Owning the Music Industry
Losing something you had loved is an awful time. Such an understatement, really, because I think heavy loss may also be a reason a lot of people are having mental health issues these days. Here are some thoughts of mine about losing one’s right to control your own music.
I had an old-fashioned red barn from the 1920’s era when I was a girl. It towered above my little, young legs and shoulders. The year was ‘85. I would crawl the ladder up to the second floor, sit during the afternoon. It was constructed with sturdy cedar planking. The sun’s speckles floated through dusty cracks. Inside the high walls and under very heavy beams, they would dance without music. It was amazing to own something as big as a barn when I was so small.
We went away from the farm, in the 1990’s, to the “big city” of McMinnville, Oregon. Then, I broke the mold and joined Scientology’s most dedicated ranks of the Sea Organization. Our blueberry farm dissolved. The next time I visited the small town where my barn had once been, it had all gone, plank by plank, sold to refurbish a recreational room in a basement.
I created the activism initiative called Human Right 27 for Songwriters, Musicians, and Performers in 2019. I am interested in the American music industry because American businesses are the legs of our country’s health. Actually, your free speech as an American is completely hindered by the usurpation of the American radio broadcast system. Such an obvious way to go about things.
In March or so of 2019, graciously, Melanie Safka gave me a very privileged entrance. She invited me to help her out. We wanted to plug back in her ability to receive earnings on her remarkable and historic live shows and studio recordings. She is the Woodstock-era platinum-recording artist, and Emmy winning songwriter, Melanie. She has about ten millions of album sales throughout her career. And I have to tell you how much I have become a fan of her unique guitar work and unbelievable vocal cargo.
The basic problem we have faced is that Melanie received no payment for more than fifteen years. At the same time, her recordings that she herself paid for, are used. When her library was digitalized and repackaged in the early and mid-2000’s, it was, around that time, also stolen. By now, it could be about $16 million or more she has not been paid, from ASCAP and movie making companies such as Netflix.
Melanie is a rare instance in the industry. She has an ability to write hundreds of utterly perfect lyrics and melodies, play the guitar, and then sing like no one you have heard before. She is one of the best live performers. Her husband, Peter Schekeryk, produced every song she wrote. He loved to handpick all of the instruments and their players. He had his favorite studios. He developed lasting professional relationships with most people.
I have come to be aware enough that if someone owned anything, and another individual or party came into possession of that same item, but without the authorization of the owner, and without any agreed upon arrangement for payment of said item, the attainment of that big or little item would be theft—in plain old-fashioned terms.
If forward time moves up, and the original thieving person or party, next, gave the stolen items away, the original fact of ownership is still intact. Hopefully, the point I am making is fairly clear. This is how my work is truly a human rights issue. In fact, it would be strange if money or power was anywhere in sight in regards to me and the goals of my company.
There are massive quantities of expert recordings sort of laying around, dying for some politician to say, “Why not keep the music fully in the possession of the people who wrote it first? What a novel idea.”
I hope you think my company is important to support. I need help these days, a lot more than it’s easy to talk about. I have been working on writing a song to solve my problems.
Written by Corinne Devin Sullivan in Willamina, Oregon
