Bylaws Amendments

Low Key Music

We are proud to announce the opening of the Saint Louis region’s newest orchestral retail store, Low Key Music, which is owned by (Union member) Jesse and Ken Frederickson. Low Key Music is located at 6235 North Lindbergh, in Hazelwood, Missouri. Our store is 10,000 square feet and boasts a sales floor of over 2,000 square feet where you will be able to find any accessories that you may need for your instruments. The store will rent instruments to school band and orchestra parents, as well as have a program to make very expensive and rare instruments available to rent for our local musicians as well. We will offer Alto Flute, English Horn, Bassoon, Baritone sax, Bass sax, Soprano sax, Eb Clarinet, EEb Contra-alto clarinet, BBb contrabass clarinet, Piccolo trumpet, C trumpet, Flugelhorn, Bass trombone, 4-valve euphonium, a full-size BBb tuba and an upright Bass.

These rentals will be for a one-month basis at a time and will allow some of our local musicians a chance to play a broader range of instruments for gigs with this new availability option now offered. Low Key Music will take reservations for these instruments over the phone or in person.

Low Key Music will also have a full, state of the art instrument repair department and staff to service all wind and orchestral stringed instruments as well. The repair technicians are Jesse Frederickson, J.D. Tolman (Union member) and Jess Pherson. Once we open, stop by, check out our repair department, and see our 135 gallon (largest commercially manufactured size) ultrasonic machine that is big enough to chemically flush a full-size tuba with ease. We also have a magnehelic machine for vacuum testing woodwind instruments for air leaks. We even have a skylight in the repair shop to allow for natural light to match wood stain on our strings and wood instrument bodies.

The store is set to have its grand opening this April. If you have any questions, you can call us at (314) 764-2222.

Scam Calls

In the latest from the FTC…

Calls asking “Can you hear me now?”

March 21, 2017

by

Alesha Hernandez
Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

Your phone rings and the caller ID shows a number you don’t know. You answer it anyway and hear, “Can you hear me now?” It’s a pre-recorded robocall – even though it sounds like a real person – and it’s illegal. We’ve heard from hundreds of people who have gotten calls like this.

Here’s what to do if you get a call from someone you don’t recognize asking, “Can you hear me?”:

  • Don’t respond, just hang up. If you get a call, don’t press 1 to speak to a live operator or any other number to be removed from the list. If you respond in any way, it will probably just lead to more robocalls – and they’re likely to be scams.
  • Contact your phone provider. Ask your phone provider what services they provide to block unwanted calls.
  • Put your phone number on the Do Not Call registry. Access the registry online or by calling 1-888-382-1222. Callers who don’t respect the Do Not Call rules are more likely to be crooks.
  • File a complaint with the FTC. Report the experience online or call 1-877-382-4357.

Also available with links at: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/calls-asking-can-you-hear-me-now?utm_source=govdelivery

Einstein’s Violin: The Hidden Connections between Scientific Breakthroughs and Art

Found on the Internet… and this is increasingly supported by research.

Garreth Dottin

Data Scientist | Professional Doodler | Editor of Habits and Design | Co-Founder of GrooveOtter

https://medium.com/personal-growth/einsteins-violin-the-hidden-connections-between-scientific-breakthroughs-and-art-f67a67ce8240#.b49cjrti3

What Do Unions DO?

What do Unions do for you?

“A study in the American Sociological Review, using the broadest methodology, estimates that the decline of unions may account for one-third of the rise of inequality among men.” “Take construction workers. A full- time construction worker makes about $10,000 per year less now than in 1973, in today’s dollars… One reason is probably that the proportion who are unionized has fallen in that period from more than 40 percent to just 14 percent.”

– synopsized and abridged from Nicholas Kristof’s column in the New York Times, 02/20/15 issue.

Thinking people realize that those who hate unions use the flaws of labor to justify the complete abolition of unions. This is like using the fact that some people exceed the speed limit to justify the abolition of automobiles.

Of course, “silly” provisions in contracts can be highlighted as being just that, silly. As well as “make-work,” or “profit-eating,” or “just a waste of paper.”

They are not so silly when you remember that MANAGEMENTS agreed to these rules, and these rules result from a variety of reasons – not all of which are the fault of the unions. Some are there solely because the management insisted on them, and the union agreed to them.

Four Things Every Musician Needs to Know

#1: Hobby vs. Service

Hobby: Noncommercial. Start and stop whenever you want. You don’t have to work continuously to hone it, spend time and money advertising it, or carry equipment. However, when the time, place, duration, and high quality are all specified, that’s not a hobby any more – it’s a service, especially in a business BASED on (making money from) that service.

#2: Saying No to Lousy Gigs

Try it, it’s incredible: liberating, empowering, valuable… Did you “lose” a mediocre gig just ’cause you asked for what you’re worth? WIN! Use the time you save in making more great music, busking, recording, making a video, or performing at a celebratory “we said no” house concert.

#3: No Band is an Island

We’re all in the same market, and it’s not that big. When bands devalue themselves by performing for low, zero, or negative compensation, they drag everyone else down with them, consciously or otherwise. Just ask someone who was playing in clubs in the early ’80s what whey were making, then look up “pay to play.”

#4: Exposure Kills

It’s no coincidence that the ubiquitous term ‘exposure’ refers to what kills you in bad weather – it’s generally used to get artists to work for low or no compensation in exchange for an unspecified amount of an intangible commodity of dubious value. Booking agents will freely tout their venue’s excellent exposure opportunity, yet tell you there’s no built-in draw.

Author: Jake Pegg. Coordinator, Fair Trade Music PDX
Local 99 exec board

Excerpted from Local 47’s article on Fair Trade Music, June 2012.