Portland Music Foundation Year in Review
Posted: Saturday, December 31st 2011
The Portland Music Foundation, founded in June 2006, spent the large part of its first year-plus of existence in finalizing its organization and the goals for that organization. In 2008, following a successful kick-off event in Oct. 2007, the organization really hit its stride, gaining 501c3 status, landing a major grant with the Maine Arts Commission, and delivering on a number of promised benefits for its membership and for the community at large. In 2009, the organization was able to focus on its primary mission, educating, inspiring and inciting its members, with much of its infrastructure in place and building on the grant-aided “Music as a Profession” series begun in 2008. In 2010, the PMF continued this educational series, making all of the content member-only, making it the biggest driver in membership acquisition. The group also added a board member, finally gave the go-ahead to a first major web overhaul, and began in earnest its outreach efforts toward the venue-owning and promoter community.
Now, in 2011, we embarked on our single largest undertaking ever, a Portland showcase at the CMJ Music Marathon, and used it to significantly raise the profile of the Portland music industry. We also did our best to make ourselves more known to the political and business community, extended our boards with new members, and reached out further to the state’s young and future musicians. All the while, we continued our long-standing educational series.
As a recap, in the 2011, the PMF has:
• Seen its membership grow from 152 members to 176 dues-paying members.
• Held seven educational seminar nights on topics ranging from how to organize your CD-release event to making the most of your out-of-town gig to a history lesson on the fiddle from virtuoso Mark O’Connor and fiddle maker Jonathan Cooper.
• Hosted a Portland showcase, with seven PMF member bands, at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City.
• Hosted, with PACA, a mayoral debate at the State Theatre.
• Created the Portland Downtown Live Music Map, which features 15 live music venues, mostly along the Congress Street corridor, and printed 10,000 of them.
• Teamed with the Maine Academy of Modern Music for a second year of the Rock Off, now called the MAMM SLAM. PMF board members served as judges and provided advice sessions to the five finalist bands.
• Teamed with the Maine Academy of Modern Music on the “Kids Are Alright” series, which ran eight Wednesdays this summer, attracting hundreds of very young music fans to watch local bands at SPACE.
• Hosted the Boston chapter of the AES for a tour of significant recording and engineering facilities in Portland, plus a little social mixing.
• Hosted a bowling mixer at Bayside Bowl attended by about 75.
• Worked to educate our membership about LD 901, a bill that would have made it illegal for people under the age of 21 to ever set foot in an establishment classified as a Class A Lounge. This could have seriously affected the all-ages music scene. With representation from the PMF and many others at the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee meeting, the committee voted unanimously to kill the bill.
• Added Mayo Street Arts and Xpress Copy as sponsors
Membership, which costs $20 annually, currently offers the following benefits:
- Free admission to all PMF-organized events, including educational seminars.
- 20% off advertising in the Portland Phoenix (contact the paper for exact rates).
- 20% off advertising at WBLM & WYCC (contact the Citadel Communications for exact rates).
- $10 off the hourly rate at The Studio.
- 10% off the hourly rate at Port Media.
- 20% off Satronen Sound services.
- 10% off all Drum Shop purchases.
- A free lesson with the Maine Academy of Modern Music.
- 10% discount on all printing services as well as exclusive PMF-only design packages at The Arm Factory.
- 20% discount on graphic design and mastering services with each duplication order at Crooked Cove Records
- $50 discount on the Portable Vocal Booth and a 10% discount on any room kit at Real Traps
- 15% discount on an entire project budget at Rocking Horse Studios
- special pricing of $2.50 per disc at Rokbird Flying Discs
- 10% off piano tuning and vinyl-to-disc transfer at Marco Polo Music
- 10% off an entire recording project with Drum Show Productions
- 10% off local-music-themed sandwiches at Mike’s Rock & Roll Deli
- Special “student” pricing for events held by Portland Ovations
- 20% off print/copy services and exclusive PMF promotion packages at Xpress Copy *
- 20% off recording time at Mayo Street Arts*
* Benefits added in the last 12 months
In addition, membership allows entrance into all PMF educational series and events, which will resume in January 2012.
• Received coverage from Huffington Post, the Examiner, 92.3 CBS Radio New York, the Wild Honey Pie, Yahoo! Music, Firstpost.com, BumperShine.com, Eardrum.com, EatSleepBreatheMusic.com, Songkick.com, FearsMag.com, Altsounds.com, the Free Press, the Portland Press Herald, the Portland Phoenix, HillyTown.com, Dispatch, and many others
Board and Leadership:
Board of Directors:
Adam Ayan, Engineer, Gateway Mastering
Jim Begley, Engineer, the Studio, Port City Music Hall
Chris Brown, VP, Bull Moose Music
Sam Cousins, Photographer
Mark Curdo, Owner, Labor Day Records; Host of “Spinout,” local and indie program on WCYY
Will Etheridge, Owner, Eternal Otter Records; Musician, Panda Bandits
Herb Ivy, Station Manager, WBLM, WCYY
Mark Lourie, Skyline Music
*Patrick May, Skyline Music; Musician, Dead Sessions
Lisa van Oosertum, CEO, Omnirox Entertainment
***Sam Pfeifle, Music Writer; Musician, the Grassholes
**Amanda Stewart, Diversified Communications
SuperFrank, Owner, Dispatch Magazine
Lauren Wayne, General Manager, State Theatre
*President; **Treasurer; ***Secretary
Board of Trustees:
Spencer Albee, Musician
Bryan Bruchman, HillyTown.com
Charlie Gaylord, Creator, Greetings from Area Code 207; Founder, Cornmeal Records; guitarist at large
Ceci Gilson, PR, 317 Main Street
Holly Nunan, Music Writer, Dispatch
Todd Richard, Musician, founder www.wepushbuttons.com
Chad Sclove, Common Good Ventures
Jeff Shaw, Founder and Executive Director, Maine Academy of Modern Music
Josh Thelin, Engineer, Gateway Mastering; Musician, Trails
Sue Tran, Founder, Portland Buy Local
Jon Wyman, Engineer, the Halo
