June 17, 2000 – Citing a desperate need for independent artists to take control of their future, leaders in the independent music community joined today with experts in the worlds of technology, entertainment law and public policy to announce the formation of the Future of Music Coalition.

"For too long musicians have had too little voice in the manufacture, distribution and promotion of their music and too little means to extract fair support and compensation for their work," said Jenny Toomey, the coalition's interim Executive Director.

"We build this organization as an attempt both to address pressing music-technology issues and to serve as a voice for musicians in Washington, DC, where critical decisions are being made regarding musicians' intellectual property rights without a word from the artists themselves," Toomey continued. "No longer will corporate media and big money be able to frame the discussion of music solely in terms of their industries, as we draw together the strongest voices in the technology and independent music communities to address questions of music in the marketplace with a clear-eyed focus on the interests of the artists."

Brian Zisk, co-founder of The Green Witch Internet Radio, Director of Business Development at iCAST, and a leader in the Open Source community, is Director of Technology for Future of Music. "Future of Music is founded on the belief that creation is valuable and should be compensated. By drawing together advocates for musicians' rights and innovators in Internet technology, we will work to move the discussion away from the narrow piracy vs. privacy discussions that dominate the general media, toward practical solutions leveraging the strengths of digital distribution technology on behalf of the artists."

Walter McDonough, Director of Legal and Business Research for Future of Music, said "the public debate over the future of digital music should not just include those who believe that all intellectual property should be available without payment and major record labels and publishing companies who want to control every aspect of how the public can access music on the Internet. It must also consist of consumers, academics, technologists, webcasters, musicians, composers and the independent record labels and publishing companies."

Michael Bracy, Director of Policy for Future of Music, said "media coverage of this issue polarizes discussion, focusing either on the exploitation of artists by the major labels or on the exploitation or the artists by Internet applications that encourage unauthorized copying. Artists are presented with a false and unnecessary choice: support traditional notions of artists' rights and be called a money-grubbing luddite; or support new technology solutions and be accused of ignoring the plight of those artists left behind. This rhetoric pretends to speak for the artists, but in effect just continues to promote the viewpoints of moneyed interests like the 'record labels' or the 'technology companies' while it obscures some of the more promising new possibilities for artists."

Coalition members stressed the collaborative nature of the organization. "This is a positive-looking effort to encourage artists to take control of their destinies. It is also an important effort to drive innovation between the technology and music communities. This is not an effort to pick fights," said Toomey. "If the technology and artistic communities work together in the true spirit of collaboration – and if the policy makers and courts support our efforts – we can help create a world of new opportunities for independent artists. If the corporate behemoths are able to monopolize debate, however, artists and consumers could the real losers in the process."

The Future of Music Coalition has published a manifesto, which they urge readers to endorse, on its website, www.futureofmusic.org.