mistrustmusic's posterous

Music Licensing

Someone on the Big Chill forum that I occasionally visit wanted some advice about getting his music marketed through a music library and wondered if he had to sign up with MCPS and pay £100 for the privelege. As you may have read on here, I've recently signed a non-exclusive agreement with a major UK library, and haven't had to register with MCPS, so something doesn't add up if this chap has been told otherwise. As far as I'm aware, the agreement I signed sorts out pre-clearance for my tracks that the library is offering to film, tv, companies etc. In other words, if a few tv production companies hear of one my tracks on the music library's website and want to use it, there's no need to wait ages for them to send me an individual agreement for each programme, for me to check them, sign them and send them back, etc, before anyone can use them. From what I understand, the music library registers my track with MCPS (they get listed as the publisher), the production company requests a licence from MCPS website giving the catalogue number of my track, and the production company pays MCPS for the licence. MCPS (eventually) sends the licence fee (minus their admin fee) to the music library, which then pays me (minus their take - usually 50%). If anyone else is looking for advice on signing up with a music licence in the UK, have a look here at the MCPS production music guide, which even shows you the official rate card for different types of production (anything from about £20 to £000s). The music library should be registered with MCPS - if they're in the UK and not on this list, it's probably not worth dealing with them. If anyone from the USA or other countries is reading this and knows something about it in other countries, please let me know.

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Posted May 1, 2007

Looking for music blogs

I can't seem to find many musicians who are blogging. Maybe everyone's too busy making music or playing live to keep a diary or blog of what they're upto. What's the point in blogging anyway, you may say. If you're a musician, unsigned or not, please post a link to your blog and I'll have a read and see what you're upto. I'll even add you the my "recommended" list. I know that Moby blogs on his myspace page, that's about it as far as I know. I blog so that I can a) promote my own music to people who wouldn't normally listen to it; b) let my "fans" and other listeners know what I'm upto with my music; c) help other unsigned musicians get some extra exposure. If you're not blogging or using Web 2.0 tools and all the latest social networking sites, you're missing out on a lot of exposure. Even my stepson has a blog about his music. So, as I said, please let me know if you've got a blog, or if you know of any musical bloggers out there. In the meantime, here's one of my new tracks for you to download for free.... mistrust: Say your name (glitchmix)...... [audio http://moses.last.fm/download/100909046/Say%2Byour%2Bname%2528glitchmix%2529.mp3]

Filed under  //   Self-Promotion   band   blog   blogging   download   exposure   free   ipod   list   mistrust   moby   mp3   music   music library   musician   myspace   personal   podcast   podcasting   random   read   social networking   unsigned   web2.0  

My stepson has PDD-NOS

I realised that I haven't posted anything on here, so that means no readers. Probably. Or too many blogs to maintain: music, e-learning, and personal (this one). Maybe I should drop this one, as the music blog is important and so is the e-learning one. Who cares about my personal life and what goes on at home? Paul, my stepson of nearly five years, is 14 y.o. He has PDD-NOS, which means he's sort of on the Autistic Spectrum. He's been having major anxiety attacks about school. He hasn't been in school for almost four weeks, until yesterday. The first two weeks were the Easter holidays, but he was too anxious to go in. We've had his psychologist involved, plus the local Special Needs Advisory service, trying to get him to go back. Finally, he's been to the psychology day unit for a visit, and into school for one P.E. lesson. Where we go from here is anyone's guess.... Paul's has a blog here where he's talking about what's happening to him.....

Filed under  //   anxiety   asd   aspergers   austic spectrum   autism   camhs   camhs   domestic   education   family   health   life   paul harrison   problems   psychology   school   sen   special needs  

Podcasting - well sort of

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I came across a website called Talkr that claims to let you listen to text-only blogs on your iPod and other mp3 players. The idea looks great for someone like me who wants to have a podcast but hasn't got time to record one. All you do is add your blog's RSS feed to their site, and a permanent link to your blog post, and Talkr will create an MP3 of what you wrote in your post. I tried it on my last post here, and although I was disappointed by the automated female voice, it's really quite good. I can see it being quite useful for people who want to listen to what I've got to say another time, rather than read it in one go. Also, visually-impaired visitors may like it. More features will be available soon! Find out more at Talkr.com or visit the Talkr blog. Try it for yourself and....
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Signed by a music library

I've sort of mentioned this before, but now I can tell all..... I've signed a non-exclusive deal with a major UK music library, called CandyCover, that supplies music to TV, film, and advert production companies. They've worked with big players like Orange, O2, Virgin, and the Ministry of Sound. It's a massive break for me - never had anything like this happen before. They've asked to use 8 of my tracks - not my long, instrumental tunes that have been doing the rounds for a couple of years like Never Alone and For All we've done, but my more recent ones that are available at Music Freedom. They're all fairly short and are wanted for the library's "Art/Quirky/Cult Drama" section. I've signed a contract with them and the tracks are going to be registered with MCPS, the official publishing organisation in the UK, which means I get paid the proper rate if any of my tracks get used. I know that a lot of musicians get tracks signed to music libraries, and the competition is huge

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Filed under  //   UK   blog   blogging   forum   help   home   library   life   mistrust   mp3   music   music library   news   oneill   personal   podcast   surfing   tracks   unsigned   writing  

Timothy Blackburn

I'm Tim(othy) Blackburn. This is my third blog. My second one on wordpress. This isn't my music blog.  That one is here at mistrust.wordpress.com This blog is more of a personal site where I can post non-musical ramblings instead of cluttering up my music pages with stuff that the people looking for my music don't want to read.

Filed under  //   asd   aspergers   autism   domestic   education   family   health   life   music   psychology   tim   video  

Paul can't open up to people but he can talk to his blog

Should this blog be entirely about music? Comments please! I just wanted to put in a quick word about Paul's blog. Paul Harrison is my stepson, who happens to have PDD-NOS, a condition similar to autism and asperger's syndrome. He's very withdrawn and hates having to meet new people, as it makes him anxious and can't cope. He can't get into school at the moment as his stress levels go through the roof whenever he thinks of being in class - he's 14 y.o. and you just try making him go! The whole thing makes him more anxious and less confident. His school agreed to send him work home, which is a start...

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Breaking the spell

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I'm nervous and excited at the same time. So much stuff going on at home to keep me occupied and  frazzled and to keep me awake at night. If you've read my stepson's blog, you'll know more. Now I've got something else on my mind. Some major news - big, big stuff - about my music. Can't say much at the moment. Am I superstitious or have mildly autistic tendencies and think that if I let the cat out of the bag, it will somehow not happen. If I spell it out, does it count as telling all? Maybe if I say it backwards? Or cross my fingers? Anyway, here goes.

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Filed under  //   family   feed   life   mistrust   mp3   music   news   oneill   personal   random   spell   surfing   thoughts   tracks   writing  

How many forums - how many blogs

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Just how many blogs should a person have? How many forums should a musician sign up to? All in the interest of promoting a new song? My stepson, Paul, is trying to get people to listen to his music. He's only 14 and gets very focussed and obsessed with everything he does. You wouldn't say he's very musically-minded, but he wants to make tunes. He's not interested that they might need mixing properly or mastered to get them sounding good. He just wants to put them on the internet like me. He thought that people would just come across his myspace profile or his page on MP3.com and just his total plays would go up and up without any input or promotion from him.

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Filed under  //   blog   blogging   family   forum   life   mistrust   mp3   music   tracks   unsigned  
Posted April 2, 2007

MP3s and other updates

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I've now added quite a few new things to the site that should make things a bit more interesting. You can now play some of my tracks on the music page, watch a clip from the O'Neill Deep Blue Open video that features my track "Croydon Library", and meet some of my friends and people who've helped me along the way. I've now got a "I'm also on.." section to see where else I've got music or postings.

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