Episode 2: Intro to UMAW
Podcast: Critical ListeningPublished On: Tue Jun 17 2025
Description: How are musicians building collective power in a freelance economy that still worships the grind? In recent years the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers have made headlines for its work around streaming, through both the Justice at Spotify campaign and the Living Wage for Musicians Act, which the group co-authored with Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. Since these are likely to be recurring topics of conversation on Critical Listening, we wanted to go broader for this early chat. We spoke with steering committee members Joey La Neve Defrancesco and Spencer Peppet for a bit of UMAW 101: What is UMAW? Why does it exist? What are effective strategies for organizing musicians? Also covered: building power, escalation tactics, boycotts, and winning. Tracklist: Downtown Boys - Wave of History The Ophelias - Open Sky The Ophelias - Spring Grove Downtown Boys - L'Internationale Support the show and get early access to episodes, bonus episodes, and our community Discord by joining our Patreon at patreon.com/criticallistening
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