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Music is liberating. We will always make music; it’s what separates us from the monkeys. We create

 

music to share a part of ourselves that is completely unique. We participate in it emotionally, whether

 

we are creating it, performing it, or hearing it. There are untapped reserves of talent in the underground

 

scene where unsigned artists have complete creative license to do anything and everything. That’s

 

where the medium and the message is most vibrant. How then can we justify the continuing dominance

 

of major record labels to determine what music gets heard?

 

As it stands, music and the music industry is stagnant, churning out “pop” music that by definition

 

lacks any substantial cultural context or social message and where similarity to the last big thing is a

 

prerequisite to being the next big thing. It is the business of marketing to the lowest common

 

denominator and selling as many records as possible before moving on to the next banality.

 

This leaves the masses of independent artists struggling to climb an increasingly narrow ladder of

 

traditionally defined success – where everyone’s individual dream of “making it” is in competition with

 

everyone else’s. It is music as a commodity and selling it as success. In this climate, there is no scene,

 

no community, and no way for a grassroots artist to be heard as a distinct voice.

 

What we are suggesting is an inversion of that pyramid. Instead of the masses of independent artists

 

climbing over each other’s bones to be the one band on top, we are offering cooperation over

 

competition. Consider the individual artist as the point at the bottom of an inverted pyramid, and at

 

each stage progressing upwards the pyramid broadens out as the individual comes in contact with a

 

wider network of like-minded musicians: a local, regional, and eventually national scene.

 

The key is to take the profit motive out of the equation by donating the proceeds generated from live

 

music events to charity. Our experience organizing live events under the aegis of

 

AlternativeFuelSource.net has shown us that a community naturally coalesces around a music scene

 

once the ego and the money are removed. That is why the non-profit model is so revolutionary. It

 

appeals to it’s own built in core demographic of socially conscious individuals who are agitating for

 

greater participation in their community. It provides a forum for emerging artists to reach out with their

 

music. It allows us as organizers of live events to cross-promote among different interest groups:

 

musicians, activists, and fans, etc.

 

By shifting the focus from the promoting individual artists to the live charity event sponsoring the

 

artists, we are redefining success as a cooperative rather than competitive goal. We are inverting the

 

pyramid and providing the avenue for the individual to access a higher network and be heard by more

 

people while simultaneously contributing to the success of the non-profit model.

 

In our work with the Common Ground Collective, we used the 501(c)3 status of their fiscal sponsor,

 

Community Futures Collective, to purchase supplies destined for Hurricane Katrina relief directly from

 

our supplier, A. W. Meyer, Co., at the retailer’s cost. This saved us more than one hundred dollars and

 

increased the effectiveness of each individual’s donation by more than 20%. As such, we have decided

 

that the best way to replicate the success of our Solidarity w/New Orleans project is to incorporate into

 

our own 501(c)3 entity. This will allow us to negotiate with suppliers under our own tax-exempt status,

 

accept larger donations, issue grant proposals, and resolve any unexpected liability issues. Foremost, it

 

allows us to operate as an umbrella group for anyone who wishes to replicate our non-profit model to

 

create their own live events, increasing our success and the success of the greater community.

 

The music industry is a colossus - a bureaucratic, centralized arbiter deciding which sounds get

 

integrated into our culture, and which sounds don’t. When money and the profit motive determine our

 

cultural priorities, is it any wonder that the diversity of our culture suffers? The social standard in

 

which music is distributed is changing. It is becoming increasingly socially acceptable to pirate music,

 

allowing fans access to more and more diverse music, simply by stealing it. While record companies

 

are struggling to adjust to this new reality, the non-profit paradigm has already addressed it.

 

A record company derives revenues from album sales which it uses to promote a relatively few

 

nationally touring acts, and as technology undermines the monopoly of record companies on the

 

recording and distribution of music it undercuts their revenues. We see this trend as progressing

 

indefinitely. However, our non-profit model derives revenues from a source that cannot be infringed

 

upon, the live event. At the grassroots level, stealing the music is more like free advertising. If you are

 

Virgin Records and 1,000,000 people steal your music, you are out of business. If you are an

 

independent artist and 1,000,000 steal your music, congratulations, you’re famous.

 

As modern home studio technology empowers artists to create and distribute their own music, we can

 

begin to exploit the space made by the increasing obsolescence of record companies. What is essential

 

in this newly leveled playing field is a network to overcome the initial distrust and disinterest that

 

separates individuals, both as musicians or fans of music. The non-profit model allows a grassroots

 

music scene to germinate by connecting like-minded people through a common interest in charitable

 

endeavors.

 

This new paradigm relies upon the generosity of individuals and their willingness to accomplish

 

together what they cannot accomplish alone. It seeks to establish a counter-culture peer group that takes

 

the place of the ubiquitous consumer. It returns music to its role as art for art’s sake. It is a powerfully

 

redeeming statement of human goodwill, and a forceful rejection of the winner-take-all for-profit

 

model where, in the end, everyone loses.