RIAA-Recording Industry Association of America

The RIAA..we'll call it represents a wealth of music information.  It stands for the Recording Industry Association of America. You can find artist of any genre's information on latest news, top selling songs, who's record went gold or platinum, even links to other musical sites that would be of help to you.

There was a section on piracy that in simple terms spoke to how one commits online piracy.  Some of the statements shared how its ok to buy a cd and make a copy for yourself, but it becomes piracy if you make the songs mp3s and send them to your friends or placed them on online file-sharing sites.  Even if you pay a fee to be on these file-sharing sites, you have to make sure that the sites has its licensing through the major record labels.

Their research information for parents and educators grabbed me as well. For parents who are concerned about what their children are listening to, they gave suggestions on instead of banning your children from listening to certain music, spend time with them teaching them the moral issues that are represented in your home while discussing the lyrics as well. Parents were also reminded of the Parental Advisory Label that are on cds that may not be appropriate for their children.  As for educators, (which I will use), there is a component that gives a curriculum to help educators show students how to use the internet safely while surfing online.

So its safe to say that RIAA has a wealth of information concerning the music industry that I'll be able to use as a permanent resource for my company.

A New Connection-Blazetrak

A New Connection-Blazetrak

So I’ve been writing songs, for 23 years now.  It may have started out as a hobby, but now it’s in me to write more than I’ve ever had.  I‘ve tried to leave writing alone and just focus on my second career of teaching, but every time I did, it would just put me in this place that I didn’t like.  I would find myself being down not knowing why. But I would hear a track a producer friend would send me and wind up staying up all night just to work on a song and get right up to go to work.  That’s living to me. 

It’s been hard though making the right connections.  It’s often said that getting somewhere in this business that its in who you know.  Well, that can be frustrating, especially when I began raising a family.  It became harder and harder to spend the sleepless nights in the studio creating with some of the best to collaborate.  Now its more like I want to work on this song, but I’m so tired from working, spending time with my husband and children that there’s not enough energy in me to do this every day.  So what do we do?  Check out Blazetrak.

What’s Blazetrak? Blazetrak is a company that allows creators from all around the world to connect with some of the hottest artist and producers in the industry.  Co-founder Ron Harrison said that he and his co-founder were working for a small label and were frustrated at the mass amounts of demos that were sent daily.  They thought to themselves lets start charging people to listen to their demos and it seemed that more people started sending the demos in because they knew they would actually get feedback.  This was a great revelation for them and they realized this is a way for them to start their company.

Blazetrak began in 2009 and is still going strong.  There’s a membership fee of $49.99 then you have to purchase credits, which range from $8.50 to $15.00 per credit.  Each celebrity could range from 0 credits, which would be free, that may introduce you to some names you’re not necessarily familiar.  You will have to do some digging just to see if they’re legit to send your music. A small star like Blake Lewis asks for 8 credits but a huge star like Paul Worley, grammy producer of Lady Antebellum and winner of the country album of the year in 2012 asks for 12 credits. Once you submit your song, music or question, they have 30 days to give you a personal response. Does it work?  There are success stories on the website as well.  

Will you try it? Let me know, I’ll come back and tell you about my experience.  Thanks for readingJ

Jacki

Lionel Richie Comeback

So do you remember the song Say You, Say Me, All Night Long, the classic Endless Love or my favorite Hello? These are the masterpieces of the great song writer Lionel Richie, who is making his comeback doing a country album laced with special duets with the likes of Blake Shelton and Shania Twain.

I remember the Hello video distinctively as the clay is molded in his head and face.  A little creep huh?  Well I was young then, but not know then that those were the hits I would know for years to come.

The article in Billboard talks about this songwriter singer  and how after all of these years coming back.  Why he wants to come back doing duets with other stars basically taking the 'shine' off of himself.  Gail Mitchell asks the question, "Why doesn't Lionel just do Lionel?"  Lionel Richie discusses wishing he had done this a long time ago and it wasn't necessarily a purpose behind it, he just wanted to do it.  His new manager says, "We just want to get Lionel back in people's living rooms again.

If you'd like to check out his interview click here

<embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1126070790" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=1510748787001&playerId=1126070790&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed>

Lauryn Hill is back!

So this past Saturday I was invited by my cousin (James Rouse) to hang out at the Lauryn Hill concert at the Caesers Palace's venue Circus Maximus in Atlantic City, N. J.. This is my second time seeing her since last year in Philadelphia at the TLA. Show would be starting kind of late, but the venue was really nice and our seats were stage right:) I wasn't sure of what to expect, but I was hoping it was going to be better than what I saw last year.

Yes, I heard the rumors of her being late and not sounding good. Stef Mitchell wrote a blog of when she came to Williamsburg Music Hall, he said it was the worst ever. No matter what I've always been a fan of her 'swag',  style of dress, and especially her tone of voice. At last year's concert she was only fifteen minutes late.  The set was good, but she wasn't in the best voice.  She sounded hoarse.  I was disappointed.  Last Saturday is was a breath of fresh air.

First, let me just say that my cousin James Rouse is the drummer for Ms. Hill's tour right now.  So I had great seats on the right side of him on stage. I was able to hear and see everything. Her show began with a DJ for about forty-five minutes then the band joined him.  The band was absolutely crazy! Yes, I may be biased because my cousin was playing for her, but every last band member was a great asset!

Lauryn was about twenty minutes late, but ready.  It was a non-stop two-hour set.  She sang the old Miseducation of Lauryn Hill project along with some of the Fugees hits like Ready or Not and Killing Me Softly. But that wasn't it. Her voice sounded so good this time.  My favorite song of hers is X-Factor and she did a wonderful job.  It was a good feeling knowing that she's out here doing her thing again and even working on some new music. I know it'll be hard to follow the Miseducation album, but as long as she's singing like I heard her on Saturday, she could sing the ABCs and I'd be happy:) I'm attaching this YouTube video with her on the FUSE network. Check it out!

Whitney Houston, the Woman with the Voice

At the age of 12 I used to go to the laundry mat with my family. I didn't mind being there because in 1985 videos was the new thing and they had a new video machine where I was first introduced to Whitney Houston's "You Give Good Love".  Most of my teenage and young adult years were influenced by her music.  Not only was I influenced by her music, but her ‘classy’ image.  I wanted to look like her and wear those beautiful gowns she wore for those award shows. I favor writing ballads because of the types she sang.  She will be missed.  

Whitney Houston's chart-making history is undeniably most impressive.  Hits like "Saving All My Love For You" and "Greatest Love of All" peaked at number 1 in the billboard charts.  She totaled seven consecutive number one hits according to Billboard writer Gary Trust.  The billboard article http://www.billboard.com/column/chartbeat#/column/chartbeat/whitney-houston-s-billboard-chart-records-1006168562.story list her various hits and times spent on the billboard charts.  Whitney Houston hails as the top-ranking woman to score 20 weeks in the #1 spot for the Bodyguard soundtrack in 1992.  Though the soundtrack was a huge success, we can’t forget the movie.  We were pleasantly surprised when we recognized that Whitney could actually act!  But my favorite movie was, ‘The Preacher’s Wife’ co-starring Denzel Washington.  In this movie, we saw and heard from Whitney where it started for her, gospel.  It was public knowledge that she started singing in her local church in Newark, NJ.  It was a very inspirational film and allowed the world to embrace this side to her was so special.

Speaking of inspirational, her new film ‘Sparkle’, which is a remake of the 1976 of the same name. Whitney was one of the producers with the film along with Bishop T. D. Jakes and it will (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1679043/whitney-houston-sparkle.jhtml).  Jakes wrote in a statement, “At the apex of her career, Whitney had no peer, with a voice that shaped a generation.” She has left behind a musical and film legacy that will endure.

Needless to say, her music and voice are most legendary and the music industry has yet to see another artist such as Whitney with a voice like hers.  As of the night of her passing many fans were purchasing digital copies of her greatest hits including "I Will Always Love You" which ran for 14 weeks on the Billboard's top 100. Let's never forget 'That Voice'.