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The Muse's News |
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Issue 3.0 - March 2000
ISSN 1480-6975
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I n T h i s I s s u e :
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@-- Editor's Musings
@-- Q&A with Nancy A. Reece from Carpe Diem Copyright Management
@-- Music Reviews - by Ben Ohmart
@-- Can I ask you something?
@-- Featured Article - ASCAP TEAMS UP WITH MP3.com WITH LICENSING
DEAL by Shelley Jacobson
@-- Musical Notes - Songwriting Contests & Market Info.
@-- Muse's Clues - by Irene Jackson
@-- CEO In Spotlight - John Taglieri interviews Michael Robertson,
CEO of MP3.com
@-- On Site Featured Article - An article already online for your
viewing pleasure.
@-- Classifieds & Useful Services
@-- Contact information
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ISSN 1480-6975. Copyright 1998 - Jodi Krangle. For more contact
information, see end of issue.
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website at http://www.samurai.com/ .
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Also sponsored by:
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----------------------------------------------------
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E d i t o r ' s M u s i n g s :
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Well folks, guess what? This is my 2nd year anniversary issue!
Pretty cool, huh? I can't believe I've been doing this that long.
I still love doing it too. Can't get any better than that. :-)
That said, I had to rush this issue together just a bit due to the
fact that I was out of the country with my folk group, Urban
Tapestry (we were in the UK performing at a music convention called
Didgeri Douze - and BOY did we have a great time!
http://www.inkspot.com/ut/reports/dd/ for those of you who want a
full report. That's me on the left. Allison's in the middle and
Debbie's on the right.) for about 12 days. When I
came back, I confess to having been horribly jet lagged. I'm still
waking up a LOT earlier than I used to in the morning. Ah well.
Just means I get more work done.
Turns out that this issue is fairly heavily leaning towards
information about MP3s and their impact on the market. I found it
fascinating to put together and I thank the various columnists and
article writers for their very generous support.
A few announcements to make:
First of all, I apologize to the people at the USA Songwriting
Contest as they also had their 1999 results posted last month and I
neglected to mention them in my last issue. So those interested in
seeing the results of the USA Songwriting Competition can drop by
http://www.songwriting.net/winners.html for details. There's also
information on their upcoming 2000 competition. You'll find details
about that later on in this newsletter under the Musical Notes
section.
The GGM Song Contest 2000 has posted the results of their contest
since my last newsletter, so I thought I would include them here
too. Details can be viewed on their web site at
http://www.godsgift-music.com/contest/result.html .
As always, further contest & market information can always be found
online at http://www.musesmuse.com/contests.html . Good luck to
you all!
Secondly, I'm afraid that due to lack of response (which really
flabbergasts me since I'd thought this would be something you'd
find useful - but oh well) I'm going to pull the Song Spotlight &
Critique section for now. If I receive indication from people in
the future that they'd like it re-introduced, I'll have no problem
doing that. But for now, I think it's best to quit while I'm
somewhat ahead. ;-) If you have suggestions for other additions to
this newsletter - or if you feel removing this section was a
mistake and would like to have your song critiqued (remember it
must have both music and lyrics), feel free to e-mail me at
editor@musesmuse.com . I'm always willing to try more ideas.
The winner in this month's raffle is Robert Shelter of Old Hickory,
TN. Robert has won himself a copy of Steve Gillette's *excellent*
book, SONGWRITING AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS. For those of you that
are interested, a full review of this book can be found at
http://www.musesmuse.com/1.9-December98.html#book. I highly
recommend it to all of you. My own copy is a bit dog-eared, but
well-loved. :-) Autographed copies of this book can be purchased at
Steve's web site: http://www.sover.net/~gillette .
There is another new columnist! I hope you'll take a moment to
check out http://www.musesmuse.com/shaman.html for "The
Channeling", brought to you by Shaman Sean. This section will take
a bit more of a spiritual and philosophical approach to songwriting
with a new idea to raise the levels of your creativity every month.
For a listing of other columns on The Muse's Muse, have a look at
http://www.musesmuse.com/menu-columnists.html .
The Muse's Muse Music Resources located at
http://www.musesmuse.com/links/pages/ now has over 450 fantastic
links! Thanks so much to all of you who have been adding your sites
to the resource. I hope you'll spread the word about its
existence. I'd like to make it an extremely useful resource for
everyone involved in the music industry in some form or another.
And that's about it for now. Enjoy the issue!
All the best,
--Jodi
Back to Menu
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C o p y r i g h t & P u b l i s h i n g Q & A :
with Nancy A. Reece of Carpe Diem Copyright Management
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AUDIO FILES ON THE INTERNET - THE PROS AND CONS
©2000 Nancy A. Reece. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
You may have already made a check list of your own on this issue.
For reasons that are hard to define, the issue is a passionate one
for people that love music.
All people love music, it is part of our very existence in all
cultures. The delivery of that music has entered the 21st century
in the form of compressed digital audio files. Real Audio(TM),
Liquid Audio (TM), MP3 (TM), even .wav and .au, not to mention the
every increasingly exciting "streaming" technology, are all
familiar forms of this delivery.
When independent songwriters record their material and own
the sound recordings as well as the composition copyright, they
have the opportunity to decide if the benefits of the promotion of
that material outweigh the demand for the product in a commercial
sense.
It can and has been, a wonderful idea to give someone a sample of a
product for free as part of the selling process. If you provide
your music for listeners in this way, I believe it is just good
business. The thing that seems to snag the copyright owner in the
making of this marketing decision is the lack of understanding
about what the product actually is.
Most independent musicians that write their own material and own
their own recordings think of that finished CD of 10-15 songs as
the product. You should be thinking of that CD as a compilation of
products. Each composition and each sound recording is its own
entity. One 10-song CD is really 21 different products!
This paradigm shift of thinking helps explain why I feel so adamant
about providing only portions of a song for promotional purposes
instead of the entire recording.
I support any copyright holder's right to give away their
intellectual property if they so choose. What must be considered
is whether or not you have all of the rights. Did you co-write the
song? Is there a record label that actually owns the sound
recording, not you? If you have another party as your publisher or
if you as the publisher have an administrator, then they must be
the ones that issue these rights.
I have attached an "Online Use License" for you to review. Each
time a request is made for one of our songs to be used on the
Internet, we issue this license. I'm sure you will find it helpful
as well.
(The "Online Use License" can be downloaded in MS Word zipped
(compressed) format from The Muse's Muse website by clicking
through to this link: http://www.musesmuse.com/BLANKONL.zip or in
PDF format by clicking here: http://www.musesmuse.com/Blankonl.PDF)
--Nancy
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New Questions & Answers for February 2000 can be found at:
http://www.musesmuse.com/pub-february00.html
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*****
Carpe Diem's owner and president, Nancy A. Reece has been
involved in the music business since 1983. She was the president
of an independent advertising agency for eight years as well as a
successful personal artist manager for nine years. She
represented the careers of several recording artists and
songwriters including those with EMI, Zomba and Liberty Records
as well as Benson, Starsong, WoodBridge, Temple Hall and N'Soul
Records. She also represented, for a number of years, a Grammy
and Dove nominated record producer. Reece has won awards of
excellence in print magazine advertising and has been named as
one of 2,000 Notable American Women (1995) as well as being
listed in the International Who's Who of Professional and
Business Women (1993). She was also named Cashbox Magazine's
Promoter of the Year (1989).
**If you would like to ask Nancy a copyright or publishing
question for our continuing Q&A section, please send your e-mail
to nreece@musesmuse.com. She can't guarantee she'll get to all of
the questions, but she'll certainly try.**
Back to Menu
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M u s i c R e v i e w s : by Ben Ohmart
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Stephen Venuti - Trouble
10 songs in the folk zone. The 1st song has to do with what sort of
memories we keep; how even the bad ones are saved when there are so
many memories we've made. It's a slightly sad story song that makes
me regret all the people living who lived through the 1960s and had
so much excitement and optimism for the world they were creating.
And look what we've got now.
Then again there are happy acoustic guitar songs like '47 Reasons',
which Is about movin' on, but the way it's presented, you don't
think it's a Bad thing. This guy keeps going on, not because he's
running away but because home's a long way away, that's all.
45 minutes and good café stuff. Sounds like a live recording, esp.
the lead vocal, whether it is or not, so that sometimes the voice
seems to be the only out of place instrument. But if you're in love
with live music but are too snowed under to get to your local book
store for a singer-songwriter fix, grab Stephen's cd and smile.
stevevenuti@folkzone.comwww.folkzone.com/stevevenuti
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OTHER NEW MUSIC REVIEWS SINCE LAST MONTH INCLUDE:
Drew Barrett - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-barrett.html
DB - http://www.musesmuse.com/mvev-db.html
Joel Pelletier - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-pelletier.html
Angie Paris - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-paris.html
Billy Rawlett - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-rawlett.html
Dean Freeman - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-freeman.html
F.M. Smith - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-fmsmith.html
Christina Fasano - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-fasano.html
Marina - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-marina.html
Tomas Michaud - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-michaud.html
Hunter Payne - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-payne.html
---------------
******
Ben Ohmart has had 100s of stories and poems in zines and
journals, and had 4 plays produced last year. His lyrics will be
on 2 CDs this year, 1 a gothic album, the other a rock album.
He's currently writing films, with hopes of having one done in
Malaysia soon, and is also trying to break into the prison of
television. He's white, 26, single and loves British comedy. He
lives in Boalsburg, PA, and enjoys watching rabbits eat his
garbage. Contact him at: ohmart@musesmuse.com .
**Ben has kindly consented to do music reviews for this
publication and also for The Muse's Muse itself. If you have an
independently released CD or tape that you'd like to get
reviewed, send it off to: Ben Ohmart, P O Box 750, Boalsburg, PA
16827 or drop by his Music Reviews web section at
http://www.musesmuse.com/musicreviews.html for more details.**
Back to Menu
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C a n I A s k Y o u S o m e t h i n g ?
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In order to get to know you a little better, I'm going to take this
opportunity to ask you a bit about yourselves. First off, this
will help me get to know what you're looking for in a publication.
Secondly, it'll help me figure out something about the demographics
of this newsletter since I would like, at some point, to have the
web site and newsletter pay for themselves. :-) So I'm going to
ask you one or two questions per issue, and I invite you to take a
few moments from your busy schedules to send me a reply. You don't
have to make any comments or anything - though I invite them if
you'd like to send them. Just put an "x" beside the answer of your
choice, copy and paste what's between the dotted lines into an
e-mail to demog@musesmuse.com, and voila! No names will ever be
published. I'm just after percentages here. So here goes:
<------------------Quote from below here------------------------->
What is your gender?
[ ] Male
[ ] Female
What best describes your songwriting experience?
[ ] Amateur Songwriter
[ ] Part-Time Songwriter (no songs picked up by artists)
[ ] Part-Time Songwriter (songs have been picked up by artists)
[ ] Full-Time Songwriter
Any comments you might have about the newsletter
(if you'd like to make some):
<------------------------Quote above here------------------------>
Thanks very much, guys! I appreciate your help and support. Now
on to the rest of the newsletter. Sorry for the interruption.
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F e a t u r e d A r t i c l e :
ASCAP TEAMS UP WITH MP3.com WITH LICENSING DEAL
- by Shelley Jacobson
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I just finished reading some exciting news about ASCAP teaming up
with MP3.COM and thought you guys would be as interested as I was.
I'd better describe ASCAP just in case there are some readers that
aren't familiar with their services.
ASCAP is the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
which is a Performing Rights Organization.
ASCAP'S main job is to protect its members by licensing and
distributing royalties from the public performances of their
copyrighted works. What that means is this: ASCAP pays its
members royalties owing to them from any public performance. Ex...
If you write a song and record it onto cd, you will probably belong
to a performing rights society such as ASCAP, BMI,
SOCAN (a Canadian PRO that I belong to). If you expect to cash in
on royalties you must belong to one of these organizations
otherwise you lose out if your project receives rotation (air
play) from radio stations or royalties on public performances when
you perform your material. This also covers television, concerts,
shopping malls, and now - I'm so excited!!! - it is starting to
cover web sites.
ASCAP which is one of the world's largest performing rights
organizations has teamed up with MP3.COM. MP3.COM has agreed to
take a comprehensive ASCAP music performance license which allows
unlimited interactive performances on the MP3.COM site. What that
means is protection for us - the writers' and creators' of the
works played on MP3.COM. We can now expect to see royalties from
our material that is played on the MP3 station and material that is
downloaded.
An interactive ASCAP "radio channel" will be available shortly at
the MP3 site. It will be programmed by ASCAP and will feature the
musical works of ASCAP writers and artist/writers.
ASCAP and MP3.com will also be co-hosting music showcases and
educational workshops on line and off line. They hope to make
talent development skills available to a large audience.
I belong to a Canadian performance rights organization called
SOCAN. I was wondering if I would also be covered with these
changes, or if I would have to switch on over to ASCAP in order to
benefit from the licensing changes.
I was advised that any changes made with BMI, ASCAP etc. in
reference to licensing, would carry over to the other P.R.O groups
since some of the P.R.O groups cover each other. Ex..In Canada
SOCAN collects royalties on my behalf, but in the states, BMI
collects for me.
From my viewpoint after speaking with my artist representative at
SOCAN, the P.R.O groups seem to follow in step with one another. I
guess I'll find out shortly....I'll let you know if I run into any
snags!
This is an amazing step forward to those of us who choose to use
the MP3.com site as a marketing tool to distribute our material.
We can now expect to see money distributed for Internet music
performances.
Hats off to ASCAP and MP3.com for achieving such a ground breaking
development. Cheers guys!
******
Shelley is an award winning singer/songwriter who is currently
receiving airplay with her powerful rock cd entitled "1000 Miles".
She has written and recorded with Earl Merrick (Roger Whittaker's
touring guitarist 1986) and is writing material for her 2nd cd with
various songwriters over the internet including Toby Darling, Rick
Paul, Ricky Lee Ponder, and Harriet Schock. She is currently
studying songwriting with Pat Pattison from the Berklee College of
Music and has her own publishing company, "Right Track Music
Publishing" (SOCAN), that represents songwriters worldwide. The
url is: http://www.winningpages.com/righttrack
You can listen to her audio clips and order her cd at
http//www.shellsong.com.
Back to Menu
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M u s i c a l N o t e s : Songwriting Contests & Market Info.
In the interest of conserving space, I will only be including
changes to this listing in this newsletter. All other contests
and market information that have already been listed here, are
displayed at http://www.musesmuse.com/contests.html &
http://www.musesmuse.com/markets.html . Please check there
regularly for updates!
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STATE SONG PROJECT MUSICAL COMPETITION
The State Song Project (SSP) is gathering composed renditions of
the official songs of the fifty U.S. States. The Competition is
open to everyone, worldwide. The Competition is divided into three
(3)parts. The first part began on January 1, 2000. It is focusing
on the 24 official state songs in the public domain.
The end result will be a Volume I compilation album. The SSP is
offering $25,000 in cash (24 $1,000. prizes and an overall $1,000.
prize) and a continuing royalty. The submission deadline is
October 31, 2000. The sheet music for all 24 songs and the royalty
agreement are available from the SSP for a $5.00 (USd) shipping and
handling fee from: STATE SONG PROJECT/Box 349/East Amherst, New
York 14051. For more information please go to:
http://www.statesongproject.com/
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THE SIERRA SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL
is happy to announce that our 2000 songwriters competition is now
open, and will remain so until May 31st. Festival dates are July 29
& 30, at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds in Sonora CA. Our prizes
include showcases at these exceptional California music festivals;
Fire on the Mountain, High Sierra, Millpond Traditional and Napa
Valley. We're looking for new songs (no pre-released material), so
sharpen those pencils. Please review the competition guidelines at
http://www.sierrasongwriters.com/ or request a hard copy by emailing or
calling us.
Performing artist this year are: Doodoo Wah, David Plumb, Blue
Shoes, Mary Coppin, Paul Kamm & Eleanore MacDonald, Blah Blah Woof
Woof, Joy Eden Harrison, Margo Hennebach, Tony Kaltenberg, Paula
Joy Welter, David Charles, Eleni Kelakos, Matthew Lee, Carla
Ulbrich, Rebecca Riots, the Previously Lost Dogs, Cactus Bob and
Prairie Flower, & Dale and Marilyn Barcellos.
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PORT FAIRY FOLK FESTIVAL -- LIVE ONLINE IN 2000
The Port Fairy Folk Festival, held during the long week end in
March (10 - 13th), proudly announces the introduction of the Hot
Spot Internet Café and "LiveOnLine" 2000 to the festival for the
Year 2000. Chairperson of the PFFF Committee, Mr. Bruce Leishman,
explains, "This exciting festival initiative will include a state
of the art interactive festival web site jam-packed full of live
audio and video footage, interviews, still images, artist
chat-room, festival comments and reviews, links to artists' sites.
The web-site will showcase the events of the festival "as they
happen" using Microsoft's Windows Media (a major sponsor) to
web-cast selected events throughout the festival on to the World
Wide Web." The website is expected to attract over 1 million visits
to the site before during and after the festival. To get involved
just go to www.portfairyfolkfestival.com, follow the webcast link
where you'll find timetabling of online events. By doing this
you'll be a part of something quite unique. More Information is
available from the website (currently undergoing redesign):
http://www.portfairyfolkfestival.com/, or email: ianmc@ansonic.com.au.
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TEXAS ARTIST LOOKING FOR SONGS:
Tanya Poe is seeking adult contemporary songs with a pop / r & b
/ jazz influence for her first album project. She is a singer with
strong vocal skills and a wide range.
Mail demos to
Tanya Poe
2104 E. Anderson Lane #725
Austin, Texas 78752
Follow up by email only
tpoe@mailcity.com
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NEWS FROM THE USA SONGWRITING COMPETITION:
1999 WINNERS & 2000 COMPETITION INFORMATION
1999 winners list is out, the complete list can be viewed at:
http://www.songwriting.net/winners.html
The 2000 Songwriting Competition begins! The grand prize has been
increased to US$50,000 in cash and merchandise! This marks the
largest prize ever to be awarded to a winner in songwriting
competition. Judges include representatives from Warner/Reprise
Records, Walt Disney Music Publishing, SONY Music, Peer Music and
Tommy Boy Records. For more information: http://www.songwriting.net/
SONGWRITERS SHOWCASE AT SXSW
USA Songwriting Competition will feature the top 4 performing
songwriter acts at SXSW, on Saturday March 18, 2000 at The Cue
Lounge (409 Colorado St. 9.00 - 11.00pm). Acts include Settie
(Iguana Records), Joel Cage, Adrianne and Mary Coppin. Do come to
for our booth at SXSW (booth number 141), receive giveaways and
more.
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NEW YORK MUSIC & INTERNET EXPO COMING SOON!
March 3, 4, 5, 2000
The New Yorker Hotel Grand Ballrooms
Eighth Ave at 34th Street, New York City
Doors open: 10:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Tickets on sale now and at the door (if not sold out in advance)!
DOOR PRIZES WORTH OVER $60,000 including over $25,000 of Internet
Cash from InternetCash.com, Custom CD Labelers from MultiVision,
over $30,000 worth of software from ByteAudio.com, and more!
For more information on how this expo can help you with your music
career, drop by the web site at www.newyorkexpo.com . Tickets can
be secured at the bottom of that page or by going to
www.newmediamusic.com/ushop/ . Tickets are $50 for a three day pass
and $20 per day per person for those who can only attend the event
for one or two of the days. But hurry - attendance is limited and
the tickets are going fast! If you're serious about promoting your
music career, this is one conference you don't want to miss.
Attention all bands, performing artists and songwriters:
Make sure to bring your demo CDs and tapes to the Expo.
Attendees will be considered for performances at future events.
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THE GGM SONG CONTEST 2000 RESULTS ARE OUT
Check http://www.godsgift-music.com/contest/result.html
or http://www.godsgift-music.com/contest/ for details.
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THE BELHAM VALLEY RECORDS SONGWRITING CONTEST
A new songwriting contest will be launched in March 2000. The
Belham Valley Records Songwriting Contest is open to songwriters
and lyricists worldwide. Songwriters of all ages and genres of
music are eligible to participate in the contest which features a
low entry fee and the biggest cash purse of any existing
songwriting contest! Grand Prize: $50,000. cash, Second Overall:
$20,000. cash, Third Overall: $10,000. cash. The contest will have
twenty individual music categories, with cash awards of: $2000.,
$1000., & $500. Entrants retain all rights to their songs. BVRSC
will produce a CD of contest winners to be distributed among the
music industry. As March 1, 2000 you can visit the contest's
website at: http://theartscontest.com/ for complete information,
contest entry form & rules. You may also send a SASE for an entry
form to:
TheArtsContest.com
P.O. Box 12367
Lahaina, Hawaii
96761 USA
For further information and sponsorship opportunities, please
contact: Carrll Robilotta, Director of Marketing BVRSC
email: BVRmusicnews@webtv.net , Fax: 808 669 5719
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LAYER III CONFERENCE & FESTIVAL
On the behalf of the Layer III Conference and Festival, we are
proud to present our conference and festival to held at
Jacksonville, Florida June 22 through the 25 of the year 2000. The
Conference is to be held June 23 to the 25. The conference is about
the music industry and where it is going on line as well as off
line in the near future. It is open to the independent artists
through the national known record labels artists, as well as the
general public. The conference is going to be a three day event.
The conference will cover topics of the music industry, promotion,
gigs, press kits, and more.
The festival part is for the bands (unsigned and independent labels
musicians)that wish to play for this conference. The festival is
going to be a four day event with all styles of music to appeal to
anyone and everyone. To be held at the Jacksonville Fairground in
Jacksonville, Florida June 22-25, 2000. The Fairground can hold up
to 50,000 people with one main stage.
We are looking forward to this event and the future events to be
held here. Please contact me if you are interested in either events
for speakers or sponsorship. Thank you for you time.
E-mail: layeriiicorp@usa.net
Phone: (904) 278-6986
Web Site Address: http://www.layeriii.iwarp.com/
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ONLINEROCK IS A WEB-BASED COMMUNITY FOR MUSICIANS, MUSIC
PROFESSIONALS & DIE-HARD MUSIC FANS:
Visit OnlineRock and build your free Web site, post classifieds
on our musician's 'sounding board,' learn about the latest music
gear, recording technology and more. OnlineRock's mission is to
empower musicians so that they can promote, distribute (and soon
sell) their own music to fans anywhere in the world. Drop on by
http://www.onlinerock.com/ when you get a chance.
(You can sign up for a free web site with OnlineRock directly
through The Muse's Muse!
Have a look at http://www.musesmuse.com/onlinerock-form.html )
Back to Menu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
M u s e ' s C l u e s : by Irene Jackson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The way I see it, there are about 5 or 6 stages of
songwriting...from the first impulse to express something, through
the need to have those expressions heard by others, to (for some of
us) the desire to make this our vocation. If you'd like to have a
real sense of what it's like to be a "nobody" trying to get heard
by the "somebodies"...check out this site:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/9650/
"You're in your car listening to the radio which is tuned to your
favorite Country radio station. A song comes on. You hum along. The
song is simple. You're thinking 'This is easy. Anybody could write
this stuff.' "
These are the opening few lines of an excellent 3-part article
called "The Ooh Factor" by Dan Kuchar on his experiences in and
around Song Camp 201, a songwriting conference put on by NSAI
(Nashville Songwriters Association International) every year in
Nashville. While I have not personally attended this camp, I have
chatted with many songwriters who have, and who count it as one of
the best experiences they've had as songwriters.
But most of the article is set up in the form of a diary, as Dan
takes advantage of being in Nashville by setting up appointments to
pitch some of his songs to publishers and song pluggers. This is
the REALITY, man! This is what songwriters go through...the
sometimes brutal, sometimes downright bizarre world of getting your
songs heard.
Not everyone is writing with the idea of pitching their songs to
artists, publishers and pluggers, but this article is a basic
primer as to what it would be like to try it. Do you have what it
takes? :-)
******
Irene Jackson is a performing songwriter from Victoria, BC in
Canada. Aside from writing, recording and performing, she also
maintains a website for songwriters that includes tips, articles
and more links of interest. Her latest CD "Motor Scooter" has
had attention everywhere from Japan to South America, and a new
release is due out sometime in 1999.
Songwriting Tips: http://www.irenejackson.com/tips.html
Homepage: http://www.irenejackson.com/
Songs on MP3:
http://www.mp3.com/artists/20/irene_jackson.html
Back to Menu
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C E O I N S P O T L I G H T : Michael Robertson of MP3.com
(by John Taglieri)
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Hi there! I hope everyone is well and your music is getting all the
attention it deserves. Did you practice your instrument or write a
song today? Well, after you are done reading my article, as well as
all the others on the Muse, get to work!!!
Last month (** John's column is located at
http://www.musesmuse.com/musicformats.html **) I spoke of the three
main audio programs and how they help independent songwriters and
musicians. Not too long after I wrote that article, I received an
email from the CEO of MP3.com, Mr. Michael Robertson. It seems that
the RIAA has decided to sue MP3.com, saying that it is detrimental
to artists and their protection. The actual plaintiffs in the case
are five of the biggest record distributors. They are seeking to
stop MP3.com from allowing downloads. They also have a problem with
the new "My MP3.com" program that was launched by the site.
As Mr. Robertson stated in the email newsletter, My mp3.com is
essentially a virtual CD player service which CD owners can use to
listen to their CDs from any Net connected computer. They simply
load their CDs into the system using the free "Beam-it(TM)"
software or buy CDs from a retail partner. They can store, manage
and playback any of their songs in any order they wish.
The catch to My MP3.com is the fact that you have to own the music
you are putting up on the system. You have to either have bought a
CD from a retailer or buy one from an online retail partner of MP3
who sends MP3.com a digital receipt for the sale in order to upload
it to the system. So basically, you are just putting music you've
already paid for in a place where you can access it easily,
anytime, from any computer that's web connected. You can not upload
or use other MP3 files on this system*it will not accept them. The
process and the program are designed to give people more access to
their own music, thereby encouraging more CD sales, since you can
listen more.
Mr. Robertson was kind enough to take the time to answer some
questions for me regarding MP3.com, the technology in general and
the suit that has been brought against them.
J.T.--How long have you been CEO of MP3.com?
M.R.--Since its founding, roughly two years.
J.T.--Where were you before MP3.com and how did it come about that
you became the CEO?
M.R.--MP3.com is the 3rd company I have started. It's been a
challenging position growing MP3.com from literally 2 people to now
about 300.
J.T.--What's the biggest effect you have seen MP3 technology have
on the recording artists of today?
M.R.--It's provided new tools to market their music, reach their
fans, sell product and generally have more options when making
career decisions.
J.T.--How has it benefited independent artists differently than
major label artists? Not necessarily your site, but the technology
in general.
M.R.--It's allowed any artist to get their music out to the world.
This has blown open the doors of diversity and allowed artists to
reach a global audience to grow their following.
J.T.--Why is the RIAA & all of the companies involved bringing MP3
to court?
******
This interview is continued and can be viewed in its entirety at:
http://www.musesmuse.com/musicformats-int-1.html#newsletterBack to Menu
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" O N S I T E " F E A T U R E D A R T I C L E :
How to turn Shaking Knees into a nice Vibrato
by Don Bray
http://www.musesmuse.com/shaky-knees.html
If you experience stage fright, you'll breath a huge sigh of relief
when you read this article. First of all, you're not alone!
Secondly, there's a way to turn those nerves to your advantage.
Have a look at this article to find out how.
Back to Menu
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C l a s s i f i e d s & U s e f u l S e r v i c e s :
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THE SONGWRITING EDUCATION RESOURCE
Stop by the educational songwriting website run by professional
songwriters Danny Arena & Sara Light. Features include, numerous
songwriting articles, songwriting courses, discussion board, free
classifieds, email and much more. Coming soon: our web classroom
where you'll be able to take our songwriting courses over the
Internet! - http://www.craftofsongwriting.com/
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SONGLEADS/SONGPITCH
http://www.alanpublishing.com/
SongLeads - professional tipsheet for songwriters regarding who's
looking for what songs around the world. All the majors use this
one. SongPitch - will do all the work for you by developing a
professional demo package and submitting your song(s) to our
personal contacts in the industry. Check it out at our website:
www.alanpublishing.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NEVER OFF KEY MUSIC IS OFFERING ALL MUSESMUSE READERS $15 OFF
($65 regular price, $50 with special) on any phone consultation.
Just mention the sitename when you make the appointment.
Call (858) 259-8831 or e-mail ellen@neveroffkey.com.
For more information visit out website at http://www.neveroffkey.com/
-----------------------------------------------------------------
DISCOVER SHAREWARE MUSIC MACHINE and explore the a world of
software which will help make writing and recording your songs a
breeze! Featuring over 2100 software titles to freely download as
well as more than 2000 discussion forums, Shareware Music Machine
has software for musicians of all kinds. For MIDI sequencers to
guitar effects to hard disc recording to the latest sound
players, head to http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/?muse
=================================================================
CLASSIFIED RATES: US$25 Max. 7 lines, where a line =
65 characters including spaces and punctuation. All contracts
must be prepaid. Write to: editor@musesmuse.comBack to Menu
=================================================================
C o n t a c t I n f o & C r e d i t s :
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Jodi Krangle ..................... EDITOR
Kathryn Obenshain .....GRACIOUS PROOFREADER
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The Muse's News is a free monthly newsletter for and about
songwriters. Subscribers are welcome to recirculate or reprint
The Muse's News for nonprofit use as long as the appropriate
credit is given and the ENTIRE text of the newsletter is
included (including credits and information at the end of each
issue). Others should contact me at editor@musesmuse.com.
All articles copyrighted by their authors.
Back issues and other information will be available at:
http://www.musesmuse.com/musenews.html
The Muse's News is part of The Muse's Muse, a web resource for
songwriters: http://www.musesmuse.com/
For further information, send your e-mail to:
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The Muse's News.
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editor@musesmuse.com - To submit articles,reviews,ideas,etc.
SNAILMAIL: Please contact me first at editor@musesmuse.com
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Back issues of the newsletter can be read at Topica.com or in an
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http://collection.nlc-bnc.ca/100/201/300/muses_news/index.html
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