Posted on July 27, 2010 at 12:26 pm by Ramon Ricker
in General |

Some of you may be following the plight of the Richardson (Texas) Symphony Orchestra and its musicians.  They’re embroiled in a bitter dispute that has led to the RSO being placed on the International Unfair List of the American Federation of Musicians. What this means is that as long as the orchestra is on the unfair list, AFM musicians cannot play with the orchestra, and if they do they are subject to expulsion from the union and fines up to $50,000. The action by the musicians union caused the RSO to file a counter charge with the National Labor Relations Board. It’s a showdown, and when these things happen both sides lose.  The musician’s side of the story can be found here.  I couldn’t find a document outlining the RSO’s side of the story. (more…)

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Posted on June 9, 2010 at 1:50 pm by Ramon Ricker
in General |

Yesterday I received another email from AFM President Lee.  Unlike the video the previous day, which had a “please join the union message,” this one was all business.  It tells of the legislation before Congress right now that would benefit musician’s works that are played on terrestrial radio.  Here’s part of the email.

One of most important fights has been in the area of performance rights. As you may already know, the AFM has been working tirelessly to get a performance right for US musicians so that they can receive the compensation that they deserve.  So with that mind, I’d like to share with you the second installment of the AFM’s video series, which you can view by clicking on this link: The Performance Rights Act: Fair Pay for Radio Air Play . (more…)

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Posted on June 8, 2010 at 5:00 pm by Ramon Ricker
in General |

Today I received an email from Thomas F. Lee the President of the American Federation of Musicians.  I suppose that it went to all AFM members for whom they have email addresses.  It begins:

Dear Member RICKER:

I am pleased to announce that the Federation is developing a series of videos to educate musicians and the public on the AFM’s efforts in the legislative arena. These videos will address pressing matters such as piracy, instruments as carry-on luggage, performance rights, and more.

We have completed the first video, which is an introductory video about the AFM and the strength it obtains from its diverse membership. You can watch this video view by clicking here.

So I clicked there and checked out the video.  I hate to be critical, but if part of the purpose of doing something like this is to create interest in joining the union, they are missing the mark.  What demographic has the greatest number of potential new union members? It’s young people, but they will not give this a second look, or worse, they will probably click out of it after a few seconds.

I applaud the union for being pro-active to get their message out, but the image that comes across is old, dated and homemade.  In my mind it has more negatives than positives.  Mr. Lee says that there will be more installments.  If some future videos are still in production, I would suggest, for starters, that they include music.  I’d also suggest that they talk to a few young people on how to reach that segment of the musical population.  They ain’t gonna do it this way.

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Posted on March 19, 2010 at 11:03 am by Ramon Ricker
in General |

Here’s a wonderful, positive story about Roger Frisch, the Minnesota Orchestra Associate Concertmaster, who underwent brain surgery at the Mayo Clinic to correct tremors.  His story was featured  on national news with Diane Sawyer.  Find it here.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/fiddling-brain-10142847
(more…)

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Posted on March 5, 2010 at 11:35 am by Ramon Ricker
in General |

The article that follows my comments is from The Minnesota Daily, the newspaper of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis/St. Paul.  It’s the first in a series profiling drug use on the UMinn. campus, and they start with music students.

Since the readers of Polyphonic.org are familiar with the orchestra world, it will be no surprise to you to be reminded that some musicians use beta blockers to calm their nerves in performance. It is well known that there is stress related directly to performance and playing an instrument.  (more…)

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Posted on February 17, 2010 at 5:29 pm by Ramon Ricker
in Taxes |

It’s that time of year and as a service to you, our loyal readers, our resident musician/MBA/tax expert, Bill Hunt will answer your tax questions right here until April 15th.  So–don’t be bashful.  Ask away.

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Posted on February 15, 2010 at 5:33 am by Ramon Ricker
in General |

I visited the website, Extra Criticum. As it states on the homepage, “performing arts pros trade opinions, ideas, questions and obsessions.” The bloggers published here cover a wide range disciplines in the Arts, so it’s not just a music site. And I was interested in a posting by Rolando Teco, since he writes about “success.” I’m going to include Mr. Teco’s post later in this blog, but first here are some of my thoughts on the subject. (more…)

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Posted on February 13, 2010 at 5:10 pm by Ramon Ricker
in General, Videos |

Something fun for the weekend.

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Posted on February 10, 2010 at 6:40 am by Ramon Ricker
in General |

Because I teach the course, “Entrepreneurship in Music” at the Eastman School, I am frequently asked for advice from students who are contemplating setting up a business entity for their chamber group.  They often begin the discussion by saying that their plans are to set up a 501(c)3 (not-for-profit).  They usually say something like, “That way we can get funding, and we won’t have to pay taxes.”  That could be true, if they qualify.  But, for most groups the not-for-profit is probably not the best way to go.  Here’s my quick primer, and comments from another blogger. (more…)

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Posted on February 7, 2010 at 7:53 am by Ramon Ricker
in General |

Here’s a Ciara Pressler blog from fracturedatlas.org.  Makes sense to me.  And so timely. . . (more…)

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