​What a year! This is the third November we’ve reached with Musician Coop… It’s been so nice to see all the new readers engaging on social media with the blog. Welcome if you’re new to the posts! Thanks for stopping by! As usual, this last post of the season will reflect on posts gone by, announce the schedule for next year, and discuss what you can expect in the next season.

This year introduced the new “Contacting Congress Update!” series which I’ve been doing every other post - sometimes more than that, to get people engaged in the current political climate in a way that is manageable. My goal has been to make it as easy as possible for people to contact their representatives, and I’m so happy to see a bunch of you calling along with me. Thank you for participating in this effort! The shifts we’re seeing in our representation are the result of constant pressure - phone calls are a part of that. 

In addition to posts about phone calls, we explored topics ranging from the connection of music to politics, to exploring the copyright abuses perpetuated by large corporations and YouTube’s Content ID system. Things have definitely taken a more political slant overall, but I think the times have called for it. As stated in the first post on this blog - the goal here is to create a community of musicians that stand up for each other and work to build a system that nurtures the arts. I aim to continue working towards that goal.

I do think we’re ending the season on a high note with the results of the most recent election giving me hope again. People are waking up to the fact that we have criminals running the country at the moment. However, there is still a lot of work to do before we start solving this issue. Our leadership still needs ample replacing as it’s clear many of them are still spineless cowards… But I do believe it’s only a matter of time before hope prevails over cynicism. Love is inevitable. Art is inevitable. Let’s get real leaders in office. We’ll be rebuilding before we know it!
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It turns out there’s another qualification for being “good” other than playing your instrument well! Who would have thought! Of course, this is all my personal opinion, and there’s no way to objectively apply qualitative descriptions, especially in art. However, I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently: To consider yourself a musician, I believe you need to do more than just make music - you need to fight for it.

Now, this “fight” can look different from person to person. Not everyone is able to go out and attend every protest. I understand that. This is a mindset. It’s about caring for those around you, seeing music as a community rather than a competition, and working to build a world art can thrive in. It’s about speaking up when you see that world being threatened.

This post is for those few folks who are on the fence about attending the protests tomorrow. If you’re able, I encourage you to go! Read on for an explanation as to why.
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We owe the ability to make art to our environment - to politics. Anyone who thinks they are a musician as a result of their personal effort alone is kidding themselves. We have little say in whether or not we get to do this for a living, regardless of how “talented” we may be. It may be hard to hear, but I’m not going to sugar coat the situation. The largest factors of “success” in the arts is familial wealth and where you were born - both things that you have very little say in! Is this bad? I certainly think so, but it’s reality. We do not live in a meritocracy despite what many people insist. We owe our freedom to pursue the arts to our environment and circumstances almost entirely. Therefore this freedom, in my opinion, comes with a responsibility - a responsibility to fix this mess of a system.

As I've stated before on this blog, all artists have a vested interest in ensuring political progress. Why? The more freedoms and protections in place for the population, the more diverse and open a society is, then the more people can access art - both as consumers and creators. When people aren’t focused on surviving, they will inevitably participate in the arts community. This benefits everyone involved in that community.
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We are currently witnessing as our government actively turns this country into one which is hostile to the arts - to everyday people - as a whole. It is our responsibility to resist this transformation. Calling representatives and attending protests are good ways of doing that, but also simply checking in with your friends/colleagues and supporting them whenever you can makes a big difference. Hold your community close and support them. Find ways to organize and protect each other. Those acts of solidarity can be just as effective as any other.

The ongoing protests are in response to the Trump administration's deployment of the National Guard and ICE to cities across the U.S. In a shocking disregard of constitutional rights, community members are being violently kidnapped by plainclothes agents, detained, and thrown in concentration camps. Many interactions between these illegal agents and the public have been violent. Those people bravely, and peacefully protesting these unconstitutional detentions are being beaten, teargassed, shot at, and even killed.

To some of you, this may seem outrageously inaccurate. This is because the government is actively lying about the situation on the ground. One simple google search will demonstrate just how hard they are trying to push their own narrative of events. They are actively attempting to portray peaceful protests as violent insurrections - which is laughable considering their personal pardoning of violent insurrectionists from January 6th. Don't get it wrong, they love violence, despite what you hear them claim publicly.

Why are they doing this? Because they want a violent response. They’re going to try to get it even if people don’t give it to them. They are waiting for an opportunity to justify their final revocation of the dwindling rights that remain for people in this country (most of which are being violated already). Sending heavily armed battalions to zip tie children in the night? Helicopter support? I think we found the invasion happening in this country, and it’s not the fake one Trump was talking about.

Image Source: (nbcnews.com)

This is why peaceful protest at this moment is crucial. We need to make it as obvious as possible that it is the government that is committing violent illegal acts. We need to document it, and give those few handfuls of resisting judges, lawyers, and representatives the evidence they need to fight this blatant power grab. We are running out of time to resist the real invasion.
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I want to reiterate again that it is not possible for everyone to attend protests. For most people, work is not optional. Everybody needs to find a way to make enough to make ends meet. Having to work is not a flaw, it’s a reality. Everyone has their own capacity to contribute, and whatever that is for you, it is meaningful. Just because you can’t attend a protest, doesn’t mean you don’t support the broader cause it represents. 

My main argument in this post is to advocate for a perspective shift in those who feel it is unnatural to get involved, that it would interfere with their branding or image as a musician. I want to let you know that staying out of this effort is what is interfering. Ignoring these problems is directly impeding you as a musician. If you get to pursue your passion while others are being thrown into camps, while others have to give it up to feed their families or pay off debt, and you do nothing to resist the current administration - you’re a hypocrite. Especially for those who have the privilege of doing art full time, staying silent and standing on the sidelines is not an option. That freedom comes with a responsibility to spread it for others. That freedom is fading quickly.

So don’t let it fade! Attend the protest tomorrow, October 18th! There are No Kings events in almost every city across the country. Get your friends together and make a day out of it! The more, the merrier. You can find all the information applicable to the event near you here:
(https://www.nokings.org/).

No Kings offers a great guide on your rights as a protester, what to bring, and how to attend. You can learn more here:
​(https://www.nokings.org/kyr).

​I’ll see you all tomorrow! Have fun, stay safe, bring water, and until next time: Thank you for reading. Happy jamming!

There’s something about the government silencing/cancelling anyone who speaks against the administration that just makes me want to speak against the administration. Anybody else? This post was originally going to be a deep dive into copyright law, then shifted into a discussion of the Living Wage for Musicians Act (check it out here), ​but the government is being so naughty right now that it ultimately just became an extra contacting congress update. They just make it impossible for me to talk (or think) about anything else! So much has happened since the last post, and things are getting very dangerous, very fast. In this one, my hope is to try and tackle the monsoon of new legislation, executive actions, and crises to make things a bit less scattered.

The issues I’ll focus on for this month are: 1. The continued illegal blockade of Gaza - there have been some heartening updates on this front, and it seems that tides are starting to shift. However, those with the power to actually help the families currently starving to death are steadfast in their commitment to genocide. Pressure is mounting, but this is the time to dig in, not get distracted. 2. The recent attempts by the U. S. government to strip rights away from its people. The most alarming of these attempts has been with the “Department of State Policy Provisions Act” which included a provision to give the Secretary of State the power to revoke and deny passports and take action against citizens without due process or a criminal conviction. 3. The last issue is music related (at least partially), and is actually a part of a larger political push that I urge you to be a part of: Reform for Section 1201 of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) Yay! We get to talk about copyright after all!

​I’ll include a more detailed discussion of these issues down in the “What To Say” prompt section. Before that, here’s the usual guide for finding your representatives.
​

You can find who your representative is through this link: 
(https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative). Simply click the link and type in your ZIP code, you’ll then be prompted to put in your address if there are multiple representatives associated with your ZIP.
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Once you’ve found their name, you can find their number on the list linked here:
​(https://www.house.gov/representatives)
​

You can find your senators and their contact information through this link: (www.senate.gov/states/statesmap.htm). Click on your state on the map and their number should be right under their portrait. You can also find other useful info about them here as well. For example, I’ve been including the little “Hometown” fact as an extra way to make things more personal.

​There is a high likelihood that you won’t end up having anyone answer when you call. In calling more than once per week since my first post on this (February 21st of 2025), I’ve received a grand total of 8 responses while calling. Now that I’ve moved to NY, I’ll have a chance to get to know some new staffers! When leaving a message inevitably happens, you will be prompted with exactly what they want you to include. This will usually be: Your name, contact information, and your ZIP code. It is better to include your full street address to ensure that your call is tallied. The most important of these is your ZIP code.

After stating the above info, list off just a couple pressing concerns. If it’s easier to focus on a single issue per call, that can sometimes be more effective. I’ve included an updated version of an example prompt in the above image but I’ll detail it below:

“My name is [insert name, email/number, ZIP code]. I’m calling to express my concern over recent policy proposals and executive actions. 1. I urge [insert congress members name] to vote “yes” on the resolution “Calling for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to address the needs of civilians in Gaza”. Children are starving. The blockade must end. 2. vote “no” on the “Department of State Policy Provisions Act”. This bill is a thinly veiled attempt at suppressing free speech. 3. Support legislation that reforms Section 1201 of the DMCA. Consumers should not be forced to rely on manufacturers for repairs.”

It can really be that short! It’s nice to include something personal in the message: if you voted for them, what your occupation is, how these policies impact you and the people you love, are all great ways of doing that. The goal is to just let these representatives know that these are issues you care about and will vote for. It made you get up and call didn’t it?
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Image Source: ​https://www.politico.eu

1. About the Senate Resolution: The borders to Gaza have been blocked since March 2nd of 2025. This means that very little food, medicine, or any other humanitarian supplies have been permitted to enter the area. Children are starving to death. This brings the situation no closer to peace, no closer to the release of any hostages–in fact those held hostage are also suffering from the same lack of supplies. U. S. action on this issue has been fully complicit in the ongoing genocide. You can read the full Senate Resolution here.

The fact that the United States is currently supporting the continuation of this atrocity is disgusting. Legislation takes time that many people on the ground do not have. If you’d like to support people on the ground, the PCRF (Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund) is a great organization to do that with. Consider making a donation here. If your budget is tight, I understand, please let your call in support of this resolution be your way of contributing.

This is all information shared in the last update, but there have been some heartening updates on this front, and it seems that tides are starting to shift. This particular story brought a smile to my face: The dockworkers of Genova, Italy (my home city), have decided to stand in solidarity with Palestine.

Genova (or Genoa) is one of the largest ports in Europe. A dockworker representing their union called for solidarity with the ongoing “freedom flotilla” to bring aid by boat to the people of Gaza and bring attention to the crisis. “Around mid-September, these boats will arrive near the coast of Gaza. If we lose contact with our boats, with our comrades, even for just 20 minutes, we will shut down all of Europe,” (www.politico.eu) a little bit of hopeful solidarity in this terrible situation.
​

2. About the “Department of State Policy Provisions Act”: This bill is being proposed to suppress people’s ability to freely criticize the administration without fear of retribution. You can read the full language of the bill here.

On September 11th, a bill titled “Department of State Policy Provisions Act” was introduced in the House. “Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, added a provision to H.R. 5300, the State Department reauthorization bill, that seeks to silence and punish political dissent. While this bill as a whole is a larger bipartisan package of policy updates for the State Department, Section 226 will give new power to the department to revoke passports from U.S. citizens based on vague designations of “support” for terrorist organizations.” The bill goes on to target individuals and non-profit organizations with dangerously broad language. “The provision expands current law by allowing the Secretary of State to take action against citizens without due process or a criminal conviction. The language is similar to that of the so-called “nonprofit killer” bill that House Republicans tried to include in the One Big Beautiful Bill; it gave the Treasury Secretary unilateral control to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit it deemed a ‘terrorist supporting organization.’” (5calls.org) This “terrorist” designation is conveniently broad, and we’ve seen it used to justify the illegal arrests of students and peaceful protesters. Anyone can be made a “terrorist” with the right language, including you.

This added provision which would give the Secretary of State the power to essentially persecute anyone and revoke their passports has since been pulled. Phew. However, the bill as a whole is still harmful and in support of Trump’s agenda for consolidating power. They retreated in one aspect this time, but you can count on them trying again in the future. Anytime you see one of their legislative pushes fail, feel free to celebrate, but also know that they will try again as soon as the next distraction appears. Them pulling one alarming aspect of a bill may serve as a smokescreen to hide other harmful provisions in it. We must stay vigilant.
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3. About Section 1201 of the DMCA: This section "prevents the circumvention of digital locks for the purposes of repair, maintenance, and cybersecurity research. It also prevents tinkerers and innovators from developing and distributing comprehensive third-party repair tools to inject competition into the market and give device-owners more repair options"
(actionnetwork.org). Many people don't realize that violating this is actually punishable with prison time. For example, if I buy a car which has CarPlay locked behind a subscription fee, and I find a way to edit the code that prevents me from using CarPlay for free, I could go to prison for 3-5 years. 3-5 years in prison for repairing my car. Wild.

So how does this all relate to music? Well, in case you aren't aware, Spotify uses this particular section of the DMCA to protect its ability to force your free version of Spotify to be permanently shuffled and play ads every few songs with a limited number of skips. Some people utilize a tool called "Revanced" which can allow a user to access publicly-sourced fixes to apps on their android device. These fixes can allow them to simply bypass the code that imposes these limits and locks on their app.

At face-value, you might argue that these limits are the only way they can make Spotify somewhat feasible from a financial perspective... Those limits are the main way that Spotify can convince people to pay them a monthly subscription. In that case I ask you, why MUST this platform be feasible? So that artists can continue to have their art stolen from them? So that they can continue to see the revenue they generate passed off to larger labels which have nothing to do with their listenership? So that people who pay $12 a month can continue to not actually own anything that they pay for? Who is actually benefitting from the current setup? You have to remember that Spotify could take away everything you have supposedly paid for over the past 6 years. All that music you organized into custom playlists, the music you found from that underground and underfinanced artist you love, it all could be gone on a whim. You don't own anything. They own everything.

The way I see it, Spotify only exists because it’s taking advantage of lapses in legislative policy. Lapses that are now falling to unions to fight to change. The system we have does not work, and if you really think about it, it shouldn't work. We should pay for music, and we should own what we pay for. That money should go directly to the people who make it. We don't need a parasite in the middle of that interaction to gatekeep who gets to make art and who gets to listen. I support reforming section 1201 of the DMCA so that we can get to true ownership. Of course there should be protections in place for copyright holders, artists are copyright holders. However, right now these protections are being used to safeguard corporate greed and take away consumer rights. We need a better system for music distribution, and I believe this is a step toward accomplishing that.

One of the most important aspects of this process is consistency. Calling once helps, but if you can do it regularly, these calls will start to pile up and make a difference. If you can pick an easily achievable regular goal amount of calls, you’ll be more likely to do it. I personally have set a goal to call representatives at a minimum of once per week. I can absolutely do more than that, but even if I get busy, I must at least do it once per week. Feel free to join me on that goal! In support of it, I’ll be including regular updates on policies and the written prompt I’ll be using in the calls. Stay tuned for those! If everyone reading were to make a plan to call, no matter how frequently, this could really start to make a difference. Calling is better than not calling, so pick whatever frequency works for you.

​Things are scary, and it’s easy to tune it all out and feel helpless. This is one small way to take back control. The folks in congress and in the white house work for us, it’s time we reminded them that. In the meantime - between the calls - thank you for reading, and happy jamming! 

On February 21st, I started a new hobby of calling my congress members at least once per week. The goal in starting this hobby was to 1. be active and consistent in my resistance to the current collapse of our country, 2. invite people to join in on this activity to hopefully bring in folks who wouldn’t normally call, and 3. find a nice outlet to vent my frustrations with the current state of affairs at the people actually responsible for it.

Some pressing issues for the month are: the continued illegal blockade of Gaza, the Living Wage for Musicians Act, and the attempted gerrymandering of district maps in Texas. I’ll include a brief discussion of these issues in this post. If you’ve been keeping up with these posts, feel free to skip down to the “What To Say” prompt section.

The most impactful form of communication is of course, face-to-face. If you happen to find yourself in a position where you can physically go to town halls and local offices, that would be the way to go. However, I realize that having the time (or bandwidth) to do that is a luxury that few people have. The least impactful form is emailing and signing online petitions. While easy to do, they are almost always ignored. I’ve tried emailing before quite a few times, only to receive a boilerplate response each time - overall it’s a waste of time. So the perfect middle ground of time-efficient and impactful, is calling them. I know many folks have anxiety about calling, especially calling people they don’t know, I understand that. It can help a lot to know what you can expect on the other end, and to have something basic ready to say. Those two things are exactly what I hope to provide you with in this post. After getting that first call done, I promise, it will seem much less daunting.

If you’d like to review how to join in on this initiative of one call per week, or would like to continue the mission, I’ve included the updated guide and prompt for contacting below.
​

You can find who your representative is through this link:
(https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative). Simply click the link and type in your ZIP code, you’ll then be prompted to put in your address if there are multiple representatives associated with your ZIP.

Once you’ve found their name, you can find their number on the list linked here:
(https://www.house.gov/representatives).
​

You can find your senators and their contact information through this link:
(https://www.senate.gov/states/statesmap.htm). Click on your state on the map and their number should be right under their portrait. You can also find other useful info about them here as well. For example, I’ve been including the little “Hometown” fact as an extra way to make things more personal.
​

There is a high likelihood that you won’t end up having anyone answer when you call. In calling more than once per week since my last post on this (February 21st), I’ve received a grand total of 5 responses while calling. Interestingly, my Republican senator: Dave McCormick, had his inbox full twice since my last post… tsk tsk. When leaving a message inevitably happens, you will be prompted with exactly what they want you to include. This will usually be: Your name, contact information, and your ZIP code. They may also ask for an address, although this is usually left as an optional option. The most important of these is your ZIP code.

After stating the above info, list off just a couple pressing concerns. If it’s easier to focus on a single issue per call, that can sometimes be more effective. I’ve included an updated version of an example prompt in the above image but I’ll detail it below:

“My name is [insert name, email/number, ZIP code]. I’m calling to express my concern over recent policy proposals and executive actions. 1. Vote “yes” on the resolution “Calling for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to address the needs of civilians in Gaza”. Children are starving. By doing nothing, you are complicit in their suffering. 2. Vote “yes” on the Living Wage for Musicians Act. Musicians deserve fair compensation for the immense value they contribute to streaming services. 3. Condemn and oppose the proposed gerrymandering of districts in Texas. This new map considers race as a determining parameter, which is illegal. Thank you for your time.”

It can really be that short! It’s nice to include something personal in the message: if you voted for them, what your occupation is, how these policies impact you and the people you love, are all great ways of doing that. The goal is to just let these representatives know that these are issues you care about and will vote for. It made you get up and call didn’t it?

1. About the Senate Resolution: The borders to Gaza have been blocked since March 2nd of 2025. This means that no food, medicine, or any other humanitarian supplies have been permitted to enter the area. Children are starving to death. This brings the situation no closer to peace, no closer to the release of any hostages–in fact those held hostage are also suffering from the same lack of supplies. Inaction on this issue is tantamount to complicity in the ongoing genocide. You can read the full Senate Resolution here.

The fact that the United States is currently supporting the continuation of this atrocity is disgusting. Legislation takes time that many people on the ground do not have. If you’d like to support people on the ground, the PCRF (Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund) is a great organization to do that with. Consider making a donation here. If your budget is tight, I understand, please let your call in support of this resolution be your way of contributing.
​

2. About The Living Wage for Musicians Act: This bill, spearheaded by Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman finally takes steps to address the long-standing predation of Spotify on the artists that make their entire business feasible. It establishes an “Artist Compensation Royalty Fund” which would operate similarly to a PRO (a non-profit that collects royalties and pays them out to artists) which would collect a new subscription fee and 10% levy on non-subscription revenue and then pay it out to artists. Essentially it builds an entirely new revenue stream (plus that 10% levy) to ensure that artists receive compensation. You can read the full bill here, or there’s also a more concise and clear version you can read here.

One of the coolest aspects is that these royalties would not only go to the main featured musician on the track, but also to any other musicians involved. If you’re a backup vocalist, a drummer, a bass player, or a cellist, that’s you! An extra bonus is that this extra money goes directly to the musicians, skipping over any label or management.

I personally still think there is more work to be done in improving streaming royalty distribution (you can read my breakdown on how that works here-it's actually gotten worse since I wrote this. I'll do an updated breakdown as soon as I get the chance!). However, this act seems like the best path the government can take to at least somewhat mitigate the damage the current system is causing. It's an important step in the right direction. 

One particular section stands out to me as one of the most important aspects: “the Living Wage for Musicians act includes a maximum payout per track, per month, in order to generate a more sustainable income for a broader and more diverse set of artists. Money exceeding this cap (as it stands, 1,000,000 streams for a track in a month) will be used to increase the payout per stream for all recording musicians. This will help us achieve our goals of helping musicians in every genre, across the US, have a more sustainable career.” It creates a more stable environment for people to get started in the arts when they don’t necessarily have a safety net to protect them. More money to the people who need it.

3. About the Texas Gerrymandering: Trump has recently called on his Republican lap dogs to go “find” him some more seats in preparation for the upcoming midterms. They’ve gotten right to work redrawing districts in Texas to weaken democratic support. This article offers good coverage of exactly what these proposed districts look like (some real geometric feats going on!)

If this new map is approved, Texas will sink further into Republican (really Trumpian) entrenchment. As it is, the districts aren’t representative of the population. This only makes the problem worse. We need our representatives to condemn this blatant attempt to subvert an already decrepit democracy.

One of the most important aspects of this process is consistency. Calling once helps, but if you can do it regularly, these calls will start to pile up and make a difference. If you can pick an easily achievable regular goal amount of calls, you’ll be more likely to do it. I personally have set a goal to call representatives at a minimum of once per week. I can absolutely do more than that, but even if I get busy, I must at least do it once per week. Feel free to join me on that goal! In support of it, I’ll be including regular updates on policies and the written prompt I’ll be using in the calls. Stay tuned for those! If everyone reading were to make a plan to call, no matter how frequently, this could really start to make a difference. Calling is better than not calling, so pick whatever frequency works for you.

I want to work on a way to streamline and communicate the process of contacting local representatives as well. This is truly the most impactful thing you can do. Your local representatives are the ones to implement policy on the ground level, and you can have a more meaningful impact on local policy by talking to them. The main roadblock is that the process of doing this is often different from county to county. As a result, this topic is trickier to communicate in a concise blog, but I promise, I’ll be working on a way!

Things are scary, and it’s easy to tune it all out and feel helpless. This is one small way to take back control. The folks in congress and in the white house work for us, it’s time we reminded them that. In the meantime - between the calls - thank you for reading, and happy jamming!

​When one of your videos gets a copyright claim, you’ll receive notification about it via email. The subject will be something like “Video is blocked: (with your video title here” for the sake of this blog I went with the title, “Sony Music Publishing didn’t want you to hear this arrangement”. The email will then explain the situation. 

Fun fact: you can apparently use copyrighted content so long as it is less than 60 seconds. So if you want to avoid this situation entirely, you can keep all your videos less than a minute–not always feasible, but I guess it works for shorts! In my case, I wanted the full 2 minute or so arrangement, and also I’m petty. 

​My preferred method is to fight it. So, click “view actions” to get started! But FIRST, be sure to double check that you are not using any copyrighted content. If you’re using material that’s currently owned by someone or some other entity, then the claim might actually be valid. There are ways to use even copyrighted material legally, but this depends on the way you’re using that material. I’m planning on doing a deep dive into copyright law in one of my upcoming blogs, so stay tuned if you want a more detailed breakdown of this.
​

​So you’ve determined that the claimant of your video is in the wrong and now you’re going to “dispute” Great! Click that option.

​After clicking to dispute, you’ll be prompted to provide a reason for disputing the claim. This can vary based on the situation. In my specific example, where I’m using content that should be in “the public domain”, I’m going to select that option. There’s a series of disclaimers listed here as well, to give you a last check in on if what you’re using is indeed allowed.
​

You’ll be presented with two methods of fighting the copyright claim. If you want to go the safer route, I would simply dispute the claim. This takes longer, especially because there’s no way “the claimants” are going to review the request within 30 days, but it won’t cause you any issues if you’re in the wrong. 

If you’re certain, and want to press this thing to go away faster (as I do!), I would click “Escalate to Appeal”. This is much faster (maximum of 7 days) and also allows you to keep the video up and visible immediately–even though it’s unlikely to perform well. There is a downside though. If you happen to be wrong in your appeal of the claim, your channel will receive a dreaded “copyright strike”. This is a kind of warning for your channel that you’ve been found in violation of copyright. If you collect a total of three strikes, your channel is removed. Filing fraudulent disputes in general can be a good way to get your channel removed. So be careful!
​

​Regardless of the approach you choose, you’ll be prompted to fill out a form for your dispute. In the form, you’ll be asked to include a defense for your assertion in disputing the claim. You can see what I ended up writing below:

​If you decide to “Escalate to Appeal”, you’ll need to provide your name and address information, which is another downside of that process. There are also additional acknowledgements that you’ll need to accept in understanding the risks of the process.

​After submitting, you should be set! If your claim is valid, you should simply receive an email (either after 30 or 7 days depending on the option you chose) telling you that the claim has been released.
​

On February 21st, I started a new hobby of calling my congress members at least once per week. The goal in starting this hobby was to 1. be active and consistent in my resistance to the current collapse of our country, 2. invite people to join in on this activity to hopefully bring in folks who wouldn’t normally call, and 3. find a nice outlet to vent my frustrations with the current state of affairs at the people actually responsible for it. It can be surprisingly cathartic! 

Some pressing issues for the month are: the threat of public resources like Head Start, SNAP, and Medicaid being cut, Trump’s “big beautiful bill” which is currently being deliberated in congress, and the recent anti-protest actions being taken against protesters across the country. I’ll detail a discussion about the “big beautiful bill” down at the end of the prompt section, “What To Say”. If you’ve been keeping up with these posts, feel free to skip down to there.

The most impactful form of communication is of course, face-to-face. If you happen to find yourself in a position where you can physically go to town halls and local offices, that would be the way to go. However, I realize that having the time (or bandwidth) to do that is a luxury that few people have. The least impactful form is emailing and signing online petitions. While easy to do, they are almost always ignored. I’ve tried emailing before quite a few times, only to receive a boilerplate response each time - overall it’s a waste of time. So the perfect middle ground of time-efficient and impactful, is calling them. I know many folks have anxiety about calling, especially calling people they don’t know, I understand that. It can help a lot to know what you can expect on the other end, and to have something basic ready to say. Those two things are exactly what I hope to provide you with in this post. After getting that first call done, I promise, it will seem much less daunting.

If you’d like to review how to join in on this initiative of one call per week, or would like to continue the mission, I’ve included the updated guide and prompt for contacting below! 
​

You can find your senators and their contact information through this link: (https://www.senate.gov/states/statesmap.htm). Click on your state on the map and their number should be right under their portrait. You can also find other useful info about them here as well. For example, I’ve been including the little “Hometown” fact as an extra way to make things more personal.
​

There is a high likelihood that you won’t end up having anyone answer when you call. In calling more than once per week since my last post on this (February 21st), I’ve received a grand total of 2 responses while calling. When leaving a message inevitably happens, you will be prompted with exactly what they want you to include. This will usually include: Your name, contact information, and your ZIP code. They may also ask for an address, although this is usually left as an optional option. The most important of these is your ZIP code.

After stating the above info, list off just a couple pressing concerns. I’ve included an updated version what I’ve been using lately in the above image but I’ll detail it below:

“My name is [insert name, email, ZIP code]. I’m calling to express my concern over recent policy proposals and executive actions. 1. Vote no on Trump’s “big beautiful bill”. Items in this bill put your constituents' lives in jeopardy with major cuts to social programs, increases the national deficit, and further erosion of our country’s institutions. They crammed too many bad ideas to count in this bill. If you have any fondness in your heart for the constitution, vote no. Protect it. It's an easy win. 2. Do not allow Head Start and other public resources, including the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) to go unfunded. Your constituents depend on these resources to survive through these trying times. They will remember if you voted to take them away. 3. Trump’s recent actions against protesters are intentionally inflammatory. Sending the U.S. military to suppress their own citizen’s rights to organize and protest is absurd. Please take action to condemn this blatant power grab. Propose legislation to remove this tyrant from office. Thank you for your time.”

It can really be that short! It’s nice to include something personal in the message: if you voted for them, what your occupation is, how these policies impact you and the people you love, are all great ways of doing that. The goal is to just let these representatives know that these are issues you care about and will vote for. It made you get up and call didn’t it?
​

A little additional information for this month: Trump’s “big beautiful bill” was crammed through the house last month. The bill has the potential for some devastating impacts to social programs–including new restrictions and limitations as to who is eligible to receive them. There’s a whole laundry list of issues, you can read more about the key ones here (bbc.com). However, there’s one specific section that I think is super important. Tucked away in this massive bill is yet another way to insulate the president from the powers of the judicial branch. “No court of the United States may enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c) whether issued prior to, on, or subsequent to the date of enactment of this section” (msnbc.com). 

This little paragraph would essentially allow the president to ignore court orders with impunity, and this would apply retroactively as well, undoing past court decisions–a devastating blow to our rights and protections. The stakes are super high, so I would make this issue a priority in your calls if you can. Yes, it passed in the house… because most of our representatives don’t actually do any work. It’s just been revised in the Senate and sent back to the House. You can find an article on recent changes to the bill here (npr.org). ​As you can imagine, it’s still just as terrible.  Now is the time for us to urge our representatives and senators to throw it out completely.
​

One of the most important aspects of this process is consistency. Calling once helps, but if you can do it regularly, these calls will start to pile up and make a difference. If you can pick an easily achievable regular goal amount of calls, you’ll be more likely to do it. I personally have set a goal to call representatives at a minimum of once per week. I can absolutely do more than that, but even if I get busy, I must at least do it once per week. Feel free to join me on that goal! In support of it, I’ll be including regular updates on policies and the written prompt I’ll be using in the calls. Stay tuned for those! If everyone reading were to make a plan to call, no matter how frequently, this could really start to make a difference. Calling is better than not calling, so pick whatever frequency works for you.

I want to work on a way to streamline and communicate the process of contacting local representatives as well. This is truly the most impactful thing you can do. Your local representatives are the ones to implement policy on the ground level, and you can have a more meaningful impact on local policy by talking to them. The main roadblock is that the process of doing this is often different from county to county. As a result, this topic is trickier to communicate in a concise blog, but I promise, I’ll be working on a way!

Things are scary, and it’s easy to tune it all out and feel helpless. This is one small way to take back control. The folks in congress and in the white house work for us, it’s time we reminded them that. In the meantime - between the calls - thank you for reading, and happy jamming!

Today’s blog was supposed to dive into music competitions, how the current standard upholds the exclusivity of music, especially classical music, and how it can be done better. However, current events have put other non-profit related issues to the front of mind. I’ll save the competition discussion for a future post.
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In case you are not aware, the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) is a federal agency that provides funding to arts organizations across the country. It’s a wonderful initiative, and one that I wished the government would pour more funding into. However, as is typical of our current administration, the opposite has happened. Arts orgs across the country are in trouble.
​

On May 2nd, nonprofits across the country received an email with devastating news. "The NEA is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President," (npr.org). Worded in a way that would make Mussolini tear up, was the announcement that, “Consequently, we are terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities.” Organizations that worked to bring music to children in underfunded schools, ensembles and theaters that put on concerts for their communities, and art galleries and studios that showcase incredible new works, all got the news that their grants were now cancelled.

According to a crowd-sourced spreadsheet organized by Annie Dorsen, over $26 million in previously approved NEA funding–impacting over 500 American arts organizations, has been cancelled. This is just so far, more cancellations are being added as time goes on. You can access this spreadsheet keeping track of current numbers here.

To say this is disgusting is an understatement. It’s a clear attempt to censor and control the arts. It’s a clear money grab by the great Oligarchy of America. After an entire generation goes without learning what music is, this administration will turn around and chirp about all the money they saved. I’m grieving what it will cost us in the near future.
​

As much as arts nonprofits are an early target to receive blows from an intolerant administration, they are also one of the last things standing in the way of complete defunding and censorship of artistic voices. As much as it will be difficult, they must continue to offer our services to artists and audiences. The whole reason that we need arts orgs is that our government already was doing little to nothing to support the folks who choose to do this as a profession. In this dark time, nonprofit and mutual aid work will be more difficult than ever, but also more important than ever.

To orgs looking for alternative revenue sources during this time, I implore you not to resort to any that would create new financial barriers to access. Do not implement application fees–if you absolutely must, always allow for a clearly advertised waiver. Reduce your credential requirements (i.e. college degrees, required status as a student, etc.). Do not require accompanists for solo competitions. All these things alienate the most vulnerable members of our community, and those folks are the ones we want to engage with right?
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If the government is abandoning arts entirely, it’s up to us to keep the arts alive, ensuring that people have access to it even when those in power don’t want that.
​

To more established organizations, working with lawyers and unions could potentially be an option. I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t necessarily have knowledge in how that would play out. However, I do know that there are several firms and non profits actively combatting and suing the Trump administration, and miraculously they are winning. There is hope.

To orgs not in a position to fight the administration directly, you can still act as individuals. Maybe your nonprofit will need to do what it can to appease the delusional lion, but what your workers do on their own time—what your team members support in their free time, you have no control over. I urge all artists, regardless of their affiliation with nonprofits, to get involved politically. You can call your representatives directly and tell them to combat these changes. I’m currently running a “contacting congress” series which takes up every other post on this blog where I provide a step by step guide and prompts for contacting congress. If you’d like to participate, you can read the last post I made on this here, or just tune in next month for the next update!

​Beyond getting involved politically, help each other out. Attend/stream performances of your peers, buy their albums, donate to their nonprofits, commission, purchase and program their music. It’s amazing what even a small message of support can do, especially now. We are not powerless, we have each other. The more we can do to communicate our agency, the better. The government can pull funding, but it can’t stop art itself. Trump is playing with fire. 

Thank you for reading. Keep your chin up and your wits about you. Until next month, happy jamming!

On February 21st, I started a new hobby of calling my congress members at least once per week. The goal in starting this hobby was to 1. be active and consistent in my resistance to the current collapse of our country, 2. invite people to join in on this activity to hopefully bring in folks who wouldn’t normally call, and 3. find a nice outlet to vent my frustrations with the current state of affairs at the people actually responsible for it. It can be surprisingly cathartic! 

The most impactful form of communication is of course, face-to-face. If you happen to find yourself in a position where you can physically go to town halls and local offices, that would be the way to go. However, I realize that having the time (or bandwidth) to do that is a luxury that few people have. The least impactful form is emailing and signing online petitions. While easy to do, they are almost always ignored. I’ve tried emailing before quite a few times, only to receive a boilerplate response each time - overall it’s a waste of time. So the perfect middle ground of time-efficient and impactful, is calling them. I know many folks have anxiety about calling, especially calling people they don’t know, I understand that. It can help a lot to know what you can expect on the other end, and to have something basic ready to say. Those two things are exactly what I hope to provide you with in this post. After getting that first call done, I promise, it will seem much less daunting.

If you’d like to review how to join in on this initiative of one call per week, or would like to continue the mission, I’ve included the updated guide and prompt for contacting below!
​

You can find who your representative is through this link:(https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative). Simply click the link and type in your ZIP code, you’ll then be prompted to put in your address if there are multiple representatives associated with your ZIP.
​
Once you’ve found their name, you can find their number on the list linked here: (https://www.house.gov/representatives).
​

You can find your senators and their contact information through this link: (https://www.senate.gov/states/statesmap.htm). Click on your state on the map and their number should be right under their portrait. You can also find other useful info about them here as well. For example, I’ve been including the little “Hometown” fact as an extra way to make things more personal.
​

​There is a high likelihood that you won’t end up having anyone answer when you call. In calling more than once per week since my last post on this (February 21st), I’ve received a grand total of 1 response while calling. When leaving a message inevitably happens, you will be prompted with exactly what they want you to include. This will usually include: Your name, contact information, and your ZIP code. They may also ask for an address, although this is usually left as an optional option. The most important of these is your ZIP code.

After stating the above info, list off just a couple pressing concerns. I’ve included what I’ve been using in the above image but I’ll detail it below:

“My name is [insert name, email, ZIP code]. I’m calling to express my concern over recent policy proposals and executive orders. 1. Follow Cory Booker and Chris Van Hollen's example of how to resist Trump and stand up for constituents. We need our representatives doing everything in their power to prevent the collapse of checks on executive power.  2. The Trump administration’s recent cracking down on protesters is unconstitutional. The rights of your constituents are being tread on. Find any way possible to disrupt and dismantle this administration. 3. Non-citizens in this country are having their rights to due process violated. People are being kidnapped in broad daylight. These actions taken by the Trump administration are illegal and they should be prosecuted as such. What’s the point of laws if they won’t be enforced? Do something about it. Thank you for your time.”

It can really be that short! It’s nice to include something personal in the message: if you voted for them, what your occupation is, how these policies impact you and the people you love, are all great ways of doing that. The goal is to just let these representatives know that these are issues you care about and will vote for. It made you get up and call didn’t it?
​

One of the most important aspects of this process is consistency. Calling once helps, but if you can do it regularly, these calls will start to pile up and make a difference. If you can pick an easily achievable regular goal amount of calls, you’ll be more likely to do it. I personally have set a goal to call representatives at a minimum of once per week. I can absolutely do more than that, but even if I get busy, I must at least do it once per week. Feel free to join me on that goal! In support of it, I’ll be including regular updates on policies and the written prompt I’ll be using in the calls. Stay tuned for those! If everyone reading were to make a plan to call, no matter how frequently, this could really start to make a difference. Calling is better than not calling, so pick whatever frequency works for you.

I want to work on a way to streamline and communicate the process of contacting local representatives as well. This is truly the most impactful thing you can do. Your local representatives are the ones to implement policy on the ground level, and you can have a more meaningful impact on local policy by talking to them. The main roadblock is that the process of doing this is often different from county to county. As a result, this topic is trickier to communicate in a concise blog, but I promise, I’ll be working on a way!

Things are scary, and it’s easy to tune it all out and feel helpless. This is one small way to take back control. The folks in congress and in the white house work for us, it’s time we reminded them that. In the meantime - between the calls - thank you for reading, and happy jamming!

​Well, it’s that time again! Time to see if you’ve been keeping track of all the documents you needed amidst a whirlwind of a year. It’s tax season. I got a lot of feedback from folks last year that found my original post on this very helpful, so I figured I’d make it a yearly tradition! I’ll update the blog every year with any major changes I notice in my filing process, so if you want, you can follow along and double check every year before filing.

As is always the case, I'd like to clarify that I am not a tax professional. This post is intended to be a starting point in your taxation endeavors, a way to connect you to resources. I hope you find it helpful!

The centerpiece of a self-employed composer or musician’s taxes is still the Schedule C, a form that you will need to fill out to report your income and business expenses. In this post, I’ll walk through what you’ll need to do this successfully, and explore some options for where to do it.
​

The most important thing to do is to keep track of all the money you made over the course of the year. Any time you get paid, record the amount somewhere. You should include a description of who paid you for what services and the date you received the money. This will make your life incredibly easy by the time tax season rolls around. I promise without this list you will not remember what happened last month, let alone last year. This should also include any prizes or award amounts (yes, you have to pay taxes on that too!) and royalties paid to you by your PRO (this is specific to composers). Oftentimes you will receive tax forms, especially if you’re playing gigs. You should still record the income from these, but make sure to mark on your list that you have an accompanying form. Put these forms into a safe place to return to when it’s time to file. I keep a physical folder marked with the tax year.

In addition to income, you’ll want to keep track of all the money you spent in the process of carrying out your musical business. These will make up your “business expenses” which you can play against your income to hopefully reduce the amount of taxes you are expected to pay. Just like the income, make sure to add a descriptor of the payment and the date you made it, and make sure you keep all of these receipts. You could simply toss them into the same folder you put your other tax forms. Many people are surprised by what they can classify as an expense. If it was something that helped you in the process of making music, it can often be counted. Anything from gas mileage to a gig, to music you purchased from a composer, to cane for reed making, to even concert tickets (technically research for your craft!) can be counted as a business expense! If you want to do the math, you could even claim a portion of your rental expenses if you use a portion of your apartment for business (definitely run this by a tax preparer to ensure it is calculated correctly). If you do this right, you should be asked to pay next to nothing when you’re just starting out, and will most likely be eligible for a refund (yay!).

If you have any questions about a specific scenario, feel free to comment below or reach out to me directly. I’m happy to help to the best of my ability!
​

Ultimately this is up to personal preference, but I’ll give you a run down of how I do it–it’s pretty simple. I use two methods in conjunction. The first is a simple list on the notes app on my phone. I have a different one for each year, which is laid out like this:
​

​2024 Business Income:

Paid:
(List of all paid income along with descriptors and dates)

Planned:
(List of all contracted work that hasn’t been paid yet)

Business Expenses:
(List of all money I spent in the process of running my business, again including a descriptor and the date I paid it)

Donations:
(Any donations I made to organizations over the course of the year, yes this is often a write-off too!)

Royalties:
(Any money I made from my PRO (ASCAP)--this is more for me to not forget to pull the 1099-MISC from their website or grab it out of my physical file)

Year Summary:
(This is where I total up my income and my expenses to get an idea of how I did for the year)
​

In addition to the list, I also use a spreadsheet to help with budgeting throughout the year. This can be helpful to double check your numbers too. Google has an amazing budget template that I use and highly recommend, complete with a fancy line graph to make your terrifying deficit at least look pretty! You can find it if you go to “My Drive”, “+ New”, and then hover over the arrow next to “Google Sheets” and click “From a template”. You’ll find it in there labeled “Annual budget”. There’s lots of options so feel free to peruse the others!
​

Filing can be daunting the first time you do it. That is by design, as big companies like TurboTax make a lot of money through the horror stories of paying taxes. You probably have heard some of these legends of the great test of paying taxes, even good ol’ Benjamin Franklin compared it to death in its inevitability… I promise it isn’t as bad as you think. First mistake to avoid is using TurboTax. It’s stupid expensive for no reason–even worse for a musician like you, they charge extra for those of us who are self-employed. Diabolical.

I’ve recently been exploring low cost options and decided to use FreeTaxUSA. It’s almost honest with its name, you still need to pay $15 to file state taxes, but that’s much better than the hundreds they try to get out of you with TurboTax. If you end up with a tax refund like myself, you can use it to mitigate the cost. I enjoyed using it. It was simple and had a good layout for reporting specific expenses. One take away I would add from the experience is that you should break down your itemized list of expenses and organize what you can into the larger categories they provide on their site. This will let you keep track of what expenses you counted as part of “Travel”, “Office Supplies”, etc. 

Another free option is available with VITA or TCE sites. These are centers in place to assist people with filing their taxes. They often provide in person assistance, and sometimes offer drop off sites where they will file on your behalf. They are intended for people who make less than $64,000 per year, have disabilities, or are limited-english speaking.
​

You’ll hear a lot of people recommend that you file quarterly if you run your own business. This is good advice. It’s important to file quarterly if you are self-employed (especially if most of your income comes from gig work, commissions, or teaching). I’ve already made a post that goes in depth on this, you can find it here(insert link to the quarterly taxes blog).
​
Before you get to the Schedule C, you’ll be asked to enter other personal information, and input information from any W-2s or 1099s you received from all the work you did/gigs you played. For composers, this is where you’ll put your 1099-MISCs from your PRO (ASCAP/BMI/SESAC). If you’re self-published, you’ll receive two of these, one as a writer/composer, and one as a publisher. You should report these two separately here.

Once you get to the Schedule C, some sites will prompt you to connect some of those 1099s you submitted earlier to your business income, if it does, do this. Royalties for composers and musicians go here. Then proceed to input all the other info you will have hopefully saved in your list and spreadsheet. There will be one section for income and one for expenses. Before you know it, the hard part will be over. After answering a few more questions and filing state taxes, you’ll be done!

Again, feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Good luck, Godspeed, thanks for reading, and happy jamming!

Source: aljazeera.com

With the flurry of executive orders, it’s become apparent that the Trump administration is attempting to flood the constituency into submission with shotgun blasts of policies. While very few of these policies are likely to stick, the ones that do (and have) will be devastating, especially to vulnerable communities. It’s become more important than ever to let our elected representatives know that we support them in resisting this tactic wherever possible. Let them know that they have the numbers to stand up to the incoming administration.

The most impactful form of communication is of course, face-to-face. If you happen to find yourself in a position where you can physically go to town halls and local offices, that would be the way to go. However, I realize that having the time (or bandwidth) to do that is a luxury that few people have. The least impactful form is emailing and signing online petitions. While easy to do, they are almost always ignored. I’ve tried emailing before quite a few times, only to receive a boilerplate response each time - overall it’s a waste of time. So the perfect middle ground of time-efficient and impactful, is calling them. I know many folks have anxiety about calling, especially calling folks they don’t know, I understand that. It can help a lot to know what you can expect on the other end, and to have something basic ready to say. Those two things are exactly what I hope to provide you with in this post. After getting that first call done, I promise, it will seem much less daunting.
​

You can find who your representative is through this link: (house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative). Simply click the link and type in your ZIP code, you’ll then be prompted to put in your address if there are multiple representatives associated with your ZIP.

​Once you’ve found their name, you can find their number on the list linked here: (house.gov/representatives).
​

You can find your senators and their contact information through this link: (senate.gov/states). Click on your state on the map and their number should be right under their portrait. You can also find other useful info about them here as well. For example, I’ve been including the little “Hometown” fact as an extra way to make things more personal in my call.
​

​There is a high likelihood that you won’t end up having anyone answer when you call. In that case, you will be prompted with exactly what they want you to include in your message. This will usually include: Your name, contact information, and your ZIP code. They may also ask for an address, although this is usually left as an optional option. The most important of these is your ZIP code.

After stating the above info, list off just a couple pressing concerns. I’ve included what I’ve been using in the above image but I’ll detail it below:

“My name is [insert name, email, ZIP code]. I’m calling to express my concern over recent policy proposals and executive orders. 1. The recent arrests of migrants are unlawful, all people have a right to due process. The Laken Riley Act is unconstitutional. 2. Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency should be resisted at every turn. The fact that a private citizen with major corporate interest holds this much sway in the government is unacceptable. 3. Any attempts to revoke Medicaid or other financial assistance should be resisted, many of my friends and family are struggling to make ends meet. Revoking or weakening these programs would be catastrophic. Thank you for your time.”

It can really be that short! It’s nice to include something personal in the message: if you voted for them, what your occupation is, how these policies impact you and the people you love, are all great ways of doing that. The goal is to just let these representatives know that these are issues you care about and will vote for. It made you get up and call didn’t it?
​

One of the most important aspects of this process is consistency. Calling once helps, but if you can do it regularly, these calls will start to pile up and make a difference. If you can pick an easily achievable regular goal amount of calls, you’ll be more likely to do it. I personally have set a goal to call representatives at a minimum of once per week. I can absolutely do more than that, but if I get busy, I must at least do it once per week. Feel free to join me on that goal! In support of it, I’ll be including regular updates on policies and the written prompt I’ll be using in the calls. Stay tuned for those! If everyone reading were to make a plan to call, no matter how frequently, this could really start to make a difference. Calling is better than not calling, so pick whatever frequency works for you.

I want to work on a way to streamline and communicate the process of contacting local representatives as well. This is truly the most impactful thing you can do. Your local representatives are the ones to implement policy on the ground level, and you can have a more meaningful impact on local policy by talking to them. The main roadblock is that the process of doing this is often different from county to county. As a result, this topic is trickier to communicate in a concise blog, but I promise, I’ll be working on a way!

Things are scary, and it’s easy to tune it all out and feel helpless. This is one small way to take back control. The folks in congress and in the white house work for us, it’s time we reminded them that. In the meantime - between the calls - thank you for reading, and happy jamming!