Last week during Canadian Music Week, artist and entrepreneur Blake Morgan was the keynote speaker of the 2014 Global Forum, where he discussed the I Respect Music campaign and best practices for grassroots advocacy campaigns.Video of his presentation is now available at http://youtu.be/HHt0VTli23A, and is embedded below.

As Blake explained, the I Respect Music campaign was born out backlash against the Internet Radio Fairness Act debacle in the United States, as well as artist backlash against low royalty rates paid by Pandora, but has quickly grown into a movement centered around the idea that music should be respected.
Blake told the audience that the fundamental part of the I Respect Music Campaign was that “artists should be paid for their work – and that’s okay to say!”

At the Global Forum, Morgan told the audience about the early days of the I Respect Music campaign, referencing two articles he wrote, titled Pandora Needs to Do Right By Artists, which gained coverage in TIME, Reuters, and other media outlets, and Art and Music Are Professions Worth Fighting for, which went viral and became Huffington Post’s most-read article of 2013. The article closes with a simple message: “My New Year’s resolution is to stand up more, and speak more. I respect my profession. I respect artists. I respect music.”

Blake then referenced the below tweet from Joana Marie Lor, a young artist from the Philippines, which he calls the “tweet that started it all.”

“I have something worth fighting for..” ??? @TheBlakeMorgan #IRespectMusic pic.twitter.com/pgNFwpoTls

— Joana Marie Lor (@JoanaMarieLor) December 21, 2013

Blake says Joana’s photo inspired I Respect Music’s ‘selfie’ campaign, in which musicians and music lovers to tweet a photo of themselves with a sign proclaiming #IRespectMusic. The campaign has since received support from high profile artists and fans like Patrick Stewart, David Byrne, Gloria Steinem, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Roseanne Cash, Jane Fonda, and more.

In just the first 30 days of the campaign, the campaign garnered more than 10,000 signatures to a petition urging the US Congress to extend public performance royalties on sound recordings. Blake credits the honesty and authenticity of I Respect Music as key to its success.

The video from the Global Forum is now available and embedded below; we encourage all to view it and add their support at http://irespectmusic.org/.

Global Forum attendess added their support for the I Respect Music campaign in a series of photos and tweets:

Great to have the legendary Bruce Cockburn onboard the #IRespectMusic movement! pic.twitter.com/al7SwjXQyh

— Music Canada (@Music_Canada) May 9, 2014

JUNO Award winning producer Garth Richardson (@gggarthfader) adds his support for the #IRespectMusic campaign! pic.twitter.com/xfc9tYd9E6

— Music Canada (@Music_Canada) May 9, 2014

Photo: Bruce Cockburn, @TheBlakeMorgan and @BernieFinkelste show their support for #IRespectMusic: pic.twitter.com/FAtuIGZb5l

— Music Canada (@Music_Canada) May 9, 2014

@theblakemorgan – our students showing their support for the #IRespectMusic campaign http://t.co/8I8S344Rff http://t.co/4jPWvhbhei

— Nimbus (@NimbusRecording) May 9, 2014

Join @Music_Canada in their #IRespectMusic campaign! Professional music and musicians deserve fair earnings for excellent creative work.

— CanadianMusEdAssoc (@CanadianMEA) May 9, 2014

Joe Perry and Bob Ezrin #irespectmusic @theblakemorgan @NimbusRecording http://t.co/W28Z4X6Lhg

— Nimbus (@NimbusRecording) May 10, 2014

Adding my support for the #IRespectMusic campaign-thanks @TheBlakeMorgan for a great keynote @ #CMW2014 Global Forum! pic.twitter.com/QlJmPPL5YK

— Quentin Burgess (@teamquentin) May 9, 2014

@lotcmusic joins the movement! Smart, brave, women who rock, & they respect the hell out of music! #IRespectMusic pic.twitter.com/ljy0gsZTgA

— Blake Morgan (@TheBlakeMorgan) May 11, 2014

How to successfully engage artists in campaigns advocating for their rights and the value of music has been a topic of much debate at the Global Forum Networking Breakfast. Musician David Lowery and filmmaker Ellen Seidler, two previous speakers, both explored the issue at length.

Therefore the grassroots campaign started by artist and entrepreneur Blake Morgan is a terrific case study for the 2014 Global Forum. What stemmed from the Internet Radio Fairness Act debacle in the United States and artist backlash against Pandora has grown into a movement centered around the idea that music should be respected.

In just the first 30 days of the campaign, Blake Morgan’s I Respect Music campaign garnered more than 10,000 signatures to a petition urging the US Congress to extend public performance royalties on sound recordings. The campaign, which asks musicians and music lovers to tweet a photo of themselves with a sign proclaiming #IRespectMusic, has received a lot of support including high profile artists and fans like Patrick Stewart, David Byrne,Gloria Steinem, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Roseanne Cash, Jane Fonda, and more. For more information, visit IRespectMusic.org.

What has made the I Respect Music Campaign so successful? What’s next on Blake’s radar?

Keynote speaker Blake Morgan and host Chris Castle of the Music Technology Policy blog will discuss the campaign at Canadian Music Week’s Global Forum, on
Friday May 9^th, at 9am.

The Global Forum Networking Breakfast is an invitation-only event. Music Canada is a proud sponsor.

Update: Video from the Global Forum is now available below: