Asides

Friend Michael Benghiat of the Music Kitchen, who I partnered up with on tracks for Oprah, lent some great advice at this workshop about the music biz. He pointed out that writing music and licensing it can pay off a lot more than playing gigs, which is certainly the case for me.

“Songwriters and publishers make money every time their music is played,” Benghiat said. “Performers only get paid when they perform.”

“I know people who are doing really well,” Benghiat said. “If you can produce good-sounding music inexpensively, you can make money.”

I spoke with a really cool rep from TuneSat today. Attached is a little peak at their interface. They have a digital fingerprinting technology that will track your songs as they appear in broadcast. They are much more accurate than ASCAP’s sampling surveys/techniques (though, to ASCAP’s credit it has improved a lot over the last few years) and have gotten music companies/composers a lot of additional money. In fact, their technology has resulted in so much extra discovered placements/money for composers, it has overwhelmed ASCAP. I know for a fact when I’m talking to the back end royalties folks, they are completely overwhelmed trying to keep up with it all.

I’m wondering if anyone who is a “semi-pro” indie composer, basically someone doing music/licensing thing part-time but making good money at it, is using this service? For a full on music library or production house, the investment is not so much. But at $27/month (first tier of pricing to track 50 songs, goes up from there) and a year contract, this is not overwhelming, but significant to an indie composer on a very tight budget. can anyone give me some feedback? It’s not the monthly rate, but the year commitment, that is slightly intimidating.

But i’ve gone into my budget and eliminated other waste, like my $10/month box.net account (dropbox for me now, even though it has less features), and now using Blue Host/Word Press to host all my sites for a much more economical/manageable solution. And I’m sure to truly see results, you have to be using the service for long enough…as we composers know, there’s a long turnaround time for any music appearing in broadcast–you can expect to see the records from ASCAP and payment until 9 months later.

I work with a couple of companies who own my tunes exclusively and are pretty tight on tracking things, but I have a half dozen other partners that do the “re-titling” thing with my tracks. Who knows where my stuff could have been used without my knowledge. Any way you slice it, “found money” is extra

After many years of custom-coding psykickgirl.com, I finally got smart and switched over to the WordPress platform and all of its lovely, built-in features.  It will be a lot easier to update my site with news–all kinds of great things have been happening with my music licensing!  I regret all the breaking news bits that have already come and gone.

Anyway, welcome to the site and enjoy yourself!

I see it from your point of view:
You think he’s the best thing that ever happened to you.
But why is it so hard for you to see the light?
This dog’s bark is foreshadowing his bite.

Clear your head of a “happy-ever-after”.
This design is gonna end up in disaster.

Let go of the fairytale
that’s conditioned in the mind of a female.
The situation’s getting very strange.
You’ve got to make your move before it’s too late.

Change your life while you still have time.
Something’s got to be done.
Too scared, too slow, too sad to know that
You’re under his thumb.

He can only get through to you
with the language of black and blue.
Does it feel as if you can never do things right?
From where I stand this man is always looking for a fight.

(You don’t have to play yesterday’s game)

Change your life while you still have time.
Something’s got to be done.
Too scared, too slow, too sad to know that
You’re under his thumb.

These hands…they want you…
Fingers constantly in motion.
And these lips, they taste you
when I breathe in, breathe out
I’m so excited by the notion.

I Can Picture You,
If Can’t Have You.

So strange how I found you
When I stumbled unprotected.
Now your fire burns my blood
And you’ll drown under the
Undulating waves of my love.

I Can Picture You,
If Can’t Have You.

(People say I’m obsessed.)

I Can Picture You,
If Can’t Have You.

You came to my door with daughters in tow.
You wanted to share everything that you know.
You’ve got the map
You’ve got the plan
You know exactly where you stand.
You want to tell me all about what’s wrong and right.
You came to bring the proper light into my life.
But I don’t live I darkness.
I’m not so confused.
I don’t live by a book that serves so very few.
You came to share with me the absolute truth.
I tried to tell you that it’s all just a ruse.
But you wouldn’t go.
“The word makes it so.”
“But we only know what they want us to know.”
We stood and talked about the state of the world.
Through the rusty screen door I just stared at your girls:
Eyes cast down, no solitary sound.
Were we saying stupid things or were they profound?

I hope your words endure
I hope your daughters survive
I hope this crazy world
Doesn’t just eat them alive.

You came to my door this morning at ten
Talking about the final judgment of sin.
My future life: big Paradise
I can have it all if my faith is blind.

I hope your words endure
I hope your daughters survive
I hope this crazy world
Doesn’t just eat them alive.