Latest news with #AlligatorRecords
eNCA
a day ago
- Entertainment
- eNCA
In already precarious industry, US musicians struggle for healthcare
LOS ANGELES - In 2019, American musician Jon Dee Graham suffered a heart attack that left him "dead" for several minutes -- a scare that inspired his album, "Only Dead For a Little While." Eighteen months later he had a stroke. And now, the 66-year-old is facing his biggest health challenge yet -- and like most musicians, he's underinsured. Graham suffered an infection following spinal surgery that's developed into sepsis, and his son said he needs intravenous antibiotic treatments twice daily. But because his treatment is at home, William Harries-Graham said Medicare -- the US federal health program that insures elder adults -- won't cover his father. Harries-Graham said the hospital demanded payment upfront in the "thousands of dollars." The artist "fighting for his life" couldn't afford it, and recently launched a campaign to sell his drawings, a hobby that has become a means of survival. Graham's story is not uncommon: Many musicians confront the same health insurance nightmares all Americans do, navigating a labyrinthian system rife with out-of-pocket costs. But musicians are gig workers, which makes it even harder. Most working artists aren't rich and have variable income, in a cutthroat industry where employer-subsidized insurance for musicians is rare. Pop phenom Chappell Roan underscored the issue on one of music's biggest platforms earlier this year at the Grammys, calling out record labels for not insuring their artists in front of industry heavyweights as she accepted the prize for Best New Artist. Roan said she herself was dropped from her label and went uninsured for a time: "It was devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and dehumanized," she said onstage. "Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection." - 'Just a patch' - About a month after Roan's statement, glam punk pioneer David Johansen died at 75 years old. His death came just weeks after he had started a GoFundMe to support his cancer treatment. In 2024, Matthew Sweet, the 1990s-era alt-rocker, suffered a stroke while on tour. He was uninsured, so his management created a similar online crowdsourcing fundraiser. It's raised more than $640,000 to date to support his long-term recovery. But such crowdsourcing is a stop-gap, said Tatum Hauck-Allsep, founder and CEO of the Nashville-based Music Health Alliance that helps musicians negotiate medical bills. "In some cases, things like a GoFundMe is a great resource, but in other cases, it's just a patch. We want to find a long-term solution," Hauck-Allsep told AFP. She applauded Roan for highlighting the issue but said insurance from record labels isn't necessarily what artists want, because it could mean they need to become employees, rather than independent artists. Still, "there should be an easier pathway to health care access," she said. Bruce Iglauer, head of the blues label Alligator Records, echoed Hauck-Allsep's point, saying that artists are self-employed. "We guarantee recording budgets and royalty rates, but have no input into, or knowledge of, what other income the artists are making," Iglauer said. "They are not getting weekly paychecks from us." And smaller labels say increasingly thin margins would make providing insurance impossible: "The costs of manufacturing have gone up, physical sales have gone down. Streaming sales pay paltry sums," said Kenn Goodman, founder and CEO of Chicago-based indie record label Pravda Records. "It's just not financially feasible," he added. "I wish it was." - 'Terrifying' - Many US musicians get health care through the Barack Obama-era Affordable Care Act -- but that coverage is under threat by the Donald Trump administration, which is vying to complicate healthcare access, and perhaps eventually scrap the system altogether. That would be a "disaster," said Paul Scott, director of the Healthcare Alliance for Austin Musicians, a non-profit that helps about 3,200 musicians a year in Texas get signed up for coverage under the government health care plan. Many ACA plans still don't come cheap, but it's made a huge difference for access, he said. Jettisoning the ACA would likely mean increased prices that would prompt a lot of artists to "drop their health insurance," Scott said. "And that will be a hit to our safety net hospitals and charity care." As for Graham, selling his sketches has successfully funded his first few weeks of treatment. But his son doesn't know if that will be enough. And Harries-Graham worries about those who can't find fundraising support thanks to their fame. "I don't know what someone else would have done," he said. "They would have been yet another person who goes into severe medical debt." "That is terrifying." by Robert Chiarito
Int'l Business Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Int'l Business Times
In Already Precarious Industry, US Musicians Struggle For Health Care
In 2019, American musician Jon Dee Graham suffered a heart attack that left him "dead" for several minutes -- a scare that inspired his album, "Only Dead For a Little While." Eighteen months later he had a stroke. And now, the 66-year-old is facing his biggest health challenge yet -- and like most musicians, he's underinsured. Graham suffered an infection following spinal surgery that's developed into sepsis, and his son said he needs intravenous antibiotic treatments twice daily. But because his treatment is at home, William Harries-Graham said Medicare -- the US federal health program that insures elder adults -- won't cover his father. Harries-Graham said the hospital demanded payment upfront in the "thousands of dollars." The artist "fighting for his life" couldn't afford it, and recently launched a campaign to sell his drawings, a hobby that has become a means of survival. Graham's story is not uncommon: Many musicians confront the same health insurance nightmares all Americans do, navigating a labyrinthian system rife with out-of-pocket costs. But musicians are gig workers, which makes it even harder. Most working artists aren't rich and have variable income, in a cutthroat industry where employer-subsidized insurance for musicians is rare. Pop phenom Chappell Roan underscored the issue on one of music's biggest platforms earlier this year at the Grammys, calling out record labels for not insuring their artists in front of industry heavyweights as she accepted the prize for Best New Artist. Roan said she herself was dropped from her label and went uninsured for a time: "It was devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and dehumanized," she said onstage. "Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection." About a month after Roan's statement, glam punk pioneer David Johansen died at 75 years old. His death came just weeks after he had started a GoFundMe to support his cancer treatment. In 2024, Matthew Sweet, the 1990s-era alt rocker, suffered a stroke while on tour. He was uninsured, so his management created a similar online crowdsourcing fundraiser. It's raised more than $640,000 to date to support his long-term recovery. But such crowdsourcing is a stop-gap, said Tatum Hauck-Allsep, founder and CEO of the Nashville-based Music Health Alliance that helps musicians negotiate medical bills. "In some cases, things like a GoFundMe is a great resource, but in other cases, it's just a patch. We want to find a long-term solution," Hauck-Allsep told AFP. She applauded Roan for highlighting the issue, but said insurance from record labels isn't necessarily what artists want, because it could mean they need to become employees, rather than independent artists. Still, "there should be an easier pathway to health care access," she said. Bruce Iglauer, head of the blues label Alligator Records, echoed Hauck-Allsep's point, saying that artists are self-employed. "We guarantee recording budgets and royalty rates, but have no input into, or knowledge of, what other income the artists are making," Iglauer said. "They are not getting weekly paychecks from us." And smaller labels say increasingly thin margins would make providing insurance impossible: "The costs of manufacturing have gone up, physical sales have gone down. Streaming sales pay paltry sums," said Kenn Goodman, founder and CEO of Chicago-based indie record label Pravda Records. "It's just not financially feasible," he added. "I wish it was." Many US musicians get health care through the Barack Obama-era Affordable Care Act -- but that coverage is under threat by the Donald Trump administration, which is vying to complicate health care access, and perhaps eventually scrap the system altogether. That would be a "disaster," said Paul Scott, director of the Healthcare Alliance for Austin Musicians, a non-profit that helps about 3,200 musicians a year in Texas get signed up for coverage under the government health care plan. Many ACA plans still don't come cheap, but it's made a huge difference for access, he said. Jettisoning the ACA would likely mean increased prices that would prompt a lot of artists to "drop their health insurance," Scott said. "And that will be a hit to our safety net hospitals and charity care." As for Graham, selling his sketches has successfully funded his first few weeks of treatment. But his son doesn't know if that will be enough. And Harries-Graham worries about those who can't find fundraising support thanks to their fame. "I don't know what someone else would have done," he said. "They would have been yet another person who goes into severe medical debt." "That is terrifying." Pop phenom Chappell Roan underscored issues of health care access for musicians as she accepted a prize on the industry's biggest stage, at the 67th annual Grammy awards AFP
CBS News
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Shemekia Copeland, Chicago's Alligator Records up for Grammys this weekend
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago blues legend Shemekia Copeland is up for three Grammy Awards this Sunday, and she credits her label, Chicago's Alligator Records, for her resounding success. Copeland and Alligator Records founder Bruce Iglauer sat down with CBS News Chicago before the awards ceremony. Copeland has been nominated for Grammy Awards eight times — including three this year — but she has not won. "I'm excited. I'm always excited," she said. "You know, just to make it into the top five is pretty cool." Iglauer calls Copeland a great Grammy "bridesmaid." He signed Copeland to Alligator Records shortly after she turned 18. "Shemekia just feels like it could be her time," Iglauer said, "and you know, she's so deserving, and she's made a whole series of wonderful records, and I'm just so excited for her." It has been a great ride for both Copeland and Iglauer — the latter of whom started Alligator Records more than 50 years ago, in 1971, when he himself was 23. He started the label with a small inheritance from his grandfather. "I was operating out of a one-room apartment, sleeping on a mattress on the floor," Iglauer said, "and we've gotten a little better since then, but it's still lean and mean." That is an understatement. Alligator has become one of the preeminent blues labels in the country. It has achieved 58 Grammy nominations and four wins — the first in 1982. "When I started Alligator, for the first 10 years, all I recorded was Chicago artists," Iglauer said," and there was no need to look for other artists, because the talent pool here was so amazing and deep, and so few of the artists had been recorded, or recorded sufficiently." Over the decades, the label expanded — working with some of the biggest names of the blues. That now includes the world-renowned Shemekia Copeland — daughter of legendary blues guitarist Johnny Copeland. Shemekia Copeland was asked if there was any way to put into words what Iglauer and Alligator Records meant to her. "Oh my gosh — everything, I mean, that's where I started my career, you know. It's like he saw me in a little club in New York, and after that, there was the start of a career," Copeland said. "He took a big chance on me, you know, some young girl out of New York City." Fast-forward to today, and Copeland and Alligator are up for three Grammys — including Contemporary Album of the Year for Copeland's latest release. "Blame It on Eve." A win would not only highlight their talent, but the proud Chicago roots that run through both Copeland and Iglauer's careers. "Everything was in Chicago, and I said, 'Well, I need to have my behind in Chicago too!' and it was the best move I ever could have made. It really was," Copeland said, "and Chicago opened its arms to me and opened its heart to me, and made me one of their own, and so that's why Chicago will always be my home."
