Fair Pay for Fair Work - Composers Considering Unionizing

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Variety has an interesting article about the state of things for The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL). They are considering joining with Teamsters Local 399 because right now they are considered "Independent Contractors" due to a ruling in the Regan era. According to the article composers are writing upwards of twice as much music as they were 30 years ago but being paid 14% of what they were making. So, studios are getting more and paying less.

The American Composers Forum is another organization bent on getting fair pay for fair work for composers. Established in the 1973 as the Minnesota Composers Forum, the Forum tries to connect composers with the community - with the idea of creating a means for composers to earn a living.

Screen writers wreaked havoc with Hollywood a few years back trying to get some portion of DVD sales. Music, which has become a huge marketing tool for television and film is given the same sort of slip claiming the rights to the music providing one time fees denies all future revenue streams (and potential uses of the music).

Not sure where this is going, but as a composer - worth watching!

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