musicians, with "studio apartments for $250 a month, so that even the most meager income or social security check would pay the rent. This would allow the older jazz musicians to live on the few gigs they get each month. No one in the history of jazz has built a home in honor of the musicians."
The Blues Foundation
The Handy Artists Relief Trust was established to provide funding to organizations that help Blues musicians in need. This year�s benefit concert in May supported the Music Maker Relief Foundation of North Carolina. The show featured Willie King, Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Beverly "Guitar" Watkins, Mudcat, Cool John Ferguson, and Robert "Wolfman" Belfour.
posted
Interesting post at Tres Producers (blogspot)
Marc
location: Columbus, OH
listening to: gloating democrats...and that's ok, they earned it.
registered: 2001.11.02
posts: 1067
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don't know how this will look, standard cut and paste...link provided at bottom.
Marc
****************************
Musicians In Need
Via Glenn: No, we do not want to help these rapacious mothersuckers crush the recording proletariat:
What if you worked for a company for 30 years - say, starting in 1967 and ending in 1997 - and then realized the company had never paid into your pension fund? You'd be pretty steamed.
That's what happened to Sam Moore from the famous R&B group Sam & Dave. He had hits with Atlantic Records, which is part of Time Warner, like "Soul Man," "Hold On I'm Coming" and dozens of others.
Even though new hits stopped coming, the old ones kept selling. He figured that when he reached retirement, Atlantic would have been paying his pension into his union, which is called AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists).
When Moore applied for his pension, he was told that he had benefits coming to him. What a relief, he thought. Then he got the bad news. AFTRA was all set to pay him a whopping $67 a month. This is the same AFTRA that now boasts a $1.2 billion surplus.
That $67 figure came not from the money Sam thought he was getting from Atlantic, but from radio and television appearances he'd made over the years. It turned out that Atlantic had never paid one dime into his pension fund. Nothing. Nada.
So Atlantic sucks swamp scum and I hope Moore gets his million plus punitive damages, and I hope this opens the floodgates for every other artist, songwriter, producer or janitor to get what they are owed.
BUT, I also know it's much tougher on the artists if they DON'T SELL ANY RECORDS. So this doesn't change my thoughts on FREE CDs for Bloggers one bit.
Back to the reamed artist issue - there are a number of foundations and organizations specifically set up to aid musicians in need:
The Rhythm and Blues Foundation, an independent nonprofit service organization founded in 1988, promotes wider recognition, financial support, educational outreach and historic and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music through various grants and programs in support of R&B and Motown artists of the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.
Their programs include:
Doc Pomus Financial Assistance Grants
Named in the memory of the Foundation's founding trustees, this program supports the current and specific financial needs of legendary rhythm and blues artists whose contributions have been seminal in the music's development and growth. Since its inception, the Foundation has provided over $500,000 in service and Financial Assistance Grants.
Gwendolyn B. Gordy Fuqua Fund
This Fund was established in 2000 by Berry Gordy, Founder of Motown Records. It provides emergency financial assistance to living artists in need who performed R&B music of the 60s and 70s under the Motown label.
In November of last year Motown and Universal also announced the formation of the Motown/Universal Music Group Fund :
The Universal Music Group today announced the donation of a $2 million gift to the R&B Foundation for the establishment of the Motown/Universal Music Group Fund in order to provide grants for financial assistance to R&B recording artists who were formerly affiliated with UMG or any of its wholly owned labels.
One of the largest contributions ever made by a music company on behalf of its artists, the Motown/Universal Music Group Fund will be used for health, welfare and medical purposes for artists or their surviving spouses in the form of monetary grants. The grants will be determined and dispensed by a specific committee created by the R&B Foundation. The $2 million will become the �corpus� for the fund, which will generate monies for the needs of artists in perpetuity.
....Added Berry Gordy, Founder of Motown Records, �I am pleased that the Universal Music Group has stepped up with this very generous donation for the welfare of its great artists. Now, more than ever, it is evident that music has the power to heal and bring people together. I commend Universal for recognizing the importance of the R&B Foundation�s great work toward the benefit of artists.�
Jim Fifield, Vice Chairman of the R&B Foundation, commented, �I couldn�t be more pleased with the $2 million contribution by the Universal Music Group. They have set a new standard in the industry for giving and recognizing the need for assistance for artists.�
Among the classic labels affiliated with the Universal Music Group are A&M Records, ABC Dot, ABC Paramount, Argo, Blue Thumb, Cadet, Casablanca, Checker, Chess, Commodore, Coral, Decca, Def Jam, Def Soul, Duke, Dunhill, Geffen, Gordy, GRP Records, Interscope, Island, MCA, Mercury, Motown, Peacock, Polydor, Rare Earth, RSO, Soul, Tamla, Uni, Universal Records, and Verve, among others.
The cynical would call this a preemptive strike.
The great jazz writer Nat Hentoff discusses the Jazz Foundation of America here:
Last Sept. 24's concert for and by the Jazz Foundation of America at Harlem's Apollo Theater raised money for rent, car repairs, medical prescriptions and other necessities for musicians in need. But the week after the concert, Wendy Oxenhorn, the Foundation's executive director, wrote: "Before the concert, we were assisting twice as many musicians as we had ever helped, about 6 to 8 musicians a day. This week, I found I'm working on 10 cases before 2 pm, and by night's end, I add a few more."
It's not only in New York and surrounding cities that there are jazz musicians out of work and out of luck. In the March 5 New York Times, Rick Bragg told of musicians in similar straits in New Orleans: "The outside world-the world of rent checks and health insurance and retirement plans-is for other people, not musicians." New Orleans singer-pianist-songwriter-producer Allen Toussaint added, "It can happen to so many people" - including musicians listed on jazz reissue recordings, who keep clips from old mentions in jazz magazines. Oxenhorn notes that a musician who is on one of the reissue CDs released in connection with Ken Burns' Jazz series "came into our offices and was unable to pay for his $150 diabetes medication."
....Back in New York, Oxenhorn is working on a new project for the Jazz Foundation. "Half of the battles that the JFA fights," she writes, "are eviction-related because many of the elderly musicians live in rent-controlled apartments that landlords could rent for more money." Landlords are trying to evict their tenants at every chance. "Many of the musicians we assist," she continues, "do not make enough to pay their rent or are behind in their rent, because they are not able to play as many gigs as they did when they were younger because illness and ailments slow them down."
Hentoff puts out a call:
I would appreciate hearing from musicians whose recordings from years ago are now out again. Are they receiving any royalties? Write to me in care of JazzTimes.
Oxenhorn's new project is a Players Residence in New York City. "Housing," she emphasizes, "is not affordable for the aging jazz musician. The musicians that are lucky enough to receive social security, get about $500 a month at most. It's almost impossible to find even a room for rent that is below $600 a month in New York City." The Jazz Foundation is trying to renovate a building that will be a home for elder jazz musicians, with "studio apartments for $250 a month, so that even the most meager income or social security check would pay the rent. This would allow the older jazz musicians to live on the few gigs they get each month. No one in the history of jazz has built a home in honor of the musicians."
The Blues Foundation
The Handy Artists Relief Trust was established to provide funding to organizations that help Blues musicians in need. This year�s benefit concert in May supported the Music Maker Relief Foundation of North Carolina. The show featured Willie King, Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Beverly "Guitar" Watkins, Mudcat, Cool John Ferguson, and Robert "Wolfman" Belfour.
posted
Marc
****************************
Musicians In Need
Via Glenn: No, we do not want to help these rapacious mothersuckers crush the recording proletariat:
What if you worked for a company for 30 years - say, starting in 1967 and ending in 1997 - and then realized the company had never paid into your pension fund? You'd be pretty steamed.
That's what happened to Sam Moore from the famous R&B group Sam & Dave. He had hits with Atlantic Records, which is part of Time Warner, like "Soul Man," "Hold On I'm Coming" and dozens of others.
Even though new hits stopped coming, the old ones kept selling. He figured that when he reached retirement, Atlantic would have been paying his pension into his union, which is called AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists).
When Moore applied for his pension, he was told that he had benefits coming to him. What a relief, he thought. Then he got the bad news. AFTRA was all set to pay him a whopping $67 a month. This is the same AFTRA that now boasts a $1.2 billion surplus.
That $67 figure came not from the money Sam thought he was getting from Atlantic, but from radio and television appearances he'd made over the years. It turned out that Atlantic had never paid one dime into his pension fund. Nothing. Nada.
So Atlantic sucks swamp scum and I hope Moore gets his million plus punitive damages, and I hope this opens the floodgates for every other artist, songwriter, producer or janitor to get what they are owed.
BUT, I also know it's much tougher on the artists if they DON'T SELL ANY RECORDS. So this doesn't change my thoughts on FREE CDs for Bloggers one bit.
Back to the reamed artist issue - there are a number of foundations and organizations specifically set up to aid musicians in need:
The Rhythm and Blues Foundation, an independent nonprofit service organization founded in 1988, promotes wider recognition, financial support, educational outreach and historic and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music through various grants and programs in support of R&B and Motown artists of the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.
Their programs include:
Doc Pomus Financial Assistance Grants
Named in the memory of the Foundation's founding trustees, this program supports the current and specific financial needs of legendary rhythm and blues artists whose contributions have been seminal in the music's development and growth. Since its inception, the Foundation has provided over $500,000 in service and Financial Assistance Grants.
Gwendolyn B. Gordy Fuqua Fund
This Fund was established in 2000 by Berry Gordy, Founder of Motown Records. It provides emergency financial assistance to living artists in need who performed R&B music of the 60s and 70s under the Motown label.
In November of last year Motown and Universal also announced the formation of the Motown/Universal Music Group Fund :
The Universal Music Group today announced the donation of a $2 million gift to the R&B Foundation for the establishment of the Motown/Universal Music Group Fund in order to provide grants for financial assistance to R&B recording artists who were formerly affiliated with UMG or any of its wholly owned labels.
One of the largest contributions ever made by a music company on behalf of its artists, the Motown/Universal Music Group Fund will be used for health, welfare and medical purposes for artists or their surviving spouses in the form of monetary grants. The grants will be determined and dispensed by a specific committee created by the R&B Foundation. The $2 million will become the �corpus� for the fund, which will generate monies for the needs of artists in perpetuity.
....Added Berry Gordy, Founder of Motown Records, �I am pleased that the Universal Music Group has stepped up with this very generous donation for the welfare of its great artists. Now, more than ever, it is evident that music has the power to heal and bring people together. I commend Universal for recognizing the importance of the R&B Foundation�s great work toward the benefit of artists.�
Jim Fifield, Vice Chairman of the R&B Foundation, commented, �I couldn�t be more pleased with the $2 million contribution by the Universal Music Group. They have set a new standard in the industry for giving and recognizing the need for assistance for artists.�
Among the classic labels affiliated with the Universal Music Group are A&M Records, ABC Dot, ABC Paramount, Argo, Blue Thumb, Cadet, Casablanca, Checker, Chess, Commodore, Coral, Decca, Def Jam, Def Soul, Duke, Dunhill, Geffen, Gordy, GRP Records, Interscope, Island, MCA, Mercury, Motown, Peacock, Polydor, Rare Earth, RSO, Soul, Tamla, Uni, Universal Records, and Verve, among others.
The cynical would call this a preemptive strike.
The great jazz writer Nat Hentoff discusses the Jazz Foundation of America here:
Last Sept. 24's concert for and by the Jazz Foundation of America at Harlem's Apollo Theater raised money for rent, car repairs, medical prescriptions and other necessities for musicians in need. But the week after the concert, Wendy Oxenhorn, the Foundation's executive director, wrote: "Before the concert, we were assisting twice as many musicians as we had ever helped, about 6 to 8 musicians a day. This week, I found I'm working on 10 cases before 2 pm, and by night's end, I add a few more."
It's not only in New York and surrounding cities that there are jazz musicians out of work and out of luck. In the March 5 New York Times, Rick Bragg told of musicians in similar straits in New Orleans: "The outside world-the world of rent checks and health insurance and retirement plans-is for other people, not musicians." New Orleans singer-pianist-songwriter-producer Allen Toussaint added, "It can happen to so many people" - including musicians listed on jazz reissue recordings, who keep clips from old mentions in jazz magazines. Oxenhorn notes that a musician who is on one of the reissue CDs released in connection with Ken Burns' Jazz series "came into our offices and was unable to pay for his $150 diabetes medication."
....Back in New York, Oxenhorn is working on a new project for the Jazz Foundation. "Half of the battles that the JFA fights," she writes, "are eviction-related because many of the elderly musicians live in rent-controlled apartments that landlords could rent for more money." Landlords are trying to evict their tenants at every chance. "Many of the musicians we assist," she continues, "do not make enough to pay their rent or are behind in their rent, because they are not able to play as many gigs as they did when they were younger because illness and ailments slow them down."
Hentoff puts out a call:
I would appreciate hearing from musicians whose recordings from years ago are now out again. Are they receiving any royalties? Write to me in care of JazzTimes.
Oxenhorn's new project is a Players Residence in New York City. "Housing," she emphasizes, "is not affordable for the aging jazz musician. The musicians that are lucky enough to receive social security, get about $500 a month at most. It's almost impossible to find even a room for rent that is below $600 a month in New York City." The Jazz Foundation is trying to renovate a building that will be a home for elder jazz musicians, with "studio apartments for $250 a month, so that even the most meager income or social security check would pay the rent. This would allow the older jazz musicians to live on the few gigs they get each month. No one in the history of jazz has built a home in honor of the musicians."
The Blues Foundation
The Handy Artists Relief Trust was established to provide funding to organizations that help Blues musicians in need. This year�s benefit concert in May supported the Music Maker Relief Foundation of North Carolina. The show featured Willie King, Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Beverly "Guitar" Watkins, Mudcat, Cool John Ferguson, and Robert "Wolfman" Belfour.
posted
