Nothing Is Inevitable

April 1, 2026

Tina Morrison  -  International Executive Board Member and President of Local 105 (Spokane, WA)

Tension between musicians and technology has been going on since the beginning of time. Which came first, the modulating voice or the stick against a rock? Could the stick against the rock have been considered technology? What about instruments created through the centuries that emulate the sound of a voice but with different ranges, timbres, or increased technical capacity? Music making flexes, changes, and adapts to the tools available. It seems we’re living at a time in which everything is advancing at a faster and faster pace.

Keep in mind, we don’t make music for ourselves; it’s to resonate with others. There’s nothing like being in a group, band, or orchestra and really melding with the other musicians. The groove is there. Everyone is in tune with each other and playing together or off one another. The commingling of ideas, matching phrases, and conversing in sound is a truly unique form of communication that resonates with the music makers and the audience.

Different styles are created as the world becomes smaller and musicians are exposed to different instruments and rhythms. Musicians are inspired by each other, and it doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like, or where you came from. You don’t have to be able to speak to each other. Someone starts a tune and others join in and music is made.

Tensions seem to be everywhere, from advancing technology to a ridiculous and horrifying push toward isolationism. The macro is enforcing borders and building walls and the micro is creating a “new norm” for everyone to stay in their homes and stare at a screen. The movement from an interactive society to a hive of drones has been in the works for quite some time. The antiseptic, sterile, dystopian future is not inevitable, if we don’t allow it.

On the artistic side, we can make music that taps emotions and makes memories. Music brings people together to listen, dance, incite joy, feel sadness and love, and inspire action. We can fill auditoriums, theaters, and arenas with people smiling at each other with the excitement of a shared lived experience.

We have another side, which is our union. Together we can push back against the tech bros to ensure that music creators are compensated fairly. We can stand up for humanity by ensuring our legislative bodies are regulating media companies and corporations so that our intellectual properties are protected and creators are valued. We can enlist our communities to help make the concert experience available to all, not just the privileged. We need to call in our music making friends and family to join us in these efforts. Power is built one voice at a time, the root, the third, the fifth, and onward until the cacophony is overwhelming.

And on that note … hang in there and happy spring!

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