fair music @ Womex 10

Fair Music @ Womex10

27.10.10 - 30.10.10

Fair music initiative attracts attention at music industry conventions

So far, the work of our Fair Music Project focused mainly on the essentials: analysis of existing artists-label deals, research in the scene and the development of standards V1.0 (which will soon be published here). This fall, it was finally time to go out into the jungle: Our mission was to present the idea of an own brand, which signals the ethical quality of a musical product. We started collecting feedback from label managers, whether our first version of contractual standards had the chance to be accepted by labels. There was a certain tension in the air - what would their reactions be like?
We decided that trade conventions would be a suitable environment to start these field studies. The Popkomm at the end of September and the WOMEX late October proved to be ideal for this task. Rainer Praschak and Alexander Hirschenhauser as ambassadors of the Fair Music Initiative traveled to Berlin and Copenhagen and met with about 100 label managers from Europe and other countries. Especially WOMEX in Copenhagen, with its vibrant, yet extremely friendly atmosphere, proved to be a biotope, where the Fair Music idea seemed to be very welcome.
While walking through the alleys of the label booths and explaining the Fair Music Project, we had a more joyful experience than expected: The response was extremely positive, most labels confirmed that their doors are wide open for our initiative. Whether these label producers really work with a significantly high ethical approach to contractual standards or whether they feel that their audience will appreciate them more than average, if their music is produced in an ethical framework - we were really very pleased with the positive reactions.
This now brings us to our next step: We are in the middle of collecting detailed evaluations of our Fair Music standards V1.0 - This standardized process will enable us to modify the standards necessary to meet the musts and needs of the market. This feedback loop will be run twice, since we need to ensure that the Fair Music standards can be equally accepted by a significant number of artists and producers before they go public. This project is becoming more and more exciting: Let's make this happen!