StringTunes - Music To Soothe Your Soul!

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	Recovery is Going Well! Posted: Jul 16, 2008 Dons recovery from the surgery (June) to repair torn tendons in his small finger, right hand, is going very well! He is now free from the casting and bulk bandages preventing him from playing. The physical therapy is helping out immensely. A full recovery is expected. Don has just restarted his classical guitar playing and remains very much interested in releasing Nightwind, his original solo guitar CD in the near future. In fact he has some surprises in store for all of you and at least one of them will be coming very soon! Also, he continues to work on his fourth CD of string based music, although this has been somewhat delayed. Please watch for updates and progress notes right here at this site. Don has stated: "Please let my friends and fans know that it ain't over 'til the fat man sings and I ain't heard him yet!" So, keep them cards and letters coming folks. We appreciate your continued support of his musical work! StringTunes - Music To Soothe Your Soul! Colors of Cello - Now on iTunes! Posted: May 1, 2008 I am happy to announce that my new album Colors of Cello is now on iTunes - Click - here - to purchase from iTunes. All three of my CD's are posted on CDBaby - Here's the link - CDBaby. You can also purchase right here on this site by following this link - Click- here -to purchase now! Colors of Cello - Now Available! Posted: Mar 20, 2008 StringTunes announces the CD release of Colors of Cello; by Composer, Don Rath Jr. Rockford, Illinois – March 21st, 2008: Independent Music Publisher, StringTunes, announces the CD release of Colors of Cello by instrumental Composer Don Rath Jr. Colors of Cello is a full length, twelve song, compilation of original music featuring the cello. This is the third CD album release for Composer Don Rath Jr. and it comes exactly twelve months after his second CD release titled Dawn of a New Day. On March 21st, the CD and single song downloads will be available for purchase directly through our official website on the albums page. The genre for Colors of Cello is Classical /Chamber music/Virtual Orchestra. Similar Artists include resemblances to many other popular solo Cello artists and small Chamber Orchestras. The use of various orchestral instruments to compliment the lush Cello arrangements and the flowing melodies create beautiful soundscapes and provides a reflection of the various “colors” of sound possible on the Cello. The music compositions included on this album were written, arranged and produced entirely by Don Rath Jr. The final mastering of the music was provided by Allen Wagner of BigToeStudio in Vancouver Washington. Read what others are saying; Randy writes – “How nice to hear music that is well thought out and not the same piece rewritten in different ways.” – (Indiana, USA) Teresa writes; - “Each piece s in a class of its own…” – (Kentucky, USA) Deborah writes; “…the music takes you from where you are to a someplace truly wonderful.” – Illinois, USA) Don is currently in his studio working on album number four slated for release later this year. Heart Strings - Now on Amazon.com! Posted: Mar 2, 2008 Great News! My album Heart Strings is now available on Amazon.com! Amazon is carrying both the entire album and each single on this album as available for purchase and download! Here is the link - Amazon Both Heart Strings and Dawn of a New Day are available at iTunes. Here's that link - iTunes Thank you all ever so much for continuing to support me and my music. Don StringTunes - Music to Soothe Your Soul! Thank You Posted: Feb 14, 2008 Sometimes, in the aloneness of my thoughts, I recall my moments of great despair and how you, in those same moments, Lifted me, held me in your arms, helped me to realize that without you I would be truly alone and how without your love and my loving you I would have no meaning, reason or purpose. So, I thank you, warmly, from the depths of my soul, for loving me, for being there, for allowing me to love you and for making despair a stranger to me. Thank you! Copyright (C) 1996 Don Rath Jr A Place in My Heart Posted: Feb 14, 2008 I Thought That I Would Take The Time To Come To You This Day To Say A Few Words That Make A Rhyme For You on Valentines Day. Tis A Glass OF Sweet Wine I Wish To Toast With You Won't You Be My Dear Valentine? There's A Place In My Heart For You! Copyright (C)1999 Don Rath Jr Germany Rocks! Posted: Feb 2, 2008 Wow! I love you all to! To all my friends throughout Germany, you folks left the rest of the world in the dust in January 08. Thank you so much for all of your support and for supporting my music! You have made me feel welcomed and inspired to continue my work. Thank you ever so much! Don StringTunes - Muic To Soothe Your Soul! Happy New Year & 2007 in Review Posted: Dec 30, 2007 Happy New Year! Best wishes to all of you in 2008! Review - 2007 has been an incredible year for me musically. I have been fortunate enough to have released two CD’s this past year; “Heart Strings” and “Dawn of a New Day”. These two albums are available right here at this website – StringTunes and through iTunes, Napster and a host of other internet retail outlets. Although coming out of my basement studio was somewhat scary, I did survive the initial exposure, made some errors along the way, had some successes too, but mostly I have enjoyed every minute of our relationship, especially, the support and comments from you, my friends and fans! It’s been a fascinating year and an even more fascinating musical adventure. Hits to this, my official website, have reached over 110,000 since it’s inception on June of 2006. Over 12,000 unique visitors in 2007 alone! To me that is another example of the amazing power of the internet. What is more amazing is that I am consistently receiving hits from over 40 countries in the world! Totally Awesome! The US market is the largest market for music in the world and I have had the most hits from the US as one would guess and that I am very grateful for that. From other regions of the world, the top ten countries visiting my website are - Germany leads, and has all year, followed by the Russian Federation (a close second), Poland, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Italy, China, England, the Netherlands and Canada. Also, Spain, Latvia, Japan, France, Sweden, Norway and the Ukraine are not far behind in the number of hits from these countries. Chile, Argentina and the Czech Republic complete the top 20 countries visiting me. Again, this is totally amazing. Five years ago this level of exposure probably could have happened, 10 years ago, not likely and 20 years ago, impossible for a lone Composer to gain this much worldwide exposure in such a short time without the benefits of big business and big money influences. So, to all who have supported me, visited me, purchased my CD’s and who have befriended me a huge, huge thank you! Way to go Germany! …and now on to 2008, where new adventures and new friendships await! My plans for 2008 include enhancing your listening experience through the following; Goal number one is to release three new albums! The first is titled; “Colors of Cello”. This is a compellation of 12 totally original compositions for the Cello. I visited an Internet site focused on the Cello in 2006. I was influenced during my initial visits to this site to create an album based primarily on the cello and to explore some of the possible musical colors available from this instrument especially as a featured instrument. My strategies for preparing and inspiring my creative energies involved visiting several sites dedicated to the instrument, attaining a broader educationally based focus for understanding the instrument better, technically, and listening to many of the incredible Composers who have created an immense body of work centered on the cello. Also, I wanted the new music to be structured as “tunes” as the name of my website implies. I wish to thank; Naxos for their amazing music library, Alexander University and Peter Alexander for their educational programs and Peters valuable time and effort for spending so much time talking to me on the phone. Also, I wish to thank Magnatune for some excellent listening experiences. A special thank you goes out to one of my mentors Stephen Hill for his careful guidance and instructions helping me to understand music and music orchestration better. Further, I wish to thank my friends Greg and Martha, both are Cello players, for their support and guidance. All of the pieces included in the CD “Colors of Cello” are titled as Opus No 1 through Opus No 12. Early comments suggest that my chosen strategies have helped me immensely and they have enabled me to create these twelve original works for the Cello. FYI – “Opus No 1 for Cello – Duet” has been reworked for this CD release. It is the only duplicate of previously posted music (which is still currently posted on here). If you want a sneak preview, please stop by. The arrangement is slightly different but the “tune” is the same. My second goal is to release album number four. Currently, it is untitled. This CD will include twelve more original instrumental works, primarily for the stringed instruments with a couple of pieces utilizing other instruments. All of the music is already written and I am in the process of doing the production work on them now. These compositions reflect my further developments as a Composer and Arranger. I will post more on this CD as we get closer to completing and releasing this work. My third goal is to finally release a Christmas CD, featuring conventional Christmas music for the 2008 Holiday Season. So, if all goes well, I will have a total of five CD’s available by year end meeting my main goal of helping to enhance your musical experiences. For those interested, I hope this update and forecast for 2008 offers to you insight and a glimpse into an independent Composer’s world and I hope you find my work interesting enough to stop in for a visit, to comment and hopefully you will enjoy your listening of my new and upcoming releases. Lastly, I hope 2008 is for you an incredible year, a gainful year and a safe year for yourself and for those you love. Now go out and hug somebody! Highest Regards, Don Happy Holidays! Posted: Dec 15, 2007 To All my Family, Friends and Fans, This is the season of the year when we all gather around our Families and our friends to enjoy each other, share special moments in our lives and give of ourselves to them in hopes of creating fabulous memories we can carry with us throughout life. What a wonderful time to show how much we love them and how very much we care for their happiness and well being. Let's all strive throughout the season and throughout the new year to pass on a lot of love and kindness to those we may encounter a long the way. Through this forum post, I hope to convey the gratitude I have for your friendship, your willingness to meet and share some time together with me and your support of me throughout this past year. Looking forward into the new year, I wish for each of you the best life has to offer. Whatever you seek; wealth, health, fame, friendship or love I hope you attain these things, making your life more complete. If you are traveling, be safe and secure. Along the way, if you should by chance run into someone who looks sad or down, maybe you could say hi, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. The Holidays are a great time to reach out and maybe you can help to make their world just that much better of a place in which to live. So, with these thoughts I hope your Holidays are the best you have ever had and that maybe someone will help you to put a little smile on your face too! Tis a season of miracles, we are all miracles and we are all a part of someone elses miracle as well. Something we all should remember. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love Always, Don StringTunes - Music To Soothe Your Soul! Greetings and Happy Holidays! Posted: Dec 1, 2007 Happy Holidays to all my friends and fans throughout the world! First, I wanted to wish you and your Family a safe and enjoyable Holiday Season. This website gets about 6,000 hits per month from over 40 countries in the world. I do not know how to say Merry Christmas in the languages spoken in the different countries that have responded to my site. I wish I did. Nonetheless, I do hope no matter where you live that you have a joyous and memorable Holiday Season and that you get plenty of time to visit with your Families and your friends during this joyous time to share your heartfelt love with them. Happy Holidays from the staff at StringTunes and from me, Don Rath Jr. Music Update Unfortunately, I have missed my goal of having the Christmas album completed in time for distribution for this years holiday season. The good news is that it will be ready in plenty of time for next year. In the meantime I will post at least one of these pieces here for your listening pleasure. I have been extremely busy over the summer and fall months upgrading my studio, adding the upgrades and adding new and supporting music composition software, learning that software and studying music orchestration. All of this has been expensive, time consuming and tedious putting it all back together again. Now, this effort has been completed and I will be getting back to writing more and orchestrating my compositions with the end goal of posting them here on this website. Additionally, I have composed several new works, five of which are now posted exclusively on this site. Old Ironsides is my first official and fully orchestrated composition for small orchestra. This was quite the challenge for a novice composer who has generally been creating music for solo instruments and for compositions written for small group ensembles. I hope you enjoy this work. I look forward to your comments and please sign my guestbook! Don't worry, I am not a spammer, I do not sell names and I will not give any information to anyone else for any reason. That is not my way. In fact, my guestbook is protected from misuse in several ways. That is the reason I have added the security program to it. In this way, I do not get a ton of garbage to clean off of my site and you are protected from misuse at the same time. Again, your comments are welcomed and if you want to speak directly to me please feel free to e-mail me at fans@stringtunes.com. Commentary 1, - Sorry for the length! I have had this same question asked of me on many occasions so I am going to reply here. The question has been; "Why only computer generated digital mockups of your music?" The answer is actually quite simple, I hold a day job requiring 60 to 70 hours per week of my time. My day job does not afford me the necessary funding to hire the musicians needed to perform my music for either recording purposes or for playing out. My music sales do not support me enough to pay for live musicians either. I continue to sit on a large music library of never released and never before publicly heard. My library is now comprised of over 130 pieces of totally original music. I am constantly adding more to it as I learn more and more about musical structures, instruments, orchestration, advanced music composition and about using a computer set-up to generate mp3 samples of and/or to complete digital mockups of my work. Yes, I am very interested in getting my music played/performed by live musicians. I am just not in a position yet to get this accomplished with the resources currently available to me. I would be more than happy to work with others in getting my music out there using live players. I am willing give up something to get something else in return too. I write and produce all of this music myself with the exception of the final mastering on my albums. Yes, I am not the world’s best music producer but I give it the old college try. Yes, I do know the basics of using several computer programs for tweaking and producing music but I am not the best at doing so. Actually, I'd rather spend my time writing more music and learning more and more about music composition and arranging than in producing the work for public display. If you or anyone you know finds enough value in my work that you would be willing to help me better produce this work then by all means contact me and we can discuss how to get this done. I am willing to share in the potential but I will not sell out nor be taken advantage of. To me, it is about the music, really. If my music does not generate interest enough, then it will remain unheard until I can produce it and I will remain a hobbyist unless you folks buy it at enough of a volume that I can do this work full time and pay for live performers. I have provided a place for anyone, anywhere, at any time day or night to enjoy my music on this sight, in fact, full length "tunes" including my album songs can be streamed at any time. This offering was a conscious decision on my part back in 2006 June, when I started this website. The decision might have cost me a fortune in lost income during that same time frame, but I am less concerned about that than I am in getting this music out there. Others have commented favorably about my music and so I continue to provide it free for streaming purposes and for your enjoyment. If you have had the luxury of listening and you have found a tune(s) you really like, buy it/them from my website. You will be helping me directly without the money going to countless others who would have taken bits and pieces out of it until there is little left for me, the Composer. Your purchase will help me to continue to grow and produce more music for your future enjoyment. I plan on removing my full length music from other sites where it is posted and replacing it with 60 second samples of the songs while keeping this site my main website, live streaming and my main Internet presence. Commentary 2 - Composers Perspective on Fair Use In today’s world, there are many people who would rather take a composers work, duplicate it and spread it out to their friends and others without paying for it or the right to do so. The music world in general is up in arms about that and it is being discussed and debated around the world on how to protect the interests of the writers, producers, distributors, etc., of music. Even with the current protection/collection models and even the new and many models being created and employed to correct this situation the issue is not resolved it yet. From a Composers perspective, at least mine, those who take, (read; steal), music, duplicate it unlawfully and distribute it unlawfully, do not understand nor respect the incredible amount of effort needed to create a musical work of a creator/Composer or what is involved in the creation of other forms of intellectual property. The Internet has provided an arena and it has added opportunities to take music, basically at will, at any time. Illegally downloading and/or copying music produces a loss of income directly to its creator as well as those who helped in its creation, marketing and distribution. In essence you are stealing from many. It is the same in principal as if you robbed a bank, stole a loaf of bread from a grocery store. It's the same in principal as not getting paid to perform your duties at your own place of employment, your job. For example; if your boss came to you and said, "Today I am not going to pay you for these three hours of work you did today but, I fully expect you to do the same amount and quality of work you normally do during regularly paid hours." or “I expect you to work overtime without pay today” How would you feel? Nobody would like that or any of these other things. Somehow, I guess, maybe you think it doesn't really matter, but, it really does matter, a lot. I think there is a good chance that many people do not realize that for every song downloaded for free, or every time they give or receive a copy of a song to/from a friend, or have duplicated a file or ripped a song from a CD that they have taken money out of the pocketbook of the Composer of that music, directly. They have not only done that but they have broken the law. Maybe they think that "Well it’s only one song" or "it really doesn't matter" or "they (Composers) already make too much money" or some other ill-informed thought that somehow makes it alright to do this act, justifies the act by itself. It doesn’t. It actually degrades the Law, lowers the respect due the Creators of Intellectual Property and takes away fair compensation directly from them. Composer and other Intellectual Property owners are granted, by the US Congress, legal benefits, legal rights and entitlements due these rights owners, including music creators, for their creative genius. Well, again, as a Composer, I've spent tens of thousands of dollars on music education, software, computers, countless, and I mean countless hours writing and rewriting music, honing my craft, learning instruments and orchestration, all of this unpaid just to fulfill my need to compose so that others can hear and might gain a positive influence simply as a result of something I composed. No one asked me to do this. No one is making me spend hundreds and hundreds of unpaid hours of my personal time to do my creating, my due diligence, in producing as high of quality of music as I am able to and capable of. Downloads generally cost $1.00, $10.00 if you buy the CD. I say directly to you, "If you can't or won't pay the $1.00 then you are not entitled to have, you are not granted permission to use, and you have no right to own, possess or copy in any form, my or any other Composers work." The United States Congress and many other governmental entities throughout the world have made legal provisions to justly compensate Intellectual Property owners and/or their respective agents. Not only do you disrespect me as a Creator/Composer you disrespect the Law of the Land. People go to jail for things like that. People pay fines for things like that. Your mother probably spanked your rear end for doing something like stealing when you were a child, shame on you. You should forfeit your hourly pay, your monthly salary, your freedom for being a thief, for not having learned that youthful lesson. You may not know the law about Intellectual Property rights but you do know that stealing is wrong. That is exactly what you do when you illegally copy, sell, duplicate or use without a legal license any type of Intellectual Property. Not just music. Yes, these are harsh words for those who have understood easier more elegant language, but nonetheless they are appropriate for those who deny the Law, deny respect and who deny listening to language more gracefully conveying the point. We, Composers specifically, have to pay in many different ways to have our music produced by others professionally trained to do so, even more so when we produce it ourselves. In some form, we have to pay for demos, recording time, musicians, engineers, producers, etc. or, if we are lucky enough to have gained an audience with others who like what we do and take on our projects, even still we still have to give up, in some cases our complete ownership rights, in others, we lose some of those rights ending up keeping only a portion of the total rights we originally owned, or countless other contractual arrangements negotiated out. If we are terrible negotiators and businesspeople, we lose in a bigger way at times, trying to learn from our mistakes made with people who have other interests than ours. In the worst cases, the music isn't heard by anyone other than a very small group of people who know me/us, any Composer or Writer, directly. This is the way the world has treated the composer pretty much throughout time. You should also know that with the exception of those few who have actually been “signed” and promoted enough to the masses actually make or earn very much directly from our own music. Quite contrary to popular and common beliefs, most Composers do not have the luxury of doing their work full time while deriving full time incomes from it, especially those who live outside of the music Mecca’s such as Nashville, New York and Los Angeles. This too is a shame on us as a Society since we rely so heavily on the Arts for our daily pleasure and enjoyment. I wish I had the answer to the question of protecting the writes of intellectual property owners. The world is a complicated place and it is getting more and more complicated all of the time. Without the human value of "thou shalt not steal" my guess is that there would be no compensation/protection models capable of protecting those rights of ownership for the creators of any type of intellectual property. One thing I think that should be a strong focus for controlling and monitoring the "use" of a "musical product" is to put the responsibility onto those businesses that provide for marketing and distribution of it, that part of the Industry that provides for the public display and use of Intellectual Property, the Licensing and Royalty Collection Organizations that take control of our Copyrights. I really do not think there is any other way to control this including attempting to control the general public in an effort to prevent misuse on an individual basis, simply because there are just too many people on this planet. The RIAA has good intentions but using their resources to go after the individual is not practical, in my opinion is not approaching a sensible resolution to the problem. By refocusing all of their efforts on the businesses that market, sell and distribute music their efforts would directly impact the individual and directly clean up unprofessional businesses that allow and/or support illegal downloading and duplication of music. In principal this organization can provide valuable support for Composers by helping to police the Industry rather than policing individual based abuses. I think the US Congress should support this idea. Not necessarily RIAA alone but in principal by providing for strict regulation and control of an Industry that seems unable to maintain professional business practices on its own. The entire music business is changing almost daily since a broader acceptance of the use of the Internet has opened a lot of new avenues for abuse. Maybe some of them can be controlled through Congress but many of them will always remain under individual control by those who control the power in the Industry. At the distribution level, it is far easier to monitor the dissemination and the use of a musical work than on the individual level, however, some distribution models are not user friendly to a Composer or rights owner, especially those that require a Composer to lose many of the ownership rights in order to be involved with them. Composers need exposure, this is what they offer. Even though these businesses offer non-exclusive rights agreements they do so while requiring a Composer or Artist to grant them certain rights without providing for any reporting to royalty collections agencies for any “play” that occurs from the publics use and access to their site. Some Composers use these sites for exposure exclusively by not permitting downloading rather they upload 1:00 minute examples of a work so their fans can have minimal access to an entire composition, for the Networking and for use as a communication vehicle with their fans. It suits their purpose of gaining public exposure. Still, it is the "play" or "performance" of a work that is not tracked or reported on most of these sites. Many argue that that it is not a performance but the fact remains, when someone other than a licensed party hears the work it as to be by definition a performance, albeit digital. A Composer should be compensated for that. Further, if an Internet sight such as Myspace, or any Internet based website for that matter, makes a work available, offers a sight feature that permits music exposure through streaming and/or for download in any form, than they aught to be held accountable by tracking it's number of plays and downloads and reporting this to the owner of the work or their respective agent, without the Composer being required to sign away this right for using the site. The current Myspace model basically takes this away from a Composer, by requiring the Composer to sign an electronic document that holds provisions freeing them from that responsibility. Great if you’re Myspace, terrible if you’re a Composer, writer, performer, etc. You can sign up with SnoCap but then again you are required to sign another digital contract releasing them of certain responsibilities they should be accountable for. Secondly, there is no accounting submitted to the Performance Rights Organizations so that a Composer or Performer can be compensated for the "Play". This model does not fairly compensate either the creator of the work or the performer. Also, they permit copying the music onto multiple computers. They promote the fact that a person has permission to duplicate up to 10 copies of a file, they permit downloading on up to three different digital players, every one of these policies take money out of the hands of the Composer. To top it off if you are an Artist/Composer and want to use their services they take $0.39 from every single sold. …and to think, I can’t use this service unless I agree to it. Such a deal! Another point, Intellectual Property rights need to be protected. By requiring the Distributors of music to be fully accountable then maybe we would be at least moving in the right direction. The Performing Rights Organizations need to have the information in order to process the correct payment to their clients. They cannot do that if reporting isn’t mandatory from any business whose business is to provide access to, sale of, download-ability of, etc. music and then report it. Another point on PROs, they require that you can only belong to one of them at any given time. They are suppose to pay the rights owner(s) their performance royalties. They do this regularly and for the most part quite well. However, how can they do that effectively if they are not directly involved in the entire process including the point of sale for all Composers, Writers and Performers in and under their umbrella especially when many distribution outlets never report to them these digital performances? They license Television Stations, Radio Stations and other venues for the right to have musical work performed/played through their device. Why not require them to do the same for Internet sights? or other businesses that provide for either products or services that permit the performance or the playing of a piece of music? They should require Internet based businesses to pay as they do for other avenues of distribution including TV, Radio and performance venues, etc. If they do not do this than the requirement of only "belonging" to one of them is actually bogus, worthless and again, if the "plays" are not reported then how can the PRO properly compensate the Composer or the Performer? They can’t. Yes, they should, if there is a structure in place that provides for it, as is the case from many legitimate sites, then, I believe they would. Most of these sites are not tracked and most do not pay the Composer for any right to display or make available for streaming or download. In fact, most, as previously stated, require that I as the Composer give them a non-exclusive right in order for me to even have the opportunity to disply my music on their site in the first place. To me this is another way in which the Composer is not respected enough for what we do rather it is another way of taking advantage of the creative mind, the Composer and the resulting work. The really funny part of this is that without the music few of these Internet sights would even exist. Go figure. Further, for other rights, mechanical rights specifically, if Apple creates a new device allowing the general public to record, duplicate, play, etc. a musical work, why not hold them accountable for paying the creator of the work a portion of the proceeds from the sale of such a device? Well, this probably wouldn’t go over very well. Besides Apple and Microsoft have so much money they could outlast anyone in a Court of Law. The same could be said about blank CD's, DVD's, etc. Some of this is already in place and does provide a level of compensation to the rights owners. Some does not. I am not saying that Apple and Microsoft do not provide compensation to all its rights owners, not at all. What I am saying is that there needs to be in place some way to measure the number of downloads, or copies from other original sources, for properly determining the number of time a song is downloaded and put into one of these devices. Although Apple probably markets a quantity of units involved in its products of some sort, the illegal reuse of the song is completely out of control. So, what can be done? An Idea ISRC codes can provide a basis for tracking the amount and frequency a song is played or performed in electronic and digital formats. These codes are song specific as well as Composer/rights owner specific. By using these, and tracking their use at the distribution level, coupled with UPC codes at the retail level for hard product, by encoding the works when they are slated for TV, Film, Radio, etc. then tracking them, the number of plays or performance can be under control more than by not doing this. Since most of these are strictly digital mechanisms in nature and by programming into the songs a traceable device during their manufacture it seems that it should be doable. If companies like Gracenote can tell you what you are playing on your computer couldn’t the number of times be recorded and submitted to the PROs? In my book, these tools should be used universally in order to effectively track the use of a work across the board. When, if, Distribution is required to track them, making it mandatory to track usage and heavily penalized if not, then the PRO would get the data it needed to pay the appropriate owner(s) the royalties due them. Sort of like how the Government tracks employees to get paid their share of a person’s wages, called taxation. Your Social Security or Fein number is the tracking number and they know if you are paying them the required taxes on the money you earn/make. So too, would tracking numbers play a comparable role in properly and completely paying you your rightful earnings. I have read of an idea that there are those who want to pay a weighted amount to a song when used in film and TV where, for example, one song is the main theme of a film and it carries a lot of weight, it gets paid more than a song that is a filler somewhere in that same film which is weighted less than the main theme. Here’s my take on that - As a Composer, if I write a song and determine that it is a completed work, identical in principal to a Producer who has determined the film is a completed project and copyrighted as such, then it is a single finished entity in its entirety. Yes, it is comprised of its individual parts but none the less it is a single complete product. When you remove one note in the completed song or one musical passage from a completed film, it is immediately diminished from grandeur of its original whole and intent. Is one note or one passage of less value to the completed project than any other when it takes them all to create the song or the film determined to be a completed product? If it is then it shouldn't be in the film or the song in the first place. Sort of like one or two extra notes in the opening of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Hence, probably no argument from a well balanced thinking person. Otherwise, and since the subordinate work was included in the main original work yet the main worked was deemed to be complete then it becomes an innate part of the whole. No word, no phrase, no note or scene can be removed with lessening or diminishing the work. Although there are many to argue the point, in actuality, no, there is not. Each holds the same value as the others. Yes, one will get more airplay, more mechanical sales, more Synch Rights sales, if placed elsewhere or if clipped for Film Trailers and does not include a given musical passage, more, more, more than the other due to frequency and quantity of play, but, again, in principle every note and every musical passage holds the same weight as any other included in a single complete project. The amount of earned Royalties will definitely be different, one to the other, collectively, based upon its total usage, not on someone’s idea of its weighted value to the whole, in their opinion. That is far too subjective a call for valuing any contribution made to any completed project in whole or in part. Again, encoding these "creations" individually would provide a tracking device for each. Composers do not have a Union. Maybe and most likely this is to our great loss and disadvantage. The Writers Union members have been fighting for the rights of intellectual property owners. Their strike has resulted in havoc in the TV, Film, Broadway, Talk Shows, Radio Show, etc. industries. This impact is sort of a wake up call to those who battle against fair compensation to the creators of Intellectual Property. Kudos to the Writers Union for standing up for its members. Maybe much will be gained by this in the long run for both Writers and Composers. Composer can learn a lot from this organization in fact, both instrumental composers and songwriters should be allowed to participate in this union and permitted full membership status and privileges. Secondly, if Composers did have a Union and they too went on strike to keep their earnings intact how would the world suffer? Music is everywhere. Without Composers to continue to write new music or if they stopped writing music during a strike there would be a continuous replay of existing music only and no new growth or forward movement to music in general, its principals and practices. I believe that an act such as this would make living a lot less enjoyable. I also believe that it should never be necessary to strike, but, again, this is a complicated world. All of this is a part of the whole - the entertainment industry, which is part of another whole, the World in which we live. Whether we like it or not, we are all in this together. Creators of any form of entertainment and any form of Intellectual Property make this world a better place in which to live. As Composers, we help make people laugh, sing, cry, fall in love and experience moments of inspiration, unlike any other industry, directly from our work helping to keep a healthy balance in the lives of millions and millions of people around this entire planet. We should be respected for our contributions in making this a better more enjoyable world to live in. For me specifically, my music and public recognition of me as a Composer may never be broadly accepted. I may never gain or be exposed to millions throughout the world or earn a living composing my own original music. That's part of my internal sense of reality arising from the knowledge that there are many who do not like my specific genre of music or my arranging abilities, my style and skill as a Composer. Sort of a reality check, if you will. I have already accepted that possibility, but, I still write music because I have to. Sort of like, breathing. Great or not, it is what it is. Regardless, my point is that there are many other Composers out there who are far more skilled than I who are being taken advantage of by both the general public and the Industry in which we work. It is way past due to have a meaningful, fair and just compensation program for such a vital part of our world. Maybe those people in a position and with the power and resources to effect positive change, will devise a way of resolving these issues in a balance way. Stand up and scream if you have to but make certain you are standing on defendable ground and that it is not from some special interest group or influence that causes you to take your stance. If your position does not balance these issues then get out of the way. I hope that the answers provide for a balanced compensation program that supports both the creators of intellectual property, the businesses that support the dissemination of it and provide the new and exciting music coming out of those who create it for the benefit of the general buying public. Make your money but don't rob others, the creators, out of their fair share. In a round about way we need each other. We should respect that. Don StringTunes - Music to Soothe Your Soul! Niagara Memorial Butterfly Release - Update 2 Posted: Jul 21, 2007 To my friends and fans! I had an absolutely fabulous time in New York State! Travel was safe and fast. I was happy to land into fantastic weather and in a land foreign to me, New York, my first time in the state.Niagara Falls I was met at the airport by my New York Distributor, Jeff, who decided to take me on a little sight-seeing journey. I had always wanted to see the Niagara Falls and this day was the day it was to be. Thanks a million Jeff! We spent quite a bit of time there enjoying the view and basically standing in awe of the amount of water going over these falls. It is actually quite awesome! Somehow, it just wouldn’t be right to miss the local hot spot, the Hard Rock Café. There were Gold records on the wall, guitars hanging everywhere and a pretty unique wall I just had to take a photo of. The main purpose of the trip to New York was to support the Niagara Hospice Organization during their annual Memorial Butterfly Release on July 14th, 2007. Butterflies are Free! Quite a number of people came for the event to honor their loved ones by participating of the release of the butterflies. Niagara Hospice Organization holds this event annually. The release of the butterflies was a matter of the heart for the older folks attending. For the younger it was a day of fun and laughter. Maybe we all can learn something from that. We had the pleasure of meeting the Community Coordinator, Stephanie Burrows. She was very helpful arranging for us to participate in the event. Getting her to slow down a wee bit might be a real challenge. The Spiritual Leader of the Niagara Hospice Organization and the Pastor of the Lockport Wesleyan Church was available to lend a Spiritual hand and a prayer. Being a part of the Niagara Memorial Butterfly Release was a wonderful experience and again I am happy to have been involved. We met some really cool people, watched the butterflies be set free and even made a bit of cash to help support the Niagara Hospice Organization help others in need of hospice care. I wish to extend a huge thank you to both Stephanie and Tom for all that they have done to make our participation possible. In addition to the Memorial Butterfly Release, Jeff and I went on a three and a half hour canoe trip where the sun was welcomed, the water was warm and the laughter was abundant. It wasn’t exactly like the photos of the falls but it was just as much fun. Unfortunately we didn’t get any photos of the canoe trip, mostly from smart preparation, as being in the water for us was frequent. This was fun for us, but, not a good idea for cameras. Take my word on it though, it was one of those special moments in time where you get to take part in an enjoyable recreational activity, on an absolutely beautiful day, with great company and be in nature at its best. A new and excellent memory! Awesome! All in all, it was an excellent journey and a very fun time. For me, this was just the right medicine. I hope you have enjoyed the review of my recent trip to New York State. Don Niagara Hospice Press Release - Update! Posted: Jun 20, 2007 6/20/07 - We are extremely excited that the number of hits on our press release, for the Memorial Butterfly Release, has exceeded 110,000! Remember, donations will be accepted up to and including the event on July 14th, so please take a moment to support this fund raising effort for the Niagara Hospice organization. Real people in real need can use your help. Donate today! Memorial Butterfly Release Special Announcement Posted: Jun 14, 2007 Every once in a while a person gets to do something meaningful and helpful so that others may benefit. Just such an arrangement has been made between StringTunes, Niagara Hospice and myself. You can view the entire Press Release by following this link - Memorial Butterfly Release Here is a slightly modified version of the release; Lockport, NY – July 14th, 2007: Niagara Hospice is holding a Memorial Butterfly Release on Saturday, July 14th, 2007 between 2pm and 4pm in Lockport, New York. Instrumental music Composer Don Rath Jr has arranged to offer his two CDs “Heart Strings” and “Dawn of a New Day” as a means of raising money for this worthy cause. In addition to this, StringTunes has arranged for Don to be at the event for signing the CDs and supporting the Niagara Hospice organization. Hospice is a special concept of care designed to provide comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatments. The goal of hospice care is to improve the quality of a patient's last days by offering comfort and dignity. Donation instructions Please visit the Niagara Hospice Store through this link - Niagara Hospice Store Here, you can make donations directly to the Niagara Hospice organization. There are several items available including Artwork, Butterflies and my 2 CD's; Heart Strings and Dawn of a New Day. For a donation of $20.00 you can recieve a copy of your preferred CD. Yes, you can donate $40.00 and recieve a copy of both! 100% of the net proceeds goes to the Niagara Hospice organization. This will enable them to continue to provide their services, Hospice (Palliative) Care, helping others in their time of need. I hope you will join me in helping out this excellent Not-For Profit, 501(c), organization by making your donation today. Your donation may qualify as a tax deduction. Please review with your Tax Advisor. Niagara Hospice is dedicated to providing the right care, in the right place, at the right time. More information about Niagara Hospice, their services and the Memorial Butterfly Release Event, including other events sponsored throughout the year can be found by visiting the official Niagara Hospice website at http://www.niagarahospice.org. Your direct contact for Niagara Hospice is Stephanie Burrows at (716) 439-4417. “Butterflies are the universal symbol of hope and meaning, making them the perfect instrument to remember our loved ones,” says Stephanie Burrows, Community Relations Coordinator. “This year, we are excited to have Don’s music available for purchase at the event. Thanks to his generosity, 100% of the net proceeds from the sale of each of his two CDs will benefit Niagara Hospice and the people we serve.” Music has been found to be instrumental in easing life’s stresses. By the very nature of his music, the lush sounds of the strings creating pleasing and flowing melodies can help those suffering by creating a relaxing atmosphere that can effect a positive change helping to ease the struggle through one of life’s most difficult times. Music can make you laugh, smile, dance and fly free just like a butterfly! Don Rath Jr. states, “I am happy to participate by supporting an organization such as Niagara Hospice. It will help to fulfill one of my personal lifelong goals of helping others in their time of need.” For full details about the music of Don Rath Jr., “Heart Strings” and “Dawn of a New Day”, please stop in to our website at http://www.stringtunes.com. Here you will be able to preview Dons music and read the stories behind the songs and their respective instrumentation. Again, his CDs will be available and he will be autographing them in honor of this event. For those living in the area, come on out to support Niagara Hospice during the Memorial Butterfly Release, otherwise, visit the Niagara Hospice website to make a direct donation by purchasing a Butterfly. It will enable them to continue to provide care to others who are in need of hospice services. StringTunes has prepared the Press Release and it has been fully approved by the Niagara Hospice organization. Please make your contribution today! Thank you. Don General Update Posted: May 20, 2007 Greetings Friends! Well, it's been a very busy time. The release of both of my new albums "Heart Strings" and "Dawn of a New Day" have consumed an enormous amount of time, but, it has been a lot of fun. Since my last blog entry, my website has exceeded my goal of 50,000 hits. I'm now hoping for 60,000 by the end of June since that will be the end of my first year online. The Press Releases for both albums collectively have resulted in over 135,000 hits including contacts from over 45 countries in the world. Who would have guessed only a few short months ago that my music would/could be seen by people from all over the world. Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Brazil, France, Russian Federation and Japan have been the most actively responsive to viewing my site. I think that is pretty cool! I welcome all of my friends from these and many other countries. Thanks for your friendship! Love to all of you! I hope you will be coming back often. Time has gone by fast and it has been quite the experience. I've also been busy working n the music for CD # 3. I have not named it yet but I think it is going to be called "In the Glen". My Christmas CD plans are coming together too. So maybe this year yet I will be able to get both of them completed and have a total of four CD's released in one year. That would be so very cool. My music is now available on over 40 websites and growing. The most predominate are iTunes, CDBaby, WEBCDs, Rhapsody and the new Napster. I have sites at Myspace, Nextcat and Tagworld too. Actually, I've lost count of where I am all together. I am pleased that my association for radio play with iNewage, HappyDayRadio, in Korea, is in place and active! Now that, my friends, is a manifestation of the effects of this incredible Internet thingy. I hope you will stop by and say hi to DJ Haru and listen to their show. Here's the link - http://www.inewage.com/ I am planning a new press release for June announcing a very cool sponshorship program for helping others. This is the beginning of trying to fulfill a lifelong dream. Stay tuned for this special announcement. In the coming months I will try to be more active in updating my blog. I hope you will keep posted and keep supporting my musical efforts. Write me! I'd like that. Post your comments on my website http://www.stringtunes.com and on my Myspace site - http://www.myspace.com/stringsfu This gives me energy and let's me know you are out there. Help make the world a better place! Do something positive! Let the person closest to you know you love them and give them a great big hug and a kiss! Don StringTunes - Music To Soothe Your Soul! Happyday New Age Radio - Airplay! Posted: Apr 6, 2007 I am very happy to announce that both of my CD's Heart Strings and Dawn of a New Day have been picked up by HappyDay New Age Radio in Seoul Korea! Please stop in and support me and HappyDay at - HappyDay New Age Radio. Thank you DJ Haru! It's awesome what the internet can do! Dawn of a New Day - Exclusive Launch Posted: Mar 11, 2007 This week! On March 21st, the first day of spring 2007, Dawn of a New Day will be launched for prerelease review and purchase exclusively on this site. March 31st is the scheduled full release date for worldwide availability. Additional distribution will be open through CDBaby shortly as will general distribution at your local music store (US only). We will provide the Official Press Release in this diary in a few days. Dawn of a New Day is the next release of Don's music only three months from the release of Heart Strings! There are twelve instrumental compositions included in this excellent CD sure to soothe your soul! The arrangments and the overall sound are improvements over previously released material and they are as inspirational as the Dawn of a New Day. Thank you for your continued support of Don and his music! Let us know if you want to help us get the word out! Thanks a million! StringTunes - Music To Soothe Your Soul! Classical Guitar - Recommendations Posted: Mar 4, 2007 4 Mar 2007, 22:02 Classical Guitar - Recommendations From StringTunes First I would like to say that this diary entry will list some of the most incredible Composers of Music for the Classical Guitar. It is by no means complete as there are many, many others. What is before you is all I had time to do for now. I consider the following list of Composers and some of my favorite pieces by them to be noteworthy of being included here. Hopefully you will agree. Please feel free to send me an e-mail with your favorites and I will add them. With that being said; J.S. Bach Air (On the G String) from Suite No 3 for Orchestra, BWV 1068 Allemande from Suite No 1 for Lute, BWV 996 Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, from Cantata No 147 Menuet in G Major, Klavierbuchlein fur Anna Magdalena Menuet in G minor, Klavierbuchlein fur Anna Magdalena Prelude for Lute, BWV 999 Prelude from Suite No 1 for Cello, BWV 1007 (arranged for Guitar) Sarabande From French Suite No 1 for Keyboard (arranged for guitar) BWV 812 Siciliana from Sonata No 1 for solo violin (arranged for guitar) BWV 1001 Matteo Carcassi Andantino in C Major from Methode complete pour la guitarre Napoleon Coste Tarantelle - from 25 Etudes de Genre, Op. 38 Manuel de Falla Pour le trombeau de Claude DeBussey John Dowland My Lady Hundson's Puffe Song and Galliard Melancholy Galliard Vincenzo Galilei Saltarello in D Major Enrique Granados Danza Espanola No. 10 ion G Tonadilla George Frideric Handel Larghetto - from Music for the Royal Fireworks Overture - from The Messiah Sonata in D minor Jan Antonin Losy Chaconne Manuel Ponce Estrellita - from Canciones Mexicanos (1914) Preambulo & Allegro vivo Jean-Phillipe Rameau Contredanse en Rondeau - from Pygmalian Gaspar Sanz Canarios - from Instruccion de Musics sobre la Guitarra Espanola Espanoletas - from Instruccion de Musics sobre la Guitarra Espanola Erik Satie Gymnopedie No 1 - from Trois Gymnopedies Alessandro Scarlatti Minuetto - from Toccata No 4 Sonata in A Major K322 Sonata in G Major K391 Fernando Sor Lecon in D Major Op 31 No 10 Lecon in E Major Op 31 No 23 Minuet in A Major Op 11 No 6 Petite Piece in E Major Op32 No 1 Variations on a Theme by Mozart Francisco Tarrega Danza Mora Capricho Arabe - Serenata Lagrima - Preludio Maria - Gavota Marieta, Mazurka Recuerdos de la Alhambra Estudio Brillante Antonio Vivaldi Allegro non molto - from The Four Seasons, Op 8 No 2 (Summer) Largo - from The Four Seasons, Op 8 No 4 (Winter) Silvius Leopold Weiss Bourree Anglais Passacaille Fantasie Minuet in G Major Op 2 No 1 Isaac Ilbeniz Sevilla Leyenda Rumores de la Caleta Luis de Milan Pavana No 1 in A minor Pavana No 6 in D Major Pavana No 4 in D Major Robert de Visee Suite in D minor Moreno Torroba Two Pieces from Castles of Spain Castelnuovo-Todesco Three Pieces from Platero and I Heitor Villa-Lobos Prelude No 1 in E minor Study in E minor Additional Works Worth Listing Afro-cuban Lullaby The Girl With the Flaxen Hair - DeBussy Romance (Romanza) Hopefully you will have found value in reviewing these incredible Composers and their works. Again, I apologize for not having enough time to include many others. I have not intentionally omitted any of the great Composers. Only the limited amount of time I have to put this together has restricted the number of included Composers, their works, or the overall size of the list. There are many others who belong here. My apologies to them. Again, feel free to e-mail me and I will add your favorites to this listing. Thanks in advance. If you are interested in learning about the music for Classical Guitar, these Composers and their works and to gain a deeper sense of appreciation for the Classical Guitar, Composers of Classical Guitar music and the techniques available for composing for guitar, please visit Naxos where an incredible amount of Classical music is available for you to listen to, purchase and to simply enjoy. Highest Regards, StringTunes - Music To Soothe Your Soul! Classical Music Posted: Mar 4, 2007 My interest in classical music began with the introduction from my Mother to Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No 2 and Chopin's Pollanaise. These were two of her favorites and she played it on an LP Record hundreds of times. I was just a small boy in an even smaller town in upstate Illinois. From there the classics from Composers such as Vivaldi, Rossini, Dvorack, Chopin Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Sibelius, Hayden, Ravel, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel, Bach, Bizet, Elgar, Gershwin, Listz, Rimsky-korsakov, Grieg, Menelsohn, Strauss, Schubert and of course, Tchaikovski were always in my world growing up. I left the classics for youthful reasons and listened to the bands of the day, mostly the Beatles, Stones, Kinks and many others. It wasn't until I discovered Andres Segovia playing many of the great composers for guitar that I returned to the classical music scene. Now, after many years of listening and learning music composition I am writing for traditional classical instruments, mostly the strings. I think this was born out of my musical influences and experiences as a youth. Wouldn't have it any other way. Classical music offers a deeper sense of culture and refinement that is sustainable rather than fleeting. History has and will continue to demonstrate this point as related to the music out of the Classical periods. It is not likely that a musical Group such as Nirvana and countless other "bands" will be remembered 100 years from now. The reason is their impact on our culture at large is limited to only those relatively few people who found some value in it rather than as a total cultural influence. Music has to be great to do that. Does music have an emotional impact, music without words that is? If you took the words away from the popular radio "tunes" of today, would they move you emotionally and in a positive way if there were no words to begin with? Would they support your emotional status quo or would they bore you? Would anything stand out as highly impactful across our culture, across multiple cultures? The answers to these questions can qualify the answer, however and on a personal level, can music move you towards feeling love, awe, serenity, comfort, passion or any other emotional movement? I will leave that question up to you to answer however, I think the answer is a profound and emphatic yes! The Classical Music genre of today is gaining in popularity for many reasons. One device enabling this growth of interest is the Internet. Another reason is that the current music industry is focused on making money rather than promoting music of value. Simply turn on the radio for a couple of hours and listen to what the music industry wants you to hear. How much is unique? How much is beneficial towards moving the concept of music forward? I think a great void has been created due to the huge amount of dollars spent on the promotion of popular music. I believe is is one of the main causes for the developing and increasing need for more classical music and for new and excellent cultural music. The rise of the Indie scene appears to support that. Many people have not experienced music from the Classical periods and those that now have access to it via the Internet have the opportunity to experience the wonderful emotional movements caused by it. The Internet and it's devices are making this a mainstream possibility. This is a good thing. Rather than promoting some "ism" or fad or limited societal "happening" Classical Music reaches far beyond the whim of the moment. It teaches us about ourself, a deeper meaning, an emotional expression that truly moves us as a people in a positive way. It reaches to the emotional, the spiritual and the intellectual levels of our being, all at the same time. One of the huge impacts of classical music is that it teaches us to listen and to listen critically. Just try to listen to the Piano Sonatas of Mozart or Beethoven and then tell me there is a simularity or even an equal comparison of this music to the popular radio music of today. Classical is in a class far above popular radio music. To extend my suggestion further, let's take a quick look at the impact of just two of the Baroque composers, Bach and Handel for example. By far the most influential of the Baroque Period Composers. Bach touched to every corner of society, every music genre of his day and wrote music so far ahead of anything available at the time. Handel advanced the oratorios to levels never before experienced by man. These two composers represent the the highest level of and most fully developed music in their time. Hayden, Mozart and Beethoven did the same during their time in the Viennese or Classical Period. A careful study of the history of music will reveal all of these things and many more. Each major musical era has provided significant advances in the evolution of music. Each era brings to the table musical interests that are truly timeless and in many ways highly beneficial to the growth of society at large. I believe a new era is about to begin whereby new advances and styles of music are to become available that will requalify serious music as the norm rather than a subset of niche interests. I also believe that the Internet will be the single most important device to bring that about. In conclusion, this is an exciting time musically. We have the availability for instantaneous worldwide exposure, of rapid music production and worldwide distribution. These ideas also open the door for this new era to begin. After this initial boom where anyone anywhere can produce an album, I think the new era will begin to open up enabling serious composers and serious music to once again rise up to influence the masses while regaining our cultural pride. Sorry for the length of this commentary. I guess I had something to say. Hopefully it was of value to you. StringTunes Music To Soothe Your Soul! www.stringtunes.com Heart Strings - Now on iTunes! Posted: Feb. 1, 2007 For Immediate Release StringTunes announces the official CD release of Heart Strings by Composer Don Rath Jr. To view the official release please follow this link http://prweb.com/releases/2007/2/prweb502482.htm or continue reading below. Thanks. CD and single song downloads available now on iTunes. Rockford, Illinois – February 1, 2007: New independent Music Publisher, StringTunes, announces the debut release of Heart Strings by instrumental Composer Don Rath Jr. Heart Strings is a twelve song, instrumental compilation of original music featuring the stringed instruments. This is the first CD release for StringTunes as a music publisher and it is also the debut album for Composer Don Rath Jr. The CD and single song digital downloads are available now on Apples iTunes, one of the worlds largest, one-stop, digital download music services online today. In addition to iTunes, the CD and single song mp3 downloads are available for purchase directly through our official website at www.stringtunes.com . Full details about Composer Don Rath Jr. and the album Heart Strings are available there for your review, including, the stories behind the songs and their respective instrumentation. The compositions included on this album were written, arranged and produced entirely by Don Rath Jr. The genre for Heart Strings is new Classical Music. Similar Artists include resemblances to the Kronos Quartet, the Ahn Trio and many other popular String Orchestras and string based music ensembles. The difference is Heart Strings offers all new Classical music instead of another release of the Classical music standards. Sound Engineer, Alan Wagner of www.BigToeStudio.net out of Vancouver Washington writes; "This is a very interesting project that involved the emulation of an entire orchestra using only technology. Therefore, it features, even more, of the talent and skill of the writer and arranger, Don Rath Jr." Further, "I used some of the very latest recording technology (called "convolution reverb") to place these virtual instruments into a "real" space from an actual physical location. This served to enhance their realism and the overall listening experience." A Songwriter in Kentucky USA writes "Awesome. Beautifully orchestrated! What you have created here is what music is all about." The flowing melodies and lush string arrangements take you on an internal journey sure to soothe your soul. Heart Strings by Don Rath Jr. - Now available through Apple iTunes! All Media interests should be addressed to pr@stringtunes.com ### Tell all your friends! Click the link below. Thanks for all of your support, comments, and mostly your friendship. Don StringTunes - Music To Soothe Your Soul! Resources for Making and Selling a Cd on the Internet Posted: Feb 4, 2007 StringTunes - Presents Resources for Making and Selling a CD using the Internet In this diary entry, I will attempt to offer the concepts that I have used to make, produce and market a music CD using the Internet. This is in no way a comprehensive collection of resources, only some, that you can use to help you get your project off the ground. It is my intention only to point out the concepts I have used to support my CD projects. I hope you find value in it. To begin, I am making the following assumptions: 1) that you are creating new music and wish to market and sell it over the Internet. 2) that you either fully own or have controlling Mechanical and/or other related Intellectual Rights to the musical content. Without these rights it is illegal to produce a music CD without expressed and written consent from the rightful copyright owner(s). If you have a question about copyrights please contact http://www.copyright.gov. For further information on Mechanical Licensing of copyrighted music please see http://www.nmpa.org. 3) that you have produced the music either by a digital means or through actual performance and recording of the music, whether in a music recording studio, recording a live performance, or through the use of sound samples to produce and/or enhance your recordings. 4) that your music is in it's raw form and that you are ready for final production and manufacturing of a music CD. 5) that it remains your full responsibility to seek out qualified legal help when pursuing a career in the music industry. 6) that you fully understand that nothing in this document should be accepted by you without question and that no action or actions should be taken by you without seeking legal guidance as related to any/all information provided. Also, no representation is made herein offering legal guidance of any kind and no gaurantees are made as to the accuracy of the information and the validity of the included information and the included links. 7) that you fully understand that every effort was made when producing this document to assure that the included links were fully operable. It is not the responsibility of StringTunes and/or it's owners and representatives to maintain working links. Given the above, we will now look at the basic steps including a brief but meaningful dialog of each of the steps. Examples will be provided if this Blogging program is capable. General Outline The "Why" you are doing this will not be covered, since, it is assumed you "have to" or "want to" for your own personal reasons. I must say that depending on the strength of your "why", if the music is good, your actual results and ensuing choices will be positively supported and empowered to enable you to attain your specific goals. 1) Mastering - This step is critically important for several reasons. mostly in order to have a final product that enables a consistent volume level, consistent sound quality level between songs, compressed and therefor more pristine of a sound and to correct any errors that remain from earlier production steps, including the removal of unwanted "noise" such as hisses and pops etc. I was fortunate enough to locate Alan "Big Al" Wagner of BigToeStudio to put the finishing touches on my Cd projects. Here is the link - http://www.bigtoestudio.net Additional resources are readily available either in your local community or through Industry related music publications. You can also simply Google this too. Note: If your raw music is digital, you may find you will need to have a File Transfer source for moving large file from your computer to a Mastering house. I have used http://www.yousendit.com for two Cd's now and I have not had any problems in any way. Consequently I personally make this recommendation. Once this step is completed and you have decided that your project warrants marketing it to the general public and that you are totally excited about getting your "CD out there" and to "be heard", you are then empowered to follow through the remaining steps of getting there, arriving at your goals. This step includes making uncompressed .wav files, mp3 files and one of your most important assets, the "Masters" of your project. 2) Manufacturing - This is pretty self-explanatory, however, there are many manufacturers available today so care must be taken when selecting one for your project. This is the "What" you are selling. Having a quality manufacturer for your CD becomes a representation of your image and the standards by which you are treated in the marketplace as well as from your buying public. What support you receive from your manufacturer is also important in your consideration to use them. So, when shopping for a manufacturer take into consideration the additional support offered within the price you are paying. Price is relevant in many ways. Consider the "costs" when looking at price. It's up to you to determine what quality your CD project will be. A couple of quality references are; http://oasiscd.com, http://www.diskmakers.com and http://www.kunaki.com. I would start at any of these manufacturers. The first two offer full service manufacturing while Kunaki offers the ability to have a quality product with no setup fees and direct ability to have your fans and customers purchase directly from you with no minimum quantity requirements. 3) Marketing - The distinction between Marketing and Promotion is being made here because Marketing is more a matter of Branding, style and identifying the market(s) for your CD project. This is the "Who" of selling and the "Who" your potential fans and buyers are. Examples here are; Your Logo, Color choices and continuity between devices used to send your message, such as your press kit, your Website and networking sites, etc. Placing your product in the right market supports your Promotional campaign better than a misplaced marketing and promotional campaign. If your music is Country you want to promote it in places where Country Music is a prime focus rather than in the Rap genre for example. The clearer you identify your potential fans the more successful your Promotional campaign can be. Marketing is tied directly into the Promotion side of your focus for selling Cd's, since through identifying your promo campaign strategy will determine a lot on how you create your Brand in the marketplace. 4) Promotion - Promotion is different than Marketing as Promotion is focused on methods used to reach your identified market with notices and Press Releases for the product being offered. This is the "Where and When" of selling as well as the act of getting your message out there for others to respond to, buying your CD. Promotion is critical to the success of your project. Concentrating your efforts in relationship to your Marketing campaign empowers both as previously stated. The use of a Public Relations firm is an excellent idea if you have the financial resources to afford one. If not, placing your Marketing and Promotional materials in places like your Official Website and other music related sites, Social Networking sites, Blogs, music industry sites, Internet Radio and Podcasts, etc. are great places to begin. Social Networks such as http://www.myspace.com, http://www.nextcat.com, http://www.facebook.com and http://www.tagworld.com are a collection of sites you will want to look into for broadening your potential marketing and promotional campaigns. Internet news wires are another place to focus your attention. http://www.emediawire.com or PR News Wire is an excellent resource for promoting your music releases for example. Another good one is http://www.Mi2N.com. You can upload your press release for free on this site. Starting and producing your own Newsletter, building, maintaining and using your contact resources such as a database for music industry contacts and one for your fans are very useful as time goes on. Street Teams and other networking efforts are also very good at helping you to reach your fans. There are many places that support the release of a new Cd. For a massive amount of resources, I would highly recommend getting a copy of the Indie Bible. Check out http://www.indiebible.com. 5) Distribution - This is the "How" of getting your CD to your customers. There are two main methods for music distribution available for the Indie Artist. They are either Digital Distribution or Physical Distribution. If your plans are to provide a "hard copy" or physical distribution of your CD you will need to have locate and secure this type of support. Some manufacturers will help in providing this service, however, you will need to locate and secure either a very large distributor or gain physical distribution through Internet outlets such as http://www.CDBaby.com, http://www.iTunes.com and http://www.amazon.com and others like them. There are a number of Internet based distribution outlets. If you Google this you will have easy access to a large number of relevant Digital Distribution outlets. For Physical Distribution you will need to locate and secure this resource to enable getting your Cd placed in "brick and mortar" music stores. The largest outlet for this offers about 2400 outlets in the US. They are SuperD Phantom Distribution. http://www.sdcd.com. You can gain the use of this organization through CDBaby. Important Points To Consider 1) UPC and EAN Barcodes - If you are planning to seriously promote and market your CD project, I would highly recommend securing a UPC Code for your Cd. In order to track your sales you will need some type of unique code for a specific product. The UPC Code offers this and it is likely that most retail outlets will not sell your Cd in their establishment without one. There are several places to get a barcode and many of the better manufacturers will supply this for you. If not, you will need to check out places that make them available. Make sure your resource is a valid one. http://www.upccode.net is a location I found on the Internet. Since I ended up using CDBaby, they supplied my UPC Code for both of my Cd's. EAN Barcodes are for International needs but the UPC Code is the standard and can be read by EAN code readers. 2) ISRC Codes - Due to all of the changes as a result of the use of the Internet for distributing music, RIAA has established a unique coding number for each Title on a CD for tracking "airplay" and other digital dissemination of your music. It is an extremely powerful tool for safegaurding your international royalty interests for music Cd's. You can learn more about this at http://www.riaa.com. 3) Soundscan - This is an essential tracking service for the sales incurred of your CD. They also report your sales to BillBoard for placement on the Music Charts so if you have this desire you will want to look into submitting your music to Neilson Soundscan at http://www.soundscan.com. 4) Performing Rights Organizations - Should your music be performed publicaly you will want to jin a Performing Rights Organization or PRO. In the US, the three largest and most well known are; http://www.bmi.com, http://www.ascap.com and http://www.sesac.com. Collectively, these contacts will aide you significantly while fighting on your behalf for some sense of security in the digital age where Intellectual Property rights are not necessarily respected. Conclusion As you can see there are a lot of support locations throughout the Internet that support the manufacture and the Indie CD release of your project. You will find all of this to be a rather daunting task to do alone. Gaining help from friends and family will only get you so far. You will find that, if you want a greater level of success for your project, using others who specialize in any given area will enhance your chances of success tenfold! Do your homework and spend some time researching companies that can support your project. I guarantee that if you do you will not only speed up the process but you will fall down less often making your journey to a successful CD release an enjoyable and rewarding experience. For more information please contact Don at http://www.stringtunes.com. CDBaby Site Up! & Running Posted: Jan 4, 2007 "Heart Strings" is now available for purchase at CDBaby effective today! The album will be featured in the Classical-Orchestral and the New Age-Ambient sections under New Releases heading. Remember - You can still purchase the CD directly from this site by following the links. Don's Official Website remains the best place to purchase the CD. During the month of January - there is a discount available for purchasing more than one of the "Heart Strings" CD at the CDBaby shopping cart. Here is the site address for Don's page at CDBaby - Thanks for buying Don's CD and supporting him. This enables him to continue his music work bringing you more of his wonderful music! Thanks for your support! Heart Strings Posted: Dec 19, 2006 We at StringTunes are very excited to announce the release of Dons debut album "Heart Strings"! Click here to buy the CD. Both the individual tracks and the entire CD can be purchased on this site. The CD only is available at Dons other websites - http://www.myspace.com/stringsfu, http://www.tagworld.com/stringtunes and http://www.tagworld.com/stringtunes. In the coming weeks, Heart Strings will be available through many digital music outlets including CDBaby, iTunes, and many others. Additionally, you will have over 1,200 retail outlets to special order the CD. Continue to watch this website for more information on where you can purchase the CD. We are looking forward to hearing your comments about Heart Strings. Please feel free to contact us at your convenience. Thank you in advance for all of your support and encouragement! Again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! PS - Give the gift of music. Give the gift of "Heart Strings"! Secure Comments Posted: Dec 10, 2006 My Website Host has offered and I have been using the secure comment and e-mail system for several reasons. First and foremost though is security in an age where there are a few bad guys out there who will do anything to cause havoc on a persons website. I hope you understand this and will still respond or comment to me using this secure system. All of my recieved comments are reviewed before posting as well. So, when you comment, it is not immediately posted. Once reviewed by me personally, I then post the comment. The letter/number secure entry prevents computers from spamming me. Security is the only reason I am using this system. I hope you understand the foregoing and that you will continue to write me and post your comments about my music. Highest Regards, Don A Letter To My Fans Posted: Dec 2, 2006 I wanted to take a moment to say how thankful I am that you have taken your time to visit my website and to listen to my music. It means a lot to me to be able to talk directly with you, through this medium called the Internet. Over 19,000 have visited me since June 14th of this year! Amazing. I hope each and every one of you have found great pleasure in listening to my tunes. Thank you for coming by for a visit. I will do my best to keep up on responding to each of your e-mails to me. So, thanks again for stopping in and for writing me! I have been fortunate to have recieved many positive comments that have kept me going through the processes involved in making an album. There are many decisions to be made including spell checking, a task I was never all that good at:) Now, my debut album "Heart Strings" is about to be released. This is for me a long time in the making and I am extremely exited to make it available to you in the next week or so. Right now I am listening to the Master Tapes of "Heart Strings". I am very pleased with the production of this album and the incredible work put into it by Allen "Big Al" Wagner who provided the professional mastering services. (I have put a link on my site to his studio and to his Podcasts for your convenience should you like to let him know your thoughts of his work on the album.) I think you will be very pleased to hear the quality but more importantly you will get to enjoy the music the way I have meant for it to sound since the original writing of each of these wonderful songs. You know, we all live in a world that moves so very fast, almost at a frenzy, where we do not get the chance to simply sit down and listen to music for the sole purpose of enjoyment. I believe each of these tunes will take you on a different journey in your mind, removing you, at least momentarily, from the hectic world in which we live. I hope to hear from you after listening to the album in full. I am not a mega-business, simply one guy who writes music. I decided to follow my own sense of taste and to excercise my own creativity without selling out to a larger concern. There's plenty of "canned" music out there, just turn on the radio for example. I wanted to give to you something special, a unique set of musical compositions unfiltered by big business. Hence, "Heart Strings". Twelve "tunes" to soothe your soul. From me to you. I truly hope you enjoy my musical creations and I hope you will buy my album so I can keep giving you more. I have already started to produce my next album called "Dawn of a New Day". This album also contains 12 new and totally original instrumental tunes. I can't wait for your comments about the title song. For me it is truly an enjoyable musical work and by itself it is worth the price of the album. Because of its length, there are no current plans to post it on the Internet, until it's release. 30 or 60 seconds of this piece does not give you the benefit of the entire song since it is over 8-1/2 minutes long.I will keep you informed on my progress for completing the second album "Dawn of a New Day". This is the eve of the release of "Heart Strings" and I am very nervous and positively hopeful that you will enjoy it. My nervousness is only coming from the unknown. That being - your response to my work. I truly hope that you enjoy my music. That is my purpose in writing it. My success as a Composer is determined by you, my fans. I have done the absolute best I can to make this a high quality album. Not just for one or two songs, but, for all twelve of them. Keep watching this site in the next couple of weeks on where it can be purchased. Again, I want to personally thank each and every one of you for taking your time to stop by, listen, comment or simply for enjoying my music. Hopefully, you'll keep coming back for more and hopefully you will let your friends know about me and my music. Love Always, Don Glad To Meet You Posted: Jan 13, 2007 Glad To Meet You By: Don Rath Jr. I never knew you and your song Not dancing in the streets of life Never knowing the sun in the sky, Wind in the trees, never asked why. How was I to know you were there? To guide me and to keep me warm I never knew even in the rain That was you keeping me from pain. I find it’s you comforting me Keeping me walking within time Each step brings me closer to thee The sky more clear, better to see. Thank you from my heart deep inside And forever more so in the night I’m glad to meet you in this day I love you more than words can say. I’ve come to know you through my song My heart is warm now in the sun Awakened to you and your love Thank you, thank you my God above. Copyright 2007© Don Rath Jr. The Children Posted: Oct 23, 2006 Don Rath Jr …and the children used to come here to play, sing, frollick and dance Once there was a way of life where joy and laughter filled the land. When you could find peace rafting on a river and life in a flower Where loving was the status quo and a hug the way of saying hello Terror, they say, took our freedom while we all were busy minding the store Leadership was their name and control was there game Somewhere all along the way we lost Our chance for a truly lasting peace In the arms of a soldier across the land We no longer searching for to find All of the love we once knew trying to survive Holding on to what we are and what we have Passing in the wayward wind through time Rising and falling in the sea of angry men To the thrusting of their swords into the womb The heart and soul of nations our friends Until the war took away our love and joy No longer to quietly enjoy the peace Of our children who no longer play here I am a witness to the falling of a star Of shining throughout the night in time Aquarius, Leo and of coarse Mars Lay before the fate of those that love And maybe oh yes maybe in the daylight When the sky has turned to crimson red We’ll wish for all those yesterdays gone by When the children would come here to play. Copyright © 2006 Don Rath Jr. The Composer Posted: Sep 16, 2006 The Composer By Don Rath Jr. A lone soldier of tune Soul searching in quiescence Seeking the elusive inspirations Through the quiet sounds of silence The music of eternal longing The note of everlasting love Bringing to the world with pen in hand A message from God above An empty page of promise Lays upon the land before That single note drops from heaven Non-silent forevermore Struggling through the passages The phrases from the spheres Leading to a place of peace Those things we hold so dear Removing the self a task indeed Leaving behind the want Channeling the giants from long ago Always on the hunt Come watch me write the song And you will have surprises As the work comes home again Like the sun it always rises Listen through the years As each work blossoms to a flower Bringing hope and love forever Under the ivory tower Copyright 2006 Don Rath Jr Six Compositions placed in the Semi-Finalist Position Posted: Aug 13, 2006 NEWS FLASH!! Six of my compositions made it into the internationally promoted UK Songwriting Contest semi-finalist position in the instrumental category! The songs that achieved this recognition are; Cellic Expressions Hey There! Horizon Suite Melancholy Sonata in C Trail of Tears This was my first contest ever! To have 6 songs make it to the semi-finalist stage is quite a surprise to me. I guess a person never knows what can be achieved unless and until they try. I am happy to have recieved this news and I am looking forward to next year to enter again. The contest was managed extremely well and I am honored to have taken part of it. Our Contact Info Posted: Jun 16, 2006 Please direct your communications to the appropriate e-mail address as shown below. Composer Talk - composer@stringtunes.com General E-Mail - stringsforu@stringtunes.com Broadjam Member Fans - fans@stringtunes.com Business Administration - administration@stringtunes.com Licensing - licensing@stringtunes.com If you find any errors or broken links on this site please report them to the WebMaster at: WebMaster@stringtunes.com