Recorded 09 March 2010

On this episode of With A Voice Like This I speak with Jim Donio, President of NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers) about the association and the upcoming Chicago Crash Course (May 14 – 15) and Convention (May 15 – 17). Jim gives us a brief history of NARM, a description of the Crash Course and Convention and tells us about the the artist’s cost for the Crash Course and 1 year membership.

For more information about NARM, visit narm.com and the registration page for the Crash Course and Convention.

[00:14:47]

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Recorded 02 March 2010

This episode of With A Voice Like This is a very special interview with Joanna Quargnali-Linsley of Toy Block Music and Misery Loves Co. about the March 4th preview of the EP Eats Paste to be released April 1st of this year.

Joanna tells us about the overall project and how it came about, how the charity Pager was chosen to receive a portion of the profits from the sale of the EP and some of the different experiences. A few of the artists who appear on the EP called in as well to talk about their part in the process (as well as tell a few stories) and best of all? I got to play clips from 6 of the 7 songs that will appear on the April 1st EP release. Here are the songs on the EP and their respective artists:

• Oh Susannah – artist is Arlen Ginsburg ( Website – Facebook Fan page) [Monica DaSilva - vocals (Website - MySpace page)]
• Wheels on the Bus – Olin Langley (MySpace page) and SpaceFace
• Crawdad Man - Austin Collins and the Rainbirds (Website – MySpace page)
• There was an Old Woman – Anna Soltys (Facebook Fan page – MySpace page)
• The Cat Came Back - Alex Sanders (Facebook Fan Page for The Texas Funerals – Facebook Fan page for The Quincy Not-So-Fine Arts Society) and The MeowTones
• Wynken, Blynken and Nod – Stereo Sinai (Website - Facebook Fan page – MySpace page)

And here’s the seventh track on the EP, just recorded two days before the show, so a mix wasn’t available.

• Alice the Camel – David Kav (Website - Writing the Rails Website)

GERD Links
For more information about GERD and Infant reflux disease , you can go to

• http://reflux.org/ – Home of Pager
• http://infantrefluxdisease.com

Other sites mentioned in the show

• I Wear Your Shirt
• American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA)

One more thing…
If you’re listening closely in the show, I took it as a personal challenge to find a musical joke in the Toy Block Logo and I won. What did I win? A free copy of the Eats Paste EP. But I’m not going to keep it…Oh no, I’m going to figure out a way to give it away to a lucky listener. Got any ideas? Leave me a comment and we’ll see what happens.

[01:27:57]

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Recorded 29 October 2009

This episode of With A Voice Like This is all about the New Music Seminar that was held in Chicago on October 6, 2009 and it’s founder Tom Silverman. I’d like to thank Ariel Hyatt of Ariel Publicity and CyberPR for providing me with the opportunity talk with Tom Silverman during the Seminar.

I’m presenting the interview in its entirety in the show because I think it’s very important to hear it directly from Tom, but there are quality issues with the audio. Because of that, I have transcribed the interview and put it here in the show notes or you can download the transcript of the Interview in PDF format so you have it as you listen. There’s a lot of great information there, I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.

Transcript of the Interview with Tom Silverman

Jim Goodrich: I’m here with Tom Silverman, the founder of Tommy Boy Records and the New Music Seminar. First, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to talk with me. You started the New Music Seminars back in the Eighties and then for awhile it was dormant for about fifteen years or so, is that correct?

Tom Silverman: Exactly.

JG: What was the compelling factor to bring the New Music Seminars back?

TS: They…Just had a revelation about where the business was going and where the business wasn’t going and I thought it was time for us to do something about it, so that we can have a forum to discuss this. I go to so many conferences around the world and nobody’s talking about what we talk about here. Nobody’s talking about what’s going to happen next, nobody’s talking about what artists need to do and how artists can help establish themselves in this difficult world. Uh, everyone’s talking about label problems and label problems are almost irrelevant.

JG: Then the basic reason you’re doing this is you’re seeing it move more toward the DIY side, the Do It Yourself side. Is there going to be a place for a crossover, or do you see the labels becoming completely irrelevant and so you have to become your own everything, basically?

TS: No, I don’t think artists are going to be able to become their own everything just [be]cause recording, writing songs, recording and you know, touring and blogging and tweeting and the other things that artists have to do are all they can possibly do. I think that somebody has to handle all of the other stuff and it’s a long list of other things and that could be a manager, it could be a label or it could be services company, you can call it whatever you want to call it, but somebody has to do that. It could be ten different companies that do all the ten different things or it could be one company that calls themselves a label, but a label has to do, will have to do different things than they do now.

They’ll have to be involved in helping to develop and manage the relationship between artists and their fans and helping them best monetize that. And in exchange for that, they’ll get a share of that monetization depending on what deal they cut. Based on where the artist starts, you know and where they are in their career would depend on what that deal is. And the concept of how those deals will evolve is just in its infancy now because nobody’s even thinking that way. Everything is still album centric.

JG: I would think that you would feel that this is what the New Music Seminars is all about. How do you see this progressing, its role in doing this? Right now it seems to be that the role of New Music Seminars is to get people talking about it. Do you see the New Music Seminars growing into even more than that?

TS: Yes. I would like to think so, but I think we’re still a little ways away from it. As we get a little bit more clarity and all, and we get a little bit more momentum, they could turn into a lot more than that. They can actually turn into an active force for helping find the artists most on the verge of breaking. I believe there’s probably hundreds of artists that are stuck in the glut of releases, the hundred and five thousand albums that come out every year that can’t break through, even though they’re deservant of it. I believe there are Elvis’ and Beatles’ that are being stuck, that can’t get through because there’s not…The economic engine that used to go find them is going away, so nobody’s really looking there anymore and nobody’s helping pull those artists out, but…And some of those artists are getting somewhere with Pitchfork and other things on the web to a certain level, but they need help going beyond that and there’s nobody really there to help them. So we want to be, um, ones to help them and hopefully we can put together new technologies and, and new economic models that will help artists break out of that glut and break through.

It’s the great failure of the Internet; everybody talks about the Internet as the greatest things for artists and for consumers because it’s so democratic, anyone can put a record out able to make a record now. So, you know this year there will probably be a hundred and twenty thousand, up from a hundred and five thousand, up from seventy nine [thousand] the year before, up from twenty two thousand in 1992. So, where are we going with this? They predict three hundred thousand releases a year, like books. You know, that’s not necessarily a good thing for consumers. Especially with seventeen thousand of the albums that came out last year only sold one copy. Seventy thousand of them didn’t sell a hundred copies. So you’re really talking about um, a noise floor of just, you know, insects and gnats that may mean nothing, but still get in the way of legitimate artists from breaking through.

Once an artist gets beyond ten thousand and only two hundred did that last year for the first time or less, um, then they’re in a little different environment because there’re so few that get there. So now you’re only amongst a small group of two hundred. And some of them go on to sell half a million and some of them maybe only go on to sell twelve thousand. But even if they sell twelve thousand and they do all the things we’re talking about here to monetize their fan relationship, they can earn a great living. So all…Anybody who gets beyond ten thousand albums in this day and age can um, can quit their day job and you know, be rescued from the sea of obscurity. But, you can even be uh, quit your day job below ten thousand, we talked about some examples today of artists who don’t even sell that many, but are able to monetize their fan relationship enough that they can do this full time.

JG: From the, the seminar that we had today here in Chicago, what do you think is the top one or two takeaways that the people who’ve been attending should really come away with from here?

TS: Well, there’s two kinds of people that attend, there’s artists and then there’s all the people who serve the artists. As I said in the beginning, artists serve fans and everyone else serves the artists. So, the people…From the artists, they have to understand that it’s not going to happen by itself and that quantum events, uh, hoping that they’re going to win the lottery is probably not a good strategy. Putting together a strategic approach to growing their business and looking at what they do as a business, to find and build fans and differentiate themselves from the competition, identify ways that they become successful, in redefining their success, that’s what they can come away with. A new definition of success, a different paradigm for what the business, what business means today.

And then for the people on the other side, the business side, they have to look at the new paradigm too. How can we better serve the artist community in a world where we’re not record-centric anymore. Records may be part of it, but that part is going to diminish and however we monetize music, or don’t monetize music, we monetize fan relationships, so how do we do that? You know and what’s the meaning of a song in that world. Everything changes, so it’s so really hard when you come from a past mentality, almost everybody that’s in it worked at a record company before or has, brings baggage with them, mental baggage that they have to release. And the seminar is about trying to knock them out of that baggage and change the new paradigm. And it’s so funny, you talk with all these artists about this and then at the end of the day, they all come up and give me CDs to try to get me to sign them again anyways. [laughter] It’s a, it’s an interesting thing.

JG: To sort of bring this two together, you talked about the Internet and being more democratic, but not being everything that, that they need, so it’s not just the Internet, it’s not just the old school, the legacy system that’s been there, is it an amalgamation of all this?

TS: It’s not the Internet for two reasons. One, it creates more noise and two, it…People use the Internet as a filter to not hear anything they don’t want to hear and only hear the things they’re comfortable with. Whereas traditional Radio, people had to hear music they didn’t like the first spin, the second spin and then it grew on them. Nobody ever lets music grow on them on the Web, because if you don’t like it in twenty seconds, bang! You’re on to the next thing. See the Atlantic Monthly article from last year Does Google Make Us Stupid? It’s, you know with, you know, our time span is shorter.

I mean, I like to have a discussion with creative panelists “what about making songs, an album of songs that are ninety second long”? Let’s say “Okay, here’s a new genre, it’s like haiku for songs”. You know, you have ninety seconds to make your statement. Which is great because I could listen to ten times more songs that are ninety seconds long than are five minutes long. And I want to listen to a lot of songs. And guess what? If I like the ninety second songs maybe then I’ll buy the four minute version. And for four minutes maybe I’ll pay, maybe I should pay ninety-nine cents for an iTunes download of my ninety second song. If you want the four ninety-nine…You know four minute version you have to pay you know, $2.99 for that version. If you want the album it’s $9.99, you know? We can have all different pricing models. Or, it may all be free anyway. Maybe we give away the ninety second version and let them buy the four minute version.

Really, people don’t have that much time anymore; they’re used to getting things fast. You know, we talked about it in one of the Movements about a, a Flash intro. Nobody waits for a Flash intro. You see a Flash intro, if you can’t skip it, you even leave. It’s too late. So, you know, people want to get to the point and want to get there fast, you know. Google has taught us we have to find what we want and we get ‘X’ amount of keystrokes in ‘X’ amount of seconds to get there. If we don’t get there, we’re on to something else. So you know we have to make it quicker, we have to make it easier for people to buy music from you, for people to discover music. That’s something that the technology side has to improve. They have to be able to uh, do better uh, search. They have to do better uh, affinity engines, ways uh, you know uh, ways to, to track consumers’ tastes. We were talking about “scrobbling” earlier. So, Technology has their assignment, artists have their assignment and the music business that serves the artists has their assignment.

And we talk about all three of those areas here at the seminar. And we do it in a positive way uh, not trying to point fingers or complain, but we say this is the work that we have to do. And these are the opportunities because the people who get it right, whether they be artists or, or music business people, or technology people, they’ll become very rich. If they get it right.

JG: I don’t want to take up too much of your time and I, I think you’ve answered all the questions that I had. Thank you very much for, for letting me talk to you.

TS: Sure, take care

JG: I will do so, have a good one.

This episode closes out with a couple of very Chicago music items. First a brief mention of Chicagoan Leah Jones and her company,  Natiiv Arts & Media which she describes as:

Natiiv Arts & Media was founded by Leah Jones in January of 2009 after she left Edelman PR. At Natiiv Arts & Media, the focus is on coaching artists, writers and musicians on how to use social media to build relationships online with fans and future fans. Leah, a social media coach, has worked with local bands, participated in MOBfest, New Music Seminar and Tour:Smart Plus, as well as presenting to groups as diverse as Birthright Israel NEXT, Southwest Performing Arts Presenters and Illinois CPA Society. Leah believes that you don’t have to have a degree in communications to learn how to use social media tools to build your business or your fanbase.

And then the song All Would Change, by Chicago Singer/Songwriter Matt Ryd from his CD Rock and/or Roll.

[00:17:59]

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Recorded 20 October 2009

This episode of With A Voice Like This was an enjoyable evening spent with Matt Ryd, a Chicago Based Singer/Songwriter, host of the Chicago Chapter of the New York Songwriters Circle and self-proclaimed all-around geek and social media junkie and much, much more.

Matt talks about how he got involved in the Chicago music scene, recording his first 3 song CD Rock and/or Roll and how the song Healed ended up on an episode Scrubs, to the first song he wrote, his musical influences to his next unnamed full length album he’s currently working on, other projects and many other topics. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Matt also performs some of his songs live. From the Rock and/or Roll CD, Matt performs:

• Healed
• All Would Change

And then some of his other songs,  including two from his upcoming album:

• Pieces
• Protection
• Wondrin’

You can find Matt by googling him, of course and his site is at www.MattRyd.com

Other links from the show:

• Natiiv.com – Website for Leah Jones’ Natiiv Arts and Media
• Songwriters-circle.com – Website for The New York Songwriters Circle
• Schubas.com – Website for Schubas Tavern in Chicago

[01:10:43]

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Recorded 25 August 2009

On this episode of With A Voice A Like This,I had the opportunity to talk with Singer/Songwriter Carla Lynne Hall. Among the topics we discussed are:

• Musicians Lunch in NYC
• This weekend’s Twitter for Musicians Workshop this Saturday, 29 August
• The link to the PayPal discounted rate for attending the workshop
• Is there a silver bullet to integrate the internet with the traditional music business
• Copyrights
• The performance rights act

To find out more about Carla Lynne Hall, you can follow her on Twitter and check out her blog RockStarLifeLessons.com.

I’d like to hear your thoughts about any of the topics I cover and you can reach me by e-mail at contact@WithAVoiceLikeThis com or call and leave a message ont he Comments from the Podcast Gallery voicemail line at 206.350.8955 (standard calling rates apply).

[00:27:37]

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Recorded 2 June 2009

I Fight Dragons drummer Dave Midell joins Brian Mazzaferri and Bill Prokopow for the second half of the interview in this episode of With A Voice Like This. Here are the songs off Their EP Cool is Just a Number and where they’re found in the episode:

• The Faster the Treadmill [00:14:24]
• With You [00:39:46]
• Power Up (Intro) [00:49:34]

Some of the topics covered in this episode:

• How I Fight Dragons use games and controllers
• A quick Mention of E3 and Project Natal
• Brian answers a question about Sophic Records
• A ‘Rikki Lake Moment’?
• The I Fight Dragons Advance Guard
• A story about the song With You
• Comments from the Podcast Gallery – questions from the live audience
• Personal experiences with the gaining popularity and momentum of IFD
• Plans for a full album
• The chiptunes influence
• Power Up (Intro) trivia

You can get a free download of the EP Cool is Just a Number by joining their mailing list at myspace.com/IFightDragons or you can write them individually with their first name at  IFightDragons.com.

[00:53:56]

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Recorded 02 June 2009

Brian Mazzaferri and Bill Prokopow of I Fight Dragons join me in this episode of With A Voice Like This to talk about, among other things, their first EP Cool is Just a Number, available as a free download for signing up for their Mailing list. Here are the songs from the EP played in this episode and where they can be found in the show.

• Heads Up, Hearts Down [00:05:30]
• No One Likes Superman Anymore [00:19:10]
• Money [00:42:03]

We talk about a wide range of topics in this half of the interview, including:

• NES Rock
• Oddest use of a I Fight Dragons song
• Recent and future gigs
• Best gig moment/worst gig moment
• Opportunities to be in a I Fight Dragons video
• Who’s available (Bill) and who’s not (Brian)
• and quite a bit more

Enjoy the first half of this intervew, ther are more surprises to cone in the second half.

Other links from this show

• I Fight Dragons on YouTube
• WOW kill video featuring I Fight Dragons Music
• Upcoming I Fight Dragons shows

[00:54:01]

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Recorded 31 March 2009

Here’s the second half of the interview with Singer-Songwriter Alice Peacock and Founder and President of  Alligator Records Bruce Iglauer about HR-848, the Performance Rights Act. Among the topics we discuss this episode:

• Studio musicians and their role in performance rights
• 50% of terrestrial radio stations don’t play new music
• The history of the beginning of Performance Rights Act from the 1930′s
• How this fits with the Internet and “Appearance of Free Music”
• The Digital World and protection
• Online Theft
• Performance Royalties and other nations
• Digital technology and the vision at conception
• How you can act on this issue
• How does the current copyright terms affect this or does it?
• Grass Roots approach to action on this issue
• MusicFirstCoalition.org

If you’d like to learn more about Alice Pecock and her music, including her new release Love Remains, you can visit her at AlicePeacock.com. To find out more about Bruce Iglauer’s label Alligator Records, you can visit AlligatorRecords.com.

[00:37:04]

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Recorded 31 March 2009

This episode is the first half of an interview with Alice Peacock, singer-songwriter and past president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) and Bruce Iglauer, Founder and President of Alligator Records, the world’s largest independent Blues Record Label.

Some of what we discuss in this episode of With A Voice Like This:

• What HR-848 is all about
• What the breakdown of royalty payouts
• How the Payouts are handled (Master owner, performer, etc.)
• Perspectives of Indie Labels and performers
• Shrinking business of recording music
• Does HR-848 go far enough?
• History of Performance Rights Organizations
• Reply to the ‘radio free promotion for the music and musicians’ stance

If you’d like to learn more about Alice Peacock and her music, you can go to AlicePeacock.com and to learn more about Alligator records, you can go to AlligatorRecords.com.

[00:37:50]

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Recorded 3 March 2009

This episode’s guests were Paul Natkin, Interim Executive Director and Dan Lurie, Member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Music Commission and is about the latest version of the proposed Event Promoter Ordinance as discussed in their March 3 Press Release and blog post. As stated in the show itself, this is not necessarily the final version of the Ordinance to be taken to the City Council for a vote, nor has there been a date set for the vote. The topics covered in this show include:

• A brief overview of the Ordinance itself
• A brief overview of the changes from the last version in July of 2008

The following topics were covered based on the CMC’s Position Statement also made public today:

• The CMC’s 3 objections to the ordinance as currently drafted
• The 3 Fundamental concerns shared by the City and CMC
• The CMC’s 5 Proposed solutions
• Next steps

And lastly an overview of all the programs and offerings currently available through the Chicago Music Commission.

Additional links discussed in the show

• The CMC’s webpage for Event Promoter Ordinance updates
• Paul can be contacted at paul@chicago-music.org
• Dan can be contacted at dan@chicago-music.org

In the way of full disclosure, it should be said that I am a member of the Chicago Music Commission’s Board of Advisors.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about this or any other episode of With a Voice Like This, you can e-mail me at contact@withavoicelikethis.com, leave a comment here or call the Comments from the Podcast Gallery voicemail line at 206.350.8955 and leave your thoughts there.

[01:18:52]

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Recorded 30 January 2009

Dave Kusek

This episode of With A Voice Like This I’m speaking with Dave Kusek, co-author of the book The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution.

It’s been four years since the book came out and this show starts with what has changed and what has stayed the same since the book was published. But there’s a twist. At the beginning of the show I asked that we not focus on the technology itself for the entire interview, since the book had so much more to offer than just a discussion of technology. Among other thing we talk about what’s going on in China currently, the Universal Mobile Device (UMD) and of course, the Music like Water concept.

News You can Use
Monday 9 February at 5:30pm cst, the Musicians at Work Forum is going to be Licensing Your Music for Commercial Use. The Forum will be in the Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center and is put on by Chicago Music Commission and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.

For more information about Dave Kusek or how to purchase the book The Future of Music, you can visit his Blog Future of Music or follow him on Twitter.

Want to be a part of the show? All you have to do is send an e-mail to contact@withavoicelikethis.com or call the Comments from the Podcast Gallery voicemail line at 206.350.8955 and leave your questions, comments or suggestions and they’ll be on the show.

[00:45:06]

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Recorded 13 January 2009

This show is a great talk with Derek Sivers, Founder of CD Baby and beyond. We start with his  background and well, there are so many great topics covered that it wouldn’t do the show any justice to try and summarize here. So listen to the show and all the links we discussed are found below. Enjoy!

Links from this show in order:

• CD Baby
• Derek’s 08 January 2008 article that also appears in the Music Think Tank blog
• An overview of  the MuckWork project
  
• The MuckWork website
• Free e-book about How to Call Attention to Your Music
• Interview with Amber Rubarth
• Derek’s list of recommended books
• Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR’s Sound Advice featuring Derek
• Call The Destination blog entry from 18 August 2007
• Interview with Tim Ferriss

Ways to find Derek

• His website at sivers.org
• E-mail him at derek@sivers.org
• Follow Derek on Twitter

[01:08:46]

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recorded 25 September 2008

This episode is Part 2 of the interview with the Interim Executive Director of Chicago Music Commission, Paul Natkin and the the commission’s stance on the proposed Event Promoter ordinance being drafted for the City of Chicago. Topics discussed are:

• Progress on the commission’s three points sent to the committee about the proposed ordinance in May 2008
• 18 or 21? What’s the proposed ordinance say?
• Licensing isn’t an issue
• Insurance costs overly prohibitive
• Alternate recommendations to the ordinance as it stands
• Promoter Registry
• Standard contract between Venues and Independent Promoters
• Licensed/Certified Security for all Venues
• Promoter’s Survey on the CMC website
• Good changes made since May
• The next Musician’s at Work Forum on October 6

Music in this episode
The music in this episode is by one of the Chicago Music Commission Board Members Rachel Barton Pine, Medley of Scots Tunes w/ Alasdair Fraser from the album Scottish Fantasies for Violin and Orchestra. You can also find Rachel Barton Pine on  MySpace. Music provided courtesy of Ariel Publicity and Cyber PR.

Check out special Podcastathon benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research fund being put on by the Geek is Chic Podcast, hosted by Andrea Zuniga.

Links from the Episode
Chicago Music Commission Website
Current Proposed Event Promoter Ordinance in PDF format
Event Promoter Survey on the CMC website

If you’d like to become a member of the Podcast Gallery, you can call and leave comments, question and thoughts on the Comments from the Podcast Gallery hotline at 206.350.8955. Come be a part of the show.

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recorded 25 September 2008

This episode’s guest is Paul Natkin, the Interim Executive Director of the Chicago Music Commission, a not for profit organization representing all aspects of music in Chicago.  The focus of the interview is an explanation and update on the proposed event promoter ordinance in the City of Chicago. Topics in this episode include:

• Background on the Chicago Music Commission
• History of the Proposed Ordinance to May 2008
• Breakdown of changes to the July 2007 ordinance
• The disconnect – Two issues
• Licensed PPA and Independent Promoters – does the one cancel the other?
• Economic and Cultural impact
• When the ordinance is passed

Links from the show

• Chicago Music Commission
• Current proposed event promoter ordinance – from the CMC’s website

This interview will conclude next episode.

Questions? Comments? Thoughts? Call the Comments From the Podcast Gallery voicemail line at 206.350.8955 and let me know what you think. Also, you can subscribe to the show via iTunes and if you do, please review the show too, I’d appreciate it.

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Recorded 4 September 2008

This Episode is the conclusion of the interview with Ariel Hyatt, President of Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR and Author of the book, Music Success in Nine Weeks. Topics discussed in the conclusion were:

• Info Marketing
• The paradigm shift in the Music Industry
• Experiential Souvenirs
• It takes time
• How to get Music Success in Nine Weeks
• Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR and how they work with New and Social Media
• Connecting with your fan base

Comments from the Podcast Gallery
Podcasters Chef Mark Tafoya, founder of the Culinary Media Network and host of ReMARKable Palate and Andrea of Geek is Chic contributed comments in this show.

Links from this show

• You can purchase Music Success in Nine Weeks at ArielPublicity.com or Amazon.com.
• You can follow Ariel on Twitter at Twitter.com/cyberpr
• You can write Ariel at Ariel@ArielPublicity.com

Music from this show
The music in the show is Should I Love Him or Walk Away by Wendy St. Kitts. In addition to her website, you can find her on MySpace and CD Baby. Thank you to Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR for the music.

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recorded 4 September 2008

This episode of With A Voice Like This is the first part of my interview with Ariel Hyatt, President of Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR and author of the new book Music Success in Nine Weeks.

The topics discussed in this first half of the interview include:

• Ariel’s background and what lead to the writing of the book
• The purpose of the book and how to use it
• Giving a context to who you are as a musician
• Networking – the art of influence
• Newsletters and New Media
• Connecting with your audience
• ‘What’s in it for me?’
• USP – Unique Selling Point

Links from this show

• You can purchase Music Success in Nine Weeks at ArielPublicity.com or Amazon.com.
• You can follow Ariel on Twitter at Twitter.com/cyberpr
• You can write Ariel at Ariel@ArielPublicity.com

The conclusion of this interview will be Episode 068 of the show.

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This episode of With A Voice Like This is the conclusion of the discussion with Independent Singer/Songwriter Samantha Murphy of SMtvMusic.com stemming from the April 10 release of ASCAP‘s Songwriter’s Bill of Rights.

topics in this episode include:

• Government’s role in resolution of these issues
• Sound Exchange, its background and methodology
• What Samantha is doing to put action behind her viewpoints
• The role of Education in music and the Digital Age – meisa.org
• Questions and Comments from the Podcast Gallery
• Creative Commons

Links discussed in this episode:

Samantha Murphy at SMtvMusic.com

Samantha’s e-mail is sm@smtvmusic.com

Performance Rights Organizations: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Sound Exchange

Samantha Murphy’s article written for a Princeton Symposium

Samantha also works with DigitalFreedom.org/

SaveNetRadio.org

Fading Ways Online

MEISA.org – Music & Entertainment Industry Student Association

Lawrence Lessig article – Commons Misunderstandings: ASCAP on Creative Commons

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Thursday, April 10, just in time for their big ‘I Create Music’ ASCAP Expo in LA, ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) released their Songwriter’s Bill of Rights. In this episode and the next, recorded live on April 10, I discuss this with Samantha Murphy, an independent singer/songwriter and outspoken proponent of change for how music is delivered, monetized and protected in the digital age.

Topics covered in this episode include:

• Samantha’s unique experience as a professional performing musician since the age of six
• The Songwriter Bill of Rights read
• Transparency of PROs and their methods
• How this affects Net Neutrality
• The effect of the Internet on music delivery
• One PRO’s line in the sand
• Who do we turn to, the Government?

The conclusion of this discussion with Samantha Murphy can be heard in episode 048.

[Additional Note: At the beginning of this episode, I made the statement that ASCAP's Bill of Rights was to benefit performers. As Samantha pointed out, while you can have a performer account with ASCAP, it is a completely separate entity of its own and this Bill of Rights deals only with Songwriters.

Edit: A further clarification from Samantha is that the two types of accounts are Writer and Publisher, not Performer .]

Links from this episode:

Samantha Murphy at SMtvMusic.com

Performance Rights Organizations:ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Sound Exchange

ASCAP Songwriter’s Bill of Rights

Portfolio.com article about the ASCAP Bill of Rights by Sam Gustin

Portfolio.com article Paying the Piper by Sam Gustin

Samantha Murphy’s article written for a Princeton Symposium

Samantha also works with DigitalFreedom.org/

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Technique is the Servant of Communication

Recorded on February 8, 2008 -In the second half of this interview with Gillian Kelly of VoiceQuest Inc., we talk about:

• Where Gillian is performing in the next 6 – 8 months
• The cabaret projects Gillian and Claire have in their repertoire
• Some directing work that was Jefferson Award recommended

And of course, Comments From the Podcast Gallery. This leads to a discussion of where technique fits in the performance process and as life in general and how it affects and everything works together and how that affects working with singers in different genres and their demands on the voice.

If you haven’t heard the first half of this interview, you can listen here.

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A Base of Technique

Recorded on February 8, 2008 – VoiceQuest Inc. is a Chicago-based performance studio founded by Gillian Kelly and Claire Bigley. In this episode and the first half of the interview, I speak with Gillian about her training, past experiences and what brought her to the point of starting VoiceQuest Inc. Other topics discussed, Voice Teacher and Vocal Coach and the differences and how they are combined at VoiceQuest Inc. and all their offerings at the studio including performance classes and opportunities. Also, we talk about Davenport’s, a piano bar and cabaret in Chicago and why technique is so important in the teaching of singing. And a bit about the innovative way they use the web. VoiceQuest Inc. can be found at http://VoiceQuestInc.com.

More to come in the second half of the interview.

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This episode I talk with Kim Fenolio, Graphic Artist, Podcaster and New Media Maven.

Here’s more of the EP art that I’ll discuss with Kim.

I discuss with Kim all the different aspects of the Graphics for the EP, resolutions, DPI vs LPI, What goes where on the inserts, Bar codes and where they will be placed, Why ornaments, What is an EP?, Order of songs on the EP, questions from the Podcast Gallery and as always, Comments from the Podcast Gallery. Don’t forget to check out Kim’s Graphic Arts Website at KimFenolio.com.

I have

• The final graphics for the cover and label of the CD

As a special side note from the show, Inside Home Recording is a Website/Podcast I just found that I wish I had found about three months ago. I’ve only had the opportunity to skim it, but it looks to be full of great information for anyone doing recording at home, whether it’s music or a podcast, take a look, I know I will.

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The conclusion of My Guest stint on The Indigo Room: Creating Our Reality

What I’ve learned to This point, Talking to the virtual world, Susan Reynolds, “Jim’s 17 seconds on steroids”, The Podcast Gallery, More than 60% Mouth, Self promotion and honesty, looking forward to the rest of the project, Q&A, Rights to songs, an impromptu singing of ‘A Round for the Holidays” and Comments from The Podcast Gallery.

I have

• Two new Shockmounts for my condenser microphones
• My first experience as an interviewee – on The Indigo Room: Creating Our Reality

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The first part of my Guest stint on The Indigo Room: Creating Our Reality with Sydney Chase and Diana Kessler. Original air date November 16, 2007.

My background and experience, My Holiday performances and other shows, Common Time: The Aural Report, My education in music, publicity, The first verse of Christmas Angel (at approx. 14:50), Overview of the “With A Voice Like This” and the Christmas project, an abbreviated daily update, motivation and inspiration, How this interview came about.

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