I.\tADVENTURES IN NEW YORK
\nII.\tAN \u201cATTACK\u201d IN THE REFERRAL SERVICE OFFICE
\nIII.\tARE YOU READING THE OVERTURE? YOU SHOULD BE.
\nIV.\tREFERRAL WEBSITE MEETING
\nV.\tTWO BULLETINS FROM THE FMA
\nVI.\tTRIVIA
\nVII.\tCOMMENTS<\/p>\n
=====================<\/p>\n
I.\tADVENTURES IN NEW YORK<\/p>\n
The information below has been verified by several sources in New York.<\/p>\n
Recently, RMA International President Phil Ayling went on quite an
\nadventure in the big apple. We\u00b9ve heard about and were mystified at
\nthree of his stops, but the real reason will become clear.<\/p>\n
This trip took place at the very time President Lee and Secretary Folio of
\nthe National AFM were meeting with the new RMALA Board here in Los
\nAngeles.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
STOP I: THE AFM
\nThe first stop we heard about from our sources was to the AFM itself,
\nasking to have a meeting with President Lee and Secretary Folio. When
\ninformed of their absence, Mr. Ayling apparently wandered the offices,
\nasking questions. Of course, the employees knew who the officer was and
\ndid not understand why he didn’t visit when Lee and Folio were in town. <\/p>\n
STOP II: LOCAL 802 BOARD MEETING
\nAnother stop on the big tour was to the Board meeting of Local 802, which
\nwent fine until the board started asking questions about the Professional
\nMusicians Guild (PMG). According to those in attendance, the RMA
\nInternational President \u201clost it\u201d to the point where he was admonished by
\na Local 802 board member that his conduct was totally inappropriate.<\/p>\n
The real purpose for the trip became more clear on his last stop, at least
\nthe last one we know about.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ayling showed up at a meeting of the RMA-NY.<\/p>\n
STOP III: THE RMA NEW YORK<\/p>\n
Apparently the RMA New York has not had a meeting in 6 years
\nbecause they\u00b9ve not had a quorum (25). The RMA-NY membership
\nlevel had gone down to approximately 48 at one point.
\nThat evening there were 24 members present, once again
\nmissing their quorum. The RMA International President decided
\nhe would join that chapter there and then, enabling the meeting to
\ntake place. When other members of the RMA-NY protested, saying he
\nwasn\u00b9t a member of Local 802, Mr. Ayling insisted that he can join
\nwhichever chapter he wants.<\/p>\n
Forcing the meeting, and owing to the lack of a quorum for six
\nyears, someone at the meeting called for an immediate election
\nof a new board. A new board was elected, representing people
\nfrom both the Concerned Members Party and the Member\u2019s Party
\n(The two main parties based at Local 802)<\/p>\n
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?<\/p>\n
According to our New York sources, Local 802 is in turmoil. Though
\nthe former 802 President David Lennon was voted out of office for
\nfinancial \u201cproblems\u201d, there is a faction of Local 802 that still supports
\nhim, among his supporters are some Officers of the RMA International
\nand the RMA-LA.<\/p>\n
So it comes down to factions that support David Lennon, and those
\nwho support AFM President Tom Lee. It is apparent that Mr. Ayling
\nhas inserted himself into the politics of Local 802. <\/p>\n
Since the machinations originating in Los Angeles haven\u2019t taken hold
\nas the RMA International President and the RMALA would have liked,
\nthey\u2019re making another focus of attacking the AFM from New York itself. <\/p>\n
Mr. Anthony should get a handle on the loose cannons in his organization.<\/p>\n
=======================<\/p>\n
II. AN \u201cATTACK\u201d IN THE REFERRAL SERVICE OFFICE?\u201d<\/p>\n
A recent email from the Local disclosed that there was an attack in the
\nreferral service office on the RS worker by a member, requiring the
\nmoving of the referral service office a mere month after Member Jay
\nRosen engineered an overturning of the Rank and File mandate
\nconcerning the RS location. We hope Sam is on the mend, but there
\nare questions about the timing of this \u201cattack\u201d. Apparently a police
\nreport has been filed.<\/p>\n
Why move the service if the threat was from a member?
\nIf the threat came from someone off the street, they MIGHT have a case…<\/p>\n
Questions to be answered before moving the office for the “safety” reason:<\/p>\n
(1) Isn’t the security guard’s station just as close to the lobby office as
\nany other office in the building and closer than most?<\/p>\n
(2) If the threat was registered as sufficient to move the office,
\nwill the threatening member be prosecuted by both the Hearing
\nBoard and the Los Angeles D.A.’s office?<\/p>\n
(3) If not, then just how bona fide was the threat?<\/p>\n
(4) Will the membership be given a much more complete report
\non exactly what happened that allowed the leadership to s\u2022\u2022\u2022-can
\nthe membership\u2019s lawful vote?<\/p>\n
(5) If this threat was so dire, how can the lobby be used for ANY
\nsimilar purpose, even if they yank out the whole office?<\/p>\n
(6) If the security guard is not a sufficient source of security for
\nsuch an occasion, what is he doing there? If the Local leadership
\nclaims authority over facilities management because of safety reasons,
\nthen haven’t they done an inadequate job by hiring insufficient security
\nto prevent what happened? In other words, if the only response to this
\n“incident” is to move the office, then by definition they are doing an
\ninadequate job of managing the facilities and the safety of all who work
\nthere. <\/p>\n
========================<\/p>\n
III. ARE YOU READING THE OVERTURE? YOU SHOULD BE.<\/p>\n
One of the few areas where the Local is improving for our
\nrank and file is in the Overture, the monthly attacks on the
\nCOMMITTEE not withstanding.<\/p>\n
There are more workshops being advertised and in the January
\nOverture there was the nice addition of an article by the TMA
\n(Theater Musicians Association). We feel this is a good idea. In
\nfact, there should be monthly columns offered to the FMA
\n(Freelance Musicians Association), TMA (Theater Musicians
\nAssociation) and the RMA (Recording Musicians Association).
\nIt certainly could be argued that the RMA gets it\u2019s views out all
\nover the paper, including officer\u2019s reports. Still, articles by the players\u2019
\nconferences and even member\u2019s reports from various orchestras
\nwould allow the non-recording folks to make sure their interests are
\naddressed.<\/p>\n
========================<\/p>\n
IV. REFERRAL SERVICE WEBSITE MEETING<\/p>\n
There was a meeting of the REFERRAL SERVICE COMMITTEE and
\nother interested members last week. It was very informative and
\nwe seem to finally have a group of members and employees
\ninterested in making it work. Referral Service Committee members
\nmade no bones about pointing out their frustration that they had
\nto wait four years from their report\u2019s submission to see any action
\non its recommendations. They were frustrated that, after
\ninitially presenting the report on 2004, it was simply shelved.<\/p>\n
The one responsible for the website and its development assured
\nthose in attendance that the website was, in fact, expandable.<\/p>\n
It disturbed us that only those registered with the Referral Service
\nwere informed of the meeting, since there are certainly many
\nmembers who want to learn about the service and perhaps use it
\nin the future. This was a simple oversight and those in attendance
\nwere assured that from now on ALL members will be kept informed
\nof meetings and developments.<\/p>\n
It would seem that, without the board\u2019s direct involvement, some real
\nprogress can finally be made, though there are still many concerns
\nabout the website and the working of the service itself. Cudos to the
\nMember Services employees and the RS Committee for their hard
\nwork.<\/p>\n
The REFERRAL SERVICE COMMITTEE welcomes any ideas or thoughts
\nfrom LOCAL 47 members, whether you\u2019re signed up for the Referral
\nService or not.<\/p>\n
Send comments and ideas to Amie Moore at studio@promusic47.org<\/p>\n
=====================<\/p>\n
V. TWO BULLETINS FROM THE FMA<\/p>\n
1) We are very saddened to learn of the passing of drum legend
\nBuddy Miles. Sept 5, 1947 – Feb 26, 2008. He passed away peacefully
\nat his home in Austin, TX, at the age of 60. The official cause of death
\nis not yet known, though he had suffered from congestive heart failure
\nfor several years.<\/p>\n
Buddy performed with some of the greatest names in music:
\nStevie Wonder, Muddy Waters, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, David Crosby,
\nPrince, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Vaughan, Rick James, Kool &
\nthe Gang among many others. <\/p>\n
He is best known for his work with Jimi Hendrix and bass player Billy
\nCox in “Band of Gypsies.” <\/p>\n
In lieu of flowers; the family has asked to please make donations to the
\nJazz Foundation of America specifically in Buddy Miles’ name to assist
\nWith funeral and other expenses at www.jazzfoundation.org.<\/p>\n
The Jazz Foundation of America
\nAttn.: Amy Cusma
\n322 West 48th St
\nNew York, NY, 10036<\/p>\n
2) WARNING: illegitimate “music licensing” companies
\nNow that the writers’ strike is over, a number of Members who
\nare songwriters are reporting being approached with offers from
\n“music licensing reps,” asking to “pitch” your songs to Film and
\nTV. Please be aware that there are customary Industry Standard
\nrates for the placement of songs in Film\/TV media. General
\ncustomary rates for music licensing are:<\/p>\n
– 20% of publishing
\n– Zero % of writers’ publishing
\n– 20% of sync license.<\/p>\n
If you are offered a different rate (for example, the rep wants
\n100% of publishing, and wants 50% of the sync license,
\nbut graciously offers to “let” you keep your writers’ publishing,)
\nOR if the rep asks to re-copyright your songs with new titles,
\nOR asks to own \/ be added to the song’s copyright,
\nBEWARE!<\/p>\n
There are many legitimate licensing reps willing to work with
\nquality songs, without taking unfair advantage of the artist.<\/p>\n
=====================<\/p>\n
VI. TRIVIA<\/p>\n
THE WORLD\u2019S LARGEST PIPE ORGAN<\/p>\n
The Convention Hall Organ in Atlantic City, New Jersey,
\nis officially the world\u2019s largest pipe organ. When completed
\n(between May 1929 and December, 1932 by the Midmer-Losh
\nOrgan Company of Merrick, Long Island, New York), it boasted
\ntwo consoles (one with seven manuals and another moveable one
\nwith five), more than 1000 stop controls and 33,000 pipes which
\nranged in length from 0.2 feet to 64 feet. <\/p>\n
The instrument is also the loudest musical instrument ever
\nconstructed and is allegedly able to match the volume of 25
\nbrass bands. The loudest stop, the Grand Ophicleide (16 ft and
\n8 ft), is believed to be more than six times the volume of the
\nloudest locomotive whistle.<\/p>\n
=====================<\/p>\n
VII. COMMENTS<\/p>\n
The comments below represent the uncensored views of the readers
\nand not necessarily those of the COMMITTEE. In the faith that
\nfreedom of expression allows for the birth and ascendancy of the
\nmost beneficial ideas, all sentiments expressed are welcome, subject
\nto the bounds of good taste and decorum. If you disagree with an
\nopinion expressed by any contributor, we encourage you to rebut it here.<\/p>\n
——————-<\/p>\n
Oh my — the most serious aspect of the “Jumper” score is that the
\ncomposer (John Powell) used to record with the DeCrescent “cartel”,
\nmoved for awhile to Debbie Datz, and, clearly not satisfied, decided to
\ntry Sydney by remote, apparently with some success. Powell is an
\nalumnus of the Hans Zimmer “franchise”, so this will not go unnoticed
\nby many other composers. <\/p>\n
——————-<\/p>\n
I have been a supporting member of the RMA since its
\ninception and paid my dues more than the money
\nrequired to be a member. Recently I was told that
\npersons aligned to our recording community are
\ncontinuing their destructive habits for the benefit of
\na few and the further collapse of the many. This
\nconversation had to do with the RMA International
\nPresident. He is attempting to use his power to
\ndiscredit the AFM International President Tom Lee through
\nmeans of legal recourse to have him removed. Past
\nRMALA officers have all attempted to control the AFM
\neither by enforcing their control to elect a president
\nor attempted to remove them if they didn’t do what
\nthey were told to do by the RMA. It wasn’t long ago when
\nRMALA used their power to remove the first International
\nRMA president so the current one be put in place to
\nmaintain their dominance.<\/p>\n
A bigger concern is how RMA’s International President
\nintends to fight his personal battle at a time when
\nhe can’t generate enough interest from the RMA
\nmembership to back his coup. He intends to use Local
\n47 influence and members money to fight what ought to
\nbe a players conference battle not a Los Angeles Local
\nbattle. Are Local 47 officers encouraging the RMALA
\nby supporting them? Or are they one and the same?<\/p>\n
Being a lifetime professional recording musicians I am
\npersonally disgusted by these actions. By design Los
\nAngles has chosen to operate to serve itself at the
\nexpense of others. The immediate power is contained
\nby very few who chose to influence the many
\nprofessional recording musicians lives in this town.<\/p>\n
If you want to be suckered down this road stay the
\ncourse. Not only will they destroy your opportunities
\nas a professional recording musician they will
\ncontinue to control all its National Recording members
\nand work exclusively through Los Angeles. And don’t be
\nfooled to let them use their players conference status
\nto gain support for their own self serving agendas. No
\nmatter where the International RMA president travels to
\nget support buyer beware. Los Angeles has a long history
\nof misleading, misrepresentation and deceit of professional
\nrecording union musician at the expense of others.<\/p>\n
——————-<\/p>\n
What were we the recording musicians standing
\nshoulder to shoulder at the last general meeting
\nthinking? The persons they were aligning themselves
\nwith were the same people that have been trying to
\nmake them obsolete for over the last twenty years.
\nAll they have done was to find another premise to unite
\ntheir own dwindling support. What were they
\nthinking?<\/p>\n
We all have been fools believing that the inside of
\nthe RMALA was for our best interest. The monopoly
\ncontinues. Sure were all concerned about our recording
\nwork that remains but the musicians you were
\nstanding along side in solidarity were the same ones who
\nhave been screwing the rest of LA for their own profit.
\nWhat is it going to take for the rest of the recording
\nmusicians to wake up and recognize you are encouraging
\nthe beast to screw you some more. Ask yourself did
\neveryone who is a recording Los Angeles musician get
\nthe call to show up at the meeting? <\/p>\n
Is the current theme to the RMALA and others in this
\ntown that our union is under attack? Or are they
\nlosing their influence. What other tactic will they
\nchose to get your support? Don’t become another dis-
\nenfranchised Los Angeles musician at the direction
\nof the people who have taken this town down with them.
\nA WOLF IN SHEEP’S clothing comes to mind. It has come
\ntime for the recording musicians to change the way Los
\nAngeles operates. It has been dysfunctional for TOO many
\nyears. We as recording musicians need to stop acting like
\nwere being lead by the good for all recording musicians. Or
\nhave you noticed like hundreds of professional recording
\nmusicians who did nothing now stand unemployed. How will
\nthey justify their actions next time when you don’t get the call
\nfor work. Or will you just be another casualty of the recording
\nbusiness? Look around there are good people out their. Don’t
\nencourage the corrupted to use your achievements to further your
\ndemise. Or shame on all of us professionals. It was a pitiful
\nsite to see people behave and be manipulated with a lack of
\ninformation to achieve someone elses goals. Wake up.<\/p>\n
———————<\/p>\n
Lenin warned, “When the train of history makes a sharp turn the
\npassengers who do not have a good grip on their seats are
\nthrown off.” The train has made that sharp turn but the
\nMusician’s Union and RMALA hold fast to policies of a bygone
\nera. Musicians are being thrown off, foreclosure papers and
\nzero balance bank statements in hand. The train is moving on
\nto other distant recording locations.<\/p>\n
Local 47 is resolute against change. It insists on the RMALA
\npolicy of “no buyouts at any time for any reason.” Fine and
\ndandy — but the world has changed. We live in a buyout
\nworld. Productions originating in LA are being recorded in
\nstudios from Hungary to Australia to you name it. There is in
\nfact a worldwide market, worldwide market norms, and the
\ntechnology in place for producers and composers to get their
\nwork done anywhere, without leaving LA. And that is precisely
\nwhat they are doing.<\/p>\n
If the union and RMA price LA out of the market who gets hurt?
\nYOU, and posterity. The question is not if the union will ultimately
\nchange its policies, it is a question of when it will finally do so. <\/p>\n
There is no way the union can oppose worldwide market forces
\nindefinitely. The longer it refuses to update policy the more
\ndamage it inflicts on local musicians and on the union itself.
\nA few months back I was “repudiated” in this forum by an
\nanonymous contributor for suggesting that the union is acting
\nlike a socialist\/communist enterprise. <\/p>\n
Well, to misquote Forrest Gump, “Socialism is as socialism does.”
\nI’m sorry, but the union is in fact behaving exactly like a Marxist
\nregime: it takes away your freedom, it serves the elite while
\npretending to serve all, it takes your money, it focuses on top-
\ndown control of the industry, it creates a price structure out of
\nsync with the marketplace, it opposes free markets, it does what
\nit can to hijack what little ritualistic democracy is left at the local,
\nand it seeks to suppress and control its own members through
\ndiscipline, threats and harassment: ideas and tactics straight out
\nof the Stalinist playbook.<\/p>\n
Is “outsourcing” good for the American rank-and-file? We
\nmusicians are outsourcing work — needlessly. The RMALA and
\nEspinosa Administration are profoundly damaging, perhaps
\npermanently, the recording industry in Los Angeles. They are
\nprotecting the few at the cost of creating a panoply of non-AFM
\nrecording locales. They are forcing globalization of the market,
\ncreating a situation that will negatively impact all LA musicians
\nfor years and decades to come. It is my understanding that the
\nRMA is the only organization in the WORLD that will not offer a
\nbuyout arrangement for film and TV, thereby creating a mass
\nexodus from Los Angeles. This needs to stop.<\/p>\n
The danger comes when one surrenders one’s liberty — in this
\ncase to an institution whose policies deny LA musicians the
\nopportunity to work while creating work in other locations
\nworldwide. Why allow a small centralized authority to impose its
\nwill on the rest of us? Are you not tired of the ‘Shut up and get
\nback on the Reservation’ mentality? It is time for change — in
\nfact change is long overdue. If this administration won’t effect
\nchange, and they manifestly will not, they have to be replaced —
\nby an administration capable of being something other than
\nRMALA puppets.<\/p>\n
Rick Blanc (please attach name)<\/p>\n
——————-<\/p>\n
The news about Sydney doesn’t surprise me. Globalization
\nis the future (actually the present). We will just continue to plod
\nalong with our heads in the sand so fewer & fewer of us can make
\na living in recorded music for film. The producers will sign the
\nnext contract with out any fuss & record the bare minimum
\nof films in LA that the contract will allow. <\/p>\n
Of the approx. 8000 members of Local 47 only a couple
\nhundred plus the RMA will ever show up to a meeting or have
\nanything to say about what’s going on. The rest of the world
\nwill continue to innovate & compete for the work that we once
\ndid the majority of, & win. We will maintain the status quo,
\nright up to the very end! <\/p>\n
====================<\/p>\n
Until next time,<\/p>\n
THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I. ADVENTURES IN NEW YORK II. AN \u201cATTACK\u201d IN THE REFERRAL SERVICE OFFICE III. ARE YOU READING THE OVERTURE? YOU SHOULD BE. IV. REFERRAL WEBSITE MEETING V. TWO BULLETINS FROM THE FMA VI. TRIVIA VII. COMMENTS ===================== I. ADVENTURES IN NEW YORK The information below has been verified by several sources in New York. Recently, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-committee-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}