Tag Archives: musicians

TV Musicians Demand Respect from the Networks

Audience members outside of “The Late Late Show With James Corden” taping at CBS Television Studios Dec. 6, 2017, support TV musicians and call on the networks to #RespectTheBand.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 7, 2017 – Musicians working on late-night, award, and other live television shows are calling on the networks to pay band members when they appear on YouTube and network websites.

“Other performers are all paid when Jimmy Kimmel Live! streams on YouTube or other online outlets, yet musicians are paid nothing. Musicians just want to be compensated for our likeness and our music,” said Cleto Escobedo III, Musical Director of Cleto and the Cletones. “I love Jimmy, the producers, and everyone we work with. We just need to make sure the networks treat us and ALL of our colleagues fairly.” Continue reading

Who Played It Again, Sam? The Three Pianists of ‘Casablanca’

by Robert E. Wallace, Ph.D.

On a day in late May of 1942, Michael Curtiz began filming Casablanca on the Warner Brothers lot.  That day, two pianists were on set to record the flashback scene set in Montmartre1, and one of many recordings of Herman Hupfield’s “As Time Goes By.”   Later in production, three pianists were present to record the song in the scene in Rick’s Café with Sam singing for Ilsa1.  It remains an open question of just whose piano is heard playing in the film.  A popularly held notion is that Dooley Wilson’s friend, Elliot Carpenter, was responsible for these pieces in the released film.  The following detailed review shows that a studio musician, Jean Plummer, should get the credit. Continue reading

Musicians Target Offshoring to Bring Jobs Back to California

AB 1300 will expand domestic film and TV music scoring by boosting state tax credit for foreign productions  

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 13, 2017) — As California suffers an exodus of film and television music jobs, musicians are battling offshoring head-on with a new bill that would boost the state tax credit for foreign productions.

AB 1300, recently introduced by Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon, would bring the success of the California Film & TV Tax Credit Program to musicians and the scores that are an integral part of every motion picture and TV project. Continue reading

Over 300,000 Music Credits of Los Angeles Musicians to be Archived

 

ProMusicDB.org Announces Plan to Archive Over 300,000 Music Credits of Los Angeles Musicians With ‘Make Musician Credits Timeless’ Fundraiser

ProMusicDB.org announces their “Make Musician Credits Timeless” fundraising campaign, seeking support for three archiving projects that will integrate over 300,000 Music Credits of Los Angeles Musicians into the ProMusicDB.org platform.

“Music is timeless in the digital age. Therefore, the acknowledgement of the people who created and performed music should be timeless as well,” says Christy Crowl, Founder and CEO of ProMusicDB.org. “We believe that by archiving musician credits and their digital artifacts in the ProMusicDB.org platform, we are preserving a valuable piece of our culture in history, and empowering a more personal connection between the music we hear every day and the musicians that create it.” Continue reading

Notice to musicians traveling with instruments containing ivory or endangered species

banner-musical-instruments
Important notice from AFM:

Many musicians have instruments containing ivory or other endangered species material—which makes travel potentially perplexing. If your instrument contains ivory, Brazilian rosewood, tortoiseshell, or another endangered species, you will need documentation before crossing international borders. Please visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for information before traveling.

Please note U.S. federal regulations may impact instrument sales so review the guidelines if you are planning on buying or selling an instrument that may contain ivory or endangered species material.

Bows Made With Pernambuco. You do not need documentation to travel with bows containing pernambuco wood as long as these instruments do not also contain ivory or other endangered species material. This U.S. Department of the Interior letter details that finished bows made of pernambuco wood do not require documentation. Please bookmark or print this letter to make traveling easier.