Archive | March, 2007

Veteran record producer & radio host, Samm Brown III, along with his co-host, ace-lyricist, Pamela Oland, will interview John Braheny this Sunday, April 1st at 2:00pm on KPFK Radio (90.7 FM, Los Angeles area). The show is called For the Record!

You can hear the show streamed “live” — see details below.
From the press release:

JOHN BRAHENY, (author, music industry consultant, musician, songwriter/performer, recording artist, film composer, and cofounder of the Los Angeles Songwriters Showcase. His book, The Craft & Business of Songwriting is in its 3rd Edition which includes totally updated info about: online opportunities for songwriters, sources of new digital royalties, podcasting, webcasting, ringtones, contemporary radio formats – single song contracts including sample reversion clauses.)

Also we will be talking about why a major label deal may not be best for you as an artist, online record deals (are they any better?); production music libraries; music for games; online song-pitching services and marketing strategies. What’s legit and what may not be. And as we asked our A&R panel last week, we’ll ask John his thoughts on what it takes for an artist/band to get signed to a record label these days, as well as how are those decisions are made in the few executive suites of A&R departments.

We’re more than ‘just talk,’ so tune in this Sunday at 2 pm (Pacific Time).

Also, PSA’s, film/TV music/recording industry current news, commentary, and open phones.

Join us at 2 pm (Pacific Time) for what will be an hour of provocative thought, and educational entertainment.

Samm Brown, Your Host
sbrownKPFK@aol.com

If you’re out of state you can hear the show by streaming from the station’s web site. Click here: KPFK 90.7 FM

KPFK uses “Shoutcast” to stream its live radio broadcast. ShoutCast streams MP3’s, which will play from virtually any player including: winamp, itunes, windows media, quicktime, etc. They recommend using winamp or iTunes if possible.

Enjoy!!

Douglas E. Welch and I go back a long way — since we met and worked together at Walt Disney Imagineering several years ago. (We left around the same time too.)

Since those days, he’s patiently shepherded me (and countless others) along the super-highway of all things computer-related. What’s especially fun is his passion for exploring new programs and processes — a true “early adapter” — plus HE can explain them better than almost anyone else I know.

And besides … the folks who will be hosting this Sunday’s event at Songsalive are good friends too and also do a bang-up job of bringing songwriters/performers together.

How can you beat this combo? Just think: any songwriter/performer can learn to podcast his/her own songs …

Podcasting Presentation to Songsalive
Sunday, April 1, 2007 @ 1 PM
The Coffee Junction
19221 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, CA (Los Angeles area) 91356

http://www.songsalive.org/losangeles.html
$5 for non-members

Songsalive! is a non-profit organization dedicated to the
nurturing, support and promotion of songwriters and composers
worldwide.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Podcasting for Writers: A UCLA Extension Course
Coming, this Summer –

Douglas and his wife, Rosanne Welch, will be teaching “Podcasting for Writers” during the Summer session at UCLA Extension. This is an online course, open to anyone. Here is the description for the course:

Podcasting has given writers direct access to a worldwide audience and freed them from absolute dependency on television networks, radio stations, and publishers to buy and market their work. To the audience, podcasting is “what you want, where you want it, when you want it,” while to the podcast creator and producer, it is the ultimate creative freedom. This course covers the current state of this new medium, the basics of writing for it, and strategies for publicizing your podcast and expanding your readers, viewers, and listeners. Guest speakers available via audio and video podcast interviews, live interactive podcasts, and video conferences introduce you to the variety of ways you can use the medium.

The course goal is to develop your own podcast based on individual professional or personal needs, interests, and goals. For technical requirements *see page XX. Additional technical requirements: Students will need a recording device with microphone that is compatible with their computer; built-in microphones on laptops are acceptable. Students must have Apple iTunes software and access to audio recording software, Audacity or Apple GarageBand, to perform course exercises. High-speed internet connection is required.

*More details coming soon on Doug’s blog.

That’s all for now, folks!

Now this is a handy idea…

LightScribe allows you to “burn” your info directly onto a CD.

You’ll need to buy CDs that are designed for this, but it means you won’t have to buy paper labels for them.

How cool!

This online writing exercise seems easy and fun … and it will only take one minute.

Once you click the “Go” button on the site, you will be shown one word, and a box for you to type in.

You’ll have one minute to write as much – or as little – as you want in response to the one word being shown.

Then you can post your writing to their site … along with others who have done the same.

Click: OneWord.com.

Quick, relatively painless … a great writing exercise to get the bossy self-critic out of the way, if only for one minute.

[I took this photo on the main street in Sidney, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Spring 2006.]

Enjoy!