Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit - Day 3

Things have been a little hectic since the conference ended, but finally, after a lengthy delay, I'm happy to present the Day 3 roundup.

I was running a little late, but arrived in time to catch the conversation between former Fugazi frontman and Dischord Records co-founder Ian MacKaye and MC5's Wayne Kramer. I enjoyed hearing MacKaye talk a little about Dischord's standard arrangement with the bands on their label (no contracts, no lawyers, and complete transparency). And the audience seemed mesmerized by the two rock legends sharing the stage.

Another exciting discussion focused on the popular European website Spotify, and whether the concept of music as a service rather than a product would go over as well in the U.S. as it has overseas.

Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek explained the model. Basically, it's a peer-to-peer online music service that offers subscribers the ability to stream close to 5 million recordings. The big question is: Provided all of the licensing issues were cleared up and it was able to debut in the U.S., would it offer a more sustainable model than iTunes? Sites like Pandora are highly popular, but that's thanks in large part to the fact that they're free. Hard to say if Spotify represents the future, but a lot of people at the conference were really excited by the possibilities it offers. Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot has a very positive take on it here.

San Francisco-based DJ and video mashup artist Mike Relm added an intelligent perspective to the ongoing debate about music sampling. In essence, he argued that as long as you're not infringing upon an artist's sales or using their work in a way that could damage their careers, you should be able to sample their work. As a DJ, he's promoting the songs he's working with--a point that's often lost on music industry professionals and publicists. He added that since he doesn't sell the mashups and sampled pieces he creates, licensing music and paying royalties would make what he does financially impossible.

Later that afternoon, during the Future of Music Journalism breakout session, NPR's Bob Boilen dropped by to ask the panel a question: In a perfect world, given limitless possibilities, what would you like the future of music criticism to be? Wired writer Eliot Van Buskirk gave a great answer that I haven't been able to stop thinking about since. He's turned it into a great column.