We talked not long ago about the demise of Bluegrass Now, a fine print monthly which closed the doors about this time last year after 18 years in publication.

Now it appears that Sing Out!, the venerable folk music mag, is approaching its 60 year anniversary in a very tenuous state. The economic difficulties of print publishing in today’s market have hit them hard, and without the help of the many friends of the magazine, their fate is uncertain.

Co-founder Pete Seeger has written an open letter to the folk music community about Sing Out’s condition, asking for immediate financial help.

“Over the years, Sing Out! has grown, changed formats several times, and added songbooks like Rise Up Singing to its catalog. It’s created a resource center collecting music, books and photos, reaching back through our community of music and its revival. We even do a weekly radio show that you might be hearing on a local radio station.

Today, in these changing and challenging economic times, Sing Out! is struggling to survive. As we head toward our 60th anniversary next year, we need your support more than ever. I ask you to consider making a contribution to help Sing Out! get through this very difficult year AND to ensure another 60 years of sharing songs that we need to learn and sing.”

He also created a video appeal…

Sing Out! has an online donations page set up to accept whatever assistance loyal readers and supporters of the magazine may be willing to offer.

Wired magazine’s Epicenter blog recently ran a story about an impending time bomb written into the Copyright Act of 1976.

Their explanation of the legislation is that copyrights for sound recordings are soon going to be up for grabs.

If an artist or author sold a copyright before 1978 (Section 304), they or their heirs can take it back 56 years later. If the artist or author sold the copyright during or after 1978 (Section 203), they can terminate that grant after 35 years. Assuming all the proper paperwork gets done in time, record labels could lose sound recording copyrights they bought in 1978 starting in 2013, 1979 in 2014, and so on. For 1953-and-earlier music, grants can already be terminated.

In other words, artists will soon be able to take control of sound recordings produced before 1978. This could mean good things for artists positioned to take advantage of such a change, and it could possibly intensify the financial pressure the major labels are feeling due to declining CD sales.

I don’t see this being a huge issue for the bluegrass industry, though some important, first and second generation bluegrass music could find its copyright changing hands. Sound Recordings from artists such as Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers, even New Grass Revival and The Seldom Scene, could be affected. We could potentially see the release, into the digital world, of music which the labels, for one reason or another, have chosen not to reissue.

I’m not a lawyer, and I certainly don’t understand all the ins and outs of the copyright law, but this article at Law.com contains a paragraph that seems to indicate a sticky mess could insue.

As of now, songwriters and performers — as well as producers, engineers and anyone else who helped create a song — can send a notice for songs created between 1978 and 1984.

In the end, who will own the copyright? I don’t know, but if you’re an artist it would be worth your time to speak with an entertainment lawyer concerning this issue, and what your rights may be regarding sound recordings you made in the 70’s and 80’s.

Just a reminder that applications for Leadership Bluegrass 2010 are due this week. Completed applications must be received by Friday, November 13, and forms can be found on the IBMA web site.

This 3 day program (March 9-11) brings together people from a wide swath of the bluegrass world for a unique, guided, networking and educational experience.

As they describe it officially…

The purpose of the Leadership Bluegrass program is to pull together a cross section of people with exhibited or potential leadership qualities into a network of learning and communication. The results will foster a broad-based understanding of the total needs of the bluegrass community, which will help participants better prepare to determine the goals of the particular organization, company or group in which they choose to serve.

Leadership Bluegrass seeks to explore bluegrass music and its place in the larger world of entertainment through:

• A systematic study of the business of bluegrass, its institutions and organizations, their needs, problems and resources
• Exposure to a wide variety of current music leaders and notable persons
• Encouraging independent thinking, fresh perspectives and approaches. It is not intended to “indoctrinate” or pass on the current leaders’ views and ideas.
• Acquaintance with relevant issues facing bluegrass, their history and future possibilities
• Involvement of all related facets of the music industry which impact bluegrass
• High quality interactive sessions for the participants.

The fee for Leadership Bluegrass is $300 for IBMA members and $370 for non-members. Candidates are selected competitively, so acceptance is not guaranteed.

Find all the pertinent details online.

Monday morning, I was honored to participate in an IBMA seminar entitled State Of The Industry: Open Forum. It was moderated by Archie Warnock, and the panelists also included Brandi Hart of The Dixie Bee-Liners and Ronnie Reno, founder of Blue HighwaysTV.

Each of us spoke briefly about ways we have seen the industry change over the past 5 years, which led to some very interesting questions and comment from the folks in attendance. One remarkable thing about World Of Bluegrass is seeing prominent artists, record company heads, print publishers, major festival producers, entertainment attorneys and PRO reps sitting in the gallery taking it all in – and giving some back as well.

I sensed a major change in the pulse of the group from when a similar discussion was hosted two years ago. At that time, the notion of free distribution of recorded music raised the hackles of most of the artists and songwriters, whereas now they are eagerly seeking other ways to monetize their music. It is a very unsettling time in the music business, with long-established models falling left and right, and I’m encouraged to see our little piece of the industry actively embracing and researching new methods and modalities.

The audio from this seminar will be made available, as will all held during this week, shortly after the World Of Bluegrass concludes. Information will be found on the IBMA web site.

Ted Lehmann was also in the audience, and he has a number of photos on his site.

After the session concluded, I had a chance to speak with Alan Munde about the discussion. Alan was also in attendance, and suggested that he had the perfect solution for monetizing free content.

“What I would do is have a form they had to fill out before anyone can download free music online. I would have them put their address, when they are least likely to be home, and where they hide their spare key.

Then I can burgle their homes.”

Better head back to the chalkboard, Professor Munde.