Today, Mayor Mike McGinn has announced the 21 members of the music commission that will lead the Seattle music scene in the right direction. The goals and decisions made by this commission will hopefully guide the Seattle music scene to a stronger and more prominent future.
Those appointees are:
Mayoral Appointments
– Jason Finn – Musician, Presidents of The United States of America
– K. Wyking Garrett – Director, Seattle Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council/UmojaFest P.E.A.C.E. Center
– Kyle Hopkins – Head of Music Acquisitions, Microsoft X-Box/ On-Air DJ, KEXP.org
– Megan Jasper – Executive Vice President, Sub Pop Records
– Alex Kochan – Vice President, AEG Live (Showbox Venues)
– Marcus Lalario – Entrepreneur / Nightclub Owner
– Tom Mara – Executive Director, KEXP 90.3 FM/KEXP.org
– David Meinert – Owner, Fuzed Inc./National Trustee: The Recording Academy (Grammys)
– Larry Mizell, Jr. – Writer, Musician, On-Air DJ at KEXP.org
– Griff Morris – Principal, Content Licensing and Vendor Management, Amazon MP3
– Marcus Womack – Product Management, iLike Inc./iLike.com
Council Appointments
– Kate Becker – Co-Founder, Vera Project/Director of Development, Seattle Theatre Group
– Elena Dubinets – Vice President of Artistic Planning, Seattle Symphony
– Holly Hinton – Content & Online Product Manager, Starbucks Entertainment
– Jason Hughes – Co-owner, Sonic Boom Records/Owner, Sonic Boom Recordings
– Ben London – Executive Director, The Recording Academy Pacific Northwest Chapter
– DeVon Manier – CEO, Sportn’ Life Records
– Mike Meckling – President, SNMA/Co-Owner, Neumo’s and Moe Bar
– Jon Stone – Executive Director of Festivals, One Reel
– Annette Taborn – Executive Director, Pacific NW Blues in Schools
– Vacant
Commissioners will meet at least nine times per year and serve terms for three years.
To read more information on the Stranger click here
The goals stated seem a little bit vague, but I’m excited that their is a council now to handle these issues. To me, and not just because I grew up here, I have always believed that Seattle was the city of music. We created a whole entire movement [grunge period] based on the music of that time. In regards to keeping it alive, and working with business leaders, educators, and politicians that’s just great. It’s nice to work with others and gauge different perspectives, but what about the youth? Seattle music spans throughout the Eastside at teen centers too: The Old Redmond Firehouse, The Kirkland Teen Union Building, Ground Zero. It’s important that we make sure these centers have funding. I also don’t understand why shows have to be restricted to 21+. Music is enjoyed by anyone and everyone and there doesn’t need to be an age limit on it. To put it simply, there just needs to be more all-age venues then and better opportunities for musicians to reach out to their young fans and support for young musicians trying to get started in this industry. If Seattle is going to be the city of music then you better have your resources. Not only do you have to make Seattle music consistent and cohesive with what is going on now, you have to be ready to make room for newcomers.
