This panel kills fascists consisted of:

Jenny Toomey
Danny Goldberg
Paul Metsa
Paul Thetic
Michael Munz
Jay Rosenthal

Main question being Music as political speech: is politics the only difference between art and craft?

Favorite protest songs?
Paul
Peter Paul and Mary version of Blowin in the wind, Turn Tun Turn.
Woodie Guthry - Hobo's lullaby

Jay
Billy the mountain - zappa
They aint making jews like jesus any more
Run to the shelter - Sweet Honey and the Rock

Paul Thetic
At least i'm trying what the f*ck have you done -Minor Threat

Danny
Rich man's way - Steve Earle
Give peace a chance - john lennon
Eve of destruction / ps sloan - Barry Mcguire

Jenny's proposition
The myth that art is not, or should not be, political

Jay
There are three categories of this political positioning.
Active politically, but material is not
Active politically, but only some material is
Active politically and all material is political


Danny
Music+Politics were so intertwined, they almost felt like the same thing
We are bogged by a modern fear that both the good and bad of 60's will happen again, given open political protest.  The youth vote is worth less than the elderly vote cause the elderly actually vote.  MTV saw .6 rating for Clinton vote episodes in 92 (700,000 viewers) while 2million tuned in for Kerry episode, with little promotion.

Pat
Spends his days using punk music to motivate people to vote.
Agrees to lack of distinction between Bush and Kerry - Coke vs. Pepsi?
Music may not be the best tool for distributing accurate information - but can be backed by other information sources: internet, publishing.

Mike
History of music and unionism in the decade of AFM and latin music / tejano
Latino musicians being paid $50 per song by the recording labels as opposed to matching union rates.  It took nearly ten years to get a congressional hearing over the labour issues in tejano music.  Example: Celina - all english music recroded was subject to professional wages, all spanish wages were straight payout below union rates.  Finally, in 2001 major latin labels agreed to AFM proposal.

Paul
Has being political hurt or helped your career? Well, the sound of four people applauding in a stadium after a political song is not enjoyable.  Political music should stand up as a musical piece.

Jay
Sex is now the biggest political issue.  The taliban silenced musicians as well.
Who is in charge inside the beltway affects all musicians.  You have to fight for your rights to express yourself.

Danny
Dixie chicks sold $49 million dollars worth of tickets after the outrage.  So being political does not necessarily hurt your career.  Its important to mix political speech with musical vision.  If the music is too didactic, too preachy, you risk boredom.  Asked why Howard Stern, who has been vulgar for 20 years, was suddenly pushed off the air after he criticized Bush.