The Digital Songwriter

A whole new style of composing music and writing lyrics has arrived in the form of digital songwriting.

By using hi tech home studio equipment and software, you can now record your music and lyrics at the same time as you actually write your songs.

In the Sixties and Seventies, the most any young songwriter could have hoped for, would have been a 10/50/50 song deal with a music publisher - any music publisher. Whether or not the songs would have been published was another matter. At that time, the ratio of works accepted but not actually published, may have been less than eight in every hundred. In reality, most songs acquired by publishers were left on the shelf to gather dust. If any were eventually published, mainly because an artist had covered (recorded) his work, it would have made the average songwriter feel like he'd won a week in heaven - especially if they had printed his music. If you could go back in a time machine and reveal to mister Sixties songwriter/producer that today he could not only record, arrange and mix his own songs on a virtual home studio, he could also publish, release, distribute and, with the aid of midi, print off the sheet music (in several keys) all on the same day - he would probably have had a heart attack!

So what is this thing called digital music and why did it have such an impact on the music industry? Believe it or not digital was first introduced as a kind of "upgrade" to its older cousin ' analog. Actually, there are still some recording artists and producers today who prefer analog claiming there's a quality or originality to it that cannot be "captured" or reproduced using digital. Recordings in the Sixties, for example, are famous for having a distinctive analog sound of their own. Perhaps so - but most today, I would argue, prefer digital, not just for recording, but also for the advantages in transmitting, distributing, storing, retrieving, and even reconfiguring electronically.

You may get a better idea of digital if you compare it directly to analog. Think of analog as a speedometer on a car. The speed you're traveling is revealed by the arrow moving round the dial. Digital, on the other hand, can only function by using zeroes and ones (0 or 1) and may be restricted in reading the values to a tenth in between numbers. One of the many difficulties which have now been overcome ' is in changing digital to analog and vice versa. Interestingly, a compact disc functions by using both analog and digital. The audio sound exists initially in analog. Then, the disc is encoded digitally. In reading the disc, the player converts the audio back to analog when the sound comes out of the speakers.

By recording and composing music at the same time, the digital songwriter has neatly bypassed many of the obstacles faced by his predecessors including the prospect of publishing his own works on his web site. By adapting to new technology - he's also realized another great prospect: in recording the music he will also own the copyright in the masters (embodied performance). In doing so, he starts to cross into the producer/artist realm. Some may see this as an opportunity of reopening former days as an artist - and or promoting the name and product (new recordings) of a previous time. Whatever your reasons - if you're approaching digital music as a performer/writer with a view to self publishing, there remains two extremely important questions: Is the product commercial? How do I market it? Both points are as relevant today as they have always been.

Knowing what is Commercial is something anyone can achieve with great accuracy through simple, regular research - and yes, using your instincts. Check your niche of the market and see what and who is selling. In making judgments on what is commercial, you need to trust your instincts, too. It's not just what or who is selling the most, or in great numbers in a particular genre, it's also about what or who is going to be selling the most, or in great numbers in the next six, twelve and twenty four month periods from now.

Marketing your product is something you can also learn as skillfully as creating commercial songs. Remember also, it's not just a case of what is selling well in your own country (important as this is). You need to be thinking on an international level if you want to expand your selling rate significantly. The first thing, after publishing your product, is to start promoting your web site using lots of good solid links from other sites. Design the pages with one thought in mind: collect email addresses to build a sustained opt in fan base. Go all out to make your website appealing and well above the average looking site. Have regular up to date articles, photos and data about you or your band with information on forthcoming gigs. Respond quickly and enthusiastically to people emailing you with any questions. The more interest you create the stronger your fan base. Anyone who is serious about this can use auto responders. I have lots of friends who love to write and produce product - especially other artists. This means they can publish lots of different artists. If this is the area that interests you be sure to have an updated digital agreement to cover non-exclusive master rights. Once you decide to start, aim to build two main catalogs, one for publishing, and one for record licensing then watch your catalogs, profits and success rate grow.

Featured Video:
The secrets to songwriting (very surprising) by Jason Lytle of Grandaddy

CD Business Card – Perfect Marketing Tool Available Today

Looking forward to give an impressive look to your business? Develop CD Business Cards or DVD Business cards and hand it over to your customers whenever they come knocking at your door. This is an innovative marketing approach and guarantees business improvement.

With most businesses supported by websites and various technologies, people these days finds more pleasure doing work using technologies, they are more comfortable seeing business details on Computers or in laptops instead of reading the substance in a print media.

Having a CD and DVD business card has its importance beyond the level of comfort. Primarily, it enhances professionalism of the company. By handing over an attractive, custom shaped business card to your customers, immediate positive message on business confidence will be conveyed to the customer and you can further prove the level of your expertise through custom made business cards.

With the availability of low to high storage capacity up to 100 mb CD, DVD business cards, you can input any measure of interactive business information, which seems unfeasible in case of paper advertising. From giving a complete copy of a website, company brochure, catalogue, images presentation, slide shows, sound, audio and video presentation, all is possible through a small custom shaped card that can be carried even in shorts pocket, wallet or in purse.

CD business card is a great marketing tool today and is a cost effective solution for direct mail, product lunch, website lunch, and portfolio presentation. Despite presenting your company name, address, and contact details, you can present your latest corporate brochure through a digital business cards.

There are many (http://www.easyreplication.co.uk/Cd-Business-Cards)CD business card or DVD business card manufacturers in the market who can help you through business related graphics, printing, and CD duplication. Cost for the process definitely varies from company to company, but price comparison and service quality check through intensive Internet research will help you approach a suitable organization where your money would be invested for the right action.

Hence, if you are unsatisfied of your business turnaround, try your luck by developing a custom business card. Let your potential customers receive a good impression of your business and turn to paying customers. Communicate with new and potential customers, and strengthen business ties with existing customers through an interactive CD business card or (http://www.easyreplication.co.uk/DVD-Business-Cards)DVD business card.

About Author:
Sharon Rongmit - Easyreplication.co.uk is a renowned (http://www.easyreplication.co.uk/)CD business card, DVD business card, CD Duplication, DVD duplication, CD replication, DVD replication, custom shaped CD business cards, blank and burned CD, DVD provider, flash cards, CD, DVD packaging company.

Make A Serious Six Figure Internet Income

As songwriters, when inspiration strikes, we need some way to snare our latest germ of an idea. We reach for the nearest piece of paper , or Dictaphone to capture our moment of brilliance. Sometimes I have been gifted with an idea while walking down the street and have resorted to ringing myself up and humming my idea onto my voice mail! [Yes you can have that one]

So how do we ensure we can capture and record our musical ideas at home quickly and without fuss?

The easiest thing to do is to have a permanent plug and play set up. This could be as simple as a good old cassette recorder [does anybody still use these? $10 from the opportunity shop. Other choices are an mp3 player with recording facility [around $200] or a more complex Flash card recorder [$500+].

If you have a dedicated digital recorder or computer based recording set-up at home, then a couple of mics plugged in and ready to go in the time it takes to boot-up the system is all that is required. Bear in mind that if you use a flash card recorder you have the capacity to transfer your ideas across to your computer workstation at a later time for further work.

In the past I have used recording gear from Fostex, always reliable and as simple as turning on the machine waiting about 45 seconds for the boot up procedure then selecting a folder to record to and go!

For computer based recording I use a program called Ableton Live to do most of my current projects. Within the boot template set-up I can save certain sets of parameters - in my case a vocal microphone and two acoustic guitar microphones which go to 2 tracks. Track one is for the stereo guitar and track two for the vocal microphone.I also have some compressors and equalization set-up on the replay channels, giving my initial idea some extra sparkle.

I know that within a couple of minutes of hitting the on switch of the computer I can be capturing my latest idea for later reworking. I also run Steinberg's Cubase and it is just as easy to have a dedicated template to make this happen. The same holds true for other Multi-track programs such as Pro Tools, Sonar and Logic Audio.

Another thing I have been doing lately is using an omnidirectional microphone. As a guitarist/vocalist I can sit this between the guitar and my mouth to get a reasonable voice/guitar balance for my rough idea without having to balance any sound levels. For this I use a Rode NT2 microphone, similar microphones from Neumann, Akg can do the same job.

The advantage of having your template and recording system 'Ready to Go' is that you should be able to stay on the right side of your brain! What do I mean by that?

You don't want to be doing left brain (Logical, Sequential, Rational, Analytical) activities in your creative moment. When we are in our creative space we are generally using the right side of our brain (Random, Intuitive, Subjective), which leads me to an interesting idea; As computer musicians we are often impeded from fulfilling our potential by the technology, I think it's because left brain and right brain activities are not mutually compatible! When you're trying to work out how to route a microphone through your sound card and onto a track you are using, well that's a left brain activity.

When you're connecting into the 'universal consciousness now moment inspiration flow' then your in the right hemisphere of your brain. The last thing you want when you're in your creative space is to be lumped with a left brain task- inspiration and the muse fades like the sun dipping into the pacific ocean for the night if you don't have a fool-proof method for capturing your ideas.

Glug, glug, glug.

So, get yourself 'ready to roll' at a moments notice to capture the latest passing idea from the muse.

About Author:
For more information on recording and songwriting visit Paul Warren's website MyHomeRecordingStudio.com and find other articles by Paul Warren at mymillionairebuddy.com

Articel Source: http://www.freearticlemaster.com

How To Network Your Way To Success In Any Industry

Intellectual property has been a hot news topic recently. From the Chinese planning new IP laws to combat illegal downloads, and former FT Editor, Andrew Gowers leading an independent review into IP rights in the UK, to the thorny issue of digital rights management that has been highlighted with the French passing a new copyright law.

Doing The Rights Thing

Intellectual property has been a hot news topic recently. From the Chinese planning new IP laws to combat illegal downloads, and former FT Editor, Andrew Gowers leading an independent review into IP rights in the UK, to the thorny issue of digital rights management that has been highlighted with the French passing a new copyright law. The world of IP has been an eventful place of late. So, as a creative business or person, how do you protect, exploit and manage your intellectual property effectively? Cheryl Rickman, from Own It, provides a step-by-step guide.

What Is Intellectual Property?

From the music we listen to and the books we read, to the computer software and products we use in our daily lives, each is a product of human creativity, and that creativity is protected. It is these creations of the mind, once expressed, that make up intellectual property (IP).

There is no IP protection in the UK for ideas or concepts, only for expression of those ideas or concepts.

So, products, technical solutions and new inventions are protected by patents and design rights; literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works are protected by copyright; and brand names, words, sounds and even smells are protected by trade marks. (Even the 'smell of freshly cut grass' has been trade marked by a Dutch perfume company that uses it to give tennis balls their aroma).

Therefore, in business, everything, from your own designs, software, brand, packaging and logo should be protected. In a nutshell, all of your mental and creative 'outputs' can be transformed into tangible 'commodities' so that you can licence, sell, trade, divide or retain your rights to those 'commodities'.

What Can Be Protected And How So?

Patents protect inventions, design rights protect 2D and 3D designs and copyright protects dramatic, artistic, literary and musical works.

PATENTS: A patent is a legal document that grants the owner absolute rights (a monopoly) to produce, use or sell the patented product, and prevent anyone else using their innovation or invention. The document also describes the full technical workings of the invention in detail, so a patent protects ownership and usage, but not privacy).

Our Partners: Articles Directory Free Article Distribution PSP Web Directory Latest News Health Articles Articles » Home » Legal » Doing The Rights Thing: Step by Step guide to Intellectual Property Doing The Rights Thing: Step by Step guide to Intellectual Property By By Author | On November 23, 2006 | In Legal | 47 Viewings | Rated Intellectual property has been a hot news topic recently. From the Chinese planning new IP laws to combat illegal downloads, and former FT Editor, Andrew Gowers leading an independent review into IP rights in the UK, to the thorny issue of digital rights management that has been highlighted with the French passing a new copyright law. Doing The Rights Thing Intellectual property has been a hot news topic recently. From the Chinese planning new IP laws to combat illegal downloads, and former FT Editor, Andrew Gowers leading an independent review into IP rights in the UK, to the thorny issue of digital rights management that has been highlighted with the French passing a new copyright law. The world of IP has been an eventful place of late. So, as a creative business or person, how do you protect, exploit and manage your intellectual property effectively? Cheryl Rickman, from Own It, provides a step-by-step guide. What Is Intellectual Property? From the music we listen to and the books we read, to the computer software and products we use in our daily lives, each is a product of human creativity, and that creativity is protected. It is these creations of the mind, once expressed, that make up intellectual property (IP). There is no IP protection in the UK for ideas or concepts, only for expression of those ideas or concepts. So, products, technical solutions and new inventions are protected by patents and design rights; literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works are protected by copyright; and brand names, words, sounds and even smells are protected by trade marks. (Even the 'smell of freshly cut grass' has been trade marked by a Dutch perfume company that uses it to give tennis balls their aroma). Therefore, in business, everything, from your own designs, software, brand, packaging and logo should be protected. In a nutshell, all of your mental and creative 'outputs' can be transformed into tangible 'commodities' so that you can licence, sell, trade, divide or retain your rights to those 'commodities'. What Can Be Protected And How So? Patents protect inventions, design rights protect 2D and 3D designs and copyright protects dramatic, artistic, literary and musical works. PATENTS: A patent is a legal document that grants the owner absolute rights (a monopoly) to produce, use or sell the patented product, and prevent anyone else using their innovation or invention. The document also describes the full technical workings of the invention in detail, so a patent protects ownership and usage, but not privacy). Patent protection is granted for a period of 20 years from the date the patent application was filed. On expiration, the invention then enters the public domain and is available for others to exploit commercially. Patents provide recognition and financial reward and inspire future generations of inventors. COPYRIGHT: Creators of original artistic, musical and literary works can protect their work with copyright. Copyright covers all forms of creative works, from books, paintings and films, to choreography, sound recordings and computer code, software, graphics and other digital media. Copyright gives creators the exclusive rights to use or authorise others to use their work. The author, or freelancer or employer owns the copyright, rather than the publisher or employee, unless agreed otherwise. And copyright protection gives the owners rights to prevent copying, publication, broadcasting, distribution or hiring). There is no need to register your copyright. Rather, copyright exists automatically as soon as an original piece of qualifying work is created. So, as soon as you write, upload or create your work, it is instantly protected by copyright. Literary, dramatic and artistic works have immediate copyright protection that lasts until 70 years after the death of the creator. Computer generated works and performers rights last until 50 years after the creators death, while typographical arrangements are given 25 years protection. This is currently a thorny issue as the first wave of rock 'n' roll recordings, starting with Elvis, are about to go out of copyright in Europe. Not surprisingly, the UK music industry wants the current 50-year time limit extended. Worth noting: 1. Employers own copyright, employees do not own rights to anything they've created in accordance with employment. 2. If you are freelance, you own the copyright, not the client, unless you have a contract for a service that assigns copyright to the commissioner of the work. So, usually, freelance or commissioned work will belong to the author of the work, unless there is an agreement to the contrary, (i.e. in a contract for service). TRADE MARKS: A trade mark is a "badge of origin" by which the public can distinguish the products and services of one business from another. (ie. Logo, slogan, brand name) A trade mark can be protected by registering it and a registerable mark must be distinctive and can consist of words, letters, numbers, images, drawings, symbols, smells and sounds, or a combination of these. To be registerable, the mark must be distinctive and not identical or similar to a previously registered mark that applies to the same or similar goods or services. A trade mark registration must be renewed after 10 years. A trademark that is registered gives the owner the exclusive right to use it or authorise someone else to use it. Protection usually lasts for 7-10 years or more and can be renewed. Registered trade marks are enforceable under trade mark law and use the ® symbol. Conversely, unregistered trade marks are not enforceable under trade mark law and use the TM symbol. DESIGN RIGHTS: Designs can be protected too. Design rights can be registered or unregistered and rights exist for 2D and 3D designs, but don't protect the functionality of a design, only the 'ornamental or aesthetic aspect', ie. the appearance of a product resulting from its features, lines, contours, colours, shape, texture, materials or ornamentation. The design must be novel and have individual character. If successful, protection can potentially last for up to 25 years, renewable ever five years. Unregistered design rights exist automatically, like with copyright, and this lasts for 15 years, but must not be a common-place design. Two important points for any budding designer to remember are: 1. Employers own design rights, employees do not own rights to anything they've created in accordance with employment. Especially important if you want to take a concept from your employment to market. 2. If pitching for a commission, it is the commissioner who owns the rights to the designs because you have been contracted to provide the service for them. Ordinarily, freelance/commissioned work copyright would belong to the author, but if you assign copyright through a contract when providing the service, the person commissioning you will own it. If in doubt, check who owns what. MORAL RIGHTS: These are your rights to be identified as an author or creator of intellectual property. You can waive your moral rights via a release form. Some entrepreneurs using research students to help them develop products may ask that they waive their moral rights, or broadcasters using footage of performances. Managing your IP and Unlocking The Value Of Your Creativity STEP-BY-STEP STEP 1 - IDENTIFY YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY · List any creative 'assets' - your intellectual property, from your logo and company name/brand, to your packaging design, products and software. · Check your designs, expressed ideas and concepts and creative works are new and original. STEP 2 - PROTECT YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY · Put in place a simple confidentiality agreement with a client, potential manufacturers or investors BEFORE you start negotiations. You can download free sample contracts from http://www.own-it.org. A well drafted agreement will specify the type of information to be protected, how long the duty of confidentiality is to last and to whom the information may be disclosed. · Register designs, patents and trade marks, visit http://www.patent.gov.uk · Secure domain names to safeguard your brand. · Agree terms and get everything in writing. When approaching manufacturers you should strive to get various agreements in place, such as a confidentiality agreement, prototype agreement (whereby the factory agrees to make a sample to your specifications), heads of agreement and manufacturing agreement. · Catalogue everything that you have. Keep good records, including your sketches, notes, drafts, diagrams, contracts, letters and e-mail communications. Strive to keep all work in progress and a 'design' or working story. · Assert your rights. Mark the author/publisher or creators name on all copies of your work, along with the date and country. © (Name of owner) (Year of creation). · Put registered design rights and other IP renewal dates in your diary. Never forget IP rights or domain name renewals. STEP 3 - EXPLOIT YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Managing and exploiting your biggest asset, your IP, will help your business make more money - to do this you need to: · Ensure any designs, trade marks and patents you register or apply for are the same as those you intend to market. · Inform people that you have a registered design or trademark to increase your credibility and make people aware of your rights. For example, you should put your design rights number on any packaging and R if you have a registered trade mark. · Maximise returns by licensing your rights either as a whole or separately to exploit your IP in different territories or different forms. - this way you hold onto your rights whilst making money from them. · Charge an assignment fee if the client wants the rights, always seek external advice before assignment, re: fee and appropriateness of this decision. · Licence your IP (either exclusively or non-exclusively). You can licence your rights exclusively to the licensee only, or non-exclusively to the licensee and anyone else you choose to licence to. You can licence reproduction or distribution rights, rental or lending rights. Consider what you are licensing (eg. Your trademark, copyright, design rights) in what format (exclusively or non-exclusively) and how long for (eg are the terms of the licence for a fixed term, perpetual or terminal) and finally, where in the world you are licensing to? · Figure out whether you require royalties, licence fees or both. (Royalty payments generally vary between 4 and 14%, dependent on the type of creative work/industry). · Negotiate fair terms. This is the period where you spend time bargaining to work out a deal. Next comes the contracting part, which involves formulating the details to create a binding agreement. · Make sure you are given equitable renumeration for your work. For example if you produce sound recordings, you should be paid royalties by the MCPS PRS alliance. And, if you have written a book, you should receive lending royalties as well as royalties from your publisher. · Use a Creative Commons licence if you want to control and share your IP. You can choose to allow reproductions of your work but not for commercial purposes or other methods of use, so some rights are reserved instead of all. Visit http://creativecommons.org for more information. STEP 4 - ENFORCE YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Even the big boys can experience problems enforcing their IP. DVD piracy costs the film industry hugely, just as illegal music downloading costs the music industry. So how can you enforce your IP effectively? · Monitor what competitors and new entrants to your market are doing. Get news alerts, subscribe to industry news, keep an eye on the patent.gov.uk site and pay attention to new trade marks being advertised. If any infringe yours you are able to contest them once they've been advertised. · Send standard cease and desist letters if you find anyone infringing your IP rights. A lawyer can help draw up an effective letter to send out and advise you on the best course of action. So what of the future of Intellectual Property? As Apple vs Apple goes to court and the MCPS and PRS launch a licensing scheme for music podcasters, it seems that the topic of IP isn't about to fall off the radar anytime soon. Here's a bunch of useful resources to help you stay on top of your IP and maximise its value. http://www.own-it.org Own It's free services range from basic IP information to advanced legal support for London's creative businesses, through online resources and specialist seminars, contracts, workshops, and, free IP clinics for one-to-one advice from IP lawyers. All of this is provided free of charge by experts who've been there and done it. Forthcoming free events include 'Valuing IP' on May 24th 2006. Seehttp://www.own-it.org/events http://www.alcs.co.uk The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society Limited (ALCS) is the UK rights management society for writers. http://www.patent.gov.uk Provides information and advice on copyright issues, plus patents, registered designs and trade mark info. http://www.creatorsrights.org.uk The Creators' Rights Alliance brings together the major organisations representing copyright creators and content providers throughout the media -- particularly, television, radio and the press. http://www.dacs.org.uk Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) http://www.ideas21.co.uk Of particular interest for inventors and product/industrial designers, Ideas21 is network devoted to invention and innovation, and is supported by government, industry and private organisations. http://www.invent.org.uk Institute of Patentees & Inventors http://www.royaltiesreunited.co.uk Royalties Reunited. If you're a session musician, recording artist or backing vocalist, Royalties Reunited is the place for you to find out if you are owed money - and claim it. Registration is completely free.

About Author:
Cheryl Rickman is the Author of The Small Business Start-up Workbook (http://www.smallbusinessworkbook.com) which has a Foreword written by Dame Anita Roddick Cheryl runs her own businesses, including WebCopywriter.co.uk. She also editor for Own-It.org and ilikemsuic.com. Clients include Business Link Wessex, Motorola, Microsoft, BestBear.co.uk and AnitaRoddick.com.