|
||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
| |||||||||||
|
CD Review: Amber - My Kind of World
Pop/Rock Recording Artist Amber, who has scored seven #1 Billboard Hits (and 3 more Top Tens) in her Career, including "If You Could Read My Mind", "This is Your Night" and "Sexual (Li Da Di)", is back! And she does not disappoint! "My Kind of World" marks the beginning of a new stage in Amber's career. Like Janet Jackson before her, Amber has taken complete creative "control" on this new project and the result is an artistic triumph with huge commercial appeal! The first Single "You Move Me" hit #1 on Satellite Radio Stateside and went Top Ten on the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart. The follow up Single "Voodoo" is ascending the Billboard Chart with a BULLET! Despite her success, Amber and this new CD are perhaps the Music Industry's best kept secrets. But not for long. The Artist is a fantastic vocalist and the new CD is packed with tracks that are destined to become the biggest hits of her career! Fan favorite "Sacrificial Lamb" is a wholely original take on the familiar "Declaration of Independence" theme made popular by Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive", Whitney Houston's "It's Not Right, But It's OK", Deborah Cox's "Mr. Lonely" and, more recently Alicia Keys' "Karmastition". And the Pat Benatar-esque "Just Like That" is a perfect Pop Tune that, in a perfect World, would propel the Artist back into the Grammy Spotlight for Songwriting (Cher's remake of Amber's "Love One Another" was nominated in 2004). "Just Like That" was a Billboard Magazine pick as the CD's "secret weapon". In a time when music is increasing "disposable", this CD is a keeper. It gets better and better with multiple listens and it will sound as fresh and original 5 Years from now as it does today. Amber and "My Kind of World" deserve a place in the mainstream! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Visit Amber's Official Listening Station and Worldwide Merchandise Center at http://www.Amber-MCC .com Kevin Snook is the Editor of Most Music (http://www.MostMusic.BlogSpot .com), an internet Music site focusing on Popular Music and Artists.
|
|
|
|
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. Music Licensing Music licensing can be a very confusing subject. My intent with this article is to give you enough details on what music licensing is and what are your rights to use music in advertising and / or video productions. A few months ago I was contacted by a company that was celebrating 20 years in business. They wanted to put together a radio commercial that highlighted their celebration. Their request was to use Kool and the Gangs song Celebration in their radio spot. I explained to them in order to do this they would have to obtain a licensing which would cost them quite a bit of money. This was not an option for them due to their limited budget and ultimately they told me that they "went another direction" with their advertising. If I had agreed to use this song without obtaining a licensing I would have put both of our companies at risk. It was not worth the risk just to make a sale. Beware that there are unscrupulous production companies that will do this type of illegal activity so the best protection you have is knowledge. The copyright law protects writers of music by giving them exclusive right to their music. Once a piece of music is under copyright protection it is illegal to use it without getting permission to the owner of the copyright. There are actually two types of copyrights in the United States. One is the actual copyright which is denoted with the familiar C with a circle around it. This protection is for the actual melody, lyrics and arrangement of the music. The copyright is usually owned by the actual artist that wrote the piece or their publishing company. The second form of copyright is the actual recording itself. This is denoted by a P with a circle around it. This protection covers the performance of the song caught on tape or digital media and released on CD or other media. Many times a record or production company will own this performance right. If you want to use a song in a production, you need obtain a Master Use license from the owner of the copyright and a Synchronization license (often called a sync license) from the owner of the performance of the song. The fees for synchronization licenses vary greatly. Low-end TV usage (music is playing from car radio in a scene) can cost up to $2,000. In a film, the fee may be as high as $10,000. A popular song is worth more, possibly $3,000 for TV and $25,000 for film. A song used as the theme song for a film might get $50,000 to $75,000. Commercials can get even more money. Fees for a popular song can range from $25,000 to $500,000 plus per year. The typical range for a well-known song is $75,000 to $200,000 for a one year national usage in the United States on television and radio. I think you will agree with me that that is allot of money and usually way over budget for many video and radio productions. To get around these outrageous fees, music production companies sell buyout music. When you purchase a buyout CD you do not need to obtain a licensing to use the music. You can use the music hassle free and at a much lower cost. Buyout music or royalty-free, as it applies to my products, means that for your one-time purchase price, you can legally use the music in your productions for life of ownership. All copyrights of the music remain with Zebra Music LLC. My jingle licensing agreement allows a protected area of 200 miles. By doing this no other companies in a local market will have the same jingle. Many other production companies offer a similar buy out music licensing. I would advise you to read the licensing agreements with other production companies and ask questions if you have concerns. Network broadcast and international broadcast of buyout production music is cleared through a performance organization (like BMI or ASCAP). The revenue that these songs produce when they are aired is paid directly from broadcast station licensing, NOT from you as a producer. These performance organizations then in turn pay each artist based on the amount their song or songs were aired on the radio or TV. I hope this article has cleared up any confusion or questions that you have had about copyright and music licensing. The Future for Independent Record Labels Small independent record labels are facing a different fight today to obtain a share of the music industry. The best possible means in which small labels were able to get their CD's sold vanished in 2003 when Southwest Wholesale Records and Tapes closed the doors. The ability to have their music placed in a position to be sold along the same shelves as the major record labels is becoming increasingly more difficult. The absence of competition on the shelves has generated an increase in profits for the major labels. What can smaller more nimble labels do to compete with the major labels? Art of the Recording Engineer: From Michael Jackson to Mutant Radio, Matt Forger Speaks Out Interviewed by Scott G (The G-Man) Learning To Play The Piano With Chords Learning piano chords can help you in all your piano playing. For me chords are the easiest way to play and the simplest way to embellish my playing. Closet Monsters London Spicoluk Way back in November I found myself at the Casby Awards after party trying to socialize with whomever I came across. One person who I chatted with that night was a guy named London Spicoluk, from the band Closet Monster. At that time I haven't heard of them but I remembered his name and checked out their band out of interest. How to Compose Using ABA Form ABA form is like a musical sandwich. You have the 2 slices of bread with the contrasting meat and cheese on the inside. Instead of bread and meat, you use musical materials. Perhaps an 8-bar phrase for the A section followed by a 4 or 8-bar phrase for the B section. A nice little musical sandwich. How to Buy an Electric Guitar For most of us, making any major purchase, such as a new refrigerator, or a new car, is a cacophony of options and confusion; do we want the silver one or the black one? How much can we afford to spend? Will it last over time? If nothing else, we at least know what we need these appliances to do: the microwave needs to make the food hot quickly, the car needs to get us from one place to the other without breaking down. When confronted with the purchase of a new guitar, even experienced guitarists can have trouble deciding what exactly they want and need. However, if you follow a few simple suggestions, you can make your guitar-buying experience a whole lot easier. 1. Determine your price range: you can spend anywhere from $99 to $20,000+ on a guitar, so make sure to work out your budget before you go into the store or start shopping online. Quality guitars are available at all different price ranges, so don't feel that you have to break the bank to get what you need. Repetition is the Key to Learning Something Deeply Repetition is the key to learning something deeply. It works most effectively when you are isolating a small amount of material, because the object of your focus will be more specific. Music Bytes - Tips For Saving On Professional Software For Musicians, Part I If you are outraged by the prices software giants demand for their tools, it's time to check out shareware. Small independent developers often provide similar solutions that cost three to five times less AND you get to try them before paying. An Interview with Jon Bon Jovi ? 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Cant Be Wrong The idea originated with singer Jon Bon Jovi. Jon kept upping the ante with his label and ultimately they consented to a four-CD set of essentially new material. Here, he talks about this 20th anniversery project (100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong) and the things that make Bon Jovi unique. Modal Theory for Guitar Players - Part 2 Playing the Modes How Many Guitar Chords Do I Need To Know? Guitar chords, (chords played specifically on a guitar,) differ only from other types of chords by virtue of instrument; they're simply a series of three or more notes played together. These notes don't necessarily have to be played simultaneously, however. What is Piano GHD Syndrome? Do you remember the movie, Groundhog Day? In this wonderful movie, TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) relives the same day - Groundhog Day, over and over and over again. No matter what he does, he wakes up the next morning and it is once again Groundhog Day. This continues until he decides to learn and grow. Only after he begins focusing his efforts on helping others instead of concentrating on himself does he move forward and awaken to a new day. Legal Music Downloads On July 28, 2004, French Internet access providers and music copyright owners signed a joint national charter aimed at cracking down on illegal downloads and expanding the amount of legal music tracks available online (AFP). This is the latest in a series of moves taken across the world to combat music piracy as production labels see more and more of their profits being lost to illegal downloads of music files. Acoustic Or Electronic Drums - What Is Your Choice? A debate rages on in the drumming world! You might think that the debate centers on brands of drums, or different styles of drums. However, you would be wrong. This debate centers on the use of electronic drums in the music industry. Review: Coheed and Cambria - Second Stage Turbine Blade Ever wonder what would happen if you mixed the progressive showmanship of Rush with Dashboard Confessional's emotional escapism? Me neither, but Coheed and Cambria has been described as that exact mix-up more times that I'd like to recall. While it's easy to understand the Rush comparison, with lead singer Claudio Sanchez's high-pitched vocal delivery. The emo label is a little less obvious, the band's sound may fit into the 'emo' genre, but the lyrical content certainly does not. Guitar Players...Get a Balanced Guitar Practice Diet Do you have a wide variety of things that you practice. Or do you like to binge? (You know...the type of player who practices sweep picking for a kazillion hours a day but only know three chords)! Having a balanced practice routine is essential if you want to become a versatile guitarist. If you just practice one or two things, sure you'll get great at those things...but you'll be weak in other key areas. Alternative Sales Sources for Your Music Following, is a list of alternative sources that may be interested in carrying your music for sale for their particular clients and customers, if only they were aware of your music. Musicians: What Chords Do You Absolutely, Positively Have To Know? As you probably know, there are thousands and thousands of different chords in music - everything from basic major chords to minor 7ths to 13ths to suspensions to poly-chords. Someday, you might want to learn all those chords if you don't already know them.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
