You Never KNow About People!

I did a search the other day on Twitter for an old friend. When I found him and browsed his page, I came to the realization that 95% of all the "people" he follows are attractive Women. Now being a man I have no problem with that, and never have. But being a man in a committed relationship, to me that would be crossing the line! And I'm just in a committed relationship! He is married, and his wife is ALL about him! I wonder if she knows about his "followings"?? I mean he's a Big time Baseball fan and is into street biking and stuff and could be following baseball tweets like a groupie, or all other kinds of sport tweets. But then I guess I would be "assuming" that they have the type of relationship that allows this "innocent" wandering eye! Even tho I'm no big fan of his wife at all, I think this type of behaviour is detrimental to the health of the relationship, or ANY relationship for that matter...But then...That is just MY opinion!

I do appreciate you all!

I am overjoyed to find that some consider my last post funny! THAT alone proves my point about those that cannot grasp the fundamentals & mentality of our industry's new era  beyond a shadow of a doubt. They may hate my post, dismiss it, deny it, make fun of it....yet they read it, and keep returning to pour over my posts to see what else I might say, like an addiction that cannot be easily overcome. I am impressed that I have made that big of an impact, or have been unknowingly handed some control over a small portion of anyones life! Another reason why my blog is so popular and just another proving point! Thanx to ALL my readers! I love you all!

The Law is the Law!

Let me offer a direct quote to anyone that might need this info from Lisa Alter of Wixen Music Publishing, Inc.
http://www.wixenmusic.com/

She wrote:

COPYRIGHT OWNERSHIP....Copyright in a work automatically vests in the author upon creation of the work. Authors of joint works are co-owners of copyright. Authors of works contributed to collective works own the copyright only in their contribution, which is distinct from the copyright in the collective work. In the case of a work made for hire, where a work is created by an employee within the scope of his or her employment, copyright belongs to the employer.

 JOINT WORKS....In the United States, a composition written by two or more authors is generally deemed to be a "joint work," which is defined as "a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole." Ownership of joint works is presumed to be shared equally by the authors, absent an agreement to the contrary. Each author of a joint work is free to enter into a non-exclusive license for the entire work, provided that the author issuing the license accounts to his or her coauthor( s). In some cases, co-authors enter into an agreement among themselves, agreeing to work cooperatively in issuing licenses. As a practical matter, licensees of music publishing rights often insist on obtaining approval on behalf of each author of a work even if the grant of rights is nonexclusive.

So irreguardless to any speculation as to whether my lawyer exists or not, this is still the law and it cannot be changed just because a person's belief in this matter might be arbitrary to reality.

Wow! Let's be realistic!

Unbelievable spike in activity from readers yesterday! I know there are those that fail to realize or understand how it all ties together and would rather mentally pass it off to some back ally third party money under the table to bolster these results, and in reality that is fine that they have that miss-guided attitude... Gives those of us that do understand the process and result structure and are able to adapt to it more room and flexibility to take advantage of it. This is a case result as my marketing management predicted it would be... After showing me the numbers from yesterday, it really is unbelievable the number generation that occurred. I may have offended some, even pissed off one or two, for that I am man enough to apologize, but this is my blog, and these are only my personal thoughts and opinions... I am not here to please everyone all the time...This is my space and all are invited into it. Should anyone not like it or disapprove of it, then, like the old saying goes.."Change The Channel!" Or start your own blog and say whatever you like...even to blow off steam about me! If that makes you feel any better, then I encourage you to do so...Blast me all you want and call me all the names in the book... Tell your readers that I am a liar or insane... That would be better than sitting still and complaining about it! Be pro-active instead of re-active! By coming here and blowing off steam you are unknowingly helping me! You don't have to believe me but the stats speak differently, whether you deny their existence or not. Is that what you really want? Or should I just leave it at saying, "Sorry but Thank You!" in the same sentence?
Let me clear the air over some issues raised yesterday... On my Reverbnation site you will, or have found, in my song listing, works separated by the artists name. It is my site, so I will not list the name of a band I am no longer with, that were involved with their creation! I am not here to publicize them, give them free advertising, or kudos, that might take away from my personal promotional efforts... I am aware that they don't approve, but tough!... On songs where my name appears...the issue is that I did not write them... Truthfully..I was part of a 3 piece Band at that time, and these works (BY LAW) are perceived as "joint works"...  Here is a direct quote from an email my lawyer sent to them some time back, when one of them fictitiously claimed these works had been registered and copy written by them (which proved to be false) and they were going to file a cease & desist... (Yes I have a copy of their email claims for posterity)

"What has happened is that "joint works" have been created of which you all were a part, and were also offered to the public as joint works through the Internet. Each songwriter has the right to license each entire song, subject to paying the other songwriters involved their share of any royalties, because each owns an undivided interest in the copyrighted songs. (Copyright Act of 1976). Even if you were to re-write lyrics, or music, to the same song it would then be considered a derivative work and the royalty load would be divided between all members, current and historical. Be aware that the courts will make the division of royalties based on the original members input (33%) and then decide to what extent the new members creative input actually changed the original body of work and break it down from there."

The works that I posted are in fact joint works that I was involved with the creation of. If you look into the lyrics of the song it states that the music was by the person that wrote the music and the lyrics were created by me...All three members were involved in creating the recorded version of the song. I only put my name on those songs to show the differences in style between myself and my new guitarist, that I would be collaborating with in the future (Invoking Scarlett)...Nothing more... When I get comments on Reverbnation about the great lead work...I respond letting them know that I was only the bassist and vocalist on that particular work, giving the praise to the actual guitarist. Legally I have rights to those works as does the rest of the people involved and will not apologize to anyone about laying claim to them. I have posted the original joint works and they have posted re-recordings (derivative works) with newer members. I invite all readers to compare the original works to the derivative works and make up your own mind which version you would actually pay for if given the chance!
All comments are welcome...Even the negative ones! But I do reserve the right to publish which ones I choose and that is the beauty of ownership! Not to hide behind an invisible Internet wall but to pick and choose which comments I acknowledge will be a positive influence to my personal upward movement, and not yours. So make it good and you might get posted! 
Onward & Upward

Relax! I haven't dissapeared!

This has been one helluva month already! Starting out with my amp blowing up and going thru all the processes to get a vintage piece of equipment repaired back to a working state, Mothers Day, Birthdaze, Remodeling a 100 year old house, landscaping, PLUS working too...Yaknow?? Makes focusing on musical projects, let alone delegating time to put forth a worthwhile effort into them quite a chore. All the guys in INVOKING SCARLETT would like nothing more than to spend all our available time rehearsing, recording, and such in a combined situation so that we can freely exchange ideas and move forward with as much haste as getting these great song ideas captured properly, will allow. But the distance between us is problematic. James drives an hour to practice and I have a two hour jaunt...So we have to work with reality and play with the cards dealt! This could be considered as divine intervention to keep us from letting our excitement level goad us into putting material out there, that is not well thought out, and not as good technically as it should be! It does give us time to mentally edit each song, each measure, change, note, bridge, vocal strength, harmony lines, and such... The business of Music has changed to the point that we as artists and performers had better be on top of everything we do if we even want a half ass chance in todays musical arena. I am aware in these times of marketing non- production and keeping the hype flowing, the equity level of any project takes a hit, and that is explained on the friviolities of human nature wanting everything now! So I have no problem in taking my time to make sure that what we three do will be worth their wait! The appetite of the public will be there waiting, with swelled taste buds, when we are ready to serve up our offerings!
Onwards & Upwards!