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CD Clubs: How to Get the Best Deals Online
(1) The BMG Music Service offers the best deal you'll find -- 11 CDs for the price of shipping ($2.79 each) when you buy one CD at full club price, which is typically about $15 plus shipping. That works out to about $4 per CD. Its chief competitor, Columbia House, has an offer that works out to about $8 per CD. (2) When you join, you will receive a catalog in the mail about every three weeks, along with a postcard that highlights a featured selection in the genre you selected when you joined. You must return this postcard by the due date or the club will send you the selection. You can decline online, however, by logging into your account. This makes the process much easier. (3) If you forget to return the card and receive a CD you don't want, the clubs are good about letting you return it. But the beauty of this system for the clubs is that this happens often enough and many people don't bother sending it back. They just pay the invoice. (4) If you don't see the CDs you want in a newspaper or magazine advertisement visit the club's site to browse. Copy down the item number of the CDs into the form (some titles will not be available as free selections and this will be indicated). Also, the clubs usually do not have the latest and greatest albums until months after their release. (5) The clubs press their own CDs, which some people feel makes them inferior. But if you can hear the difference, you have better senses than most humans. (6) The clubs no longer have toll-free numbers, so the best way to contact them is by email. Always include your account number. The current phone number and email address is listed each month in your membership catalog. William Pilgrim has been a member of both BMG and Columbia House. You can read more about the clubs and their history at http://www.dealdude .com by searching for keyword "cd clubs." Copyright 2005 cc Media, Inc.
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Surf Waves With Jack Johnson Lately I've been listening to some pretty cool music by some beach bum named Jack Johnson. The tunes he plays really touch a chord within me. They are just so honest and selfless, like stories being told by a wise old palm tree that has endured countless days of peaceful monotony, and yet have also experienced the rare tropical storm with gale force winds. I decided to have a look for his website, as I have come to know that humans have written about just about anything of interest on the Internet. Beginning Clarinet: The Very Start Like starting with any instrument, beginning clarinet is a process of learning that involves both great achievement and the occasional setback. However, if the beginning clarinetist follows a few tips relating to clarinet care and clarinet playing, the success is sure to outweigh the setbacks. Piano Lessons and Perfectionism Are you a perfectionist? Does every note have to sound right before it comes out of your piano? If so, you might be cheating yourself out of the joy of music making. Most of us learned how to be perfectionists as children, trying to please Mommy or Daddy. We wanted their approval so we tried to get it right. Self-Expression Without Criticism When I was 9 years old I played the Saxophone and thought I was pretty good at it. Unfortunately, I had a teacher who didn't think so and he went out of his way to make sure I knew how he felt. Benatar and Geraldo - Still Rockin on a High Note Most people look forward to the summer months because they bring warmer temperatures, vacations, outdoor gatherings, and longer days. Those are all fine and dandy, but what really gets my fires stoked for the warm season is when the Queen of Rock (a.k.a. Pat Benatar to the uneducated) takes her show on the road. Always the dutiful parents, Pat and her husband/producer/lead guitarist Neil Geraldo wait for school to let out before beginning a tour so that they can bring their children along for the trip. Some kids get to visit Disneyland or the beach during their summer breaks; these kids get to see the country and the throngs of fans who think their mother is the bomb-diggity. Improvisation and Musical Form Do you ramble on endlessly with your improvisations? If so, good. This has its place in music making and in new age piano playing in particularly. Just listen to New Age pianist Michael Jones's music to hear an example of this kind of free-form improvisation. Born to sing, Britney Spears is as big as ever today Britney Spears was born December 2 1981 as Britney Jean Spears in Kentwood, Louisiana, USA. Piano Chords and New Age Music There are basically two ways you can compose a piece of music. The first and most traditional way is to write out the melody and then harmonize it. Some call this working from the top (as opposed to the chords on the bottom.) The second approach is where you create some kind of rhythmic harmonic pattern and improvise (or compose) the melody on top. Now, which one is best for New Age music? Top 50 Music Quotations Discover the phenomenonal complexity of music and reflect on the way it can positively influence your life with this sound collection of riveting quotes... 50 Cent More so than any other music since the blues, hip-hop is all about stories. And its stories are both criminal minded and grand, making them enthralling and unbelievable, but also making them only as interesting and convincing as the teller. That's why, despite being blackballed by the industry, without a major-label recording contract, heads still gravitated to Jamaica, Queens' realest son, 50 Cent, like the planets to the sun. 50 Cent, born Curtis Jackson 26 years ago, is the real deal, the genuine article. He's a man of the streets, intimately familiar with its codes and its violence, but still, 50, an incredibly intelligent and deliberate man, holds himself with a regal air as if above the pettiness which surrounds him. Born into a notorious Queens drug dynasty during the late '70s, 50 Cent lost those closest to him at an early age. Raised without a father, 50's mother, whose name carried weight in the street (hint, hint, dummies), was found dead under mysterious circumstances before he could hit his teens. The orphaned youth was taken in by his grandparents, who provided for 50. But his desire for things would drive him to the block. Play Piano in the New Age Style It's not what you play, it's how you play it. These words summarize the art of piano playing in general and New Age piano playing in particular. You could take 2 chords, and, if you were in the moment and in flow, communicate the utmost emotion and power. Play The Piano Like A Pro Meet the 12 Major Notes: Piano Music, Perfectionism, and Self-Expression Is your heart in the music? If so, it won't matter what you play so much as what is received through your playing. Do you still think you need to learn 43 chords to sound good or are you concerned with the joy of expressing yourself through this wonderful instrument called the piano? People who sound like they know what they are doing may indeed know what they are doing but does that mean you want to listen to the music? Beginners Guide to Music File Formats Are you confused by the various types of music file formats out there? Most of you would have heard of the popular MP3 format, but are you aware there are other alternative digital music formats like WAV, WMA, RA and MIDI? Some of these give better sound quality than MP3 (e.g. the WAV format) but also need more disk storage space. Others like WMA give file sizes smaller than the MP3 format and are more suited for portable music players. The Irish Harp The harp that once through Tara's halls the soul of music shed, now hangs as mute on Tara's walls, as if that soul were fled. So sleeps the pride of former days, so glory's thrill is o'er, and hearts that once beat high for praise, now feel that pulse no more Born into musical family, Michael Jackson is as big as ever today Michael Jackson was born Michael Joseph Jackson on August 29, 1958 (making him 47 as of year 2005) to Joseph and Katherine Jackson in Gary, Indiana. He was the seventh of nine siblings. The Jackson family was raised as Jehovah's Witnesses and practiced door-to-door evangelization. Despite being known as the cute and talented lead singer in Jackson 5, a band that he formed together with his other siblings, he is now better known for his flamboyant style and negative press. Its Jewish Music, But Is The Music Jewish? A while back I was driving along the Jerusalem highway scanning the radio stations. On one frequency, a very intense dance beat was exploding out of the speakers. I was about to move the dial some more in search of a Jewish tune when the vocalist started in. Shock of shocks, he was a heavily Hassidic singer, complete with eastern European pronunciation. And what was he singing? "Kumee oy'ree ki va oy-reich.." from 16th century Rabbi Shlomo Alkavetz' classic Sabbath poem, L'cha Dodi. Before he had began his rendition I had been expecting something like "Oh baby, the way you move with me ..."! Vintage Guitar Collectors Can Still Find Deals If you're a recent vintage guitar collector, the stories you've heard are true. You once could step into pawn shops or flea markets and find vintage Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Stratocasters for $50 to $100. True. These guitars now sell for thousands of dollars on Ebay and Gbase. An Introduction to CD Mastering While many people think that the mixing of the separate audio tracks is the final step, a recording must be mastered well in order to sound good. CD mastering is the last chance for creative input when creating a compact disc. After a disc is mastered, it can be printed, reproduced, and sold. RIAA Files Second Wave of Lawsuits The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has launched a second wave of lawsuits against users of internet2 (a specialized high speed version of the internet that makes it ideal for file sharing). By adding 20 new schools to the list, RIAA has greatly expanded the number of students involved in the case.
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