Why is music advocacy important? originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus.

We can put this under the broader umbrella of arts advocacy, which might be something you have an existing framework or reference point for. For me, it’s laser focused on music advocacy because I’m a musician myself and have worked with music in some capacity for almost 10 years. To define it first, music advocacy is the work of advocating on behalf of the interests of music makers. I like the term music maker because it doesn’t limit this work to one type of professional – in any music scene you’ve got solo artists, session players, folks in bands, songwriters, producers, engineers – and recognizes the role they all play in a thriving music community. As with any advocacy work, there is a broad spectrum – from the important work of the Recording Academy in lobbying for the passage of important legislation like the recent Music Modernization Act, to grassroots work that feels more in line with what I do – and all of it plays an important role in finding solutions for pressing issues for our music community.

I think that music advocacy is important because I hold a fundamental belief that music is a necessary part of my life. It’s not a nice to have. It’s a must-have. It is something that brings me joy but also provides a vehicle for emotional connection and expression, something that helps me navigate my own life, the helps me cope, something that connects me deeply and viscerally to the fabric of humanity. Because I feel this way, I believe that music advocacy – fighting to make sure that the voices of music makers are heard and that the challenges they face in making a fair living from their art are addressed – is absolutely imperative. This is not to suggest that music makers can’t advocate for themselves – they certainly can, and do. But if I can bring my talents to bear to develop solutions and fill gaps for the music community, I can and should do that. Selfishly, because of how I feel about music, there is a very clear connection for me with the work of music advocacy to improving my own quality of life.

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