Next month at Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University, the Future Music Coalition will host the fifth annual Future of Music Policy Summit. The Summit, a three day event taking place on Sept. 11-13, will be attended by representatives from the music, law and technology (yes, even us lowly bloggers) sectors and focuses on the critical issues facing the music industry as it tries to incorporate new technologies into it’s traditional business structure.

Over 500 participants and 100 panelists are expected to attend and tackle issues as diverse as over the recent Grokster ruling by the Supreme Court, NY Attorney General Elliot Spitzer’s payola probe and possible changes to the Copyright Act in regards to licensing. Panel topics include Is Digital Distribution a Good Deal for Artists?, How To Promote and Sell Your Music Online, Ethics of Contract Negotiation and I Am The DJ: Podcasting, Webcasting and Blogs. There will also be two concerts at local venues in conjunction with the conference, both on Friday, September 9th. The Iota in Arlington will host Jon Langford performing Executioner’s Last Songs at 6 p.m. and later that night Last Train Home & The Hackensaw Boys will perform at the 9:30 Club. Both of these shows will have tickets for sale to the general public.

Scheduled panelists include Bertis Downs, advisor/manager of R.E.M., Shawn Fanning, Co-founder of Snocap, Derek Sivers, President of CD Baby, Hank Shocklee, music producer and founder of Public Enemy and Slim Moon, Owner of Kill Rock Stars Records. Keynote addresses for the Summit will be delivered by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA). Here is a full list of panels, the full list of panelists and general registration info.

Topics like these may or may not excite the average iPod user, but this event provides invaluable information to bands and musicians that might help them get a better understanding of the music industry and how best to use it to their means. To this end, the FMC has made it very easy for local musicians to attend the Summit free of charge. All you have to do is go here and register and you too can rub elbows with everyone involved. DCist will be in attendance (an possibly participating in a panel) and we’ll bring you a full review.

Filed Under: 9:30 Club, attorney general, baby, bloggers, blogs, CD, CD Baby, club, court, dcist, dj, events, george washington, george washington university, I Am, industry, ipod, Jon Langford, Kill Rock Stars, Kyle Gustafson, Last Train Home, law, lisner auditorium, maria cantwell, music, online, podcasting, public enemy, rock, Spitzer, stars, supreme court, technology, train, university, washington, Washington University,