MINUTES
Colorado Music Business Organization – Board of Directors Meeting
Sunday, August 6, 2023 – 7:00 p.m.
- Called to Order at 7:06 p.m.
- Present: Annette Cannon, Barb Dye, Todd Caron, Tracey Chirhart, Tamera Duran, Johnnie Johnson, Jamie Krutz, Tony Molina. Consultant: Clark Hagan.
Absent: David Barber (excused)
Guests: Nick Summers, Bryan Belisle, Alex Porter
C. Approval of the Minutes of June 4 and July 9, 2023: Motion: Todd; 2nd Tony
D. Treasurer’s Report:
Income received:
Memberships (PP): $ 365.00 (July 2023 – Paypal) (See Membership Report)
Songwriting Contest: $ 250.00 (July 2023 entries)
Interest on Savings: $ .02 (July 2023)
Total: $ 615.02
Expenses paid (Ck = check; PP = Paypal; BW = bank withdrawal, checking acct.):
Bank Fees for July (BW): $ 2.00 (checking fees)
Paypal fees (PP): $ 8.57 (See David’s accounting below)
Paypal Fees (PP): $ 21.00 (Songwriting contest; see below)
Google Workspace (PP): $ 18.87 (July 2, 2023)
Zoom acct. (PP): $ 17.40 (July 20, 2023)
Mailchimp (PP): $ 35.10 (July 31, 2023)
Total: $ 102.94
Paypal Fees: (0x$1.19= $0) + (9x$1.54=$13.86) + (0x$2.41=$0) + (1x$3.81=$3.81) = $8.57 || Pay pal fees for Songwriting Contest: $21.00 | Total PP Fees: $29.87
Checking Balance:$1,521.73 (as of 7/31/23)
Savings Balance: $ 754.08 (asof 7/31/23)
PayPal Balance: $1,050.82(as of 8/04/23)
Grand Total: $ 3,326.63
To be paid: 501(c)(3) – $875; T-shirts: est. cost $700; internet fees – continuing.
E. Membership Reports:
Renewed Members in June:
Supporter(s): None
Individuals: Joel Ashmore (7/31); Angela Perry (7/11);
Band(s): None
Business(es): None
New Members in June:
Supporter: None
Individuals: Dean McCall (7/28); Joe Rubino (7/27); Baggs Patrick (7/24); Joe Black (7/20); Ed Skibbe (7/20); Dawn Burns (7/14); Paul Iwancio (7/13);
Band: None
Business(es): Michael Harrington (Rocky Mountain Guitar Camp) (7/22)
Up for Renewal in July:
Supporter: None
Individuals: None
Bands: None
Business(es): None
Membership Surveys Received: 6 (Rubino, B. Patrick, Black, Skibbe, Iwancio, Robinson)
F. Unfinished Business:
- Upcoming Programs:
a. August: None: Taking August off. Tony will still run his open mic on the 27th.
- Monday, September 25th: David suggested that we ask Brian Coates (Music-Go-Round) and Mark McElwain (Soundtown) to speak on the sales of musical instruments and accessories since the pandemic shutdown – like people bought guitars to learn to play but then did they decide to return them after the shutdown ended? Barb contacted both gentlemen and they agreed to speak. The Program Committee people can contact them at (Brian Coates) bacoates@yahoo.com and (Mark McElwain) at Mark@SoundTown.us. Barb told them the PC will contact them sometime after Sept. 12th to send Zoom details and a proposed list of questions for them to answer.
Jamie mentioned he contacted Ben from a metal band KHEMMIS he knows to speak in Sept. They are writing a thesis on heavy metal market and culture. Could move to Oct.?
c: Wednesday, September 27th: Showcase night at Odde’s for DSE attendees? Nick said that Odde’s runs a trivia night on Wednesdays, starting at 7:00. Barb talked this idea over with Jim Attebery of the DSE and he would prefer that early attendees stay and support the hotel. Maybe next year?
d: Monday, October 23rd: TBD – Program ideas: Mechanical Licensing Collective; Don Rossa on Dazzle’s new space. See note at end of Agenda re: Mechanical Licensing Collective. Ben from KHEMMIS?
e. Saturday, November 18th – 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.: COMBO’s Songwriting Contest Winners Showcase at Odde’s! Already reserved! Thanks, Nick!
f. Saturday, December 9th – Time? Where? Holiday Dinner. Casa Bonita? BJ’s Brewhouse?
Program Committee’s next meeting: Tues. Aug.29 @ 6:30pm-7:30 on Zoom
2. Web & Social Media Reports – David Barber (as of 8/02/23):
a. Current Email Subscribers: COMBO has 2,446 subscribers upfrom the 2,404 reported at the July meeting. As of the 7/26/23 newsletter, we had 26% opens and 3% click thrus. Meeting reminder email on Happy Hour sent out 7/18/23. Barb added 37 sign-ups from the last three events and the open mics.
b. Twitter Account Followers: COMBO has 7,374 followers,down 38 followers from the last report of 7,412.
c. LinkedIn: 174 followers – up 2 from last month (172).
d. Google Analytics: In July 2023 there were 8,089 sessions, up 69% from July 2022 when we had 4,791 sessions. Spike on 7/7/23 (Not sure where they came from. It’s a new analytics): 1/this-american-idol-winner-will-be-the-shows-6th-alum-to-make-ncs-music-hall-of-fame/
The most read post this month was on the American Idol alum (Scotty McCreary).
e. Facebook Analytics: Followers: 1,968. Reach: 920, up 1%. Post Engagement: (no stats). New Likes: 2. New page followers: (no stats). Visits: 85%, up 33%.
Reminder – Our Facebook address is:
http://www.Facebook.com/ColoradoMusicBusinessOrganization
f. New Social Media – Threads: Nothing yet.
3. Ombudsman Program – Annette Cannon: Nothing
4. Promotion/Advertising: Barb attended the July open mic and passed out guitar picks.
5. Open Mic Night with Tony: The next date is Sunday, August 27th. The DDBN is at 2801 Tower Road, Aurora, CO 80011, 303-400-5606, one block south of I-70 on Tower Road, west side.
6. Event Spaces: Crazy Horse Bar, should be opening soon. Barb will check it out to see if it will have a space we might be able to use again (f/k/a Irish Snug). Rod Tanaka suggested that we use the North Dry Dock’s back room for our monthly general events. Discussion: No comments.
7. Team up with another non-profit to hold a joint event: Barb talked to Paul Fiorino on August 2nd about doing something with his Music Consortium. He has access to a performance space at the Presbyterian Church on 17th & Sherman and is thinking of putting on a show involving music and dance.
8. Pursue the exchange of website links: Any additions? No.
9. Pursue offering our liquor licenses out? Nothing new.
10. Other Fund-Raiser Ideas: Benefit Concert? Benefit dinner? Membership drive? Raffle? (License will cost us $100 plus we have to apply).
11. Marty Jones Suggestion for a Fund-Raiser: Barb sent a note to Marty thanking him for his suggestion but saying that we do not currently have a way that we can sell his CD. Marty replied that he does not have a physical CD for sale. Proceeds would come from downloads. Barb will run something in the newsletter about purchasing songs from Marty’s “Beer” album and how the proceeds will go to benefit COMBO.
12. Songwriting Contest: Our annual fundraiser ended August 1st. We paid the upgraded one-year fee to Dropbox of $199. Did we make enough to cover this cost? Barely.
13. New Board Members: Bryan Belisle, Alex Porter, and Nick Summers: Jeremy Grant, who found us on-line, said he would be interested in knowing more about the organization.
14. Lifetime Membership: Per the June 2023 Board meeting, it was decided to write up an official clause to add to the Minutes for future reference. Barb proposes the following clause:
The board may approve a Lifetime Membership Status for any board member who has paid their initial dues and then serves for at least one full year from the date they are approved for the board by the majority of the then serving board members. People who serve on the board would not be asked to pay dues in exchange for their time of service but they would be required to attend or help out at least at 75% of our meetings and/or events during any given year.
Discussion/revisions: First reading. A suggestion by David was incorporated above. A 2-3 year commitment was suggested to obtain the Lifetime Membership status.
15. City Records: Barb came across City Records at 1331 Colfax Avenue (across the street north of our office at the Alta Court Building). She went in and introduced herself to the owner, T-Bone. He said he’s been in that building for the last 6 months! Barb left business cards and picks. They run a free event on the second Sunday of each month to promote businesses and artists in the area. Barb added their August event to the Calendar and she will insert their poster next week. If you have any items that maybe the “houseless” could use, please feel free to drop them by City Records.
G. New Business
1. Election of Board Members: We will be taking nominations for board members at the September meeting. In October we will vote on those nominations and will elect the Officers after that vote (president, VP, treasurer, secretary).
2. Mechanical Licensing Collective:
3. Steel Guitar Show: On Sunday, August 13th – 1-7pm, anyone want to help Barb run a booth if she is able to secure a space? At Dougie G’s (VFW) at 10217 Quivas Street, Thornton.
4. Johnnie’s Podcasts: Johnnie had no report.
H. Reports
1. Youth on Record Block Party: Barb will submit a bill for the Gummies & the food for reimbursement, as well as other miscellaneous expenses she has had.
2. Tuesday, July 18th: At Odde’s. We only had 9 attendees: Barb, Dave, Nick, Brian, Todd, Bill (Brian’s bandmate), Annette, Tamera, and Ed Bisiar. There was some confusion over the Happy Hour extension and the bartenders would not honor the discount. We listened to Barb’s Led Zepp “Houses of the Holy” album and checked out the jacket’s artwork. We also listened to Sam Cooke’s album (owned by Chris Odde) and Barb told how Sam died so tragically.
3. T-Loop’s Open Mic Afternoon: Tony ran the Open Mic at the North Dry Dock on Sunday, July 30th. He had 19 adults and 6 children in attendance. Some really good musicians turned out to play. One of those attendees not only joined COMBO but they entered the song contest as well! Barb took the banners and hung up the vertical banner with Rod Tanaka’s help. The DD moved the Open Mic indoors to the back room (due to the potential for high outside temperatures). Barb passed out guitar picks to the musicians and the Welch’s gummies leftover from the YoR Block Party (the kids liked this!)
4. Movie Night With Barb: We decided NOT to run the movie at Odde’s because they do not have a proper license and we didn’t want to take a chance on them getting in trouble. Nick & Barb did find out a lot about the license in researching it. On another note: A new movie on Bob Marley will be coming out soon. Probably more of a “fiction” than a “documentary” but it looked really interesting and did stick to some facts!
5. Book of the Month: None.
I. Next COMBO Events: Tony/T-Loop’s open mic on Sunday, August 27th, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the North Dry Dock. (The Broncos game will be on Saturday night, August 26th).
J. Next Board Meeting: 7:00 p.m., Sunday, September 10, 2023 (due to Labor Day Holiday).
K. Next Program Committee Meeting: Tuesday Aug. 29th at 6:30pm
L. Adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
/s/ Tracey Chirhart
___________________________________
Tracey Chirhart, Secretary
What is The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC):
The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) is a nonprofit organization designated by the U.S. Copyright Office pursuant to the historic Music Modernization Act of 2018. In January 2021, The MLC began administering blanket mechanical licenses to eligible streaming and download services (digital service providers or DSPs) in the United States. The MLC collects the royalties due under those licenses from the DSPs and pay songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers.
The MLC has built a publicly accessible musical works database, as well as The MLC Portal that creators and music publishers can use to submit and maintain their musical works data. These tools will help ensure that creators and music publishers are paid properly.
For example, if you have music on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, etc., we likely have money for you!
We want to ensure independent songwriters and publishers are getting all their streaming money. That is why we are reaching out to establish a relationship and to be of service to you and your organization.
We’re happy to hop on the phone to run through any other questions you may have, but hopefully this helps provide some clarity.
We look forward to hearing from you!
HELENA COOK
Outreach Specialist
Office: 629-240-8400
helena.cook@themlc.com
333 11th Avenue South | Suite 200
Nashville, TN 37203