OLCC Victory

Local 99 scored a victory at the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) Friday, April 18, 2008 when the Commissioners voted unanimously (4 of 5 present) to changes in the minor posting rules. The new Minor Posting #VI makes it possible for minors to be present at a show if the venue has an approved (by the OLCC) control plan to keep alcohol out of the hands of minors. This has been allowed under certain conditions already, such as at a Blazers game or at the Crystal Ballroom, but this new ruling formalizes the process and opens up the all ages potential for more mixed use facilities. Generally speaking, straight up bars such as Dante’s will still probably not qualify for all age’s events.

Since June 2007, Local 99 and Cary Clarke of PDX Pop Now! have worked hand in hand on this issue. Together, we worked with OLCC staff on the rule itself, raised awareness for the potential of these changes amongst musicians, venue operators and promoters. Letter and email writing campaigns to the OLCC showed strong support for the rule, and many attended and testified at the hearings.

The rule will take effect June 1, 2008. For more information, please contact Bruce Fife at Local 99.

Notes from the “Meet with The Press” session

The meeting started with the introduction of the four panelists, Amy McCollough (WW), Luciana Lopez (Oregonian), Ezra Caraeff (Mercury) and Barbara Mitchell (Tribune). Some general questions were asked by Bruce Fife, President of Local 99. These first two sections of the meeting went for about half an hour total, during which I was signing people in and taking contributions to MEAP. I didn’t really hear much of the panel discussion section of the meeting. After the panel discussion there was a Q and A session that went for about an hour.

The questions ranged pretty widely and got varied answers from the various critics. The things they all sounded the same on were that they get a lot of press packs, cds and requests for their time and attention. They also all said that they work with a limited space constraint, so not everything that should get covered gets covered. They want everyone to understand that when they don’t get covered, it’s nothing personal, it’s usually a space limitation or that they were up against a larger act that they were going to cover. It was also echoed that if you don’t get a review this time, that time may still come, just don’t burn bridges by insulting them and then expect them to cover you.

They talked about how a creative description of your band can really help get them to a show. If they’re thinking, ‘I wonder what that sounds like’, it’ll help. They also all preferred email to telephone contact. If you are going to send anything in the mail, they suggested creativity. They all noted that those things that catch their attention are more likely to get covered. Obviously, don’t send them something that will get their attention in a negative way.

They said it doesn’t much matter if the press pack comes from the band or the agent, as long as it is professional. Also, a point was made that if you spell the name of the critic wrong, they probably will just stop reading what you’ve sent them. The point was that you should be careful and check your spelling if you want to get written about.

There was an anonymous question asked (sent in to Bruce) that was about the WW and Mercury’s covering a narrow segment of the music community. Both Amy and Ezra admitted that they are unable to cover everything because they either don’t have a writer who covers it and/or don’t have enough space. Ezra cited his space limitation as about 2 and a half pages.

One comment came from a local singer-songwriter who noted that she had gotten great reviews in both the Oregonian and the Tribune, but the WW and Mercury wouldn’t review her. She asked how to get coverage in their papers. Their responses were essentially that she should just keep trying them, but that they get so many requests to review things, that she shouldn’t be discouraged the first time. The other writers agreed. They all said that if an event or album does not get covered when it is new, it probably wont, but try again for the next album.

There was a question about whether the papers hire guest columnists to write on a given style of music. The answer from each of them was yes. They all said to be creative and professional in your pitch if you want to write for them. Luciana said that they’d recently hired a metal critic “Jason” because he’d pointed out the lack of coverage of metal acts and had made a persuasive argument to be their writer on that scene.

Overall, the meeting was very well attended (standing room only) and went for about an hour and a half total. It was very informative and we raised almost $370 for music education!

Thanks to everyone who came.
Ross

Ross Lampert
Organizer
American Federation of Musicians
Local 99

Meet with the Press

The Musicians Union, Local 99 is hosting 4 of our esteemed local music writers for an afternoon presentation and Q & A about their jobs, press releases, what they like to see, and how you might help yourself get some press.

Present at the event will be:

Luciana Lopez           Pop Music Critic-Oregonian
Amy McCullough      Music Editor-Willamette Week
Ezra A. Caraeff         Music Editor-Portland Mercury
Barbara Mitchell        Music Critic-Portland Tribune

Saturday, March 29, 2008
2-4 PM
Musicians Union Hall
325 NE 20th Ave
Portland, OR 97232

The event is free to all, though we are suggesting a $5, tax deductible, donation to the Music Education Assistance Project, a non-profit organization that provides support for Public School Music Programs.

For more info, contact the Local at 503-235-8791 or  Bruce Fife