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What Does Your Music Look Like?
Have you ever decided to purchase a CD solely because of the cover? Even in this digital age, many sales can still be attributed to the energy, style, essence or visual message captured in an image that attracts someone to take a chance. The cover is often the first impression people have of your music, and it should reflect the theme and quality of the
Untangling Cover Song Licensing on YouTube
Found this article on Wired. Good reading, although rather frustrating. There are millions of cover songs on YouTube, with around 12,000 new covers uploaded in the last 24 hours. Nearly 40,000 people covered Rolling in the Deep 11,000 took on Pumped Up Kicks, 6,000 were inspired by Somebody That I Used to Know. Until recently, all but a sliver were illegal, considered infringement under current
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra 2011
Every year the LPO records a special concert and releases a CD/DVD set.
Dr. Michael White – Adventures in New Orleans Jazz Pt. 2
This 4-panel digipak is the second of a two CD set of more great jazz from Dr. Michael White and Basin Street Records. www.basinstreetrecords.com
Jazz Sawyer
This cd jacket had to pack a lot of information in a tight space.
Freedom Is Coming
Songs of Freedom, Resistance and the Underground Railroad …
Joe Krown – Exposed
This is the 4th album I’ve designed for Joe. …
DDP masters
If you are submitting your music as a DDP, please follow these instructions: Uploading a CD/DVD Image file or RAW disc files to the factory For an Audio CD project DDP Image files work the best, .iso files do not work for Audio CDs. It is best to create an image file of your disc before uploading iso and DDP image files are standard for
Recycled wallets, jackets and digipaks
100% recycled Eco-wallets, Eco-jackets and Eco-digis – for no extra charge! …
Costa Rica travelogue
Greetings from Costa Rica! My mom and I are on a two-week sojourn through costa rica. 10 days on a caravan tour, followed by 5 days on our own with a rental car to see a few other spots and visit some friends who live here now. Here are some highlights so far to give you a taste of what we are seeing here. Today
Songs of the Lower Mississippi Delta
The first in a series of educational materials produced by the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park. It is a two-disc set with a deluxe oversized digipak and a full-color 16-page booklet. …
Ellis Marsalis – A New Orleans Christmas Carol
By popular demand, Ellis Marsalis just re-released his Christmas album in a deluxe package …
Musicians can reclaim old copyrights
Musicians allowed to regain control of their work after 35 years, so long as they apply at least two years in advance …
Do the one thing you think you cannot do
Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it. – Oprah Winfrey (1954 – ) O Magazine, September 2003
Icontact Email Service
I use Icontact to send out my bulk emails. I switched some years ago when I realized that my emails were getting bounced back more and more. …
Kid Red and 3r – Live at Checkpoint Charlie
www.kidred.com
Carlos Abadie Quintet – Immersed In The Quest ~ Vol. 1
www.PursuanceRecords.com
Beatles for Sale on Parlophone Records by Bruce Spizer
Just finished! This is the 9th book that I’ve designed for New Orleans-based Beatles historian Bruce Spizer. …
Featured
When I Do Your Graphics … What I need from you
Compile all material that you want to include in your design: photos, text, original artwork to be scanned, logos, etc. …
Featured
The Blues Masters featuring Big Al Carson – 4th Edition
With Bill Wilson’s great artwork on the cover, Misha’s great recording, and Al’s funky vision, it is bound to be one of Al’s best releases. …
Dr. Michael White – Adventures in New Orleans Jazz, Part 1
This 4-panel digipak is the first of a two part collection of more great jazz from Dr. Michael White and Basin Street Records …
Where to host your website
Even if you use Facebook, you should consider having a website. I use Dreamhost as my hosting server, and WordPress for my website development. Dreamhost has been very reliable, and their tech support very responsive, and they are one of the few WordPress verified hosting servers.
Google Alerts – what are people saying about you?
your own personal google search results in your inbox …
Don’t Give Away Your Music for Free
Good article by Jonathan Ostrow on Music Think Tank
It is not the critic who counts …
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is
Passport Travel Tip
Scan your passport, important documents, prescriptions and photos of your instrument and equipment in case they are stolen. Then email them to someone (you can contact easily by the internet) staying home so that if you lose your documents you can have them emailed to you (or your embassy – or the authorities) to make it easier to get replacements. If you have a secure
The secret Barcode Check Digit – how it’s calculated
The secret formula is… …
Email Overload – Take control of your inbox
How many emails are in your inbox right now? Yes, it’s probably 80% spam, but that leaves 20% that’s not. How many missed opportunities are in there? How many irate people are waiting for your reply? …
Anatomy of a Jewelcase
It is manufactured in the billions and so well known to millions, but what’s that thing in the back called? …
Take yourself out of the equation
When faced with a dilemma you just cannot seem to figure out or decide on, step out of yourself. Pretend it’s a friend or co-worker struggling. What would you tell them? What words or guidance would you offer? What suggestions would have have for them? When you remove your own emotions, things can appear clearer.
Louisiana recording studios
Nice listing of Louisiana recording studios collected by Parker Dinkins of MasterDigital. http://masterdigital.com/studios/index.htm Alphabetically, by location and by services. And while you’re there, check out MasterDigital’s mastering services. www.masterdigital.com
Goal worksheet
Nice little sheet you can print out and keep in your wallet to keep your goals with you at all times. http://www.isetmygoals.com/goal-setting.html PS: I just folded it in half longways and then accordion with no cuts. Never could get his folding instructions to work right.
Airbed N breakfast – great resource for places to stay or to rent out a room
http://www.airbnb.com/ Do you have an extra room/apartment/house to rent? If you have a spare room to rent out during mardi gras/jazz fest you need to get on this site. I use this site to rent my house in New Orleans during jazz fest and mardi gras. The people I get are wonderful. Do you need cheap places to rent while traveling / on tour? There
Creating MP3 files
You want the following specs no matter what program you use: File type: mp3 Bit rate: 192 kbps or 256 kbps Be sure your embedded tags include your artist name and song title Remove track number from file name Windows Media Player Put CD into drive click on the “Rip” tab WMP should automatically detect and scan it. Media Player should then query an online
Attitude is Everything
Warning: planning creates problems challenges. And when you look for problems, you will find them. And when you find them you will make them bigger. Before you start looking for problems, remember:. What we focus on becomes our reality. Search for solutions that already exist Build on what is working. Every moment we spend focused on a problem is a moment not spent on moving
Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?
Success Planning for Musicians and Bands “Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?” asked Alice. “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where . . . ,” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. Lewis Carol – Alice in Wonderland Planning
Getting your CD track info to show up on computers
When a music CD is inserted in a computer connected to the internet, the media player application (like Itunes and Windows Media Player) go through a convoluted system of taking the number of tracks on a CD, the running times of the tracks, and then comparing this information to a database of existing CDs online where it then retrieves the album, artist, track information, and
Creating a Compressed (zipped) folder
For Windows Open the drive or folder where your files are located Select the files you wish to include. Right-click Choose “Send to” and then “Compressed” A compressed or zipped folder with the same name as your new folder will appear in your folder. You have an opportunity to name it anything you want. It should have .zip as its extension.
Should I put the FBI anti piracy logo on my CD?
It is ILLEGAL to use the logo unless you are a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), subject to each member entering into a formal Uniform Authorization Agreement. Association members should contact the MPAA, RIAA, SIIA, BSA,
Submitting tracks via the internet
Formats I can use to duplicate your CD: MP3 Version 1, Level 3, save at 192 bit (this is CD quality) WAV Then ZIP the files, either individually or, if together, don’t let the zip file get more than about 50 MB large. Upload the files – DO NOT EMAIL THEM I will be notified via email that new files have been uploaded. Send artwork
Stock Photo Sites
Here are some sites you can search to see if anything jumps out at you. …
Font Sites
Are a few sites I use to find fonts for my projects. …