Teri Nelson Carpenter (Reel Musik Werks, AIMP): "We simply can't live without music"

Teri Nelson Carpenter is the founder of California-based music publishing and rights management company Reel Musik Werks. She is also the National Chair and President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association Of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP), which represents many in the USA's independent music publishing community. Like every business, music publishing has been affected by the pandemic. Here she talks to Emmanuel Legrand about the way it has impacted her and AIMP members.

- How are you and other AIMP members dealing with this unusual situation? 
With a bit of grace under pressure I hope. While there is so much that we are unsure of, the unknown hasn’t paralyzed us. Independent music publishers are innovators and continue to be the entrepreneurs who are responsible for bringing such a diverse cross section of music to market. We are encouraging all of our writers/artists to continue to create, adjusting to remote work utilising technology, and looking at our global market in new ways. Collaboration has always been key, and so we are seeing independent publishers supporting one another during this difficult period on many fronts. At the AIMP, we are also sharing the wealth of knowledge via educational webinars that have proven to be quite helpful to so many at this time.  

- Are you satisfied with the relief measures provided by the US government and are there other specific measures that would help weather the crisis?
While there have been three different relief packages from the US government and a fourth currently being introduced, there are still too many creatives and small business owners in the music industry that have not been helped. The PPP and the EIDL Loans will help some companies, but they do not assist individual singer-songwriters, studio session players, or live musicians who don’t have a company structure. And many don’t have formal bank relationships to facilitate these loans. As independent contractors, navigating the rules around unemployment is a nightmare for artists and musicians. Because of this, we have joined with other organisations by sending letters to Congress asking for their immediate attention to the unique needs of our industry. But while we work toward government assistance, it’s very heartening how we as an industry are helping one another. There are numerous resources for those in our industry to get immediate help, such as www.musiccovidrelief.com and the Billboard Coronavirus guide for music professionals, which is updated constantly. These are just a few good references. We’re also happy to see initiatives like the NSAI’s WRITER Foundation (We’re Ready In Time of Emergency Relief) going live, important songwriter events like Make Music Day continuing online, and organizations around the world calling for support for the cultural sector.  

- How do you see the rest of the year shaping from a business perspective? 

Live music will not return anytime soon, so the pivot to digital performances is important right now. Music for audio/visual is another area that we expect should see an uptick soon as production begins again, but it won’t be at pre-pandemic levels until sometime next year. We are also quite hopeful that we will see opportunities emerge in this new normal; certainly the Peloton settlement was timely given the surge in their business with people exercising at home. The AIMP will continue to ensure that the independent music publisher plays a significant role in providing the world with great music. We have real challenges in front of us as Covid-19 has created economic hurdles that may be difficult to overcome, and of course, there’s the pure human impact and loss. Hopefully, our ability to be flexible and nimble will mean the majority of indies can adapt to these circumstances. One thing is clear: people still turn to music to help them in good times and in bad; we simply can’t live without it.