I thought I would get one more post out before the rush of the Holiday Season is upon us and we all get busier than usual. My wish is that we all find hope, peace and love throughout this wonderful season.
Today, here in south central Pennsylvania, we had over 5 inches of snow and more cold weather is predicted. Thus, I am at the computer finishing last minute business and getting song books and CDs ready for mailing. But...that is not all I have been doing. Over the last 2 days I have been recording a new CD. I had the piano tuned yesterday morning, and have been sitting at it since. It is driving my father-in-law crazy as he has to be relatively quiet while the recording is going on, and the dogs can't bark, and no turning wood at the lathe, no sneezing etc. etc. etc. But for now I am taking a break, shoveling snow and working in the office.
The new CD is tentatively titled "Coming Home", and will probably have 14 songs on it. As you can tell, the CD creation process is rather fluid. I have most of the songs recorded now, but still have one day to go so I can polish up a few that I think I can play better (there is always room for improvement). It takes a lot of concentration, and my fingers actually have to work, following the directions my mind gives them. There are those occasions when my heart and mind play music my fingers simply can't keep up with. I try though. My forearms get a little tired from playing hours on end. And even though my brain holds up pretty well, sometimes I have to think, what note comes next? Of course when the song is in progress, and the recorder is running, there is not much time to think what comes next. It's best not to think, to just trust my fingers to go where they need to go. Most of the time that works, but sometimes not so much.......
I also have been working on transcribing some older material and will have the complete CD "Wind Chimes" done and available in a spiral bound book within a month or so. I saved the hardest song for last (what a surprise), so I am working on that now as well. This has always been my most popular CD and the one I have the most requests for, so hopefully it will be done soon.
There has never been a better time or more frustrating time to be an independent musician. The internet has changed everything about the music business. For anyone interested in the inner working of streaming internet radio- here is a breakdown of how they pay.
Pandora pays .0012 cents per play, or .12 cents per 100 plays
iTunes pays .oo13 cents per play (min. 20 second spin) or .13 cents per 100 plays
Spotify pays $0.00966947678815 per play
Sirus FM is insignificant
Amazon takes 55% of all sales
Internet theft is rampant. One of my transcriptions had 10,000 free (stolen) downloads.
I guess the moral to this is if you want to purchase something from a musician, please go directly to their website. Support your local musician.
That's most of the news for now, I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday and I will write more after the first of the year. Watch for the new CD and song book!
Take care!
Greg Maroney
