take your songwriting to the next level
TAKE a FREE songwriting course at
http://www.SongU.com/ifs
PITCH your songs
Get professional critiques and mentoring
Network with talented songwriters

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If you want to RECEIVE IFS or CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS with IFS
SEND an EMPTY email to
difs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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I love to hear from IFS readers
Please let me know how you're doing and what you've been up to

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Dear IFS readers,

I hope this email finds you well.

Yesterday I had lunch with my friend Gary Powell at the Austin
Rotary club where Craig Hella Johnson spoke and performed, plus the
chorus he directs, Conspirare performed too. They were magnificent!
http://conspirare.org
fyi Conspirare's Latest CD Release received two GRAMMY® Nominations!

My wife and I will be in LA on Friday Feb 9th - Monday Feb 12th to
attend the Grammy's. I hope to give y'all a full report.

Ande

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I ran this announcement in the last FIS issue.

Congratulations to IFS reader Austin Carroll,
he got a cut on Katherine McPhee's CD.
http://www.myspace.com/katharinemcphee
10. Better Off Alone (Austin Carroll, Susan Marshall)
Produced by Emanuel Kiriakou

you can hear austin's rendition at:
www.myspace.com/austincarrollmusic


An IFS reader wrote me asking:
"Ande, how did Austin get the cut?"

I haven't spoken with Austin recently but I spoke with him a couple
times in the past months.

Here's part of the story
Austin was on ABC's reality show "The One," Kara DioGuardi was one
of the mentors on the show. Austin was the standout performer and I
beleive he would have won if the show went to completion.
Unfortunately after two episode, ABC cancelled "the One" due to poor
ratings. Kara encouraged Austin to stay in LA, she allowed him to
stay in her home till he got settled. She believes in him and
opened many doors. If you read Kara's bio you'll see she's involved
on many CD projects as writer and producer. Kara was working with
Katherine McPhee, Kara introduced Austin to Katherine, Austin let
Katherine hear some of his songs. Katherine put a couple on hold
and "Better Off Alone" wound up making the project.
Kara's production and publishing company is Arthouse entertainment
http://www.arthouseent.com

here's what Austin wrote about Katherine:

"She is a truly amazing individual. Not just a singer or performer,
but a very gifted and kind-hearted person. She also does an amazing
job on the song, and there could not have been a better person to
sing it. She really took it to a whole new level. Before I loved the
song, but now I'm just blown away by it....She's going to take the
AI girls to a whole new level."
Austin Carroll - songwriter, talking about Katharine singing his
song "Better Off Alone"

Arthouse entertainment's Eman Emanual Kiriakou produced the song for
her project. I can't wait to hear it.

I hope to speak to Austin soon to gather more details.

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The Recording Academy® Texas Chapter presents

IN THE MIX: Houston

with special performance by
J Xavier

Wednesday, January 17, 2007
5:30 "7:30 p.m.
House of Dereon
1505 Hadley
(at the corner of Hadley and LaBranch)
Houston, TX 77002

The Recording Academy Texas Chapter is bringing together fellow
members for an informal evening of networking and camaraderie.

Admission: Complimentary for members and a guest;
$25 for non-members
RSVP required to
rsvp_texas@...
or call
512.328.8176
no later than Tuesday, January 16 at 5 p.m. CST

www.grammy.com/texas

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This is why I write songs!

Message from the mother of Ryan Capps. Ryan was the center of my
tribute song called Champion.

Dear mitch,

please excuse the delay...we have been battling a house of flu!! I
wanted to send this when I had time to really express my
feelings...the song is unbeleivable! I love it, everyone around me
loves it! The teenagers have posted it all over the internet!! The
local radio stations have played it...the national childrens miracle
network wants to use it...the local tv guys are setting pictures to
it already! Thank you!! It is the best tribute to her...I will send
you everything we get where the song is used...yes please send both
cds, I can never express my appreciation to you...nothing would have
thrilled ryan more or symbolized her better than your song!!
With all my love and respect....

kimber

http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=52650

Blessings..

Mitch

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I got this info from John Braheny

The Copyright Office has raised the cost of registrations from $30
to $45. For a full schedule of other registrations,
go to
http://copyright.gov

The Copyright Royalty Board has decided to reclassify cell phone
ringtones as falling under the compulsory license provisions of the
Copyright law, subject to the same mechanical royalty rates
(Currently 9.1 cents per unit sold) as sales of other recordings.
This seriously reduces the income of music publishers and
songwriters for master ringtones. They were previously negotiated at
10-12.5% of the retail price. The publishing industry will challenge
that decision though it's possible that if the price of ringtones
drops enough, the mechanical rate will end up being not such a bad
deal. There has been a struggle between record companies
(represented by the RIAA who lobbied for the change) and music
publishers over who should get the bigger percentage of the income.
When consumers could only buy the melodies as simple monophonic or
polyphonic ringtones, music publishers and songwriters got all the
royalties. However, the introduction of master ringtones or
mastertones that used the recorded masters of the songs meant that
the record companies who owned the masters began to share the
royalty pool. It's been a battle between the two ever since.


(P.S. Remember!
Schedule your song critiques and private consultations, before you
spend your hard-earned cash on demos or master recordings. I work
online, by phone or by snail mail. And yes, I also do career
consultations, in person and by phone, answering questions
like, "What's my next step?" Contact me at john@....)
New rates after Jan 1, $125hr or $25 per song.

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I read this blog on Allison Sattinger's myspace

ALLISON SAYS IT'S POSSIBLE :)
Current mood: optimistic

My dearest girl Terra made a beautiful video: the screen capture is
from my time in it: go look -- it is a tremendous labor of love, and
she is a creator of ripples. We need more musicians like her to give
a voice to those who believe that better things are possible. Here
is the link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AlXlhFlHR8A

Say it's Possible, indeed :)

XOXO

Allison

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In fact Allison is in the video at around 1:06 holding a sign that
says "Be a Healer"

Terra Naomi's NEW Official "Say It's Possible" music video

January 01, 2007, 02:09 AM

People from around the world filmed themselves and sent their videos
to me. I asked everyone to answer the question
"what would you do/want if anything were possible?"
in three words or less.
THANK YOU to all of you.

This project is a true reflection of what we can do together.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=terranaomi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlXlhFlHR8A&eurl=




IFS readers as I investigated this further I discovered that this
video has now had
Views: 445,941 views on YOUTUBE
which is amazing considering the short amount of time that's it's
been up.

so how did Terra do this project
here's the video where she invited
youtube members to participate on her video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqWPSrIcAzs

you can read the details on her website

now several other artists have made videos performing her song
like
blinktwice4y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9EYEJ-ibHs&mode=related&search=
which I think was quite wonderful

Congratulations Terra Naomi
You are making an impact.

IFS readers I encourage you to study what's she's done.

on another note:
I sent this info to a man who writes music articles
he wrote me back saying it was "rubbish hype"

so I emailed him and asked
"So How does an independent artist gain positive attention."
his reply was "Make good music"
which to me is rubbish
there's plenty of wonderful artists and songs that aren't getting
the attention they deserve.

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you might enjoy the Story Behind the song on
http://www.countrymusicclassics.com/CMCStorySong.htm

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Conspirare's Latest CD Release gets two GRAMMY® Nominations!

Conspirare's second studio recording, Requiem, released in February
2006 on the Clarion label, just received two GRAMMY® Nominations!
The nominations are for Best Choral Performance and Best Engineered
Album, Classical (John Newton, Engineer). The 49th annual Grammy
Awards will be announced on February 11, 2007 at the Staples Center
in Los Angeles. The CD was recorded in October 2005 at Troy Savings
Bank Music Hall in Troy, New York.

you can hear it and get it at:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/conspirare2/from/ande

Conspirare also has the following events in austin

Sunday, January 14, 2007, 2:30pm
Town Hall Gathering Hymns For All People


Crossing the Divide:
Exploring Influence and Finding Our Voice
an American Masterpiece Festival
January 25-28, 2007

A spectacular, not-to-be-missed choral event.
Join musicians from across the region and register for this dynamic
weekend of musical events and cultural dialogue. Workshops presented
by: Weston Noble, Rob Kapilow, Henry Leck, John Muehleisen, Mark
Shapiro, Stephen Paulus, Joe Jennings (Chanticleer) and Craig Hella
Johnson. There will be three world premiere performances as well as
a closing concert featuring a massed choir of 700 singers!

Festival Registration: $100 regular / $25 student / $50 day pass
Concert Tickets: $10 - $25 regular / $10 - $15 student
Call 512-476-5775 or email info@...
For more information drop by
http://conspirare.org

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Konami, one of the largest Computer & Video Game makers, is looking
for music for their acclaimed dancing game, Dance Dance Revolution.
Winners will be selected with the opportunity to have their music
featured in future iterations of the Dance Dance Revolution series
releasing in 2007, and win $1,000 dollars!*

http://www.broadjam.com/ddr2007/

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ASK ANDE

I have recently become a SongU member and was enjoying listening to
a transcript of a recent talk you gave. Thanks for all the great
info you passed along. You mentioned you signed a single-song
contract with Banner Music. I was wondering what you thought of
them, as I'm considering sending them a song to consider. I
couldn't find much about them on the web, apart from their site.

I would really appreciate any thoughts about them.

Kind Regards,

~ ~ ~

Ande's Reply


i've known camilla and daniel kliendienst for years
i've signed several songs with banner
i've received royalty payments from them on songs artists cut

several of my songs reverted back to me when the time lapsed

i have a couple still with them
zip zero
and
make the most of the dark
they are on songramp.com/ande

if camilla likes your song and you sign it with her
she'll get it heard

good luck

ande

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American Songwriter Magazine - a must read for all songwriters.

American Songwriter magazine is now offering IFS readers a 25%
discount for a 1 or 2-year subscription to the magazine. American
Songwriter, founded in 1984, has been the industry's leader on the
craft of songwriting, showcasing unique columns, departments,
reviews and features. From intimate interviews with Keith Urban,
John Denver, Roger Miller, Kenny Chesney and Bob McDill, to Sheryl
Crow, Gretchen Peters, R.L. Castleman, Beck and Matraca Berg,
American Songwriter is a must-read for performing and non-performing
songwriters. Follow the link below to redeem
discount offer!

http://www.americansongwriter.com/discount/subscription.htm

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Singer Searching for Songs


My band the Crabby Grass Boys is about to record our first CD, with a
two-time Grammy award winning producer. Sessions begin in late FEB,
and we
hope to release the CD no later than June 1st. Our focus is to
promote the
band widely over the next 18 months on a regional basis in Texas, so
we're
targeting Texas Music Broadcasters. We've been playing the Texas
Festival
Circuit exclusively the last two years and we're a 'Family Friendly'
act -
so please bear that in mind when you submit material for
consideration. We
can be irreverent, and often are... but we have a sound folks feel
comfortable birnging their young kids to listen to.

We are considering ONLY up-tempo songs with a SPECIFIC TEXAS THREAD
in the storyline.

We are particularly interested in a song about a bank robbers,
banditos, etc. A song historically accurate or based on a legendary
Texas outlaw would be great!

Standard mechanical royalties will be paid in advance of release
based on actual units manufactured less units used for promotion.

You can get a feel for what the band sounds like on our website at
www.crabbygrassboys.com.

Submissions are accepted by CD only. Please do not send anything
without a
specific Texas connection in the lyric. I simply do not have the
time right
now to review anything else. Thanks for your consideration!

Mail CD's AND Lyric Sheets to: Alton Rex, 516 East 40th #204 -
Austin, Texas 78751

Regards,
Alton Rex
Sing the true song of your heart!
www.crabbygrassboys.com
www.altonrex.com

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SongU recently congratulated the following writers for their forwards

Spin N' Pitch Congratulates...
I want to take a moment to recognize those members who had songs
forwarded (or had artists express interest in their songs during the
month of December). It's a difficult business we're in, so it's
important to celebrate any time we get the chance. So a round of
applause to the following members (and apologies in advance to
anyone I inadvertently missed, including SU member/co-writers of the
songs):

#243 Major-label MALE. Looking for UPTEMPO, Honky Tonk songs with
bluesy edge. Or country BALLADS that show a vulnerable side.

Steve Hostetler 'We're Not Getting Anywhere'
Donna Galbraith/Mitch Townley 'My Family Tree'
Lorna Flowers 'Like I Know The Rain (male vox)'
Scott Hamilton 'Real Tough'
#244 Major-label FEMALE. This established 24 year old artist is
looking for positive UPTEMPOS a la Sara Evans and Trisha Yearwood.
NO bad girl, NO drinking, NO fluff.

Donna Galbraith/Joe Lickteig ''94 Dodge, Interstate 80'
#255 Major-label FEMALE. This singer in her early 20's is looking
for story songs ala Jesus Takes The Wheel (hint). This is a highly
competitive pitch.

Marc Kuchner 'I'm Still Growing Up'
Chris Caminiti 'WINDOWS DOWN'
Cathy Serum 'Does God Jump on the Clouds (To Make it Rain)?'
Donna Galbraith 'I Won't Think About You'
Kent Forward 'Hearts Break In Waves'
Lorna Flowers 'Like I Know The Rain (female vox)'
#256 Major-label MALE. This 30-something former Nashville demo
singer is looking for HIT songs to break his career on a sophomore
project. Think male attitude a la Brooks & Dunn and Toby Keith.
Uptempos always preferred, but not mandatory for this pitch.

Tom Bohn 'I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY'
Kent Forward 'Jenny Wilde'
Mitch Townley/Donna Galbraith 'My Family Tree'
Scott Jarman 'Farm Girl'
Edmond Ramsey 'COPY-BEER BUDDIES'
Chris Caminiti 'IRON SHARPENS IRON'
Jimi Whitelaw 'Get Drunk'
Gene Reynolds 'Knocked Me Dead'
#257 Major-label FEMALE. Established mature 30-something artist with
great range and vocal depth needs UPTEMPOS only for hits package. No
ballads.

Marc Kuchner 'I'm Still Growing Up'
Elizabeth Milcarek/Bob Dewald 'Y CHROMOSOME'
Steve Hostetler 'Girls Like Fast Cars Too'
Bob Dewald/Elizabeth Milcarek 'Y Chromosome'
Cathy Serum 'What Is and What Should Be'
Donna Galbraith/Joe Lickteig ''94 Dodge, Interstate 80'
#259 Country/Bluegrass FEMALE & MALE lead singers. This established
independent newgrass group is looking for country, country pop,
gospel. UPTEMPOS preferred. Note: Might have publishing interest.

James Smith 'Moonbathing'
Marc Kuchner 'Kissing In The Rain'
PAUL MILLER 'I'M ALL YOURS'
Everett Adams 'My Tennessee Treasure'
Mitch Townley/Donna Galbraith 'My Family Tree'
Mitch Townley 'Less In Life'
John Tolley 'Heaven's Gone Country'
Matt Dorman 'Denver v2'
Perry Dusch 'I Count My Blessings'
Lisa Medill 'Little Big Man'

drop by
http://www.SongU.com/ifs

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selling instrumental music

posted by Derek at CD Baby on Thursday October 19 2006 @ 10:19AM
PDT


(Someone asked me how they could sell more of their instrumental
music. My answer:)

For instrumental music, it sells best if you tie it into a purpose.

Massage music sells very well.
Yoga music sells very well.
Instrumental Christmas music sells very well.

... all because they're selling more than just harmony, melody,
arrangements : they're selling something that non-music people find
useful. They solve a problem.

Different example:
Imagine two candlemakers.
One says, "My candles have only the finest wax with the best quality
wick!"
The other says, "These are prayer candles. Light one whenever you
pray."
There are dozens of people who will buy the first.
But there are millions who will buy the second.

http://cdbaby.org/stories/06/10/19/8360390.html

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Write On,

ande rasmussen

does anyone ever read IFS to the very end?