Happy New Year

Well hello 2014!  And Happy New Year to everyone else in the world.  In the words of my fav talk show host Wendy Williams, "How You Doin'? It's a brand new year and a new season.  I've got so much stuff coming down the pipes for this new year I feel like I'm about to burst at the seams.  For one, there's the new album "Crown & Glory."  It's my 5-Song EP homage to natural hair.  There will be lots of curls and lots of dancing when this album is finally released in March/April of 2014.  Listen to, preview and pre-order the album here.

Number 2: Rob and I will be traveling a lot more this year to colleges, festivals, and Marriage Ministries across the US.  We've developed a brand new series titled "Making Music in Your Marriage."  In my very simplified way to explain the concept, it's a concert and marriage seminar all wrapped in one.  We are currently in the process of becoming Certified Marriage Mentors and plan to share tools to a happy marriage through song.  Check it out here.

Number 3:  We're going to Europe!  The details are still being ironed out, but if everything lines up, we will be embarking on a voyage to Europe later this year to share our music with our neighbors across the pond.  Whoa!!!!  I've never been to Europe so this is going to be quite interesting for me.  However, Rob is a veteran Europe-goer, so I know I'll be in great hands.  Want to help out?  I really hope so because we are crowd-funding for this trip and I'd really love your support.  Even if it's only just $2, every bit helps.  To share the love, click here.

Number 4:  Free Song a Month.  If you're on my VIP List you will receive a free new and original song by me every month.  One of my goals this year is to record more and write more.  I plan on doing more songwriting to develop as an artist and well I'd have to share it with you of course!  Ready?  Are you on the list?  Here's how to join.

Number 5:  New Artist Development Services.  My goal this year is to help other artists hone their craft and find their way.  If you know of anyone needing guidance, send them my way.  Here is a list of services I offer to musicians.  Rob and I have a host of other graphic design and production services to offer as well but not just for artists!  Click here to learn more about Design Mojo.

There's a lot more too, but this article is long enough.  Stick with me...

My Video Was Muted :(

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIh8VKw5_bM] If you're wondering why there is no sound on the above video, it's because YouTube muted the sound due to copyright violations.  The song I'm covering is "Summer Breeze" by Seals & Croft, a 1972 hit.

In the exact words of YouTube:  "This video previously contained a copyrighted audio track.  Due to a claim by a copyright holder, the audio track has been muted."

After doing a quick search on YouTube, I found several other people covering "Summer Breeze."  It turns out that copyright holders can decide what action to take against your YouTube videos if you're covering or using someone else's song, even if you give credit where credit is due. Even though there are others on YouTube covering or using the same song, they can still shut you down. What's more, it looks like they arbitrarily decide who to permit and who to not permit. Plus, how do you even find out who owns the copyrights? Some songs have more than one copyright owner. YouTube doesn't direct you in any way on how to figure it out. Funny how that works.

I get the need to protect your work, I wouldn't want anyone making money off of my work either. But where does it start and where does it stop? Doing cover videos does not make me money and it certainly doesn't take away money from the original artists? If anything it would bring more exposure to them! So what's the point of censoring?

I don't have the answers, just a whole lot of frustration.  What I do know is this - If it's true that the actual copyright holder(s) of the song requested that my video (out of all the other videos covering the same song) be "muted," then someone over there knows about Anitra Jay!

Signed,

One Perturbed Indie Artist

UPDATE:  As of Sunday, Nov 10 - the audio is back on.  Hurray!  Not sure what happened or why they decided to put the audio back on, but I sure am glad.  Yayyy!  :)

The Daily Grind - Life as an Indie

I came across this article on Indieonthemove.com about the daily hustle and bustle of an independent musician.  This life is hard no joke, especially if you're making it a career like me.  The article provides a glimpse into the real world of an independent artist.  It's funny how the author describes what the difference is between music as a hobby vs. music as a career.  (These are some of the things I've been saying all along.)  The answer, a person with a business sense is usually career oriented.  Meaning they spend most of their time marketing and promoting when they're not busy creating and practicing.  The person that just wants to play is usually a hobbyist.  Another thing he mentioned was that while music is lots of fun and rewarding, it can be unreliable and lacking stability.  I can attest to that!  That's why I freelance as a graphic designer in between gigs.  

Check out the article here.

The Problem with Networking

Have you ever tried to network with others in your field?  It's a tough thing to do even when you're at a networking event.  It takes bravery to just walk up to a stranger, say your name and deliver your 10 second elevator speech.  I've got to be honest, there's something about the whole situation that's nerve-wracking and feels a little bit like a poorly rehearsed play that's about to go bad any second. I mean you really never know what could happen. People say things like "It's about the people you know" and "You have to get out there and network."

But it's not that easy.

In my field it's important to network for gig-swapping purposes.  You see, there's a weird catch 22 in music.  Typically venues will only book you if you have a following (they call it "draw" in the field). Therein lies the issue: You have to perform live in order to get a following.   So if you're just starting out in your home town or you're trying to expand your brand in a new town you're out of luck.  So here's where the networking comes in.  If you network with other acts in your genre you can get onto their bill and they can get onto yours.  If you network with enough acts, you could possibly organize a whole year's worth of shows in different cities.

The trick is networking with the right individuals.  They have to be:

A)  in your genre who are

B) actively booking shows and

C) have a following in their area.

I have been doing this for years and still learning best practices in this area.  What gets me is that a lot of these people are underground.  Meaning, they have little to no web presence but they have a following in their own networking circles.  They don't respond to Facebook or Myspace messages for whatever reason.  So that makes it even more cumbersome.  If you or anyone you know is a singer/songwriter that has a pop, soulful, R&B, jazzy style please connect us.  You would be doing both of us a huge favor.

One of the things I've done to help resolve this issue is create a networking group in Charlotte, the Charlotte Singer/Songwriters and Poets Circle.  We have an official name, a logo, and even a website.  The goal of the group is to promote networking among ourselves locally and to eventually network with other groups regionally and nationally all the while hosting our own shows.  It's been getting a lot of traction lately so there is definitely a need for it.  We've already booked a couple shows so far and I'm excited to see what's in store for us down the line.

So can anyone help me think of ways to network with other acts outside of Charlotte???

Don't forget to wear your red shoes

"My Red Shoes" is a song I wrote a few years ago about finding your mojo.  If you follow this blog you'll remember that I've shared my inner thoughts about this song before.  The running joke was that I never actually owned red shoes.  You see in the song, the red shoes carry more of a symbolic meaning.  It was more about "getting your sexy back" than the actual shoes.  The sexy is already in us, but sometimes we need a tangible item that we can wear and put on to help remind us of the fact that we're beautiful or handsome (if you're a guy). The problem is that symbolism only goes so far.  That's what happened in the case of performing "My Red Shoes" live. Every time I perform the song I get asked the question - "So why didn't you wear your red shoes?"  Well if you're on stage singing about some red shoes to a groovy beat it's only natural for audience members to glance down at your feet looking for the red shoes.  Ultimately singing about red shoes without actually wearing them can leave something to be desired.  So I took my butt over to the mall and bought some.

This entire situation has taught me a valuable lesson.  One that will stick with me for my entire career.  That lesson is to constantly strive to embody the whole character.  Whether you're preparing a presentation for a boss, or if you're an actor, or if you're going on a date.  Take the extra step to make yourself stand out to your audience and give them something to behold.  In my case, I'm not just in the business of singing.  I'm in the business of entertaining.  This is something that goes way beyond getting the chords and lyrics right.  It's about giving them something more...

Sometimes we forget to go the extra mile because we're so wrapped up in the technicals, you know dotting the i's and crossing the t's.  But how much better would it be if we could not only dot the i's and cross the t's but also incite feelings, thoughts, emotions and things of that nature that they can take home.  How awesome would it be to erupt and blow them away.  It can be as simple as wearing your red shoes!

Happy New Year - Raising the Bar

Happy New Year everyone!  Are you ready for 2013?

For me, this year is all about raising the bar.  I know what I'm supposed to do, I just need to do it better.  Better shows, better performances, better networking, better decisions, better, better, better.  I can't wait to see what good things this year has in store.  I know one thing for sure, Rob and I are taking this show on the road to Canada!  Yes, we have a performance date in Canada this October.  I'm actually in the process of mapping out ideas for an upper east coast tour to compliment our Canadian gig.  So if you're somewhere on the East Coast and would like to host a house concert this Fall, please let me know.  Or, if you know of a venue that would be suitable for my act, please let me know.  I would love to come to your part of the world!

One of the big lessons I learned last year is the importance of presentation.  It doesn't matter how good you are, if your presentation is sub-par, you will be seen as sub-par, hands down.  I had a situation where I submitted my information to a network of musicians which would have helped me increase exposure, but my submission elements were not as professional as I would have liked.  So I was rejected.  That was a hard time for me because I have all the qualities of what it would take to be a part of that network, but the things I submitted for review were of poor quality.  You know videos, photos, web site - that sort of stuff.  It was a hard, hard lesson to learn, but I needed to learn it.  So I raised the bar on things that I put out like music, photos, artwork, packaging.  It's all relative to the eye of the beholder.

Well, that's all I have for today folks.  Thanks for reading.  Peace, love, and music.