fair music weblog

mica – music austria has started the forerunner project on local level and will develop the existing networks.

In today’s globalized and digitalised world, music could find a global audience and could produce revenues for its creators independent from set distribution channels and the commercial music business. The “Fair Music Campaign” wants to bridge the gap and offer a trusted label for both – artists and audiences – to match their needs: musical diversity, recognition and remuneration.

New technological developments have resulted in far reaching structural changes in the music sector, leading to opening up of new distribution channels and possibilities. This change also impacts on cultural outputs or products. The effects of technological improvements bring challenges: dealing with piracy, directing the payment-flow towards the creators and deliberations on who decides about the access for producers and consumers to music and culture.

People will pay for music they love knowing that its creators will get a fair share for their work.
The Fair Music Campaign will raise awareness and will position “Fair Music” as the global brand for musical diversity.

The project is aimed to create a new awareness for rewarding creativity and give Non-Western countries a chance to break through on the music market… This ensures diversification of musical repertoire and strengthens regional content production, which is important for new EU member states.

“Fair Music” is dealing with the difficulties and problems of European music creators.

The main activities during the project period are :

-    Develop a set of legal standards for cultural productions
-    Develop the certification, infrastructure and business model = Set-up of a certification agency
-    To install a sustainable innovative distribution scheme and remuneration model
-    To install a catalogue of certified fair music repertoire that takes into account the socio-economic content of cultural production.
-    Establish an active network of partners (organisations and individuals) from all over the world.

fair music ist deployed by an international consortium
members:
mica – music information center austria
IASJ – International Association Of Schools Of Jazz
Popbüro Region Stuttgart
ZTMD – Zveza Tolminskih Mladinskih Drustev
IMC – International Music Council

The winners of the 2008 fair music award have been presented in the course of a Haydn Jahr 2009 – event on September 3rd in Schloss Esterhàzy in Eisenstadt. The award winner is the label col legno, further laureates are the ensemble Klangforum Wien, the musician’s initiative JazzWerkstatt Wien and the British label Honest Jon’s Records.

(more…)

Im feierlichen Rahmen einer Veranstaltung des Haydn-Jahr 2009 in Schloss Esterházy in Eisenstadt wurden gestern die fair music-Auszeichnungen verliehen.
Die fair music Initiative des mica-music austria kämpft für mehr Fairness und Gerechtigkeit in der Musikwirtschaft. Ausgehend von der UNESCO-Konvention zum Schutz und zur Förderung kultureller Ausdrucksformen, und den vom Internationalen Musikrat formulierten Musikalischen Grundrechten, wurden die Kriterien für die Vergabe der Auszeichnung entwickelt: Künstlerische Freiheit, faire Bedingungen für die Kreativen, kulturelle Vielfalt, Service für den Kunden und Marktzugang für MusikerInnen aus Ländern des Südens. (more…)

At presentations and discussions of the fair music initiative people often ask what the criteria of a fair music label are and how a music producer or distributor can get this label. Peter Rantasa, director of mica - music austria and initiator of fair music: “I myself do not decide what is fair in music business and what not. The standards for fairness and justice in the music business have to be developed in a consensus building stakeholder process - and this takes time.”

These standards that products and distribution channels will have to meet in order to receive a fair music seal of approval, will be developed by the fair music initiative together with the International Music Council (IMC - an international NGO in formal associate relations with UNESCO) and music and cultural NGOs.

(more…)

Since Harald Quendler received the 2007 fair music Award more than 30 releases were awarded with the fair music seal of approval. Among this releases Franz Haunzinger, Otto Lechner and Anne Bennet are amazingly interesting.

Harald Quendler has shown more than 30 years of commitment for cultural diversity in the Austrian music market. With his business Extraplatte – label, distributor and record store rolled into one – Quendler co-operates with musicians to make them stand on their own two feet – from music production to cover and booklet arts design to marketing and distribution. Extraplatte is an established niche service for innovative, off-key and exotic music. It is a synonym for a diverse choice of folk, jazz, world music, classical, advanced pop and contemporary music. Successful careers and trends which were knocked off by Extraplatte produce a long, long list. Promoting unknown musicians still is instrumental to Quendler. fair music rewards the commitment to cultural diversity and freedom.

Further information: www.extraplatte.com

“Our bands wanted their songs to be on peer-to-peer-networks, although they are not Madonna or any other famous artist”, is the straightforward answer CEO gives when asked what his music service jamendo is about. jamendo, a French company that is based in Luxembourg, is a new model for artists to promote, publish, and be paid for their music.
(more…)