Giving Tuesday 2017

I very rarely talk about non-musical things here on my music blog, but I'm making the rare exception this time.

November 28, 2017 is Giving Tuesday.

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are all about shopping for gifts to give others (or even, secretly, oneself) that make you and someone your care about feel good for awhile.

Giving Tuesday, though, is about giving something to others that can make you feel good for a long time. This is an opportunity to support charities that are helping people in the US (where I live) or wherever in the world you live.

Because of the intense recent focus on sexual harassment and assault across the political, entertainment, and business landscapes, I thought this would be a good time to commend to you two organizations dedicated to fighting sexual abuse and helping survivors.

The first is the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. RAINN provides a national toll-free, 24/7 hotline for survivors. They also have a chat capability for survivors who go to their website. In addition to survivor support, RAINN is active in public education, policy advocacy and consulting. Survivors have been contacting the group in record numbers in the wake of #MeToo so they can use the support.

RAINN has a solid 3-star rating from Charity Navigator.

The second organization is Darkness to Light. D2L is devoted to reducing child sexual abuse, with a long term goal of ending it entirely. They have trained over 1.4 million people to spot the signs of child sexual abuse and offer various training programs to help adults be responsible stewards of children in their care. They also provide helpful information on their site that can help you right now to become a better protector of kids.

D2L is not rated by Charity Navigator because they now get most of their revenue from providing program services. (Hence they're more of a service organization than a charity.) However, they have been awarded a gold seal of transparency by GuideStar, and continue to rely on contributions to sustain and grow their noble efforts.

I hope you will consider making a donation to either RAINN or D2L on Giving Tuesday.

What's Happening: Week of November 27, 2017

I hope all here in the States enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I did no shopping at all. (Black Friday? Forget it! But I will get around to it later.) In my part of the country, most folks are happy that Ohio State and the Cincinnati Bengals both won their big (American) football rivalry games. Everyone's attention now turns to the remainder of the Christmas season, beginning with "Cyber Monday."

My personal attention just now is on my new single "Snow Globe." It seems to be picking up interest on Spotify, with listeners checking it out from the States, Ireland and Ecuador. If you happen to be one of those people, thanks so much for listening. I hope you'll add to your festive holiday playlist this year. If you haven't checked it out yet, please do.



If you're on Apple Music, you can stream it there as well.


You can also license "Snow Globe" royalty-free for commercial use through Pond5.

Meanwhile, my thoughts are turning to 2018. I had set myself a fairly ambitious release schedule for the last months of 2017, but it looks like I'm not going to meet that. There are several things going through my mind here. First, the streaming world does not seem to take kindly to artists who release albums a year or two apart. Especially if you're trying to build an audience as I am, the strategy seems to be to release singles at frequent intervals.

If you've stopped by to read here before, you may know that I've had this discussion with myself (and you) before.

However, I still like the album concept (or at least an EP version), so maybe I'll try a mixed strategy next year. I'm thinking I might release the ambient/new age project I've had in mind as an EP but my other stuff (uptempo and downtempo) as singles. You'll know first if you read it here. (By the way, don't be surprised if I don't release a new single before the end of this year.)

Other things in the winds for 2018 include the possibility that I might get some of my work in front of television production companies next year. The downside of this is that I'll have to register about 450-odd titles with ASCAP before the end of this year. It's not difficult, just tedious.

And there are some other potential things in the works to widen my exposure in social media, but nothing is set in stone there yet. Check back for updates.

What's Happening: Week of November 20, 2017

It's Thanksgiving week here in the States, and I have a lot to give thanks for.

First, this is already easily my best sales year for stock music. Each year has gotten a little better since the first full year in 2013, and this year is no exception. I've really benefited from the rise of podcasting, with a lot of interest in and sales of the intros and loops targeted to that area.

Second, in case you haven't stopped by lately, I have a new holiday single. It's called "Snow Globe" and it was inspired by my memories of Christmas and the magic feeling you get when you shake one and watch the snow fall. I hope you'll check out the preview on my main web site, which includes links to buy and stream it from all the major U. S. online stores. If you have Apple Music or Spotify, you can listen to it right now on the players to the right for a limited time.

Speaking of Christmas memories, I thought today of a blog post from several years back where I documented the "Christmas edition" of my musical roots. That particular post heavily featured the great guitarist Chet Atkins, and his 1961 classic Christmas album. I'm including a link to that post here if you'd like to check it out. I'm also featuring that album as my  Spotify artist pick for the next week or so. If you have a Spotify account, please check out my Spotify profile and consider following me.

Finally, I'm thankful for you.

Whether you license my production music, download or stream tracks like "Dream Catcher" or my album Circadia, or just stop by to read what I'm writing, I appreciate your support. I hope you have a wonderful holiday if you're in the States, or just a great week if you're elsewhere.

Thank you.

"Snow Globe" Available At Major US Online Stores

My winter holiday single "Snow Globe" is now available to download or stream at most major U. S. online outlets. Here are links to some of the key places to get it.

iTunes
Spotify
Amazon
Google Play
Microsoft Groove
Tidal

You can also find links at my home page. I hope you'll check it out. I'm very grateful to you for buying, streaming, licensing or just reading. Thank you.

"Snow Globe" Available Now at Amazon

My new holiday single "Snow Globe" is now officially out and you can buy it at Amazon. Other stores to follow.

"Snow Globe" Release in Progress

I uploaded my new holiday single "Snow Globe" to DistroKid this morning. I was really worried about the artwork because the image was smaller than DistroKid's recommended "optimal" 3000 by 3000. However, it breezed right through their approval process. Now I'm holding my breath waiting to see if the audio processes OK. I plan to update status here and on my Twitter feed, so please stay tuned.

While we're waiting, you can check out a teaser preview on YouTube.

What's Happening: Week of November 13, 2017

I was under the weather this week, and didn't get to do all the stuff I had planned. Plus, I was working on some non-musical things (like life). However, I did get a few things accomplished and am excited to be doing more this week.

In case you missed it, please take the opportunity to preview my upcoming winter holiday single "Snow Globe." I plan to release it this Friday (November 17, 2017) through DistroKid. Here's a :60 sneak peek.

In keeping with featuring holiday stock music on my website and Twitter profile my pick this week is "Deck The Halls (Brass Arrangement)." It's a jolly arrangement for brass ensemble with sleigh bells (naturally) and great to give a happy traditional Christmas feeling to holiday ads and family videos. It's also available in a sixty-second (:60) edit version.

Even as Christmas is approaching, so is the new year. Among other things, that means Valentine's Day. Accordingly, I have two new tracks in process to add to my romantic music collection. One of the two is a dreamy RnB-influenced slow dance kind of track with lots of ambiance and synth bell accents. The other is, well . . . different. It's a bubbly, bouncy kind of track that'll make you think of cheezy 1960s pop. I had a lot of fun doing it, and hope someone can find a use for it in their romantic story or ad.

And that's it for me. I hope you'll stay in the loop as I prepare to release "Snow Globe" later this week and that'll you'll check it out as soon as it's available on your favorite downloading or streaming platform.

Preview: "Snow Globe"

The preview for my upcoming holiday single "Snow Globe" is now live on YouTube!

I'm still shooting to release "Snow Globe" next Friday (November 17, 2017).

What's Happening: Week of November 6, 2017

This will be a quick update, as I have a lot of things going at the moment that are not musically related.

I'll be uploading a teaser video for my planned holiday single "Snow Globe" in the middle to later part of next week. I'll let everyone know through this blog when it's up. I plan to upload the actual single on November 17, and will advise here and via Twitter/Google+ when it's ready to go.

For my featured stock music track, I'm featuring my old stalwart "Holiday Hustle Bustle." It has a great retro feel for holiday videos and ads, and is also available in a looped version for continuous background play. I hope you'll check it out.

Finally, I'm beginning to think about planning for 2018. I plan to analyze my stock music business over the holidays with an eye toward making changes. One of the things I'm seriously considering is going "all in" on music for podcasting. Stay tuned for further updates.

And that is the quick and dirty. If you're here in the States, I hope you turned your clocks back Saturday night and enjoyed that extra hour of shut eye.