TAKE a FREE songwriting course at
http://www.SongU.com/ifs

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Derek at CDBaby announced the following
http://cdbaby.org/stories/06/02/08/3949734.html

look at how rapidly digital revs are doing vs CD revs

check out CDBaby's month by month growth since the beginning:
http://cdbaby.org/cdbaby-sales-2005-large.png

here's some MORE cool stuff Derek Shared

great advice from other people
http://cdbaby.org/stories/06/02/05/7975227.html

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ever thought about creating a wealth partner program for those who
help you SELL your CD's

http://www.faithrivera.com/fr/Connection.html

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~


I love to hear from IFS Readers

Hey Ande,

I've been reading IFS for a while, and wanted to write you a quick
note to thank you for such a GREAT newsletter.

I'm not much of a songwriter (or maybe I'm just a lazy one), but
have been really encouraged and inspired by IFS... so much so that I
signed up for a year at SongU and signed up at Just Plain Folks this
week!

Thanks again - oh, and if you know of anyone who may need a female
vocalist (for demos or some such - I put a small ad up on SongU's
classifieds board today), please let me know. I'm really eager to
make some connections and broaden my musical horizons.

Thanks!
Amelia Kleymann
Dallas, Texas

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Write songs about Current Events

You've got to be on your toes
Pay attention to current events
Eventually someone famous is going to do something that deserves a
song.

Recently our vice president accidentally shot an attorney on a quail
hunt at a South Texas ranch.

At the Folk Alliance in Austin, they challenged songwriters to write
a song about it, gave them 24 hours to come up with something. 10
songwriters worked on it and submitted entries. My cowriter,
friend and IFS reader Steve Brooks was selected as the winner.

When something songworthy happens you've got to move fast, write
something strong, record it and get it out before the headlines are
forgotten.

You also need to decide if you're going to create an original or a
parody

The Bob Rivers Show (www.bobrivers.com) heard weekdays from 5-10 am
on 102.5 KZOK FM, in Seattle's created a parody about the incident
called Cheney's Got a Gun written to Aerosmith's Janey Got a Gun
http://www.bobrivers.com/audiovault/downloads/downloads.asp
http://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=20902

Find a great idea to write about and move quick! Get it written, get
it on the radio, get it on itunes,
Time is ticking.

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And the top 24 Idol finalists are


Girls

katherine mcfee
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/katharine_mcphee/

mandisa
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/mandisa/

Melissa McGhee
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/melissa_mcghee/

Lisa Tucker
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/lisa_tucker/

Brenna Gethers
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/brenna_gethers/

Stephanie Scott
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/stevie_scott/

Ayla Brown
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/ayla_brown/

Rebecca O'Donahue
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/becky_odonohue/

Heather Cox
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/heather_cox/

Paris Bennett
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/paris_bennett/

Kellie Pickler
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/kellie_pickler/

Kinnik Sky
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/kinnik_sky/


Boys

ace young
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/ace_young/

robert bennett
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/bobby_bennett/

david radford
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/david_radford/

sway penala
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/jose_sway_penala/

elliot yamin
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/elliott_yamin/

gideon mckinney
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/gedeon_mckinney/

chris daughtrey
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/chris_daughtry/

bucky covington
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/bucky_covington/

patrick hall
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/patrick_hall/

kevin covais
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/kevin_covais/

taylor hicks
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/taylor_hicks/

william makar
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/will_makar/

http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Blog: Music supervisors should get Oscars
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/13880356.htm

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Want to learn "How to Get Somewhere in the Music Business from
Nowhere with Nothing."

Here is an opportunity to meet with Music Industry Publisher Mary
Dawson, of CQK Music.
http://www.iwritethesongs.com/home/home.cfm

Mary will speak to the business and promotional side of
songwriting. She will follow up with group and individual songs
critiques.


When: Sunday February 19th, 12:00pm to 3pm.
Where: The Black Lab, 4100 Montrose, 77006, 713-529-1199
http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?
addr=4100+Montrose&csz=77006&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=

Cost: $10 + your lunch cost.
(The Black Lab is pleased to host this event in the Churchill room,
but in return we'll need to order lunch. Please note The Black Lab
adds a 20% tip on large parties. You might bring cash to pay for
lunch as separate checks could take a long time to close out).

RSVP: You will need to RSVP to the event so we know how many to
expect. The first 6 people to RSVP will receive a free group song
critique.

Agenda:
11:45 - 12:00 Arrive
12:00 - 12:30 order lunch
12:30 Featured Speaker
1:30 – Question & Answer period
2:00 – Group song critiques
3:00 – wrap up, (Begin private critiques)

How the song critiques work:
A group critique will take ~ 8-10 minutes.
You'll need to bring a copy of your lyric and a CD with your song.
Mary will critique your song in front of the group.
Mary is available for private one on one critiques. These will
being at 3:00. RSVP to reserve your time slot.
1 song = $25;
2 songs = $40;
3 songs = $50.

for details email
dbannen@...

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Creative Soul is a production company based in Nashville, TN and
can take your musical idea from bare demo to complete arrangement
on any budget.

Producer Eric Copeland has been helping artists around the US and
the world for years, producing hundreds of albums, singles, and
demos.

"We have access to the best musicians, studios, and engineers in
the world for higher budgets, or we can just help you put together
a lower cost, pro demo of your music. We are artist-based, not
industry-based. This means we want to help you be successful with
your music any way we can."

** Ande quote here **

Creative Soul serves many in the CCM market, being located near
Franklin, TN, but also specializes in pop, rocks, R&B, and jazz
styles.

For more information, check out
www.creativesoulonline.com/music.htm

_____

EC
-------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Copeland
Creative Soul | Music Production, Demo Services, Consultation
www.CreativeSoulOnline.com
Nashville, TN | 615-400-3910

Free New Christian Music Radio
www.CreativeSoulRadio.com
-------------------------------------------------------------

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Here's a recent announcement from our friends at SongU
drop by
www.SongU.com/ifs

Hi everyone,

As mentioned in the campus news this week, we're rolling out the NEW
and improved Spin N' Pitch upgrades this week with the February 15th
pitches. There are new opportunities, additional screeners and cool
new features for everyone. As before, we will continue to provide
this service for NO additional cost. In other words, SongU.com
absorbs the cost of storage, screeners, our new A&R consultant,
CD's, labels, etc. What we do ask of you is that you are selective
in what you pitch. We want to establish SongU.com as a place where
quality songs are the end result of learning and working at the
craft of songwriting. We can only do that if you pitch competitive
songs that are ready to go. And while getting songs recorded will
still require a magical combination of a great song, the right
artist, undeterred determination and some luck, we hope you'll enjoy
the new features and opportunities associated with Spin N' Pitch.

There's a lot of information below. But if you are (or plan on)
participating in the Spin N' Pitch opportunities, please do take the
time to read and become familiar with the new procedures.

The NEW Spin N' Pitch Is Here!
I'll run down how the new Spin N' Pitch will now operate, including
listing some of the brand new features below. On a related note,
we've also added several more screeners to our stable of screeners.
This should help cancel out some of the subjectivity that happens in
a very subjective business. Still, if a song consistently does not
get forwarded by the screeners, it's likely that something isn't
working about the song. Also, in combination with our new Spin N'
Pitch features, our lawyers have requested all members now agree to
a release/consent with each pitch. It's a simple checkbox on the
bottom of the page where you paste in your lyrics and basically is
there to cover stuff related to the street pitches (like giving us
permission to burn a CD, etc.) as well as features specific to the
screened and unscreened pitches.

Ok - here we go...
A. Screened Pitches - As before, we will continue to have
screened pitches in a variety of genres. These will typically be
updated every 2 weeks and will be for very competitive pitches
(e.g., major label, major-station TV show) where you are competing
against the best songwriters in the world for the cut.

Summary Of Screened Pitches:
o Screened Pitches Are Very Competitive: The bar for getting
forwarded on these is that your song must be competitive against
other professional writers, not other SU members. Music industry
professionals have very good memories for bad songs. If we invite a
top producer to listen to songs from our members and they hear songs
that they believe aren't competitive, it's unlikely we will be able
to get that producer to listen to our members' songs again (and
that's not good for anyone). So if none of the songs are competitive
enough for a pitch, none will get forwarded. If all of them are
competitive, all of them will get forwarded.
o You Will Receive Notification From Screeners. You will be
notified when your song is screened and whether or not it's
forwarded. Sometimes you will receive this feedback before the pitch
deadline while other times it may be after the pitch deadline.
o But You Will Not Receive Detailed Feedback From The
Screeners. A screener may include some information why your song
isn't forwarded, but their function is really that of a yes/no
person. While you may not agree with their decisions all the time
(particularly when they "pass" on one of your new "babies"), we have
to respect their judgment. Run it by one of the SU coaches or bring
it to a feedback class where we can all decide whether the screener
is off their rocker or whether something is inherently wrong with
the song.
o And You Probably Will Not Receive Notification From Industry
Guest Unless They're Interested. As is customary in the industry,
you will only receive notification if someone is interested in your
song (that's usually the only time we're notified). That's just
customary practice. In a perfect world, we'd get a personal phone
call anytime anyone listened to our song with the reasons why they
don't think it's appropriate for their artist. But in the imperfect
music industry where A&R reps and producers listen to over a 1000
songs per week, it just doesn't happen. Believe me, if they love a
song, they will hunt you down and find you somehow. If we do receive
any other information, we will be sure to forward it on to you.

B. (new!) Street Pitches - This is a new category and
represents a special type of "screened" pitch. We have contracted
with a professional A&R consultant who will be screening songs for
upcoming pitch meetings. If your song is accepted, it will be burned
onto CD and will go with the A&R consultant to the meeting to be
hand delivered. You will also see special types of "street" pitches
indicated as a "Quick Pitch". These are street pitches with a very
quick turnaround. In other words, the artist may already be in the
studio or they may have dropped a song from their project and
suddenly need another one.
Summary Of Street Pitches:
o Street Pitches Are Very, Very Competitive: The bar for
getting forwarded on these is that the A&R consultant (who will
screen all these pitches) must feel confident enough about the song
to walk into a meeting with it or hand deliver it personally to the
contact person.
o You Will Receive Notification From The Screener/A&R
Consultant. You will be notified when your song is listened to by
our A&R consultant and told whether or not the song will be pitched
to the contact. Sometimes you will receive this feedback before the
pitch deadline while other times it may be after the pitch deadline.
o You Will Not Receive Detailed Feedback From The Screener/A&R
Consultant. The A&R consultant may include some information why your
song isn't forwarded, but their function is really that of a yes/no
person. While you may not agree with their decisions all the time
(particularly when they "pass" on one of your new "babies"), we have
to respect their judgment since they are the ones who have to
present the song.
o You Probably Will Not Receive Notification From The Industry
Contact Who Listened Unless They're Interested. As is customary in
the industry, you will only receive notification if someone is
interested in your song (that's usually the only time we're
notified). That's just customary practice. In a perfect world, we'd
get a personal phone call anytime anyone listened to our song with
the reasons why they don't think it's appropriate for their artist.
But in the imperfect music industry where A&R reps and producers
listen to over a 1000 songs per week, it just doesn't happen.
Believe me, if they love a song, they will hunt you down and find
you somehow. If we do receive any other information from the contact
or our A&R consultant, we will be sure to forward it on to you.

C. (new!) Unscreened Pitches - Ok. This is your opportunity to
be your own screener! Each month we will also be adding pitches that
will not be screened, but instead, will go directly to the artist
and/or contact person. These may be primarily independent artists
and other on-going pitch opportunities like The Slideshow Company.
We're trusting you to read the details of the pitch, and pitch your
songs appropriately.
Summary Of Unscreened Pitches:
o These Go Directly To The Contact. Since there is no
screening on this process, what you pitch will go directly to the
contact person. Because of this, you can't "cancel" or remove a
pitch (i.e., take it back). As soon as you submit it, it's on its
way. Therefore we ask that you cast your pitches objectively like a
professional songwriter.
o You MUST Pitch Appropriately. Read the entire pitch
description and pitch appropriately. Don't waste the artist's time.
While there may be occasions when you're sitting in a meeting with
someone when you can say, "hey, I know you want uptempos, but take a
listen to this ballad" -- we cannot do this online. If an artist
requests uptempos, pitch only uptempos. If they request Jazz, do not
pitch a country demo with pedal steel or a hip-hop track and expect
them to hear through it. Anything you pitch inappropriately not only
reflects poorly on you, it also hurts other SU members chances
because it makes it less likely the artist will take other pitches
from SongU.com members seriously. If we hear back from a contact
that they have received poorly cast songs from an SU member, that
member will receive a one-time warning. Any further infraction will
result in a loss of pitching privileges.
o You May Or May Not Receive Notification From The Contact.
There's no way to know whether or not the contact will respond
personally. It probably just depends on the number of submissions
they receive. Again, the custom in the industry is that you only
receive notification if someone is interested in your song. If we do
receive any other information, we will be sure to forward it on to
you.
I've included the above information as part of the Spin N' Pitch FAQ
so that you can refresh your mind from time to time. As far as the
transition to the new Spin N' Pitch goes, we don't anticipate any
technical glitches, but in the world of computers, you never know.
We'll also be doing some technical enhancements to the "My Pitching"
page (pitching history, etc.) over the next month too. As usual, if
you experience anything weird or have any questions, don't hesitate
to email me.

Naturally we'll continue to work toward making new contacts and
finding new outlets for your music and will keep adding to the
variety of pitch opportunities for you. Remember that the guiding
philosophy at SongU.com is educational. Spin N' Pitch is also
educational in that it will give you real world experience pitching.
That's the good and bad...it's exciting to be able to pitch your
songs, and it's frustrating when they don't get forwarded or you
don't hear anything back. But that is part of what you must learn as
a professional writer. You should continue to learn as much as you
can and become the best writer you can while forming relationships
with co-writers and others (don't forget to enjoy the process along
the way too). Ultimately, this is what will improve your odds of
something happening with one of your songs.

See you "on campus",

-Danny
Danny Arena
www.SongU.com/ifs

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Willie Nelson Released a song called

Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)

You can find it on Itunes

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Singer Searching for Song

rdkeister@... writes:

Hi Ande,

I hope all is going well. I'm looking for songs for country artist
Rustie Blue for her next project. (upbeat as well as ballads). I'm
just beginning to look for songs. It will be awhile before she goes
into the studio. I was wondering if you could help me in putting
the word out?

Thanks so much for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Have a great weekend!
Bob

Mailing address:

Center Stage Productions
Robert D. Keister
512 West Sixth Ave.
Lancaster, OH 43130

740.653.1916
www.rustieblue.com

Listen to samples of Rustie's voice/style here:
http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/blue_rustie/1200305/album.jhtml

Rustie also has a page on myspace at www.myspace.com/rustieblue

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http://www.nbc.com/Movies_Specials_More/Star_Tomorrow/

IN A NETWORK FIRST, NBC & FAMED MUSIC EXEC TOMMY MOTTOLA ARE
LAUNCHING 'StarTomorrow,' A NEW ONLINE COMPETITION SERIES THAT LETS
FANS DECIDE THE WINNER!


Send Tapes To:
StarTomorrow
10061 Riverside Drive
Toluca Lake, CA 91602
Does your garage band rock the local scene? Is your musical group
destined to be the next Destiny's Child? Musicians and performers
alike are encouraged to submit their performance tapes to this new,
online competition.

Marking the first time that a network has offered a full national
series on broadband, NBC introduces "StarTomorrow," an interactive
competitive music program that will allow viewers to choose the
first Internet superstar band or singing group - and will reward the
winners with a recording deal with legendary music executive Tommy
Mottola and his Casablanca Record label.

The nationwide search will ultimately narrow the field down to
approximately 100 of America's best groups (singers with no
instruments) and bands that have been screened for entry into the
competition. The final 100 will be rolled out weekly in smaller
groups online at NBC.com.




SUBMIT YOUR BAND OR GROUP NOW.

Download the release form, click here. Send the completed/signed
release and your VHS tape or DVD to the address list.

Rules To Live By:


All band/group members must be 18 years old in order to be
considered for the competition.
Each person in your band or group must fill out and sign a separate
release form.
Your submission should not include logos or artwork (including that
on clothing) for which you do not own the copyright or trademark.
Bands/groups must submit themselves performing one original song and
one cover song.
Selected participants will be responsible to pay for their own
travel/accomodations to one of four regional competitions to be
determined at a later date.
Only VHS and/or DVD formats accepted.
Official contest rules and eligibility requirements will be posted
at a later date. Bands will also be asked to sign further
authorization and release forms which will be available at a later
date. Failure to meet these requirements will result in elimination
from consideration.
http://www.nbc.com/Movies_Specials_More/Star_Tomorrow/Appearance_Rele
ase_020706.pdf

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Write On,

Ande