An interview with Ari Herstand and independent musician Adrianne Duncan.
Ari Herstand is an independent musician and blogger, the author of the best-selling book How To Make It in the New Music Business and the founder of the music business advice company Ari’s Take. Forbes calls Ari Herstand “the poster child of DIY music.”
Island City Opera’s postponement of “The Wreckers” was first announced on the company’s website, and within hours the news had spread among local opera buffs. To report this story, Classical Music Critic Joshua Kosman spoke with officials of the company as well as some of the participating artists. He also interviewed representatives of several local opera companies to put this development in a broader context.
Read MoreAn outspoken op-ed by Brendan Rawson, Executive Director of San Jose Jazz.
”California has overreached in its effort to address the challenges in today’s tech platform gig-work economy.
The live music sector, the progenitor of the term “gig” work, is being swept up by this law. The irony would be comical if it were not such a serious problem.”
Read MoreAB5 aims to codify, clarify, and grant exemptions to a 2018 California Supreme Court decision called Dynamex. In the groundbreaking court decision established in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles, the California Supreme Court found Dynamex’s workers were misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees. Both AB5 and Dynamex make it harder for companies to label workers as independent contractors.
Read MoreLast.com’s David Wagner gives a breakdown of how some jobs could change in 2020. Freelance writers, photographers, musicians, film & tv workers and more.
Assemblywoman and AB5 author Gonzalez said on Twitter earlier this month, "I have said from the day of the vote that we are continuing to work on the musicians issue. There was language that was supposed to be coming from a stakeholder group last August, but no agreement could be made. We will take on the musician issue to add clarity."
The stated intent of AB 5 was to force “Gig Economy” rideshare companies to reclassify their drivers as employees, rather than allowing them to work as independent contractors, which could destroy the company’s very business model.
Nearly all other industries which use independent contractors were also caught in the wide net.
Read MoreSince Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) into law in September, many California contractors—particularly those who work regular shifts for a single company—have shown up at rallies in support of the legislation. The new law, which will reclassify many former freelancers as employees when it takes effect on Jan. 1 next year, will grant more benefits such as paid sick leave, overtime and expense reimbursement to workers across the state.
Read MoreIf freelancers are reclassified as employees, they’ll have to trade in their freedom for structure, potentially losing their ability to set their own hours.
Read MoreOn April 30, the California Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles that made it harder for companies to misclassify workers as independent contractors. In California, the test of employment status has been developed through caselaw over several decades. Dynamex built upon the earlier Court-established test in Borello which itself evolved with the standards developed in Martinez and Ayala. The court has steadily adapted the test to capture a true employment relationship as business models, such as the use of staffing agencies and contractors, have changed.
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