At the moment, this F.A.Q. is designed to answer questions for those artists involved in the MIRA Archive project, which has since evolved into Season 2 of Indie Frontline. It will be converted later on into a more general overview of Indie Frontline itself.
If you have questions which are not covered here, feel free to write me at; indiefrontline@wicasta.com
~ Wicasta Lovelace
[sawarp]
[sawcon title=”What is Indie Frontline?”]Indie Frontline was initially a live internet radio show and podcast which I hosted 2011-2012 on the Rhino On Air radio station. When Saint Petersburg College decided to pass on the MIRA Archive project in Saint Petersburg, Florida. I decided to revive the show as a podcast to air the many interviews I did during the Spring 2019 semester.[/sawcon]
[sawcon title=”Is this a part of the MIRA program?”]
Indie Frontline is not related to the Saint Petersburg College’s MIRA (Music Industry Recording Arts) program in any way. While the genesis of the project certainly started on the SPC/Gibbs campus as part of my association with the MIRA program, it has become its own thing. While I will always view SPC’s MIRA program with endearing fondness, we no longer have any direct association. As well, Saint Petersburg College is completely innocent of any blame if we shake the rafters or upend the easily upended. They are not involved, nor are any personnel who works directly within the MIRA program.
Long story short, the answer is "no". This is mostly definitely not a part of the MIRA program now.
[/sawcon]
[sawcon title=”So what happened with Saint Petersburg College?”]
When I was collecting material for a theoretical MIRA Archive at Saint Petersburg College, it was with the tacit understanding that I would assemble the interviews and other media into podcasts after the Spring 2019 semester (which was my last) was over. These were to be used to promote the MIRA program. There was never any official agreement. Rather, it was expressed to me that there might be a grant to pay me for my later work in this regard. All theoretical, of course.
Whatever its reasons, in the end Saint Petersburg College decided to not to move forward with the MIRA Archive in an official capacity and, for a while at least, that was that. This is all conjecture on my part, of course. I have no idea what happened with SPC or if an ongoing MIRA Archive was ever really a thing. All I know is that it was a possibility at one point, and then at another point no one was really interested in talking about it. Well… hey, man. I can take a hint. LOL[/sawcon]
[sawcon title=”If I sign a release, can I get into trouble with Saint Petersburg College?”]
You won’t (and can’t) "get into trouble" with Saint Petersburg College for being involved with Indie Frontline. Not at all. The non-exclusive release agreement you signed with SPC grants them the right to use your material to promote the MIRA program. It does not infer ownership of your materials upon them in any way, and it does not prohibit your use of those materials or granting use of those materials to others. All ownership, rights, and privileges are still retained by you.
If you have doubt in this regard, please write one of the following for clarification;
[/sawcon]
[sawcon title=”What permissions are you asking for from me?”]
Because of the way I’m going to present Indie Frontline, I’m asking folks whose recording sessions I attended and documented, and who sat with me for interviews, to grant me permission to use certain materials in a non-commercial, non-exclusive way. This will be a Release Agreement which can be signed online.
Your Music – For the most part, the only permission I’ll need from you (meaning the one thing I’ll need you to sign a release form for) is for the use of your music. The intent all along was to include students’ final mix from the Music Tech IV class in their associated podcast. However, the music release agreement you signed was with Saint Petersburg College, not me. All I’ll need is for you to sign a similar agreement with me which expressly gives me permission to include your song in your podcast episode. Naturally, the parameters will be expressly written up in the agreement, and will only allow me to use your music in that podcast episode. I will have no rights of ownership whatsoever, and will not be able to use your music in any other way other than the podcast episode itself in its audio and video forms.
Interviews and Photos – I will also be asking you to grant me permission to use the recordings of your voice as captured in the interviews I did, as well as your image as captured in the photos I took during your recording sessions. This is actually not needed, but I wanted to include it in the agreement so that there’s no misunderstanding, and as a gesture of respect.
In that regard, the reason I do not need permission to use the interviews and photos is because I am using neither for commercial purposes. Where interviews are concerned, when one sits down for an interview, permission is implied by the fact that one did the interview. As for photos, you were photographed in a public forum (i.e. the MIRA recording studio or the SPC Radio live room). You do have certain rights regarding both the interviews and the photos when it comes to monetization; i.e. compensation if I were to sell those materials for a profit. Of course, I have no intention of doing so. In other respects, these works are considered my own, in that I am the writer/host who conducted the interview, and the photographer who took the pictures.
All that said, you have my assurances (and this will be explicitly written into the release agreement) that if I do seek to monetize these materials at any point in the future, it will only be with your consent and I would be required to ask your permission.
[/sawcon]
[sawcon title=”What’s in it for me?”]
The best reason to do this is that it’s free promotion. You will be featured on a podcast episode dedicated to you, which will be released in both audio and video forms. This will help to tell your story in some small way, and it’s another way to draw attention to your work.
The audio version of the podcast will be distributed on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Spotify, Alexa, Google, and many more. The video version will be posted to YouTube and will include many of the awesome photos of your awesome recording session(s). So a lot of people may see it.
In short, your podcast episode will celebrate you, and it will exist in several forms which you can embed on your web site and share on social media. Also, since this was an actual interview, so you can list it in your promotional materials,[/sawcon]
[sawcon title=”When will Season Two be released?”]Season Two is expected to release its first episode on July 7th, 2019.[/sawcon]
[sawcon title=”When will my episode be released?”]I’ve just put together a schedule for releasing episodes, from July 7th, 2019 to October 20, 2019, and will post it soon.[/sawcon]
[/sawarp]
