I ran across this artist named Nhojj on ReverbNation and then later on Last.fm. (My Last.fm if anyone wants to know what I listen to: http://www.last.fm/user/tyshowers). Now we know there are a lot of talented artist out there, but this particular artist put a lot of things in perspective for me regarding the music business. If you listen to his music, it sounds very professional, it's unique, and he has a nice style and great voice. The perspective gained from listening to this artist is, how in the hell am I going to compete in the musical landscape if an artist like this exist and few people have heard of him.

I've heard I'm talented, he's talented, but everyone knows it's more than talent that gets you known. I hear all the time how people like my music, but I fail to captivate the listener enough to put me in their daily listening life. This could be several things, music genre, sound inflection (meaning what era does the music sound like - this I'm trying to fix) or name recognition.

Another artist Desmond Williams I became friends with on Imeem is another example, but on a higher level. People know of Desmond's work, but not of his new work. When he first asked if I would listen to his music I was not impressed. Not because it sounded bad, but it just wasn't my genre - reggae. But when I heard some of his downtempo work on previous albums, I immediately became a fan and put his music in my rotation. Now I'm not scared to put lesser known artist in my listening life. I guess it's that fear of the unknown, of trying something new that prevents people from broadening not only their horizons in genre, but in artist. Does industry have that big of a hold on listening habits?

What's the difference between Desmond, Nhojj and myself - other than genre? Why can't I captivate? Well, I've heard from Italy and Germany that I need to use more realistic instruments. So I've invested in fixing that problem, hence the delay in release 5. Will that solve my captivation problem? Don't know.

What's the captivation factor? Why can't Nhojj captivate on a mass level. His music definitely captivated me. It's quite awesome and sounds professional.

Is it press? Does he need press to spark the captivation? Is it recognition? Does he need to be known to be taken seriously. Why is that? I need to figure this out, and fix it. I need to come up with a solution as to why lesser known artist, with good music, can't be captivating on a mass scale. I know some people know the answer to this and they're hoarding the information.

Well the good thing for me is I have a lot of music to experiment with. And experiment I will.

Don't know why I have been putting off writing about this, but this is very important. Register at BMI if you're a songwriter to register your music. If anyone knows any pros or cons to this, please comment and share.

This is taken from the BMI website.

"As a performing right organization, BMI issues licenses to various users of music, including television and radio stations and networks; new media, including the Internet and mobile technologies such as ringtones and ringbacks; satellite audio services like XM and Sirius; nightclubs, discos, hotels, bars, restaurants and other venues; digital jukeboxes; and live concerts. It then tracks public performances of its members’ music, and collects and distributes licensing revenues for those performances as royalties to more than 375,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers it represents, as well as the thousands of creators from around the world who have chosen BMI for representation in the U.S.

BMI currently represents more than 6.5 million compositions — a number that is constantly growing. As a result, BMI has, over the years, sought out and implemented a number of technological innovations in its continuing effort to gather the most accurate information available about where, when and how its members’ compositions are used as well as ensuring that payment to those whose works have been performed is made in as precise and timely a manner as possible."

My biggest obstacle seems to have been eased by purchasing Sonar (a software MIDI sequencer). As of this writing I have successfully transferred my MIDI sequences from my keyboard to my harddrive utilizing Sonar. So far I have transferred about 10 songs, but it was a piece of cake.

One thing I also discovered after the transfer is that the sounds produced by Kontakt are even more amazing. Unknowingly the velocity was set on an acoustic guitar to 40. Don't know what velocity is, and I'm still a little fuzzy after reading the definition, but I noticed that the acoustic guitar was sliding notes. Chords too. Just like a real guitar player slides from E flat to E. Amazing!!!

I'm confident I'm not going to make my December 1st release date. So I'll concentrate on some date in December. Maybe Christmas Day.

I gave up on Cubase officially today and bought a copy of Sonar. Didn't take me long to get accustom to using it and I was able to transfer MIDI files from my keyboard to Sonar with no problem except one (which is a drum mapping issue).

Today I'll focus on transferring over the files to Sonar that I'll use on the December and January releases and save them so I can work on them if I'm traveling.

Having to travel this week is causing another delay in the release schedule. I need to figure out how to take my music with me so that I work on it remotely.

I've written to Imeem.com to see if there is any chance for a mutual working relationship, as I have noticed they feature and have official profiles for artists. Will let you know the result as soon as I know. Sent the email last Saturday and resent this Wednesday. Just waiting for a response.

I've also contacted a company named INgrooves, who provides a wide array of services for artist in addition to expanded distribution. Talked to a nice lady named Ebony there and she recommended that I send 3 of my top songs and review their submission guidelines.

In addition I ordered 25 CDs from TuneCore's CD maker division to use as promotional CDs. Didn't know I was supposed to supply art work if all I wanted on the CD was the name of the CD. But after thinking about it, I think I'll make it into a sampler CD with songs from all 5 releases. This means I have to finish release 5 this weekend.

I know I've been out of music for a while, but it should not take me more than a week to lay down a single track. I use to use Cakewalk a long time ago, when it was a good piece of software. So I'm not new to using sequencer software, just a little vague on the nuances.

I don't know now if I will make my December 1 release date. This week was totally wasted. Here are the various issues I've had with Cubase in the 5 days I've tried to use it.

* No response from support (seems to be typical of every software sequencer company)
* All MIDI channels recording to one track
* Can't set MIDI input channel in software
* Differences between manual and software
* Ambiguous explanations of the difference between an instrument track and a MIDI track
* The concept of MIDI channel filtering when recording not documented
* Can't use the M-Audio Mobile Pre and the Alesis Mixer at the same time
* Values change at random in the Device Manager
* Instrument echos when playing
* Can't transfer MIDI information from my keyboard
* Can't sync keyboard with Cubase for recording

This is only after 5 days.

Read this - http://www.imeem.com/groups/14CuLVwf/forums/z78x5wV7/PECvP1WK/lastfm_allows_you_to_get_heard/

If you haven't done so, watch the youtube video about the Central Bank.

Very important, if you like your money. Search on "Zeitgeist - The Movie: Federal Reserve" or click link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dmPchuXIXQ

The below link is last.fm group/radio station dedicated to music that is not quite traditional Jazz (acoustic bass, acoustic piano, drums, etc.) but has Jazz overtones involving modern sounds, keyboards or can fit in multiple genres.

For example artist who perform Jazz and add a rock flavor belong in this group. Artist who perform Jazz but with a electronic instruments belong in this group.

The one caveat, is that the music has to show some skills beyond pop or mainstream music. They should be unique or have musical dexterity that is hard to duplicate. They should be a master of playing intricate passages but sounding pleasing to the ear. The term "Mathematics in the ear hole" come to mind. I think you get the drift. If you're into this type of music, join, and you have your own dedicated radio station.

http://www.last.fm/group/Flavored+Jazz