Lately I've been enjoying Byron Hill's CD "Ramblings"
http://cdbaby.com/cd/byronhill2/from/ande

he's such an incredible songwriter and has such a wonderful voice.
I think my favorite track is #12 "The Pages Of My Mind"
which was also cut by the legendary RAY CHARLES

Byron has gotten over 428 cuts.

you can hear several of Byron's hits on
http://cdbaby.com/cd/byronhill/from/ande

here's some info from Byron's bio

While at ATV, the hits started happening for Byron as a writer in
1979 with Joe Sun's "Out Of Your Mind", and in 1981 with Johnny
Lee's "Picking Up Strangers", with many other cuts and several
smaller singles along the way. Byron co-wrote George Strait's first
number one "Fool Hearted Memory" in 1982, and many other early cuts
including recordings by artists such as Ray Charles, Juice Newton,
Conway Twitty, Mel McDaniel, Ricky Skaggs, Margo Smith, and Reba
McEntire. While at ATV, Byron also connected with someone who would
be one of his most successful co-writing partners, Tony Hiller, who
was then a staff songwriter for ATV London. Byron and Tony went on to
co-write more than 500 songs together. Byron also branched into the
production side of the business at ATV, landing a deal for Kathy
Mattea and co-producing her first Mercury Records LP "Street Talk".

In 1984, after the sale and closing of ATV Music, Byron began four
years as an independent songwriter/publisher, writing the Ed Bruce
top ten single "Nights", as well as songs recorded by Kenny Rogers,
Anne Murray, and others. In 1988 he sold his publishing company and
decided to concentrate only on writing and he signed up for what he
describes as "nothing less than boot camp" as a staff writer for
Collins Music, an association that yielded Alabama's #1 single "Born
Country", "Alright Already" for Larry Stewart, and many other cuts
with artists such as Asleep At The Wheel, Barbara Mandrell, and Randy
Travis. In 1992, he signed with MCA Music Nashville. At MCA Music, he
landed singles by Tracy Byrd ("Lifestyles Of The Not So Rich And
Famous"), Neal McCoy ("If I Was A Drinkin' Man"), George Jones ("High-
Tech Redneck"), Sammy Kershaw ("Politics, Religion And Her"), River
Road ("I Broke It, I'll Fix It") and Gil Grand ("Famous First
Words"). In December of 1998 he signed with Starstruck Writers Group
in Nashville which was sold in October of 2000 to Warner Chappell
Music. In January of 2003, Byron signed with Almo Irving Music. In
October of 2003 Almo Irving was consolidated into Universal Music
Publishing, where Byron is presently a staff songwriter.

As a songwriter, Byron has had a total of 428 recordings of his
songs. His songs have earned more than fifty-one RIAA certified gold
and platinum albums, eight ASCAP awards, and five #1 singles. He has
new songs on current and upcoming albums by George Strait, Gary
Allan, Joe Nichols, John Michael Montgomery, Jeff Bates, Colt
Prather, Kevin Denny and others.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/byronhill/from/ande
http://cdbaby.com/cd/byronhill2/from/ande

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dear IFS readers

I hope this email finds you well

there's some really great stuff in this IFS issue

Ande


here's a few IFS reader replies

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ande,
I appreciate your hard work on all the issues, and I'm enjoying
this "cut by cut" issue a lot.
thanks again,
Daniel
Banner Music

~ ~ ~

Ande,

Thank you once again for an informative and helpful email.

I just wanted to thank you for DIFS. Because of your encouragement,
Soulpajamas decided to give the profits from our CD: 'Music for
Awakening,' to the Red Cross, via CD Baby. Thanks to you and CD Baby
for making it so easy.

Just a couple of days ago I played in a benefit concert in
Washington, DC that was organized by musicians in a little over 24
hours. Well, it was more than a concert really. It was billed
as 'Love for Lousiana - music, meditation and prayer.' We raised
almost $3,000 to help those affected by Katrina and the flood. It
may seem like a small amount compared to the numbers we're hearing in
the news, but we know it will be put to good use.

Keep up the good work,

Dan
Daniel David Johnson
www.soulpajamas.com
http://cdbaby.com/cd/soulpajamas/from/ande

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

hey ande~
what a great email! all of this is extremely useful information, no
matter what your career goals are. btw, are you going to durango
this year?
hope all is well with you and i hope if you have any Loved ones in or
around katrina's path that everyone is okay.
wishing you all the best and keep up the good work ~ you're
inspiration does help :)
take care and keep me posted...
PEACE,
jenna lee

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

congratulations again to georgia middleman
you can find her song "Dearly Beloved" on the Faith
Hill's "Fireflies" CD I hope it's one of the singles off the CD

here's a little more about her and where you can hear some cuts from
her latest CD

GEORGIA MIDDLEMAN was raised in San Antonio, Texas, and studied
theatre at NYU. After moving to Nashville to pursue songwriting, she
eventually landed a staff writer position at PolyGram Music and a
recording contract with Giant Records. Her album "Endless
Possibilities" was released just as Giant's doors were being
shuttered. Undaunted, Georgia continued to concentrate on her
songwriting - both for herself and for other artists. Faith Hill,
Martina McBride, Terri Clark, Joe Nichols, Tracy Lawrence, and others
have recorded Georgia's songs.

Listen for Georgia's songs at:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/middleman/from/ande

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

George Canyon won big at Canadian Country Music Awards

George Canyon stole the show at the Canadian Country Music Awards
Monday night in Calgary.

The Nova Scotia-born singer won four major awards, including top male
artist and the fans' choice as top entertainer.

to hear George drop by:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/georgecanyon/from/ande

to read more about george's awards drop by:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/09/13/Arts/country-music-
awards-20050913.html

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I found an article that wrote:

"Today FM radio is a wasteland--repetitive, overprogrammed, market-
niched to the max, seemingly with more commercials than music. The
only strategy that makes it somewhat bearable is to keep switching
among several preprogrammed stations, a frustrating enterprise that
gets tough on the index finger."

http://tinyurl.com/8jpnr

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Clear Channel's New Music

Radio titan launches online channel for mostly unsigned singers and
artists as a boot camp for new talent.
http://tinyurl.com/cyl6u

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Google created and tweaks their formula to determine relevance for
particular words like if you google the word
Songwriting

musesmuse.com is at the top of the list

Songwriting Tips & Tools - The Muse's Muse
Songwriting tips, tools, interactivities and opportunities to connect
with other songwriters.
www.musesmuse.com/ - 78k

the higher you fall on a google word search
the more likely you are to be found by those who are looking for you
or those who could stumble upon you

It's also not an accident that Jodi Krangles website musesmuse.com
comes up first Jody helps others with
Affordable Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Services
With A Personal Touch:
http://www.internet-marketing-mm.com/
"Jodi is to a website what a match is to a firecracker..."
--Tushar K. Pain,
Toronto Criminal Defence Lawyer

she even offers some free tips at
http://www.internet-marketing-mm.com/free-submissions.html

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

today I received this email

Hey, Ande:

Thanks for your enthusiasm for Mark and BSOJC --
they'll be doing an Antone's date and a Waterloo
in-store on the 24th of October -- come and say hey...
Bob Peters Access All Areas Publicity

so I wrote Bob back and asked

so how did you find me? - Ande

and he wrote

google alerts

~ ~ ~

with google alerts you can find out if you're getting added to
websites
use google alerts

http://www.google.com/alerts

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

here's a letter that Sean Patrick McGraw received.

Sean -

I love your "Songs For Saturday Night" CD so much I'm going to
feature it on the FRONT PAGE of CD Baby for a few days.

We're REALLY picky about what goes on the front page. We get about 75
new albums a DAY coming in here now, (about 30,000 total), and yours
is one of the best I've ever heard.

THE DATE:
Thursday, September 22nd

OUR REVIEW:

Sean Patrick McGraw's release, "Songs For Saturday Night" packs in
twelve solid tracks of quality modern country. From upbeat to
downbeat, his songwriting never falters. With strong vocals, solid
footing in the tradition of country music and a forward-looking
approach to the future of the genre, his songs are full-bodied and
nutritious to the ears. With this album, it's not all about the bells
and whistles but about the heart and substance of the song. His
strong sense of story and direction gives the impression that his
priorities are with quality and not flash.


I'm telling you this date in advance because I'd like to co-ordinate
this with you to make it work even better.

EMAIL YOUR FANS/FRIENDS ON THAT DAY. Spread the good news. Sometimes
people need to see that other people love you, too, y'know?

It should go up at midnight, California time, on Thursday, September
22nd, and stay there for three days.

Being on the front page doesn't affect sales very much (most people
come to the website knowing what they want already), but it does
help.

Love ya!
--
Derek Sivers
president, CD Baby & Hostbaby

To hear long clips from this CD go to:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/spmcgraw4/from/ande

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I must have been hiding under a rock or something, i didn't know
Cybill Shepherd could sing. I sure was impressed when I listened to
her, she has one sexy voice.

her latest is
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/cybill7/from/ande

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

here's

Hi everybody

I'll be playing this Friday at a neat little place in LaGrange,
called The Bugle Boy. It'd be a great getaway (most of us need it,
right?). Go to
www.thebugleboy.com
for directions. I'll be playing from 8 - 10 pm.
There are some wonderful bed and breakfasts around the area too.

I've been spending my waking hours getting gigs and housing for New
Orleans musicians displaced by the hurricane. Please go to
www.noahleans.com to see the wonderful work that's being done.

Thanks!
Jen
www.JenRathbun.com

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I received this from the remarkable freddy powers

Hope you all had a great summer!!!!!

Freddy Powers will be playing at Poodie's on Highway 71 West outside
of Austin, September 23rd
Reunion show with long time Friend and past Guitar Player Clint Strong

Freddy will be in the new Big and Rich video "Coming to Your City" to
premieres this Thursday on CMT in the hottest rotation in
history !!!...
CD to be released November 15th includes "Filthy Rich" number 8 on
the cd Written by Freddy, Bill McDavid, Sonny Throckmorton, Big
Kenney and John Rich

The Rolling Stones with special guest Merle Haggard November 29,
@7:30 at the American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

"Unforgettable" Merle Haggard produced by Freddy Powers and Bill
McDavid on Capital Records available in stores everywhere

Freddy Powers protégé' 8 year old Lauren Beller joins the stage with
Ray Benson and Asleep At The Wheel in a play about Bob Wills "A Ride
With Bob" at the UT Performing Art Center October 28th and 29th.

P.S. We am starting a separate mailing list for the Austin area folks
so we'll be able to invite you to our pickin' parties and other
special events,
so please drop me a line if you live in our area and would like to
receive invitations. Catherine and Freddy

www.freddypowers.com
www.rogersandhammerhead.com
http://cdbaby.com/cd/freddypowers/from/ande

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

recently I dropped by and checked out
Taxi Success stories at:
http://www.taxi.com/transmitter/0509/deals0509.html

J2R music is a company that has placed songs in films and on TV shows

One of the companies they mentioned was J2R Music
http://j2rmusic.com

SO I dropped by and found this

Do you own and control the publishing, sound recordings, and
copyrights to your music?

If the answer is "no", then you need read no further. This situation
is not for you. If the answer is "yes", however, then allow me to
explain how your music can be placed non-exclusively in the J2R Music
Library and used on network television and DVDs, in advertising and
other projects without infringing on your ownership of the songs or
conflicting with any other present or future plans you may have for
use of the music, such as recording contracts, movie and/or
television placement, or placement with other artists for recordings.

Our clients need a constant source of top quality contemporary music
in genres like Pop, Alternative, R&B, Latin, Blues, Jazz and others.
This music needs to have the same level of songwriting, musicianship,
and production as the current releases heard on MTV and radio and
found on the Billboard charts. J2R Music finds artists who are doing
this type of high quality work, and licenses their recordings on a
non-exclusive basis, regularly releasing compilation CDs in these
various genres.

Let me give you an example of how this is accomplished. If you have a
pop/alternative song called "Love is Like a Suitcase" for which you
are the composer and copyright holder, this is an example of what
would occur:

1. Without infringing on your rights as sole owner of "Love is Like a
Suitcase", J2R would license from you the right to use
(nonexclusively) an identical version with the new title "Love and
Luggage". This re-titling does not create a new copyright, but
merely allows J2R to register this new title with ASCAP and BMI,
creating a new set of payment information for the new title only.

2. A contract is then signed between you (the sole owner of the
original title and the new title) and J2R Music. J2R Music now
becomes the publisher of "Love and Luggage" while you retain all of
your songwriter's share of the new title, and, of course, all
composer and publishing rights to the original title, which is
unaffected by this new agreement.

3. The new title, "Love and Luggage", is included on a CD
titled "Pop/Alternative Volume 3", along with other songs in the same
genre. This CD is then distributed as part of the J2R Music Library
to our various clients in the television industry.

4. If a music editor uses "Love and Luggage" as the jukebox or
background music in a restaurant scene on a network daytime drama,
for example, the editor would then fill out a cue sheet for
submission to either ASCAP or BMI indicating the day of use, how long
the use was, the show number, and your name as composer and J2R as
publisher.

5. Currently, the ASCAP composer's share for background music on a
daytime drama is about $130.00 per minute, so if the scene was three
minutes long, you as writer would receive approximately $400.00 for
that single use when your quarterly performance royalty check arrived
at your mailbox. Primetime and feature rates are significantly higher.

6. When a feature film is made into a DVD, quite often the commercial
trailer or other materials are included on the DVD as "Extra
Features". When this happens, it is common practice to replace the
expensive music from hit artists with similar songs that can be
licensed much more inexpensively. If "Love and Luggage" was used to
replace a $50,000 Goo Goo Dolls track from a feature film trailer,
for example, J2R would receive a master license fee of anywhere from
$500 - $1500 for that single use. Like any and all licensing money
that we receive, J2R would split this fee with the song's composers
on a 50/50 basis.

7. If, after signing a contract with us, you then sign another deal
for the original title "Love is Like a Suitcase", there's no problem.
Our involvement is only with the new title, which is exclusively for
our use. No one else can use the new title, and we have no rights to
the original one. This allows for all income streams and accounting
procedures to be kept completely separate.

If you've read this far, then hopefully you're interested in working
with J2R Music. If that's the case, please contact me immediately by
email, or at 610 687-3553. J2R releases new music every month, so
we're eagerly looking forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,
Jim Klein
President

J2R Music
471 Old Eagle School Rd.
Wayne, PA 19087

jim@...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I found some really great songwriting articles at
http://www.songwritersfestival.com/articlebody.htm

like this one by Mike Dunbar

Write What You Care About
by Mike Dunbar

If you want to write songs that have meaning, then write about things
that have meaning to you. This is especially important when co-
writing. All too often, I've found myself co-writing songs where the
focus was on the political act of co-writing or the attempt to write
a "commercial" hit. When the focus is not on the hook of the song,
the writing can feel scattered and contrived.

What brings you passion? What triggers your strongest emotions? I had
a friend, Dave Gillon, who used to frequent my Nashville writer's
nights. One night, Dave talking about his golf game. It was obvious
he loved golf, so I mentioned that he should write a song about it.
Now, Dave had cuts by Lorrie Morgan, Mel McDaniel, and Ray Charles, a
lot of people in his position wouldn't have written a novelty song,
but Dave is a real songwriter at heart, more about the song than the
business. It wasn't a week or two later that he brought a song in to
the writer's night called The Double Bogey Blues. It was funny and
heartfelt. We eventually recorded it on Dave's album "Hardhat Dave
and His Honky Tonk Knights." Mickey Jones picked up the song and
recorded for the Kevin Costner movie "The Tin Cup." If Dave hated
golf and tried to write a song for that movie, I doubt if he would
have gotten it cut.

Not that Dave or anyone else can't write a good song about something
they've never done. Johnny Cash, as far as I know, never shot a man.
Elton John's never been in outer space (well, maybe). In these cases,
the passion is for storytelling, and you can bet that the characters
in Folsum Prison Blues and Rocket Man, were related, metaphorically,
to the songwriters.

I find my best songs spring from my emotional state. However, they
may not be a journal of whatever experience brought me to that state.
A good example of this is how I wrote a song called The Voice. We've
all had the experience of waking from a dream and not being able to
remember it in detail. One morning, I woke up hearing a woman singing
a lullaby in a strange language. I sat bolt upright in the bed when I
realized this was my Grandmother's voice singing a Gaelic (the
ancient language of Ireland) song.
I tried to remember it, but it faded to my regret. I grabbed the pen
and pad I keep next to me on the bed table (you have one too, don't
you?) and began writing a song. It was about a musician who was
napping in the courtyard of a dancehall on the Texas/Mexico border.
He woke up hearing a woman singing to him and began writing songs
which became famous in dancehalls all over Texas. Everyone loved the
songs but him, he was just trying to capture the melody from a
forgotten dream. I put The Voice on one of my albums, and when I
perform, it's among my most requested.

Let your songs spring from your deepest feelings. The next time you
feel strongly about something, write. You don't have to write about
the thing itself, but write about things that make you feel
similarly. When you co-write, think about what feelings the hook
gives you. Try to make the words a metaphor for something in your
life that most strongly gives you those feelings.

You gotta feel it to make it real.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

thanks again,

write on,

ande


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