Managing Music Artists – My Tweets from 2013 NMS

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2013 New Music Seminar

M A N A G E R S      M O V E M E N T 

(June 10, 2013)

The second session of the New Music Seminar I attended was the Managers Movement.  The speakers were “Blue” Williams (President, Family Tree Entertainment), Jake Gold (President & CEO, The Management Trust), Lee Trink (President, Dare Might Entertainment), Robert Fernandez (CEO, Famous Artist Music & Management), Dean Raise (Artist Manager, C3 Management), Jason Foster (Owner, We Are Free) and  Steve Rennie (Founder, Renman Music & Business).  I did not look at my program so I did not use their names in my tweets.

What follows are my tweets about the panel.  Text in parentheses were my opinions and not necessarily those of the speakers.  The italicized text that follows some of the tweets below are my comments on specific points of the panel.

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1.  Good songwriting panel. If artist works a song hard & will make the song, it’s ok for songwriter to part with 10% publishing #nms13

2.  Linda Ronstadt was an artist content w/being an artist. She didn’t seek part of writer’s publishing. #nms13 Many aren’t this ethical

(Elvis Presley was mentioned as one who would record and expect a piece of the publishing pie in return.  He was forgiven by the panel because “HE’S ELVIS,” and if St. Elvis of Tupelo (not their term for the Deity) records your song, your career has gotten a big bounce.  It was and will always be OK to give Elvis some of your publishing in exchange for the favor of recording one of your songs.)

3.  Songwriters need to work on their weaknesses by seeking out those who can help/instruct them in their weak area. (Yea to education) #nms13

4.  Mali Music is getting tons of praise from many on this panel. #MaliMusic #nms13

(MaliMusic were thrilled that I hashtagged them and started a correspondence with me.)

5.  At Managers discussion – it’s not a new business, it’s still getting clients message out but with many new ways. #nms13

6.  Many more albums are being made but just because they can be made doesn’t mean they should be made. #nms13

7.  Record label functions still need to get done but they can be done by non-record people. #nms13

8.  @Nigeria17 @TeamMaliMusic I look forward to getting to know your music better. Thanks for the mention. #nms13

9.  Band doing it on their own. Should they work with label? Depends on what label can do for them. #nms13

10.  How to get band to “next level?” TOUR nonstop. (That’s simple & ages old advice.) #nms13

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11.  Bands have more power as “walls of distribution come down.” Labels’ power has deceased. (Obvious in 2013.) #nms13

12.  Labels look to and respect managers more now. Managers have to work harder, therefore be more select about who to manage. #nms13

13.  Separate deals in each country in order “to keep everyone on their toes.” Management advice in dealing with bands. #nms13

14.  Politics of labels can subjugate bands’ and labels’ interests. (A constant truth) #nms13

15.  Labels should care about a release rather than “take a shot in the dark.” #nms13

16.  One should manage a band one likes b/c one can get money back, but not time. #nms13

(Although perhaps this is “touchy feely” or touchy feely to the extreme, it is sage advice.  Wicked sage as we say in Boston.  One can make money and “get back” money but even with scifi, Google and tech, we still cannot get back time.  Yet.)

17.  Managers need to get fans attentions to do more than just click. How can you get them to spend time & attention? #nms13

18.  90% of band’s & manager’s money comes from live shows & merch. That has been and will always be. (World without end, amen.)

19.  Hip hop world is complete opposite of pop in generating revenue – they can’t do as many live dates. Turn to clothing etc lines. #nms13

20.  Labels are clueless about marketing to those over 30 and have given up (spoken by hip hop manager) #nms13

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21.  What are best new means to promote bands? Twitter, social media etc. but it is a struggle with destroying all mystery. #nms13

(The hip hop manager made a great point – that one can overdue and over-share via social media, and that this can turn the artist into an average, everyday uninteresting person.)

22.  Keep mystery of a band. Have good relationships but maintain some mystery and distance. How to have mystery but familiarity? #nms13

23.  Artistry, celebrity and fame have become blurred. As one learns everything about an artist, than the artist becomes just average. #nms13

24.  Many artists more likely to post photos on Instagram than use Twitter. Photos are better, easier and maintain some privacy. #nms13

(Instagram is “instant” (duh) and harder to do wrong than using too many words (ha ha ha) of Twitter.  140 characters have hurt and nearly destroyed careers.  My wild guess, based only on my own work and observations and not any formal study, is that Instagram has not hurt as many artists and celebrities as Twitter, even if a picture tells a thousand words.)

25.  Be very mindful of what you post on social media sites as the social media companies own everything you post. #nms13

(Facebook has one the clearest “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities” (SRR) that is tantamount to a terms of service (TOS) or end users license agreement (EULA).  It’s always “fun” to have even more acronyms enter the public discourse, isn’t it?  I expect to see a DWWS (Do What We Say) agreement or from the film, “Shawshank Redemption,” YABTM (Your Ass Belongs To Me) agreement.)

26.  Very good quote of Seth Godin – important to direct email as you own that and better financial results. #nms13

(I have found the study of technology, social media, mobile devices, and communication, as well as the business and legal issues surrounding these nouns, much more helpful in understanding the present state of the music and entertainment industry.  I’ve always believed that outsiders bring more objectivity, creativity and original thinking and actions to a field.  Famously, it took an outsider, Steve Jobs, to show how a digital music market should work.)

27.  Managers want to keep labels from owning artist’s social media. (I hope managers can succeed but artists have messed this up) #nms13

28.  Do not find managers by looking on Facebook. Referrals are good but it is hard to find a manager. Start “working in your scene” #nms13

29.  Artist needs to be patient when trying to find a manager. Build your name by hard work. Book yourself, etc. #nms13

30.  (Be suspicious of manager who seeks out and wants to manage an unknown artist. I see this happen frequently. Had to write this.) #nms13

(This was not discussed but I have seen unscrupulous manager-wannabes, publishers and others go after young, naive artists and bands.)

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31.  Don’t solicit a manager by Twitter. Very lazy. (Hip hop manager who hates the laziness and Twitter for this.)

32.  Artists sometimes think the hard work was making the album. But the hard work comes next (touring etc). #nms13

33.  Why should a manager care more about the artist’s career than does the artist? #Lazyisbad. #nms13

34.  “Do you have 10 years of NO in you?” Before you will get recognized? You = The Artist #nms13

35.  Most big artists began playing to empty rooms. (Cream on their first US tour.). #nms13

36.  In music there is very serious ADD. “The Internet is wafer thin.” One needs to play shows & get attention. #nms13

37.  Led Zeppelin never played on TV because their manager knew they wouldn’t be very good on TV. #nms13 #Knowyourstrengths

(Led Zeppelin didn’t look good on television?  Have you ever seen a more unhappy Eric Clapton and Cream on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour?  They are lip and instrument syncing to Anyone For Tennis?, one of their three (3) breakup songs from their farewell “Goodbye” album.  This silly yet horrifying YouTube clip ends just as a few frogs are about to begin croaking the words, “Cream, Cream, Cream.”  Unfortunately the frog croaks have been cut from this upload but I have the original and will attest under oath that even the frogs are unhappy about their croaking performance with Cream on a Sunday night television comedy show.)

38.  Manager needs to be able to leave ego at the door. Carry equipment, keep learning, do every job – this is vital! #nms13

39.  “The Truth shall set you free. By that I mean the truth will get you fired!” (in management, spoken by hip hop manager) #nms13

40.  “We are not dimmer switchers. We are lights on, lights off!” #nms13. Managers’ need to be decisive.

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41.  Best artists do not have a backup plan. (Tough advice for many.). #nms13

42.  Kid Rock had his ass kicked for 10 years – lots of failure. “He start at the ass end of it.” – Kid Rock’s manager #nms13

43.  Again, to become a manager, do every task imaginable to learn the nuts and bolts and what needs to be done. #nms13

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My next post will be my final comments on 2013 New Music Seminar.  #nms2013

State of the Music Industry – My Tweets from 2013 NMS

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New Music Seminar

S T A T E    O F    T H E    I N D U S T R Y      P A N E L    

(Monday, June 10, 2013)

On Monday, June 10, 2013, I attended the first full day of the 2013 New Music Seminar.  I brought my iPhone 5 and my iPad.  I had not planned on tweeting the event or even one panel but things changed and I started to tweet.  It was not the best environment for tweeting because…

There was no wifi for the audience.  No doubt, that could have been a factor in preventing many from tweeting – why should someone use up valuable metered data just to tweet about an event?  Tweeting is still far from the norm at a music industry conference – by that I mean only a minority of an audience or participants in music industry events tweet about the events at the event.

The first session I attended was the first of the conference – State Of The Industry.  The speakers were Frank Cooper (Global CMO Consumer Engagement, Pepsi Co), John Sykes (President, Clear Channel) and Rio Caraeff (CEO, Vevo).  I did not look at my program so I did not use their names in my tweets.

What follows are my tweets about the panel.  Text in parentheses were my opinions and not necessarily of any of the speakers.  The italicized text that follows some of the tweets below are my comments now on specific points of the panel or additional points of mine.

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 Twitter

1.  At #nms13 at the New Yorker Hotel. Much better conf venue than Webster Hall but no still wifi. Little Korea & Hell’s Kitchen, however.

(I speak at every IBS Radio & Webcasting Conference in NYC each year.  One of the benefits is that the NYC IBS conferences are held at the Hotel Pennsylvania which is at the edge of Little Korea.  To me, this means getting to have great bibimbap for lunch.  The New Yorker Hotel is at 34th & 8th, a block or two from Little Korea.  And Hell’s Kitchen includes my favorite NYC Brazilian bar, Brazil Grill, three blocks from where I used to live.)

2.  State of the industry w/speakers from PepsiCo, VEVO and Clear Channel. Frank Cooper of Pepsi not using slides – yea! #nms13

(I have a strong bias toward the non-music companies and how they use and promote music as well as how they better engage with their customers via music, video and mobile.  Music conferences need to have a strong non-music component.  In fact, the non-music companies shouldn’t really be called “non-music,” should they?)

3.  Value comes from connecting w/brands & ppl who’ll add value to fan experience. Pepsi’s aspiration. #nms13

4.  NMS used to take place on the upper East Side? Glad that’s in the past. #nms13

5.  Radio is 3rd to TV & Internet for American consumers time. Radio No. 1 means to discover music – Sykes of Clear Channel #nms13

(My best way to discover music is friends, students and YouTube.  Radio, for me, comes from an app in a mobile device, or from the radio in my Acura.)

6.  #nms13 iHeart apps used soon by 200 million.

7.  85,000 online promotional mentions of Justin Timberlake album. iHeart. #nms13

8.  How to make Justin Timberlake album break out through clutter? iHeartRadio efforts – artist integration program #nms13

9.  Artist ads run for 4 weeks. iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party got 860 million impressions. #nms13

10.  CCE demonstrating extremely successful artist promotion campaigns w/iHeartRadio. Artists noticing other artists as well. #nms13

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11.  38 artists now in Artist Integration Program. #CCE #nms13

12.  Q. Where is radio going? A. Digital is small in revenue – that’ll change. Radio will have TV shows. (Of course) #nms13

13.  Mobile ads & sponsorship need to catch up with Mobile music. Mobile shift has been very fast. #nms13

14.  Product brands outside mainstream need to partner with music brands outside mainstream – Pepsi speaker at #nms13   

(Finding the right partner is extremely important – I liken that to having the right opening act for a band at a concert.  The opposite of that has happened (and sometimes been disastrous) when bands opened for seemingly unrelated headliner acts:  Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention opening for The Monkees, Jimi Hendrix Experience opening for The Monkees, King Crimson opening for Al Kooper, etc.)

(Bad brand partnerships?  Tiger Woods with any brand, for a period of time anyway;  Oscar Pistorius and Nike and any brand;  OJ Simpson… you see where this is going!)

15.  NMS and VEVO want to work with unknown and new artists according to Tommy Silverman. #nms13

16.  Lift – most successful new VEVO show, partnering with McDonald’s, to promote new artists. #nms13

17.  Breaking new artists is essential to VEVO – a mission statement of sorts. #nms13

18.  Developing R & D in a company is similar to constantly developing new artists for a music company – Sykes iHeart #nms13

19.  For Pepsi, creating/sponsoring live events is comparable to digital. Very active in international music & events. #nms13

20.  92% of Americans listen to radio every month. (Many more radios than people.) I’m surprised it is not higher. #nms13

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21.  Pepsi wants to fill spaces without interrupting listening experiences. #nms13

22.  The experiences “have to be right there.” Immediate and without effort. Pepsi, CCE etc want to fulfill #nms13

(The “immediate and without effort” is often called, “frictionless.”  Yes, frictionless is good buzz word, a cliche but accurate and one’s person cliche is another’s proud moniker.)

23.  Most ppl want to watch, some want to comment, others want to make (video) New experiences give more interactive possibilities. #nms13

(Read Lawrence Lessig’s excellent book, REMIX.  Those that want to remix are not RO – “read only.”  RO is for those who primarily engage in one-way communication.  They read, they view, they listen.  They are of a more traditional culture.  They do not interact or re-author or remix.  Those who remix/re-author, etc. are of the “RW” culture.  RW is “Read (and) Write,” i.e., interact, re-author, repurpose, etc.)

24.  One touch should replace one-click in immediacy and simplicity. #nms13

(I look forward to “one thought,” and involuntary at that, replacing one touch.)

25.  Music subscription – original albums better represent an artist’s legacy than trad sales models #nms13

26.  Give choice to consumers but how are services providing choice and being monetized?  Used to be how do we stop the Internet? #nms13

(The anti-technology people in the “content crowd,” i.e., those who pride themselves on being songwriters who hate the technology, mostly waste their time espousing a knee jerk “sue-the-criminal-bastards” strategy.  Technology and consumers (the market) always win.  Rather than bemoan, litigate and try to legislate, it is better to work together and/or find a business solution.  Study Steve Jobs.)

27.  Choices in digital seriously began with iTunes. In last 3.5 yrs, mobile has provided easy to use ubiquitous choices. #nms13

28.  Networks partnerships/relationships with carriers & their (carriers’) willingness to market music. #nms13

29.  In Norway and other EU countries, bundle with cable. Their 4G is stronger and more available. #nms13

30.  Music adds high value service to telco’s services. Economic benefit partner receives should funnel down to artist. #nms13

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31.  Customer base for telcos have not always been music savvy. Push customers creating playlists for better engaging. #nms13

32.  Plans & bundling outside USA can be daily, weekly, monthly. (That’s new to me.) #nms13

(ISP and cable service plans in this country should be much better and less costly.  We have little competition and our government does not in the slightest way assist U.S. customers in their lonely usually fruitless skirmishes with U.S. ISP’s and telecoms.  In more and more countries, Internet access is becoming a basic human right and fast speed Internet connections are becoming mandated by non-USA governments.)

33.  Create new kinds of premium products. Again, more choice is key. #nms13

34.  How will Google and Apple streaming services impact others? Other ideas – partner with Weather Channel, ESPN & non-music. #nms13

(Excellent – there are many ESPN outlets nationally and internationally, and they use a great amount of music.)

35.  How to handle Big Data? That trite term – BIG DATA – will assist in delivering better experience for listener. #nms13

36.  Winners in digital will be “those who can get to scale.” There’ll be consolidation across the industry. #nms13

37.  Investors in these companies are big media companies-gives players “superior access” into other areas. #nms13

38.  Spotify rollout strategy – in 28 countries in 4 yrs. careful to partner with right companies. Pay attention to local music. #nms13

39.  Global and local rollouts simultaneously. #GLO-CAL. #GLOCAL without hyphen. (Great expanding language). #nms13

40.  What needs to happen in US? Mass marketing. Look at how Apple does it. Non-Apple products are not well marketed. #nms13

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State of the Music Industry (and then there are data plans)

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I just returned to Nashville from New Jersey, New York & New Jersey.  Remember – New Jersey has a few things all visitors should do – spend quantity time at

Brasilia Grill

Laurelwood Arboretum and

Ramapo Mountain State Forest.

Notice I wrote “quantity time.”  All time spent at these three (3) New Jersey places is QUALITY TIME.  That is indisputable.  One never has to defend a choice to visit New York because New York often means New York City and NYC, even to a Bostonian, is crazy-great.  Two of my favorite sayings about NYC are:

“If you don’t love New York, you don’t love life.”

“I’d leave New York for the weekend but I’m afraid I’d miss something.” (spoken by a NYC resident)

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 The New Music Seminar ended on Tuesday, June 11, 2013.  NMS took place in New York City (the New Yorker Hotel) and began on Sunday night, June 9, 2013.  (Excuse my impossible-to-break habit of including the year in every date.)  I missed the opening schmooze-athon event as I always do.  It was not so that I could commemorate the

4th anniversary of my Keynote Address at the Copyright Wars Summit (“Law vs. Technology:  Embracing Not Suing New Technologies.”).

(And I don’t do self-commemoration.)  It was because I got to spend time at Laurelwood Arborteum (2).  (Click on that Laurelwood link – it’s an even better photo.).

The New Music Seminar is a conference that attempts to show what’s going on in the present-day music industry – not what certain parties WISH was going on, or LONG FOR what HAD BEEN going on, or pontificate about what SHOULD BE going on.  NMS, like a few other conferences, aspires to SAY or REFLECT what’s going on and where things are likely, or could be, headed.

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Here are a few of my thoughts – thirty-two (32) little statements – about the present state of affairs in the music industry.  And because I feel this way, I assume many others do as well.  I’d go so far as to say that these are also a few things that EVERYONE seems to know and some seemed to be saying things like this at 2013 NMS this week.

1.  Sales of CD’s have greatly diminished.

2.  Sales of recorded music have greatly diminished and usually are not central and/or supremely important to a musician’s income.

3.  Access to music is very important.

4.  Access to music (recorded music and live music) is growing in importance.

5.  Access to music means (to a substantial extent) STREAMING.  STREAMING means music is coming out of a complicated device, not the BIG RADIO found in wealthy peoples’ homes in the early 20th century, but small complicated devices that fit in a human’s hand.

6.  Access to music now means mostly digital.

7.  Access to music now means Internet access and…

8.  Access to music means mobile – it must be in your paws.  Soon it will be accessible via the implants somewhere under your skin, or the IP (intellectual property) pills you will ingest.  (And some people have Google Glass.)

9.  It is imperative that we MONETIZE…fill in the blank.  I’ll start:

10.  Monetize access to music via a desktop computer (I’m one of the few who uses these).

11.  Monetize access to music via a laptop computer (I rarely use these).

12.  Monetize access to music via a tablet (I use these everyday.  To me, TABLET = iPad but feel free to disagree.)

13.  Monetize access to music via an even more mobile device, for example a 4 or 5 inch tall, 2, 3 or 4 inch wide, very thin computer-like device filled with shiny, consistently-updated new applications (known as “apps) that also can make old fashioned telephone calls.  Many think of these devices as also being cellular phones.  I think of them as fabulous Apple or Samsung devices that provide app-access and Internet access by means of forcing the user to sleep with/cohabitate with and pay large corporations too much for favors that are very personal and intimate.  These pay-the corporations-too-much models are also known as DATA PLANS.

14.  Social media is extremely important for music artists, their music companies (“music companies” is purposefully vague and potentially very wide in scope) and their fans.

15.  It is essential that music artists as well as some of their team use social media effectively.

16.  It is essential that music artists as well as some of their team use social media to engage and interact with their fans.

17.  It is essential that music artists use social media to do more than simply promote and shout about themselves and their upcoming album, tour, video, film, public appearance, endorsement, marriage, divorce, arrest, lawsuit, settlement, community act, etc.

18.  It is essential that music artists are authentic and true to themselves when using social media as authenticity aka honesty is what 21st century audiences/viewers/readers expect and (usually) receive.  When a music artist is less than authentic, almost everyone detects it immediately.

19.  Social media is not a replacement for writing, recording and performing good and great music.

20.  Social media is not a replacement for playing live.

21.  Social media is not a replacement for touring.

22.  There are far more revenue streams for musicians and creators now than existed 10, 15, 20 or more years ago.  (Read the Future of Music Coalition’s 42 Revenue Streams.)

23.  Musicians are more likely now than ever to have a better-than-poverty level income.

24.  Musicians are more likely now than ever to be able to enter the middle class, even if it might be the lower middle class.

25.  Musicians now have many more tools to assist them in having their music heard.

26.  Musicians now have much greater control over the promotion, marketing and dissemination of music they perform, record and create.  (Musicians, conversely, also have the power to give away/cede their power to control as well.)

27.  It is imperative that U.S. musicians try to have their music performed, disseminated and purchased outside the U.S..

28.  It is much easier to have one’s music performed, disseminated and purchased outside the U.S. than  in the past.

29.  The U.S. is responsible for 25-35% of music performed, disseminated and purchased worldwide.

 

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30.  Technology threatens business as usual until it becomes business as usual.

31.  Music and the arts have always intersected with law, business, technology and communication.  It has always been this way.  It will always be this way. (forever and ever)

32.  The Internet is your friend.  Walk away from those who fear the Internet and technology.  Fear them (no, pity, educate and then ignore them) and not the Internet.

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In the next posts, I will discuss some specifics about the 2013 New Music Seminar.  Much of what I will relate will be done via Tweet, in fact, many tweets.  That is simply a statement relating which writing/conveying/a’-talkin’/Internet-ing tools I will use  – a neutral thing and not necessarily good or bad.  I have used Twitter since 2007 and always thought it was an important DESCRIBER of IDEAS and EVENTS.  Twitter is just they way it will be.  (I’ll stop short before I more fully paraphrase Bruce Hornsby.)

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HAPPY FLAG DAY EVE!

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The Russian Monster Fill, Bath Bombs, Tervis, Twitter + the letter “B”

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Having fun here in Nashville.  Fun party two nights ago with great friends and one of my best friends who also doubles as one of the music legends in Nashville and the USA.  If you missed that last link, here it is again.  Listen to Bill Pursell Rachmaninov Marty Robbins.  I just used “Rachmaninov” as a powerful and intrusive verb to describe what Bill does to Marty Robbins’s straightforward 3-chord country song, “Take Me Back To Tulsa” (by means of his sextuplet laced Russian monster fill).

Started out the morning at a coffee shop – the Frothy Monkey.  Then to do some business and the business for a friend.  That was fun as it took us inside the magnificent Schermerhorn Symphony Center in downtown Nashville, one of the best halls acoustically anywhere.  (I had the great opportunity to hear Peter Serkin perform Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, and a few weeks later at Schermerhorn –  Schermerhorn is a much better venue).  We made an embarrassing 7-8 minute video, starting onstage and then progressing/regressing through some backstage fancy rooms.  Fancy fancy.  I should link or upload the video to this blog but not if good sense and adequate judgment prevails.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Last night I learned about bath bombs and Tervis shakers.  The bath bombs excited my excessively girly girly friend, while the Tervis shaker we found at Bed, Bath & Beyond in mall-infested Williamson County, was a Patriots shaker.  I’ll now be able to make my Irish versions of caipirinhas here in Middle Tennessee using my new New England Patriots Tervis shaker.

Back to these are a few of my favorite Twitter things.  When the dog bites, when the bee stings.  I’m still stuck on that Mary Poppins’ song.  This time  – the letter “B.”

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Dr. E. Michael Harrington

www.emichaelmusic.com

emh2625@gmail.com

Resources:

Twitter:

My Favorite Twitter Accounts:   The letter “B”

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BBC6MusicNews

Good tweets but I’d rather they get more stiff, uptight and British.  Must BBC6 Music News like “gossip?”  Huh?  “Your music news fix, including exclusive interviews with all the big names, the latest gig news, behind the scenes insights, festival updates and gossip.”

bbosker

Insightful technology writer for Huffington Post.  I’m on her Vibrate My iPhone 5 Now list and always look forward to her articles.  And she had the wisdom to interview me once.

beatallica

Beatallica started as a concept – “what if Metallica were a Beatles cover band?”  That was brilliant and so was the manifestation of what Beatallica does  –  a brilliant parody/mashup of both groups but performed live.  I became good friends with Beatallica in my role as their expert witness.

berkmancenter

“The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University – exploring cyberspace, sharing in its study, and helping to pioneer its development.”  What’s not to love about that mission statement?

bethanysimpson

Bethany Simpson is “LA Media Director with equal interest in creativity and logic.”  And she follows me on Twitter and is a joy to read.

BigChampagne

They count, quantize and know what’s what and who’s who on P2P networks.

biggayicecream

Big Gay Ice Cream is how to

1. run an ice cream truck (trust me – I spent 3 summers as an ice cream man)

2. do gourmet ice cream

3. travel to great neighborhoods in Manhattan (what isn’t a great neighborhood in Manhattan?)

4. interact with the public by means of Twitter

5. be gay

Billboardbiz

If you have that music/music industry affliction, you have to pay some attention to Billboard and its Twitter accounts.  Damn shame when that happens.  : )

Billboarddotcom

I’ll write it again:  If you have that music/music industry affliction, you have to pay some attention to Billboard and its Twitter accounts.  Damn shame when that happens.  : )

Billboardglenn

The 3rd time is the charm:  If you have that music/music industry affliction, you have to pay some attention to Billboard and its Twitter accounts.  Damn shame when that happens.  : )

BoingBoing

Boing Boing is wicked cool –  always featuring things you didn’t know you’d love to know.  Today’s top two (2) headlines:  “Porcupine Bites Skier” and “Malls Are Dying.”  (I’m sorry to hear about the skier, but I hope the mall story is true.)

BostonSymphony

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is the world’s best orchestra.  Calm down you Chicago and Berlin types.  You’re great too but….  Where was it I grew up?  Chicago?  Berlin?  No, Cambridge and Framingham.  The Boston Symphony Orchestra was our hometown team.  Ergo, we win.

BradPaisley

Brad Paisley is an extremely-talented songwriter, guitarist, musician (usually different than the other nouns I’ve provided in this sentence), singer, lyricist.  And he does Twitter very well.  Exceedingly well.  (I’d guess that this is the first time in my www.emichaelmusic.com world that I’ve used the word, “exceedingly.”)

brewster_kahle

From his Twitter account:  “Digital Librarian.”  Kahle is just a digital librarian in the same way that Gonzalo Rubalcaba is just a pianist.   http://openlibrary.org    http://brewster.kahle.org  

BrightTALK

“Webinars and video for professionals and their communities.”  I especially like them because I was one of their one-hour webinars.  (E. Michael Harrington at BrightTALK, June 9, 2009)

businessinsider

“The latest business news and analysis.”  Business Insider is always a great read.  Even if you have no interest in business, you will enjoy BusinessInsider.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

As always, I welcome your feedback on best Twitter accounts, as well as recommendations/suggestions for music, tech, law, communication and business ideas.

 

Humans Acting Out In Business, My Favorite Twitter Accounts – the letter “A”

file0001871681518

Awhile ago I published a list of Resources that I intend to update, i.e., a living, breathing document.  It is what could be called a “Bibliography,” and I used to call it that until I received the very good advice to change the name, “Bibliography,” to “Resources.”  Those Resources are a list of websites that relate in some way to the music and entertainment industry  –  they are connected to the music and entertainment industry in my mind.  It is my belief that every musician and person in the world of music and entertainment must know more than music.  Law, technology, business, film, video, television, advertising and communication, especially 21st century style communication by means of social media, are some of what should go into/be shot into/forced down the throat of/taught to a musician or person living in these post-Mayan times.  We need to confront and try to master what is represented by those social media proper nouns –  those companies and services –  and verbs formed by speaking nouns as if they were verbs.  For example:

We Facebook

We FB

We Tweet

We Google Plus

We G Plus

We G +

We G+  (with “G+” rather than “G space +” we assume that long distance is not as good as close distance)

We Pinterest

We Pin

We Social (spelled, “we so.cl” – any Microsoft-inclined people reading this?)

We Tumblr (4 ya)

We WordPress

We Blog

We Microblog (this is not the same as calling a physician because a blog lasts more than 4 hours)

 *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

My Resources will include new categories and lists beginning with “these are a few of my favorite Twitter accounts,” whether “the dog bites” or “the bee stings.”  These are meant to make you not “feel so bad.”  For now, they are websites.

Here is a glimpse (not “Glympse,” the app) of one of the future coming attractions  –  my long list of Favorite Twitter accounts.  For now, this post will be an annotated list of my favorite Twitter accounts that begin with the letter, “A.”

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Dr. E. Michael Harrington

www.emichaelmusic.com

emh2625@gmail.com

Resources:

Twitter:

My Favorite Twitter Accounts:   The letter “A”

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

AJEnglish

Al Jazeera English is a great resource for news of the world (oops – not that “News of The World.”  Al-Jazeera is not a terrorist organization.  Did I need a paragraph for separation between News Of The World and “terrorist organization?”)  Al Jazeera:  Good.

Alleyinsider

Want to find out what’s happening in the world of computers/computing/digital this and that?  There’s AlleyInsider.

allsongs

National Public Radio does so many things well.  This is a great place to hear music of many styles, places and genres.  “NPR’s online and on air music show. Dedicated to finding music you’ll fall in love with.”  Yes, this is an exceptional statement and one which “can get away with” ending a sentence with a preposition.  

AMAnet

The American Management Association, not the American Medical Association.  Good straightforward articles about the world of “humans acting out in business.”  I will take credit/blame for that “humans acting out in business” phrase.  Catchy, eh?  Says the Canadian.

anildash

Anil Dash has a good brain and sense of humor.

annkpowers

Ann is a “writer, a-mama, poptimist trying to eat right and live present in a high-fructose world.”  Very insightful and smart talk about music and life.

AppStore

Something to do with Apple and applications?  Promotional but some of the promoted material is worthwhile.

arslaw

Fun times in the world of technology, law and policy.

arstechnica

Described on their Twitter profile as, “original news and reviews, analysis of tech trends, and expert advice on the most fundamental aspects of tech and the many ways it’s helping us enjoy our world.”   I agree.  I love that they love to “enjoy our world.”  It’s also good that they used “it’s” to mean “it is.”

artbrodsky

Very good stuff from an attorney/thinker/Internet advocate and blogger for Public Knowledge.

artistshouse

“Helping Musicians and Music Entrepreneurs Create Sustainable Careers.”  That is a damn good calling as musicians are often lambs led to 1. wolves, 2. slaughter, 3. cruel biological experiments, 4.  numbers 1, 2 and 3 at once.  The Artists House Music site is the best resource for musicians who strive to know more than potted plants, and AHM is in desperate need of funding.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

In future blog posts:

1.  My Favorite Twitter accounts – the letters “A” and “B”

2.  More about the foolish lawsuit against Alicia Keys.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 

Johnny Cash, Danzig, Life in Vizify, Today is not 12/12/12, Social Media Reveals I’m 65/132 Brazilian

 

12/12/12 Twelve Twelve Twelve Zwölf Zwölf Zwölf is now gone.  I want to wash that 12 right out of my hair.

Q.  Best way to get rid of 12?  A.  13  Welcome to December 13, 2012.  There will only be one of these.  This is probably the best day to get engaged or give birth.

Time for a thirteen (13) song:   Johnny Cash  –  Thirteen

There are other thirteen songs  – Frank Zappa, Bata Kanda, and Chuck Berry, but I want to hear Johnny Cash sing Danzig.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

I got my Vizify account, 2012 version, on Tuesday.  They were wise to get it out before 12-12-12.  If we have social media, we must have social media metrics.  And bells and whistles.  Vizify does all of that well, and fortunately, our lives can be reduced to a few pages.

Before I broadcast my life in Vizify, I should note that Facebook has now taken to their version of metrics a la the encapsulated annum-in-review model.  If all goes right with this bit.ly link, and if Facebook will allow you access, here is the Facebook version of my 2012 life in Vizify.

All of this Vizify activity  –  the entire 11-page report  – could only happen if I was very active in 2012 in

Foursquare

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

and I granted the app permission to these four (4) life measure-ers, and remembered all four (4) of my very long alpha-numeric melodic passwords.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

A  C  T  I  V  I  T  I  E  S

S   H   O   P   S         &      S   E   R   V   I   C   E   S

This objectively shows that I have my life in order as I’ve taken more trips to liquor stores than banks, pharmacies or “others.”  I’m proud that I’ve been to more “record shops” than gas stations, liquor stores, pharmacies, banks and “others.”

Grocery store  –  292

Gym  –  117

Electronics  –  73

Bookstore  –  41

Record Shop  –  40

Gas station/garage  –  36

Liquor store  –  28

Other  –  Shop  –  26

Pharmacy  –  22

Bank/Financial  –  21

A  C  T  I  V  I  T  I  E  S

F  O  O  D

My taste in food is superb.  I think of myself as, to borrow a now-famous adjective, SEVERELY Brazilian.  But via social media snooping-metrics, I am only ALMOST Brazilian.  By these snooping standards, I am barely more American than Brazilian by 67 to 65.

And then my next outside-the-home eating is pizza, Middle Eastern and so on.  It’s best to just list it:

Coffee shop  –  190

American  –  67

Brazilian  –  65

Pizza  –  55

Middle Eastern  –  41

Greek  –  40

Seafood  –  37

Bakery  –  32

Mexican  –  29

Sandwiches  –  24

Italian  –  23

A  C  T  I  V  I  T  I  E  S

O  T  H  E  R

The rest of the year is completed by this compilation.  When I wasn’t eating pizza or trying to pass for a Brazilian, here’s what I did:

Home  –  473  (To create & recite a completely original expression – “There’s no place like home.”)

Medical  –  215   (I was spending great time with my Mom.)

Hiking Trail  –  151  (Most of this was at Callahan State Park in Framingham.)

Road  –  142   

Academic Building  –  123

Park  –  106  (If not 820-acre Callahan, it would have been Ramapo Mtn State Forest in New Jersey.)

Bridge  –  92   (This was mainly the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River.)

Hotel  –  47

Dog Run  –  44

Hospital  –  43   (Precious time with my Mom.)

Church  –  38

We live life, share our activities and interests, measure them and then broadcast what we’ve been sharing all year along with the Vizified measurement.  This year’s activities are made to look nice.

I love people and social media but still don’t reveal everything.

May your 13th be wonderful!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 12 12 12, Twelve Twelve Twelve, Zwölf Zwölf Zwölf, Dodici Dodici Dodici, Doce Doce Doce, Douze Douze Douze

Wayne Shorter, Bo Diddley, George Strait

What day is it?  December 12, 2012?  December 12, 2012 can be abbreviated as 12-12-12 or 12/12/12 or 12.12.12 or spoken Twelve Twelve Twelve, Doce Doce Doce, Douze Douze Douze, Dodici Dodici Dodici, Zwölf Zwölf Zwölf or hundreds of other ways.  If you’ve been near social media, you also know that this will be the last repetitive date ever.  (That’s true only if a 13th month is never added to our calendar.  There could be a 13th month because like copyright terms, Viagra and Cialis, there’s always someone who wants to lengthen something.)

12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12

In keeping with the number 12, I’d like to offer favorite songs of mine that have something to do with the number 12.  The easy and predicatable thing would have been 12-tone (twelve tone) music.  But I’ll resist the easy and go for something more eclectic  – songs about “12” and tweets about “12.”

I posted a riddle last night –  what do Wayne Shorter, Bo Diddley and George Strait have in common?  As far as I know, the answer is that each recorded a song whose title contains the word, “Twelve.”  These three (3) songs have little else in common except for the number twelve (12) in the titles.  That’s it.  Riddle solved.

12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12

Wayne Shorter  –  Twelve More Bars To Go 

In an instrumental, do you know if Wayne Shorter is referring to 12 bars of living, 12 bars of playing or 12 bars on my way home?

Bo Diddley  –  The Clock Strikes Twelve

This is one of Bo Diddley’s more unusual songs – an instrumental.  Yes, that is Bo Diddley playing violin.  This is not the braggadocio Bo – no “cobra snake for a necktie” kind of thing.

George Strait  –  Four Down And Twelve Across 

“awkward puzzle, fill in the blanks…”  One can easily make that phrase deep or leave it as something pertaining to a board game.

12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12

This started out to be twelve (12) tweets about 12 12 12, and then I found a few more I wanted to copy.  If 12 is good, more than 12 is better.  Here are more than 12 tweets about 12 12 12.

The Daily Yomiuri ‏@DailyYomiuri

The time in Japan is now 12:12 p.m. on December 12, 2012…that’s12:12, 12/12/12.

01/01/01✔ 02/02/02✔ 03/03/03✔ 04/04/04✔ 05/05/05✔ 06/06/06✔ 07/07/07✔ 08/08/08✔ 09/09/09✔ 10/10/10✔ 11/11/11 ✔and today 12/12/12.

ぴょんまこ ‏@yugurenofuku

12/12/12 12:12 \(^o^)/

David Pogue, Technology writer for The New York Times, repeated what some of my recording engineer friends had already said last night:

David Pogue ‏@Pogue

Hey, tomorrow is National Sound Check Day! 12/12/12… (What will you be doing at 12:12:12?)

Two (2) 12-12-12 sports tweets:

Randy Cruz ‏@cruzr83

The Lakers may not be thrilled with 12/12/12 tomorrow since they’re 12th in the Western Conference.

Happy 12.12.12 — NFL QBs wearing #12 have won 15 Super Bowls. That’s more than double the next-best mark (#16 has won 7)
These are not happy happy joy joy tweets.
Tomorrow is 12-12-12 which means I’ll have to blood sacrifice twice as many goats as I did for 6-6-6. 🙁
The Mayan Calendar predicted that on 12-12-12 there would be some really bad tweets about 12-12-12. Like this one.
Pretty cool how on 12/12/12 in 1912 no one said anything at all because we’re idiots now.
Happy 12.12.12., YouScoopers! What are the 12 Philippine issues that are most important to you? #SabihinMo
12/12/12 & 12/21/12 will be the most annoying days in Twitter history.
A designed tweet.  Too bad the 12 12 12 thing looks more like 10 10 10.

┊┊┊┊#HAPPY12─12─12┊┊┊ ┊┓╭╮┊┊╱┓╭╮┊┊╱┓╭╮┊ ┊┃╭╯┊╱┊┃╭╯┊╱┊┃╭╯┊ ┊┻┗┛╱┊┊┻┗┛╱┊┊┻┗┛┊

 Final tweets.

Путин обратится к Федеральному Собранию 12.12.12: Буддийские астрологи считают эту дату… http://goo.gl/fb/tdc02

Twelve~Twelve~Twelve~make it memorable in a positive way. Be especially nice to ~Twelve~ people, complete ~Twelve~random acts of kindness ☺

 

12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12    12

I got my Vizify account yesterday.  My life, thankfully, can be reduced to a few pages.  I hope talk about social media and metrics tomorrow.  No more twelves!

Love Street, A Century of Women on Top, TimeHop, Mikasa

I had a great time at Prof. Maggie Lange’s class yesterday and want to thank Maggie and her students at Berklee.  I’ve already been emailed and thanked by a few of them.  I’m quite humbled as I suspect I benefitted more from interactions with them.  Their questions were extremely insightful and their enthusiasm the entire two hours inspired me.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

I just became a TimeHop person.  It’s an app that will recapture what you did, photos you took, Facebook and Twitter posts, Foursquare checks-in, etc. on this day one, two or three years ago.  Wicked cool!  It confirms what a great and blessed life I lead, and the wonderful times I’ve had with my Mom and friends.

Three years ago today I wrote –

“With today’s copyright laws, most great composers – Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Stravinsky, Ives, etc. – would be as criminal as Girl Talk, Negativland, the Evolution Control Committee or anyone who finds creative preexisting elements and uses them.”

I still agree.  I’m even more fervent about that.

Two years ago today I began the day at Smith College.  (I always loved Smith College and especially their centenary t-shirts – A Century of Women On Top,” Beavis & Butthead implications intended on my part.) I had spoken at the Independent Music Conference and also became Mayor of the Hampshire Council of Governments, a rare and fantastic fusion of idealism, hippiedom and government.  (It is odd to read those three nouns in one sentence.  That is my description only.  Even though I was the Foursquare Mayor, please don’t discredit them!)

Later that morning I drove to see my Mom who was living in Marlborough, Massachusetts.  I had a coo-woo with her and she had her “Dewars on the rocks with a lemon twist” using the Mikasa crystal martini glasses I bought for her.  And I discovered that day that the Mikasa glasses sounded a sonically gorgeous “A 440when struck.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

I wanted to post one (1) song today.  I wanted it to have the word, “love,” in its title and be a song I own and love.  I seached for “Love” (searching for love in the exact right place) in my iTunes and found 2,860 songs.  If played back-to-back, they would last 7 days.  Wow – 7 days of peace and love!  Sounds great!  These songs with the word, “LOVE,” in their title take up 16.88 Gb of my iMac.  If only NASA could have had 16.88 Gb for Apollo 13.

The “LOVE” song that hit me just right is….

L O V E    S T R E E T    

by    The Doors

And because Jim Morrison was the lyricist (I think?), the lyrics were original, atypical and memorable.  Phrases such as –

“lazy diamonds, studded flunkies”  – this was how I learned the word, “flunky.”  I asked my parents what a “flunky” was.  They laughed, explained it to me, and then used that word to encourage me as a student for the next few years!

In terms of music theory/composition/structure, “Love Street” is an excellent song to study:

A minor, G Major, G minor, F Major

which is then transposed to

B minor, A Major, A minor, G Major

which then leads it perfectly back to the first four chords beginning on A minor.  (G minor to F Major is essentially a transposition of A minor to G Major.)

When I first heard Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay,” I caught the fact that both songs work on the same idea of transposing a simple motive (in Dylan:  A Major, C# minor becomes G Major, B minor – walking down the guitar neck), in both cases, a series of simple Major and minor chords.  Enough music theory.  There’s a beautiful beach outside waiting for me!

I hope your pre-Thanksgiving Day is going well.  Don’t shop but if you have to, Market Basket is great and run so smoothly!  I was in and out of the store very quickly.  I expect the food shopping/hunting/digging on Wingaersheek Beach to be typically simple and direct today.

Minotaur Shock, Band Of The Day App

 

M I N O T A U R     S H O C K 

 

This morning I was listening to the podcast (from Stitcher) of This Week In Tech: Episode 378 from TWIT.TV – it’s a good, fun episode – when I found out that I had some apps to update on my iPhone 5.  Of course this little iPhone 5 machine can update away while I’m listing to Stitcher, so I proceeded to give my blessings so the updates could update.

Next, “Genius,” the Apple app Recommender-In-Chief that I’ve wisely enabled, suggested a few apps I just had to have.  Check.  Got them.

Next came another Genius app recommendation – BAND OF THE DAY.  Band Of The Day, according to its own statement of honest hype, “unearths the best new music by delivering one new artist a day, every single day.  Through expert curation, free music (commercial-free and uninterrupted), a stunning user interface, videos, photographs, biographies, and more, we help you discover your new favorite band.”  And wouldn’t you know, I loved today’s recommendation – Minotaur Shock.  Even if I was always a bit scared of Newton the Minotaur – maybe he was a centaur and not a minotaur? –  from The Mighty Hercules animated series that was aired when I was a little kid.  (I kept expecting to run into a minotaur one day in the woods near my house. I never did.)

I love the song and video that is being pushed  –  Saundersfoot.  The opening wind chimes sounds work perfectly and the composition unfolds really nicely.  I heard “Saundersfoot” first and then came to the video after hearing about 5 other songs by MInotaur Shock.  I hear elements of acid jazz, ambient and Aaron Copland (his pandiatonicism) in this composition.

The brief description of Minotaur Shock, from the record label, contains a word that will likely scare off some young audiences.  The description:  “Gorgeously warm and tranquil electronic music from a Bristol, UK producer.”  Of course that frightening word is… T R A N Q U I L.”  If tranquil is “not your cup of tea” (to keep up the British theme of these sentences), just tell yourself that the music is warmongering, threatening, inked and bad ass, force yourself to concentrate and listen for 30 minutes, and you’ll be fine, improved and even glad you did.

I wrote that last sentence after taking my own advice and listening to song after song by Dave Edwards aka Minotaur Shock for about 30 minutes (there’s that 30 minute theme again).

This is a rarer moment than in old days – I’ve just found some new music I like.  Often I like people more than their music (I am usually surrounded by music of friends and especially new friends I don’t yet know well).  Orchard, this new Minotaur Shock album, is really good stuff  as is the Band Of The Day app.  I highly recommend both.

Have a great November 6, 2012, Election Day in the United States.

 

 

 

Where I’m Going (By Dressing Up As A Dragon)

I could have titled this post:

Where I’m Going?   (The question mark would change things, wouldn’t it?)

Where I’m Going With The New “RESOURCES” Page On Emichaelmusic.com.

Where I’m Going By Dressing Up As A Dragon & Standing On A Globe Looking In A Different Direction.

This could get very philosophical, couldn’t it?  But I’ve only got a few more Boca Livre songs left to hear on their Boca Livre album, so I need to get on with my points.

I love this cover photo.  When I saw it, I knew it captured my feelings on this beautiful morning here on Wingaersheek Beach.

I’m glad I’m aware (sometimes) of how many mistakes I make.  It’s paid off this morning as I remembered many sites I forgot to include in my Music & Entertainment Industry website resources.  Here are the first of them.  Notice that they are now active and embedded in my RESOURCES section:

AFM Local 257  –  the Nashville Chapter of THE UNION, as we musicians refer to the AFM, not what Abraham Lincoln had in mind when he said THE UNION.

Caetano Veloso  –  One of my favorite Renaissance people – excellent composer and songwriter, musician, singer, poet, political activist and giant from Brazil.

Hypebot  –  this site does everything right.  Excellent writing, insight and analysis of contemporary issues in music and technology and the new music business.

MTV  –  MTV was a great idea when it was launched in 1981.  Now it’s part of some gargantuan corporation.  MTV has all of the bad that comes with corporate and little if any of the good it once had.  It’s in my Resources because it probably should be there (someone will think so, anyway).  But blah blah to M blah T blah V blah.

Nonesuch  –  Nonesuch thrilled the hell out of me growing up, from freshman year in high school until I stopped (c. 2046).  Nonesuch and its superb budget classical music recordings – budget, in that they didn’t cost very much – $1.99 was normal.  And Nonesuch was daring with their avant-garde classical music (I am/was one of these avant-garde classical composers).  And as if that wasn’t great enough, Nonesuch had their EXPLORER series that brought the best ethnomusicology recordings our way.  Ethnolmusicology predates “World Music.”  And I could go and on about that and will at another time.

Putumayo  –  excellent world music recordings and packaging.  And they seem to have their heart and soul in the right place.  And they have a heart and soul unlike MTV.

Rykodisc  –  if all Rykodisc did was to sell the recordings of Frank Zappa and 3 Mustaphas 3, that would make them great a label.

VH1  –  My comments about MTV can be re-stated here.  But, I started to write several excellent world music television show episodes for a very interested VH1 back one century ago.  It was to be called OrigiNATIONS and was to be my take on the importance of world music and just how much world music had already seeped into our western popular culture.  I still have all of the materials I did.  I should turn them into a book, e-books, or some other fun expression.  If you feel moved to encourage me, please do.

I’ve included some legal/law websites in this list as well some for the most obvious reasons and others because they are friends’ websites.  For example, one should never get too serious about the creation and dissemination of music without thinking about—-

COPYRIGHT and

TRADEMARK

So I included the U. S. Copyright Office and the U. S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Now I am pondering a few more things with respect to the nature of my Resources:

1.  Should the Resources be more focussed and contain fewer non-music sites, or

2.  Should the Resources contain more sites that are not primarily music or entertainment industry, and if #2 holds, then

3.  Resources will be more a reflection of me as I love to connect things that some think are not so connected.  For example, all of us intersect daily with law, business, technology and communication.  That seems to give me the kind of carte blanche to just post away, and fun away!

LAW  –  What we do is either legal, illegal or somewhere in between

BUSINESS  –  How much does that cost?

TECHNOLOGY  –  We have power (electricity)/We do not have power (electricity)

COMMUNICATION  –  “Are you talking to ME?”  (I proudly used that quote without permission or attribution.)

I think I’ll go with Door Number 3.  Let me know what you think.