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GRAMMYs

Michael Tenneson and Kevin Woodley

Photo courtesy of D.J.C. Records

News
Colorado Inmates Find Faith On 'Territorial' LP play-again-colorado-inmates-pour-heart-hope-faith-territorial-lp

Play That Again: Colorado Inmates Pour Heart, Hope & Faith Into 'Territorial' LP

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How a group of Colorado inmates at Territorial Correctional Facility came together to defy their own prejudices and limits and record an album for the ages
Matthew Daddona
GRAMMYs
Sep 9, 2020 - 9:14 am

In 2014, Michael Tenneson, 60, confined to prison for multiple life sentences, played a blues progression on his Fender Stratocaster that wept through a low-wattage amplifier. The progression would eventually become the backbone to "Mama's Cryin," a track on the soon-to-be released LP Territorial, the first album to be solely written by incarcerated individuals, but at the time it was a riff that, like other pursuits in prison, was more likely to be forgotten than salvaged. As the tune faded into yet another improbable fit and start, Tenneson heard a voice call out to him: "Hey man, play that again."

The voice belonged to Kevin Woodley, an overweight Black man confined to a wheelchair and whom Tenneson had seen before but never talked to. When Tenneson played it again, Woodley wailed an improvisational vocal that turned heads inside the small room. Tenneson didn't need to hear any more to convince himself that Woodley was a supremely talented singer with the right amount of soul and world-weariness. "I made him promise me that if we ever got a chance to play music again, we'd do it together," Tenneson said.

That opportunity came in 2018, nearly four years to the day when Fury Young, 31, an ardent activist with an easygoing exterior, wrote a letter to Tenneson, who was laid up in the infirmary due to an illness. Young, the founder of Die Jim Crow and the label DJC Records, was at the time focusing on Die Jim Crow being a one-off concept album and had heard about Tenneson through a mutual friend, Claudia Whitman. Whitman, the founder and CEO of the National Capital Crime Assistance Network and an advocate for the abolishment of death penalties, had told Young about Tenneson's musical range and abilities. "The only problem," she told him, "is that he’s white."

Fury Young is white, too, and culturally identifies as Jewish. It was his 2013 reading of Michelle Alexander’s breakout book The New Jim Crow that inspired him to do more—to do something—about racial injustice and inequality. Coming to terms with his somewhat privileged life in New York City and the fact that, unlike some of his friends, he hadn’t been to prison, he decided to provide help—in the form of music—to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals.

That Tenneson is white wasn't a dead end for Young, but it did make him wonder whether his services could have been better utilized by minorities who had been unilaterally affected by a prison system mottled by systemic racism. But he also wondered if Tenneson, with his experience as a multi-instrumentalist, could provide a bridge to other musicians and walks of life.

Tenneson, reading Young’s letter in the infirmary and trying to parse out the scribbled sentences and messy handwriting, recalled that day with Kevin Woodley, that diffident-turned-soaring voice from five years ago, and decided that he needed to stoke up the band that never was. 

GRAMMYs

Kevin Woodley (Left) and Michael Tennesen (Right)
Photo courtesy of DJC

As its name suggests, Territorial Correctional Facility was created when Colorado was not yet a state but a territory, a lawless outcropping of land in the West that saw violent eruptions between Native American tribes and white settlers who were seeking land expansion. The original Territorial prison opened in 1871, five years before Colorado officially became a state, and grew in tandem with its municipality, Cañon City; by 1899, the penitentiary that originally held 50 cells had added two more buildings and had grown to 400 inmates. Today, Cañon City, among its popular Riverwalk and numerous recreation areas, claims Territorial as one of its primary income generators. It is one of seven prisons located in or around the city.

The history of Territorial's racism, displacement of native peoples from their lands, and public lynching—capital punishment wasn't abolished in Colorado until 2020—is not lost on Michael Tenneson, who has spent the last 40 years within the United States prison system and has witnessed the fractioned relationship between inmates and justice-seekers. Having grown up in foster homes in rural Wisconsin where he was molested and abused, Tenneson matured into burglarizing homes and a life of heavy drinking and drug use. During one night of drinking, a break-in to a drug dealer's home turned into a triple homicide. Then, on the run for that, and partying in Colorado, he killed two other people after a poker game turned contentious. He described himself back then as having a twisted worldview, particularly when it came to other races. His upbringing had made him narrow-minded and prejudiced, and he was frequently explosive and at odds with others and imperious when it came to his own self-worth. In his early 20s, he was saved by a Black Marine after getting beat up outside of a bar near Camp Pendleton. His outlook began to take a turn then but, ironically, it was prison life that altered the paradigm, forcing him to confront his bigotries and bad choices in a space that provided no escape nor outlet for distraction.

By the time Fury Young was approved to record a full LP at Territorial in December 2017, Tenneson and Woodley's relationship had blossomed into a friendship, to the extent that Young now refers to Woodley as the John Lennon to Tenneson's Paul McCartney: where Tenneson is affable and often boastful, Woodley is pensive and shy. Woodley's body is wracked with cancer, diabetes and lupus, which have affected his mobility and respiratory health, but his hands remain calloused and strong, a reminder of the boxer that he once was. Like his hands, he uses his voice as a powerful tool, but as recording time approached, Woodley had second thoughts about the project. He doubted his voice's range, that his tone was not what it used to be. "You have a better voice than any of these guys will ever have," Tenneson told him. "You have a story to tell. That's a powerful thing." In the past, Tenneson might've bristled at Woodley, but now he had found a reason to defend his new friend from the same insecurity that had once consumed him. 

Tenneson and Woodley's vision was to tell a narrative about the sometimes-mournful and sometimes-redemptive tale of self-discovery in prison. Indeed, Territorial, the album, just like Territorial the prison, features contributions from multiple prisoners of varying ages, races, religions and musicianship. As a hybrid of musical genre and perspective, it is the collective story of universal struggle and search for meaning amid the personal recollections of its contributors.

GRAMMYs

Kevin Woodley
Photo courtesy of DJC

Over the four consecutive days that Fury Young had recorded the album inside the makeshift band room—where he brought in all of the recording equipment including light stands, PVC pipes and moving blankets to dull sounds—the coterie of newfound bandmates—led by Tenneson, Woodley and another singer Dane Newton—found themselves attempting to make the music feel organic while also being held to a tight deadline. The group had had only practiced once a week for a few weeks prior to Young's arrival and had to contend not just with the egos inside the band room (as they might have expected) but with those outside the door. Young recalled numerous times in which other prisoners would pop their head in to inspect what was occurring within the 17 x 15 room, some of them envious that this group had received such a creative opportunity. Young reported that even the guards, though initially straight-faced and "on duty," eventually got into the spirit. By the last day, Young recalled, one of the guards helped provide a supplemental sound effect for one of the tracks by controlling the gate that let prisoners in and out of one of the areas. 

The first track recorded was "Mama's Cryin," the rueful blues song that Tenneson and Woodley had concocted five years earlier but that now had the backing of a full band. In the song, Woodley croons "Children dying / Mama's cryin' / cuz daddy's lying on the floor / bullets flying," over vibrato, reggae-tuned guitar tones. Tenneson, speaking to me from within a phone station in Arkansas Valley in Colorado (he has since been transferred), choked up when recalling the profundity of the message and its commentary on current events. As a white man who has killed a person of color, Tenneson harbors guilt about his past; when he hears about police brutality or white-on-black crime he feels "torn up inside." The only redemption he could find—he'd considered suicide—was in religion. Though he prefers the word spirituality to religion, he was baptized in prison several years back. "Religion and spirituality was at the core of our project," he said.

GRAMMYs

Dane Newton
Photo courtesy of Fury Young

Before the recording sessions began, one of the project's contributors, Philip Archuleta, who goes by Archie, performed a traditional Native American ceremony with eagle feathers in which he "asked malicious spirits to leave." He and another Native American, "Lefty," brushed each performer with the feather and uttered a prayer. "I felt some energy there," Tenneson said of the experience.

Archuleta grew up in Colorado among Dakota and Shoshone tribes and has served 22 years of a 40-year sentence. "The problem is," he said, "I keep getting into trouble." Although the Territorial sessions were recorded before COVID-19 swept through the world and caused widespread panic within prison populations, Archuleta told me that the recent safety measures have affected his mental wellbeing. He and other Native Americans have not been able to go to the sweat lodge or allowed to partake in peace pipe-smoking ceremonies. The medical facility has become inaccessible save for the treatment of life-threatening injuries, he said. In the meantime, the lack of stress-relieving procedures that his spirituality granted him has contributed to confrontations with other prisoners. "But this has been a struggle all my life," Archuleta said of his heritage. "It's like we’re a novelty at first, we're told that we're interesting. Then we get treated worse." If the recording of Territorial gave him an opportunity, though a limited one, it was the chance to feel that Christianity versus spirituality versus agnosticism wasn’t as important as the fight between free and not free.

Before the band room was reopened at Territorial Correctional Facility, before even Tenneson had received the letter from Fury Young, concerts at Territorial were hosted in the gym once a month. Like a bare-bones "Battle of the Bands," in which the performers were barely distinguishable from their audience members, Tenneson had performed with different iterations of bands and musicians, the entire time realizing that neither the group nor the venue itself was permanent. In prison—especially in prison—places and their functions are often abandoned or swapped out for projects that will beget more money. In his time within the system, Tenneson has seen a hobby shop at Arkansas Valley (where he was before Territorial and would later return to) closed down when the budget could no longer be supported; he has seen art and beautification projects lose momentum and stall; and he witnessed the closing of the band room after a Labor Day escape in 2018 tightened security and precautions around the facility. But during those days in the gymnasium—where tunes were recalled and imparted, where lineups were tested, where grace was a guitar and microphone—possibilities felt endless.

During one of these sessions in 2018, Tenneson had put Jojo Martinez, 40, on the spot. Known as a rapper outside of prison and having rediscovered faith and rap inside of it, Martinez took the opportunity to rap to the expectant crowd. Tenneson was impressed, same as he had been when he heard Woodley first sing or Dane Newton play keyboards, even if he had come from the opposite pole of rap and hip-hop music ("I got corrupted," Tenneson said of his switch in interest from jazz, which he studied as a kid, to rock and blues when he first heard Jimi Hendrix, and traded his savings in for a Stratocaster). Martinez, who goes by "Bizz," was brought into the fold to contribute his verbal talents. "I put my whole heart into it," Bizz said, whose experience with the others inspired him to continue to chase his musical passion. Bizz is set to be released to a halfway house in October and has used his time quarantining at Sterling Correctional Facility (he has since left Territorial) to work on music that is both spiritual and politically charged. Territorial blurs the line between faith-based messages and political ones, offering a reading, and for Bizz, a sign, that the two can be twined.

The George Floyd protests and subsequent reactions that have confounded governments have further incentivized Fury Young's mission. In addition to raising funds through GoFundMe (Die Jim Crow is a nonprofit that is incumbent upon private and public donations), Young has achieved momentum via the protests that have occurred around the world. In June, Die Jim Crow released BL Shirelle's Assata Troi (Shirelle is also the Deputy Director of Die Jim Crow). Shirelle, 33, spent 10 years behind bars beginning at age 18. This year marks the first time since being a minor that she is free from prison and parole obligations. Assata Troi has received rave reviews and has affirmed Shirelle as a pseudo-elder statesman (she is still young, after all) for those who have seen both sides of the system. Today, she and Young keep up correspondence with incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people with whom they have several upcoming projects.

Bizz is conscious that a different world than the one he left awaits him when he gets out. He is also aware that his switch to faith-based rap has its challenges. Still, he is confident that his message will transcend this bifurcated moment, where FOX and CNN "are the biggest cons in the world." Though television is limited at Sterling, Bizz gets flashes of news media—both conservative and liberal channels—and uses these bits of charged impartiality for material for his lyrics. He also followed the coronavirus news with bated breath, especially once realizing Sterling hadn't reacted to the crisis in a way that was timely and responsible. He described an environment in which there were few masks and virtually no equipment to help aid recovery, where 100 or so guys were packed into a small day room at one time. "The largest outbreak was in this facility," he said. "They tested everyone and I tested negative, then, a couple days later I lost my sense of smell." Once diagnosed with COVID-19, Bizz was thrown into "the hole" rather than a recovery unit where he suffered for weeks. As of May 2018, 593 state inmates had tested positive for the virus and two Sterling inmates had died. There is currently a class action lawsuit pending, backed by the ACLU, claiming that Colorado's governor and his Department of Corrections aren't doing enough to prevent coronavirus outbreaks throughout the Colorado prison system (two of the plaintiffs are housed at Sterling).

Amid the urgent need for masks and other PPE at prisons, Die Jim Crow has organized a GoFundMe for incarcerated individuals (many prisons have denied donations or have not responded to Die Jim Crow's queries), and as of August has raised over $21,000. This has amounted to over 23,000 masks. 

In preparing for an early 2021 release of Territorial, Fury Young will also be publishing into a different world than the one he became aware of in 2013. The frequent instances of fatalities and injuries at the hands of police have received more widespread and immediate attention since the likes of Trayvon Martin in 2014 and Freddie Gray in 2015, though the coronavirus has slowed attempts of reconciliation in the form of large-scale events, peace talks, and—in the case of the power and vitality of the arts—live music.

For the musicians who recorded Territorial, for whom playing the album to a live audience will forever be a pipe dream—memories of the session persist. Tenneson has since lost touch with Woodley, whose illnesses have caused numerous complications, and Dane Newton, whose vocals on the final track "America the Merciful" offer an apologetic love letter to the country that has given and taken so much. "America the merciful will forgive my sins again," he bellows, "I don’t want to die chasing the wind." Tenneson, in his own thematic companion piece, "Holy Rain," in which he implores to his savior in gravelly mysticism to "wash me clean lord / with your blessed holy rain" before his mournful humming is drowned out by careening saxophone, bass and electric guitar, is making an argument for the legacy of his bandmates, for their project: that whether or not their music is heard or whether it ever awards them acclaim or freedom, it will—finally, once and for all—wash them anew. "Music is one of the things I can give back," Tenneson said. "It's all I can give."

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Chorus practices outdoors this year at Countryside High School in Pinellas County, Florida.
Photo courtesy of Christy King

News
How COVID Changed The Look Of Music Education puppy-pads-and-slit-masks-how-covid-changed-look-music-education

Puppy Pads And Slit Masks: How COVID Changed The Look Of Music Education

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COVID-era problems put pressure on teachers to work creatively, while fearing for the future
Emilee Lindner
GRAMMYs
Sep 21, 2020 - 9:01 am

Those living in Kingsman, Arizona, shouldn’t be surprised if they hear 30 kids yelling simultaneously from Lee Williams High School. That’s just Shannon Bascombe’s marching band letting out their COVID-19 frustrations.

"The kids were like, ‘Hey, Ms. B, can we, like, scream into the void for 10 seconds at the beginning of practice?'" Bascombe recalled. "'Yeah, sure, I’ll give you guys 10 seconds to just yell it out.' … Then they’ll start learning drill."

The coronavirus pandemic has made returning to school this fall a touchy debate. With each district whipping up its own tentative plan, students are either attending school armed with masks, learning virtually from home or doing a half-and-half schedule. They’ve pushed start dates, altered schedules and introduced new technology. Several schools GRAMMY.com contacted for this story set a date in September or October to reassess and adjust, aiming for in-person instruction by 2021. Needless to say, a little scream therapy is warranted—not just for students, but for teachers, parents and administrators as well.

So how does music education fit into the new school plans? Unlike math or history, which can rely on individual study, collaborative ensembles like band, chorus and orchestra cannot. With social distancing measures in place, getting a band of 50 students placed six feet apart in one room is, well, impossible. Not to mention the whole aerosol concern with kids blowing on their horns. Online group rehearsal doesn’t work either, due to latency issues.

With those difficulties in mind, districts across the country have already cut arts programs. And those teachers who still have their jobs are feeling the pressure to keep them by proving their worth.

"[Parents are] OK with the core teachers being at home and being able to give assignments," says Jake Olimpi, marching band and orchestra director at Marple Newtown High School in Pennsylvania. "But what is the art teacher doing, what is the music teacher doing? They’re getting paid and where’s the result?"

That pressure, atop the duty to keep students safe, healthy and engaged has become the new challenge for teachers, who are also haunted by the pandemic’s long lasting effects on music education.

Masks On Instruments And Puppy Pads

The spread of aerosols, a.k.a. air and saliva, forced the Centers for Disease Control to recommend the six-feet social distancing rule months ago. But when it came to the performing arts, there was little scientific evidence on how singing and instrument playing contributed to aerosol spread. A study from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), published without peer review in July, gave music teachers some answers.

Conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder, the study found that instruments released fewer aerosols if they were masked at the bell. They found even fewer aerosols when the player wore a slitted mask. In order to return to in-person ensembles, authors of the study also suggested these points:

  • Musicians must stay six feet apart (nine feet for trombonists)
  • Bell covers should have a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) of 13 (although any covering is better than none)
  • Spit valves should empty into absorbent sheets like puppy pads
  • Rehearsal times should be limited to 30 minutes
  • Instructors should wait one HVAC air change between classes
  • HEPA filters should be in rehearsal spaces
  • Outdoor rehearsals are recommended over indoor ones

With the scientific guidance, teachers got to work crafting what fall 2020 would look like… and now that school’s back in session, music classes certainly don’t look like they did before. At Bascombe’s school in Arizona, they’re following the NFHS guidelines nearly to a T.

GRAMMYs

The students at Tarpon Springs Leadership Conservatory for the Arts stick to their cones and try out their new bell covers.
Credit: Anna Ottens

"When they come into the room, they have to wash their hands, drop their stuff off," Bascombe says. "We go through the symptom checker from the Mayo Clinic every day when they walk into the room… All of the doors are propped open so the kids have minimal touch. There's hand sanitizer everywhere. Mouthpiece cleaner everywhere."

Bascombe's woodwinds, brass, percussion and colorguard all get their own room. Every Friday, she spends an additional hour and a half disinfecting each room, including the bathroom her students use.

At the Southern Nevada Homeschool Performing Arts, program director Bonnie Buhler-Tanouye says brass players wear slitted masks, akin to "boys' underwear," and flute players wear shields. She says parents are willing to do even more in order to get their nearly shutdown Las Vegas music scene rolling again.

GRAMMYs

The students at Southern Nevada Homeschool Performing Arts wear face shields and slitted masks on the first day of band practice. 
Courtesy: Bonnie Buhler-Tanouye

"One of the parents I was talking to the other day, because I was reminding her of masks for her trumpet player, she said, ‘You know what, put me in a hazmat suit, if you have to. Whatever we have to do to get back to playing music together,'" Buhler-Tanouye recalled.

The NFHS study deemed outdoor rehearsal better for dispersing aerosols. Summer band camps served as positive test runs for the rest of the school year, with students respectively keeping their distance. Water and sunscreen breaks are frequent and essential. In Pinellas County Schools in Florida, humidity plagues practices, but kids are happy to endure sweating for a chance to play together, says Jeanne Reynolds, performing arts specialist for the district.

"If you teach in Florida and you're a band teacher, you become a meteorologist," Jeanne said. "'Cause it’s not just hurricanes; we’ve got pretty good thunderstorms, so you have to know when to get out of harm’s way. Which we all do."

What happens when the temperature drops? When playing outside is no longer an option, bands will be forced to limit the size of their ensembles, based on dimensions of their rooms and state guidelines. Some schools have already taken band class off the schedule completely, exchanging it for smaller groups, broken up alphabetically or by instrument.

Smaller ensembles introduce two problems, though. First, smaller groups equate to more classes, meaning teachers' course loads have increased. Music programs like the one at Bergenfield High School in New Jersey rely on a large staff, which allows them to assign one teacher each to virtual and in-person classes for all of their ensembles. Bergenfield’s band director, Brian Timmons, considers his program lucky; not all schools have the resources.

Second, teachers must find music for a ragtag chamber ensemble. For example, if groups were split numerically by students' names, a director might end up with a flute, three trombones, five bass clarinets and a french horn in a class, and music for a combo like that is rare. Thankfully, publishers like Alfred, Hal Leonard and RWS Music Company have flexible arrangements that can be split into a few basic parts, and have become more available during COVID.

GRAMMYs

The supply of cleaning materials Shannon Bascombe uses to disinfect the band rooms at Lee Williams High School. 
Courtesy: Shannon Bascombe

But will the music ever get performed? State guidelines vary, but indoor maximum capacity has been limited to as few as 25 people per room. Gathering an audience would be infeasible.

Perhaps concerts aren’t even necessary. According to Timmons, it’s time to shake up the dusty format anyway.

"Music education has been so performance-driven all the time," Timmons says. "And we never take time to explore the other things like the chamber playing or the composition or just ear training in and of itself or theory."

Students taking virtual band obviously don’t have to deal with these new precautions and guidelines, but they also don’t get to play together. As Timmons says, they’re working on individual assignments, like learning music production, which allows them to sew together an ensemble, piece by piece. Timmons' students will work on a shared online workspace to record music. It gives students the power to collaborate remotely, he says.

"They can listen to each other’s part and say, ‘OK, our articulation is not punching there. We’re going to have to rerecord this section,'" Timmons says. "I have three teenagers of my own. I watch them killing it on TikTok. If you can do that, there’s no reason why I can’t teach you how to do this."

And then there’s the fact that some schools are taking little to no precaution. Music teacher Nathan Smith says he was fired from Oakdale Academy in Michigan after expressing his concern over the safety of students and staff. The private Christian high school is not requiring masks this fall, per a letter sent home to parents.

"I had so many plans for this school year," Smith said. "I certainly wasn't ready to leave without seeing any of my kids again."

The Lost Generation And Long-Term Effects

It’s a struggle to keep current music students engaged, but it’s a completely new challenge to get more kids involved. Recruitment requires getting instruments into the hands of fourth graders and presenting the allure of a polished, performing ensemble—hurdles made higher by COVID.

Lackluster recruitment will have damaging effects on the future of music education, says Robert W. Smith, a composer, arranger and professor at Troy University, who has written hundreds of works for high school-level ensembles.

"We cannot have a lost generation of musicians, and we’re about to have it," Smith says.

If too few young musicians join band, orchestra and choir programs, the ensembles will see dwindling numbers in each subsequent year, all the way up to college groups.

"This is like aftershocks of an earthquake or second and third waves of a tsunami," Smith says.

Current music students also face the loss of competition and adjudication—third-party feedback that lends itself toward improvement. Many in-person music competitions have been canceled for the fall. On the upside, some organizations have offered virtual adjudication, where students and ensembles can send in their performances for assessment.

But the long-term effects aren’t all bad. Timmons insists that it’s only shifting focus for COVID-era students to prepare for a more viable music career—one that isn’t totally based on performance (though still valuable), but digital skills.

"If you’re going to be successful in music, you have to have a basic understanding of how digital audio works, even if you’re a classical-style player," Timmons says. "You gotta have an understanding. If we can teach them how to use a digital audio workstation, even if it’s some kind of cloud-based thing, recording themselves and then as a chamber ensemble recording their own product, we’re kind of unlocking skills."

All of this means that music educators are getting even more creative than before, out of necessity.

"Music teachers by nature are problems solvers. It’s what we do," Timmons says. "Listen, troubleshoot, feedback, adjustment, listen, troubleshoot, does that sound good? This is just another problem to solve. It’s just a little more problematic than fixing the intonation of a chord."

Marching Six Feet Apart: How High School Marching Bands Are Coping With The Pandemic

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Recording And Monetizing Music In The COVID-19 Era best-apps-tools-recording-and-monetizing-music-covid-19-era

The Best Apps & Tools For Recording And Monetizing Music In The COVID-19 Era

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Here's a rundown of some easy-to-use apps and tools for recording and monetizing your music in the COVID-19 era
GRAMMYs
Jun 9, 2020 - 3:04 pm

We are currently living in an unprecedented era around music creation and touring. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all business has been forced to become remote, making it difficult for artists to maintain their usual level of activity. Of course, though the music landscape looks totally different right now, artists are finding new and innovative ways to get their music heard, be it through livestreams, engaging with fans via social media or launching subscription models that offer exclusive content to fans. To that end, here's a rundown of some exciting new apps and tools for recording and monetizing your music in the COVID-19 era. 

Recording Tools

There are plenty of social media options for getting your work out there: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitch are just some of the possible platforms you can use to capture your recording. 

There's also a new all-in-one app called RMusic, which allows songwriters to collaboratively write music on the go. Not only does RMusic let you to record ideas directly onto a virtual project file, but you can punch in new lines, edit takes, invite other collaborators from your address book, type lyrics, undo takes and communicate with project members from within the app.

Live Broadcast & Streaming Channels

Facebook: According to a new Remote Musicians Handbook put together by the Berklee College of Music, Facebook is the best venue for livestreaming if your audience skews a little older. 

Instagram: Meanwhile, Instagram, which has a feature that allows other people to join your live stream as guests, is ideal for younger audiences. "Based on your social media engagement on each platform, you can make an informed decision about which platform will be best for your fans," the handbook writes. "Both of these are well-suited for unannounced livestreams as notifications will go out to engaged fans, as well as letting your fans know ahead of time when you will be streaming."

YouTube: Then there's YouTube, which offers a number of monetization options and scheduling tools, such as pre-stream and in-stream ads, donations and merch sales. YouTube will even notify your followers when you go live and will allow you to schedule a live stream ahead of time. And as the stream takes place, YouTube lets viewers ask questions and interact with the streamer. 

TikTok: If you're on the super music-friendly app TikTok, did you know that you can activate a live stream if you have more than 1,000 followers? Once watching your livestream, viewers can purchase stickers, and a portion of the money is donated to the streamer. According to the aforementioned handbook, on TikTok these purchases are made using "coins." Coins start at $0.99 for 65 coins and go up to $99.99 for 6,697 coins. In turn, users can buy stickers, called "Virtual Gifts," for anywhere from 1 to 100 coins.
     
Twitch: The video game streaming platform can be useful for engaging new fans. Because this app hosts as many as 4 million viewers at once (according to TwitchTracker) actively encourages discovering new streamers, artists can show up under Twitch's "Music & Performing Arts" section (with 2.3 million followers). Here, according to the handbook, "the music ranges from metal to violin covers to singer-songwriters, and is generally more diverse genre-wise than more mainstream platforms."

If you want to monetize your work on Twitch, know that streamers get paid when new subscribers follow them and viewers donate to the streamer. Some streamers use new followers and donations as mechanisms to unlock new content or segments. Some will take requests at certain follower count or donation levels, others run merch giveaways, or give followers access to exclusive content.

OBS Software: OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Stream to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers.

Nugs.net: Get live music on demand. Nugs.net offers a collection of more than 15,000 full-length concert recordings from the likes of Pearl Jam, Widespread Panic, Umphrey’s McGee, Dead & Company and more. Try it free with a 30-day trial.

Houseparty: This social networking service enables group video chatting through mobile and desktop apps. Users receive a notification when friends are online and available to group video chat. 

StageIt: Founded in 2009, Stageit is a web-based performance venue that hosts paid livestreamed performances. Artists choose when they want to perform, for how long, and how much they want to charge. 

Crowdcast: This video platform hosts live video Q&As, interviews, summits, webinars and more.

Streamlabs: This streaming platform can stream audio to Twitch, YouTube and Facebook. 

BandsInTown: Use BandsInTown to promote your live stream shows. You can even engage new fans and monetize shows through BandsInTown's Twitch partnership.

Fan & Membership Platforms

Patreon: Patreon gives fans access to exclusive artist content for a monthly fee, might be the first option that comes to mind when it comes to fan and membership platforms. But Patreon is only the beginning. Gumroad lets creators offer digital and physical products for sale, while its dashboard provides insight into how your sales are doing and how fans are consuming your content.

Squarespace: Offers subscription products in their store, integrating directly with your website and can be sold alongside your other merch products. 

Shopify: For $40/month, Shopify offers apps that allow you to offer subscriptions from your Shopify ecommerce store, which is helpful if you are offering physical goods as part of your subscription. 

Bandzoogle: Sell music, merch, downloads  and tickets, commission-free. Once you add a store, you can start selling music, downloads, tickets and band merch. Monthly fees start at $8.29.

Ghost: With Ghost, which is free to join, you can publish content online, grow an audience with email newsletters and make money from premium memberships.

Memberful: Memberful helps independent publishers, educators, and creators sell memberships to their audience and build sustainable businesses. You can integrate with Wordpress, send email newsletters, create private podcasts and more. Pricing is free to start and goes up to $25 or $100 per month.

Digital Production Marketplaces, including licensing and sell music, samples, and custom sounds:

Splice: Splice Studio gives you access to millions of royalty-free samples, MIDI and presets on mobile, web and desktop for $7.99/mo. 

ScoreAScore: This music production, licensing and supervision company puts producers in need of original music directly in contact with the composers who create it.

Beatstars: Beatstars is an online marketplace to buy and sell beats.

Putting The Plan Into Action

Now that you have the tools, all you need is to put a plan into action. The Remote Musicians Handbook suggests that you first analyze your audience to get a sense of their social media profiles. Then, you may want to run an unnanounced test live stream, just to get a sense of who's showing up. Then, schedule a series of announced live streams on the platform(s) of your choice. Once livestreams are part of your routine, consider partnering with artist friends on YouTube where you can cross-promote each other's work. From there, consider monetizing your work on Patreon with exclusive content. All the while, to engage new fans, hop on music-discovery tools TikTok and Twitch.

Now that you have the resources to build a fully functional music online platform from the safety and comfort of your home, the rest is up to you. Good luck!   

How Musicians Are Staying Positive & Productive Amidst A Pandemic

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Independent Publicists Persist Through The Coronavirus Impact On The Music Industry

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A part of the greater fabric that helps the music industry run, indie publicists are re-strategizing their approach while facing financial hardships during this unprecedented COVID-19 "new normal"
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Mar 27, 2020 - 3:43 pm

On the morning of March 16, Loren Medina sent an email very different from the kind she's used to sending. The Los Angeles-based publicist behind Jessie Reyez and Kali Uchis wasn’t running business as usual. She wasn’t sending a new single or album press release announcement. Instead, she found herself sending out a plea to the music industry.

"Dear colleagues and media partners, it is our duty to find creative solutions to keep our industry afloat," she began."With lockdowns enforced and more travel restrictions soon to come, we must not let the current situation paralyze us and/or allow the virus to take up all the space in the media."

By now, there is no doubt the music industry will come out of the coronavirus pandemic as one of the hardest-hit fields worldwide. Live music is gone: Tours and concerts, which serve as both a space for music discovery and the primary source of income for artists, have been universally canceled or postponed. Already, the loss of live music events alone could potentially be in the billions in the U.S.

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Loren Medina

Other areas have not gone unscathed. Although Medina says her clients are not pausing their record releases, other artists, including Lady Gaga, Haim and Kehlani, have postponed or rescheduled major projects, citing the coronavirus as the reason. Elsewhere, Amazon is prioritizing deliveries of essential goods and has stopped CD and vinyl orders for the time being, a move that could ultimately hurt smaller labels the most. Across the pond, musicians in the U.K. have so far lost 13.9 million pounds (+$17 million) in estimated earnings, according to the Guardian.

Medina’s home has become a type of ground zero. She now works remotely, just like the possibly millions of other people across the U.S. under the government's direction to stay home in an attempt to flatten the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic curve in the county, which now faces upwards of 86,000 cases. At her newfound home base, she assesses how to move forward day-by-day as the music industry faces such an unprecedented time.

A part of the greater fabric that helps the music industry run, Medina, who owns Guerrera PR, Marketing & Management and also represents acts like Omar Apollo and Cuco, among other artists, has been forced to re-strategize. Other publicists, tour managers, festival organizers and countless more in the music industry ecosystem are on the same boat. The new reality consists of social distancing and quarantining, a scenario that creates a challenge for parts of the modern music industry to function. Beyond it all, the virus is stripping music of its magic; no longer can people from all over the world come together in one place to enjoy it.

Independent publicists and smaller PR agencies now face their own unique challenges. Many run on project-based work focused on touring and album campaigns. With artists now canceling tours and rethinking album releases, the music publicity sector now faces a potential, and significant, loss in income—if not now, then in the future. On top of that, there is no option of severance for many publicists if they lose their jobs or clients.

While Medina isn’t experiencing a loss of work now, because she works on project-based campaigns, future clients might be at stake as some artists are holding off on releasing new music until the current situation is alleviated.

RELATED: How The Global Coronavirus Pandemic Is Directly Impacting Songwriters, Musicians And Artists

For Detroit-based publicist Nathan Walker, tour-related press comprises 50 percent of his work. Nearly every tour date he was working through his boutique PR company Riot Act Media, whose roster includes Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Young Jesus and STRFKR, was canceled last week or was on "the wait" to see what happens. 

Part of his new normal, which also means working from home with his wife and a four-year-old, has been trying to uncrack the new pitching protocol. There is an ongoing conversation among publicists about how to pitch music media during a never-before-lived pandemic that only seems to worsen by the day and continues to dominate headlines. How should they be pitching about music now?

"I'm just trying to be really calculated with my pitches so that I'm not just blanketing people with lots and lots of music," Walker says.

And he isn’t only practicing caution with media, but empathy as well.

"When I pitch an album during this time, I’m including a note sincerely hoping, because these are people I’ve worked with for years. I'm sincerely hoping they're in a good place right now," he says. "I'm just trying to keep the train on the tracks and send them a record that I think they'd love, and if they want me to stop pitching them, that's OK. I will understand."

Walker, who is staying hopeful about the situation and doing what he can for his artists, is not alone. Sarah Avrin of Girlie Action Media, Marketing & Management, home to Bikini Kill, Imogen Heap, Palehound and more, is pitching with thoughtfulness, too.

"I’m really focused on carefully and thoughtfully reaching out to journalists to make sure that they’re in the headspace to be accepting pitches and discussing new art at the moment," she says.

A Desire For Escapism

Artists continue to put out work, whether or not pitches about it are accepted, and publicists will continue to push for their clients. "It may be a little less busy right now," Avrin says. "But I think it’s going to pick up as artists have time on their hands to create and want to get engage, whether it’s livestream performances or just putting out new singles and sharing."

Although initially she felt panic, Medina's email to media partners was one of her first steps toward regrouping her approach to engaging with the media. "I was just like, OK, technology can definitely make us rethink the way we do things and can provide us the opportunities to keep going and not completely stay stagnant,” she says. "We still want to consume content, we want to be distracted, and there's a need for artists to continue to push out content.”

Phoebe Smolin, who owns Locamotive PR and has worked with Caloncho, Mon Laferte, Carla Morrison and more, says culture is needed now more than ever. 

"We can't lose sight of how important [culture] is, and in a time where we’re all connecting in a way that we haven't before, I just think it's necessary," she says.

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The @Chicago_Reader has lost 90% of its advertising revenue and we're now relying on individuals and foundations more than ever to keep us afloat. Please consider giving or becoming a member at this critical time! Every $1 helps us survive another week 🥰https://t.co/zDD3YaYZyc

— Maya Dukmasova (@mdoukmas) March 24, 2020

Smolin spent two days just replying to cancelations and has seen a loss in work in Europe, the U.S. and Latin America. She has also brainstormed with artists and media on how to move forward. 

But Walker says sending pitches to some publications can be tough right now as they face their own troubles. Amid a constantly changing landscape dominated by digital giants like Facebook and Google, the virus has caused even more economic strain on traditional print magazines and newspapers as well as digital publications relying on ads.

Playboy announced its magazine will fold, stating: "the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic to content production and the supply chain became clearer and clearer, we were forced to accelerate a conversation we've been having internally: the question of how to transform our U.S. print product to better suit what consumers want today."

Alt-weeklies, which largely specialize in covering regional music and arts scenes and local live events, across the nation have announced layoffs and staff salary cuts. The cancelation of this year's SXSW greatly impacted the Austin Chronicle. Seattle's The Stranger and the Portland Mercury both announced layoffs, with the Mercury also announcing it would temporarily stop its print edition. Ad sales are cutting back and have affected newspapers like the Chicago Reader.

RELATED: Resources For Music Creators & Professionals Affected By COVID-19: West Region

“The other biggest challenge is promoting something like music to the press, who are currently worried about losing their jobs and also worried about a global pandemic," Walker says. "It's hard to be a publicist in these times because … It just seems frivolous to try and cheerlead music to people that have been crying, worried and stressed all day."

Change Needs To Happen

Just as the coronavirus has shed light on the weaknesses of governments around the world, this pandemic is highlighting how unfeasible the music industry has become for artists in the age of digital streaming. Music artists still heavily depend on touring and live events as a major income stream. While streaming comprises a majority of the industry's revenue, low royalty rates are not enough to make a living for some—the average musician makes between $20,000 and $25,000, according to a 2018 survey. Ultimately, the coronavirus will change the world and it will change the music industry along with it. How and if it will benefit artists remain the million-dollar questions.

For now, some artists have pivoted to livestream concerts. Erykah Badu, who had concert postponements due to COVID-19 precautions, is doing a series of streaming performances for which she is asking fans to pay $1, essentially sidestepping the middleman. Other artists have used "digital tip jars" to which fans can donate, while some have asked for nothing at all.

The rise of livestreams has become one of the industry's reactions to the pandemic, giving publicists material to help spread the word on what their artists are doing now. But livestreamed sets will never replace a live set, according to Medina, who's also an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s Thorton School of Music.

https://twitter.com/baduworldmarket/status/1240134275971899400

Apocalypse One. Live interactive experiment from @fatbellybella. This weekend. YOU choose the songs. $1 to get in. Stay tuned for details. pic.twitter.com/qdqNzNQr8q

— baduworldmarket (@baduworldmarket) March 18, 2020

Walker agrees: "Cybersex isn't sex. It's a temporary adjustment. Whether it's something that we can make financially viable during this time, depending on how long this time extends to, I'm not certain," he adds. "It has to come from the fan's heartfelt desire to support the artist."

Everyone in the industry is bracing, day by day, for what the repercussions for the loss of revenue and income will be. The situation has brought Walker to think about what it could mean for publicists specifically. "If I'm being honest, it's made me afraid that my work will no longer be viable," he says.

The uncertainty in the industry is at an all-time high and people are scared, but the situation has brought publicists to find solace in each other. "We're in a music community, so we're trying to be there for other people, even though we're indie publicists at other companies; we’re a friendly company and there are other friendly indies out there, so we're all putting our heads together," Avrin says.

Smolin says she's become a "pseudo- psychologist" for her artists who fear what the pandemic's outcome could mean for them. Ultimately, the situation has caused relationships with her clients to strengthen. 

Medina feels her extensive experience as an indie publicist has made it easier to survive such times of uncertainty. "Last week, I was very worried. I actually felt a little bit depressed," she says. "This week, I'm like, it's fine. I'm going to figure out what else I can do. If I have to put a pause on PR, I'll figure out what else I can do. It's nothing that I've never had to do before."

Avrin is taking things one day at a time. She believes this experience will force everyone in the industry, from artists to media, to get creative while also potentially opening unique opportunities for independent artists. All in all, "It’s hard to say there is a silver lining," she says. "People are in pain and people are dying."

Recording Academy And MusiCares Establish COVID-19 Relief Fund

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Election 2020: Artists Speak Out On The Importance Of Copyright, Musicians' Rights And Relief Efforts This Voting Season

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GRAMMY.com spoke to a number of artists and musicians about some of the most pressing issues impacting the music community this election cycle
Crystal A. Frost
GRAMMYs
Nov 2, 2020 - 9:53 pm

This week, Americans will decide on the next president of the United States, and musicians across the country are among the hundreds of millions of lives that will be impacted by the outcome. In a recent article, which cited industry executives on both sides of the aisle, Billboard broke down what's at stake for musicians in this upcoming election cycle, underscoring copyright as the most important policy issue in the music business right now. Since the copyright industries collectively contribute more than $1 trillion dollars annually to the Gross Domestic Product, many members of the music community might therefore assume this to be the big-ticket issue that could help them decide between candidates. Unfortunately, though, it's not that simple. 

"While there is no shortage of issues that differentiate Trump and Biden, music is generally not one of them," Daryl Friedman, the Recording Academy's Chief Advocacy Officer, told Billboard. The fact is, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump share very similar views on copyright and have pro-music policies on their records, making it very difficult for undecided voters in the music community to choose a candidate based on copyright policy alone. 

Ahead of the 2020 Election, GRAMMY.com spoke to a number of artists and musicians about some of the most pressing issues impacting the music community this voting season.

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🗓 Early voting?
📬 Mail-in ballots?
📍Polling locations?

📲 Register, get your ballot, and learn more about #MusicVotes: https://t.co/NyyQsII7qD #VoteReady pic.twitter.com/amp0dhxCD5

— GRAMMY Advocacy (@GRAMMYAdvocacy) September 22, 2020

Pandemic Music Rights

Many musicians and industry professionals show tremendous concern over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has directly impacted the music industry in drastic ways. In fact, when Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris took to Instagram Live with artists Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish and Selena Gomez in October, the pandemic was central to their conversations. The inability to tour has proven particularly devastating for the careers of indie musicians, and the same goes for indie music venues, which are struggling to survive

Read: Sacred Spaces: Rufus Wainwright, YUNGBLUD, Keb' Mo' And Others Reflect On The Independent Venues And Clubs That Changed Their Lives

"The lack of a national strategy has not just meant live music venues across the country being shut down, but many having to shut their doors permanently," one Los Angeles music venue manager tells GRAMMY.com. "Many big venues will be fine, but what does that mean for small businesses?"

Tour Stop(ped): Honest Talk With Touring Artists

The Recording Academy has worked closely with lawmakers and policy makers, including in the Trump Administration, on relief efforts to support the music ecosystem, and it continues to advocate for a substantial relief package—inclusive of funding for musicians, venues, studios and other music small businesses affected by the pandemic.

According to Ruth Vitale, CEO of CreativeFuture, piracy has also worsened since the pandemic, as Americans find it increasingly more difficult to pay for streaming services. "In a time when few can work, piracy cuts into the already reduced legitimate revenue streams from our creations, exacerbating our economic challenges," she explains in a letter to Joe Biden last month.

Indie pop duo Flora Cash expresses similar concerns for the music industry amid the pandemic. "The music industry as a whole is in a really tough spot right now due to the situation around COVID-19, and some real help is going to be needed, especially for live music venues that have not been able to open for almost the entirety of 2020," they told GRAMMY.com in a joint statement. 

Music Rights

When asked what issues matter most to her this voting season, GRAMMY-nominated songwriter and R&B artist Victoria Monét addressed musicians' rights. "There are [policies in place] that don't reflect the way today's music is consumed or accurately accommodate creatives in general," she tells GRAMMY.com. "Among many other political issues, fair and equal pay for songwriters is very important to me." 

Monét's point is supported by many musicians who argue that the payout to artists, songwriters and producers from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music is too low, especially given the significant role the copyright industry plays in our economy. 

"The core copyright industries are an important economic driver for our country, employing 5.7 million Americans and contributing more than $1.3 trillion to the Gross Domestic Product," CreativeFuture's Vitale shares in her October letter to Biden. "[This is] more than aerospace, agriculture, or pharmaceuticals."

Read: How ONE Musicfest Is Engaging Voters In 2020: "The Underlying Message Is To Get Folks To The Polls"

Musicians' rights are a hallmark of the Recording Academy's advocacy efforts. Just recently, Academy Trustee Yolanda Adams testified in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and earlier in 2020, the Academy's Chair and Interim President/CEO Harvey Mason jr. spoke to the same committee about the importance of establishing a terrestrial radio performance right for artists. The Academy will continue to advocate for fair pay for artists and creators in a more inclusive and modern copyright system.

Fortunately, both candidates have expressed similarly strong views on the issue of copyright. In 2018, President Trump signed into law the Music Modernization Act (MMA)—the most significant update to music licensing in a generation, with significant support from the Recording Academy and its members. President Trump also recently signed the USMCA, which included a number of substantial pro-copyright modifications.  

And as Billboard recently reported, Vice President Biden has a long and verifiable track record in supporting pro-copyright policies, citing his eight years as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Look, piracy is outright theft," Biden said in 2011. "People are out there blatantly stealing from Americans - stealing their ideas and robbing us of America's creative energies. There's no reason why we should treat intellectual property any different than tangible property." (The Recording Academy honored Biden at the 2011 GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards in Washington, D.C.)

Delving further into the candidate's track records reveals that Joe Biden was behind the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, which was responsible for millions of dollars going back into the pockets of musicians and arts organizations that were impacted by the economic crash of 2009. "ARRA supplemented my income so that I could continue Chorus America," GRAMMY-winning choral conductor Peter Rutenberg tells GRAMMY.com. 

Despite widespread criticism of the Trump Administration's handling of the pandemic, they haven't left musicians completely empty-handed either. At the urging of the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 , which was signed by President Trump, took steps to help musicians combat the economic challenges spurred by the pandemic by temporarily allowing gig workers to apply for unemployment assistance.

Funding The Arts

As for the classical community, one of the primary concerns for voters is the funding of the arts. "I am deeply concerned for the arts in America," Stephen Williamson, principal clarinetist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, tells GRAMMY.com. "We are usually the first genre to be cut from schools and/or underfunded by the government."  "I sincerely hope that our country sees the need for the arts in the enrichment of the human spirit ... something that all people are truly craving in light of this pandemic." 

The Recording Academy annually submits testimony to the House of Representatives and Senate in support of additional funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). As part of Congress' response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Academy successfully advocated for the establishment of a $75 million supplemental fund for the NEA to help struggling creators as part of the CARES Act.

Your Voice Matters

From Black Lives Matter to the environment, the list of issues that matter to the music community is vast. Ultimately, Americans must decide for themselves what issues matter most and why. No matter who you support, musicians and music-lovers alike are encouraged to get to the polls on Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 3) if you haven't yet cast your ballot via the #MusicVotes campaign. You can visit the Recording Academy's election page for voting resources and additional information to make your vote matter.

"It's important for everyone, not just musicians, to get out and vote," GRAMMY-nominated film composer Bruce Broughton tells GRAMMY.com. Broughton, who is known for such film scores as Tombstone, Young Sherlock Holmes and Moonwalker, believes there is more at stake in this election than ever before. "This year, the choice is big, and the repercussions of that choice will be bigger. I don't see anyone not being [affected] by whichever side wins this year."

Are You Ready To Vote? Design Your Voting Plan With #MusicVotes Campaign

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.