The Muse's News

• Editor's Musings
• A Songwriting Book Review by Jodi Krangle
• Q&A with Nancy A. Reece from Carpe Diem Copyright Management This month: HOW TO START YOUR OWN MUSIC PUBLISHING COMPANY
• Music Reviews - by Ben Ohmart
• Musical Notes: - Songwriting Contests & Market Information
• Songwriter in Profile - Talented singer/songwriter, and much more than a "girl with a guitar", Cory Sipper.
• Muse's Clues - Songwriting Web sites that inspire, by Tommy Merry of Tommy & The Stompers.
• "On Site" Featured Article - An article already online for your viewing pleasure..
• Classifieds & Useful Services
• Contact information

First off, I have to apologize to everyone for the length of this month's issue. There was just *so* much stuff to pack in here and I hated to split things up... The result is that this issue is about 10k larger than last month's. I hope you'll forgive me. I promise to be very careful about this in the future but this particular issue wouldn't be the same if I removed things. So, going on the assumption that all of you want as much information about songwriting as can be packed in here, I'm going to leave it this month and resolve to pay more attention to length next month. I appreciate your patience with me and hope that you find the info worth the download. :)

Well here we are again. A year has passed since I started this newsletter and I can hardly believe it (Oh! Ok. I know. This is my "anniversary issue" - THAT's why it's so long... Uhuh. Ok. ;))! I'm always looking for ways to improve The Muse's News, so if you have any ideas, please do feel free to e-mail me. Contributions are also more than welcome. If you are the author of a book you think the subscribers might be interested in, have written an article you think would be a good addition to a future issue, or have a service you'd like to advertise that you think might be of some use to songwriters, I encourage you to contact me and let me know.

Tommy Merry has another wonderful tool for you to take a look at, and Ben Ohmart has been added as a regular columnist with his music reviews. If you're interested in sending him a CD for possible review, instructions can be found at the end of his column.

This month's "Q & A" session with Nancy A. Reece of Carpe Diem Copyright Management is actually an article instead. We'll get back to the Q & A next month but I thought Nancy's HOW TO START YOUR OWN MUSIC PUBLISHING COMPANY would be a wonderful change from her regular column. I hope you find it as informative and encouraging a read as I did.

Last but not least, our winner of John Dawes' MUSICIAN'S GUIDE TO WEB PROMOTION is Richard Peterson, "an amateur songwriter, professional musician and music teacher, trying to build a career in Los Angeles". Congratulations, Richard!

The next give-away is explained in more detail below the latest book review.

Thank you again for subscribing! I hope that if you have enjoyed this publication, you'll spread the word around. Feel free to redistribute this newsletter for non-profit use wherever you'd like as long as you make sure to leave the ending credits intact.

All the best,

--Jodi

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The Writer's Goal Book (or 1-800-776-4231 Access code 11)
by Susan Tucker & Kim Copelandr

Subtitled, "A step by step plan to achieving your dream", this book is really more of a "work" book than a "how-to". It gives the songwriter (or writer in general), the gentle instruction and encouragement to write down his or her dreams. As mentioend in the beginning of the book, a Harvard study seems to suggest that writing down one's goals is a key to future success. If that's true, this book will be a true gem for any writer.

The book is divided into sections, the first explaining how to go about filling out the rest of the sections to give yourself recognizable long term and short term goals to shoot for. There are yearly goals, quarterly goals, monthly goals, weekly goals and even daily goals. The key, say Tucker & Copeland, is to be doing *something* every day. If you lose track of your goals and become discouraged, they're all written down in black and white for you to look at later - to remember why you started the journey in the first place. There's even a space set aside for you to write down your successes. Now *that's* encouragement!

One of the most useful parts of this book for me, was the "Creative Starters" section - a section of the book that talks about possible ways to get more ideas "on those days when the creative well seems dry". There are quite a lot of them listed here.

The key to this book is that most of the writing in it is supposed to be done by *you*. What makes it work so well, is the detailed instruction found within and the helpful nudges to point you in the right direction so that your goals are manageable, but pointing towards ultimate success, whatever your definition may be.

I would recommend picking up a copy of this book if you need a little extra guidance managing your own dreams so that they can become reality. We all need a little help with that sometimes. The Writer's Goal Book is the perfect way to get that help - and to give it to yourself.

******

Steve Gillette's' SONGWRITING & THE CREATIVE PROCESS will be next month's give-away. For those of you that missed it, this book was reviewed in a previous issue of The Muse's News at http://www.musesmuse.com/1.9-December98.html#book and is an EXCELLENT and very informative (as well as inspirational!) read. If you have a book review you'd like to have published in The Muse's News, you can contact me.

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HOW TO START YOUR OWN MUSIC PUBLISHING COMPANY
by Nancy A. Reece Carpe Diem Copyright Management, 
Nashville, TN (615) 865-6302

One of the most important things to consider as a songwriter is the way in which you decide to conduct your business.  You may have spent a good deal of time deciding how to care for your art. You have selected a space to write in and the tools by which to work your craft.  It is now time to spend some energy on the business of this craft.

The most common and familiar forms of doing business include the sole proprietorship, partnerships and corporations.  Other types of entities used include trusts, joint ventures and limited liability companies.  Often, several objectives are evaluated in choosing the appropriate business entity.  Most notable are the ability to limit personal liability from the debts and obligations of the business and the tax advantages and disadvantages associated with operating as a particular entity.

Types of entities to consider:
A> Sole Proprietorship
A sole proprietorship is a business conducted by one individual in his or her own capacity without forming a separate legal entity for holding a conducting business.  The business owner is referred to as a "sole proprietor" and simply uses a certain portion of his or her personally-owned assets for business purposes.  The income or losses produced by the business are essentially those of the business owner and are reported on the owner's personal income tax return. It is the simplest form of entity   to create where there is only one owner.

B> General Partnership
Where two or more individuals organize as co-owners to carry on a business for profit, a general partnership is formed.  No written agreement is required; however, in most if not all instances, a written agreement is preferable.  The owners can consist of individuals, other partnerships, corporations, or other entities. The general partnership is a separate entity apart from its owners, and the owners are referred to as "partners."

The assets of a partnership are treated as belonging to the business unit and are considered separate and distinct from the individual assets from the partners.

C> Limited Partnership
A limited partnership is a partnership formed by two or more persons under the limited partnership laws of a state.  The partnership must have at least one general partner and at least one limited partner.  Where a limited partnership is formed and operated, each of the limited partners is not subject to the partnership debts and obligations, unless 1) separate grounds for liability exist, 2) the limited partner is also a general partner, or 3) the limited partner takes part in the management of the partnership.

D> Joint Venture
A joint venture is an entity formed for a specific duration or project.  Generally, the joint venture is treated the same as a general partnership.

E> Corporation
Every state provides statutes for doing business in corporate form. By law, a properly formed corporation is treated as an entity separate and apart from its owners.  This is true even where all of the corporate stock is owned by one person.  A corporation is a separate entity for tax purposes and must file its own tax returns and pay tax on its income.

F> Limited Liability Company
The "LLC" is a relatively new entity that has become very popular in recent years.  The limited Liability Company combines the limited liability aspects of the corporation with the flow through tax treatment of a partnership.  In general, the limited liability company is a very flexible entity under which to operate.  The owners are referred to as "members."

Once you have thoroughly considered your options for the type of business you want to set your publishing company in, it is time for a name for this new company.   You may have already thought of one.  The important thing is to have fun with it.  Some publishers choose to end the name of the company with the word 'music' or 'publishing' such as "XYZ Music" or "XYZ Publishing."  There is no hidden rule about doing  this, but it has become customary.

Your new music publishing company will need to be affiliated with the performing rights organization (PRO) that the songwriters are signed up with.  You must have a separate name for each PRO affiliation.  For example, if you are the only writer, then the publishing company would be with your PRO.  If you co-wrote with another writer and also have their share of the publishing and they happen to be with another PRO then you must form a separate publishing company to affiliate with that PRO.

You may choose to have each company separate entities or divisions of one entity.

Each PRO has different requirements and guidelines for new publisher affiliations and can be obtained at their web sites.  Here are the United States Performing Rights Organizations:

• BMI
• ASCAP
• SESAC

Now that you have a name and have selected your form of organization it is important to take a hard look at your product; your compositions.

What is the best way for these compositions to make the company money?  Mechanical, Synchronization, Performance or Print uses? Map out plans for each of these forms of exploitation and do your best to move forward on each of them in some way.  You can read more about this in an article called "Publishing".

Here is a tip for self-published songwriters to think about: If you sold 1000 CDS and cassettes on your own of a project, you had 10 songs recorded of all your compositions, published by your publishing company did you know that you have already made $710.00 as a writer/publisher!  The current statutory rate for a mechanical use is $.071 x 10 songs is $.71 per record x 1000 units = $710.00

You may be making money as a writer and publisher and didn't even know it!  Okay, so it came out of one pocket and into another, but still, it made you feel good didn't it!

******

Carpe Diem's owner and president, Nancy A. Reece has been involved in the music business since 1983. She was the president of an independent advertising agency for eight years as well as a successful personal artist manager for nine years. She represented the careers of several recording artists and songwriters including those with EMI, Zomba and Liberty Records as well as Benson, Starsong, WoodBridge, Temple Hall and N'Soul Records. She also represented, for a number of years, a Grammy and Dove nominated record producer. Reece has won awards of excellence in print magazine advertising and has been named as one of 2,000 Notable American Women (1995) as well as being listed in the International Who's Who of Professional and Business Women (1993). She was also named Cashbox Magazine's Promoter of the Year (1989).

If you would like to ask Nancy a copyright or publishing question for our continuing Q&A section, please send your e-mail to editor@musesmuse.com.. We can't guarantee we'll get to all of the questions, but we'll certainly try.

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Deena Noroian - The Story of a Girl
Sexy. Wow. I didn't really expect an album like this when I opened the package. If you like pop, if you like catchy hooks in your music meat, roll over immediately to the contact info below. K?

See, I thought I was gonna put my ears through more alternative barking, with lots of songs about breaking up, breaking down, breaking dishes. Nope. Here we get hot songs about pimps, little girls trying to get close to daddy, retribution with red bricks. All the good stuff. I love the lyrics to 'Girl' - 'my name is desire / my name is hit me two times more / my name is on fire / my name is walking out that door'. But you can call her girl. Smart stuff, and still pleasing to the ears. You don't have to search for the tunes, they come to you.

Plus, bonus points for having songs NOT WRITTEN BY THE SINGER on the album. How often does that happen?? 

Like Jewel, Deena puts her whole girly soul into every song. If you like Jenny Love Hewitt's stuff, you'll like Deena's. If you don't like JLH, you'll like Deena's ANYway because there is intelligence in the words, there is excitement in the feminine performances. God. Just sorry more pictures didn't come with the packet. She's cute!

CONTACT INFO:
Deena Noroian, c/o Unruly Helga, 11333 Moorpark St. Box 451, Studio City, CA 91602,
E-mail: unrulyhelga@earthlink.net Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~unrulyhelga

---

Kathleen Michaels - Faces, Traces & Timelines
I'm not sure how to describe what I'm hearing as I'm writing. Kathleen Ruppel and William Paul Mazur have written some songs that I can only call the best parts of the 70s, ripped off and stuck on the door into summer. Rip off isn't a negative. But imagine yourself listening to Capt. and Tenille, take out the strings and horns and do it yourself with a keyboard. I grew up with this sound, so of course I enjoy it immensely. It's not folk, it's not quite pop, it's a mood, it's a period piece, it's a style returning to haunt because it's love never really left.

Highlights include the happy 'If I Could' and 'Forever', calling to my mind Helen Reddy, had she started now instead of the early 70s. And of course there's the beautiful 'Save Me' which will roll over your soul. Vocals are very positive, uplifting, sure of themselves, throughout the whole of the album. Why don't they write music like this anymore? I'm glad someone is. Thanks, KM.

CONTACT INFO:
E-mail: info@kmichaels.com Web Page: http://www.kmichaels.com/ Tel: 510-537-1977

******

Ben Ohmart has had 100s of stories and poems in zines and journals, and had 4 plays produced last year. His lyrics will be on 2 CDs this year, 1 a gothic album, the other a rock album. He's currently writing films, with hopes of having one done in Malaysia soon, and is also trying to break into the prison of television. He's white, 26, single and loves British comedy. He lives in Boalsburg, PA, and enjoys watching rabbits eat his garbage. Contact him at: findline@mindspring.com.

Ben does CD reviews for http://www.atnzone.com/ and has offered to to review the CDs people send to him for inclusion both at atnzone and in this publication. So if you have an independently released CD that you'd like to get reviewed, send it off to:
Ben Ohmart, P O Box 750, Boalsburg, PA 16827

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For Up-To-Date listings, please go to:

http://www.musesmuse.com/contests.html or http://www.musesmuse.com/markets.html

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Answer:
My mom was really into Judy Collins.  I heard her a lot in my little girl years. My dad liked Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen etc... So I did hear a lot of singer/songwriter's growing up.  When I began to buy my own records around the ages of 11 and 12 it was Stevie Nicks, Cyndi Lauper, and Aimee Mann (Til' Tuesday).  I would move all the furniture out of the room the minute my parents were out and dance and sing wildly into a hairbrush to all of these artists.  As I moved into my mid-teens I happily found my way to James Taylor and Joni Mitchell.  I don't feel I've patterned myself after any of these artists but it's impossible to deny that this type of "singer-songwriter" music resonated with me from an early age.   I love songs that, no matter how produced they can become in live performance or on an album, you can always sit down at the piano or with an acoustic guitar and play them just like they were written.

Question:
You have two Cds out now, right?  How did you get involved with working on the first?  And what did you learn while working on the first that you think helped you with the second?

Answer:
I have two CD's out now but actually 4 albums have been released. The first 2 were only released on cassette and will be re-released on one CD early this year.

My first album "Life Affirming" was released when I was 18 (I'm now 26).  The long story made short is that I went off to Berklee School of Music in Boston and came home a semester later with a whole bunch of songs I had written in my little apartment when I should have been studying for classes like music theory. Having decided I was a singer/songwriter and not a student, I rounded up producer/musician Bruce Winter, Glen Phillips (formerly of Toad the Wet Sprocket), producer Robinson Eikenberry and a slew of talented local musicians to help me record my first album.  The second album was made with a band I fronted and wrote for at the time called "Ladybug Garden."  The band broke up in about '94. I then landed a publishing deal which led to me going back into the studio with Winter and Eikenberry (as producers) to cut some new demos.  The demos ended up sounding great so they turned into my third album: "Swimology."

By 1998 I had been through the proverbial "industry wringer."  I had been wined, dined and signed to a hot new independent label. Producer Richard Dashut (of Fleetwood Mac fame ) was the wrong match for me and I ended up hating the album we recorded. Luckily the album was never released because the label ended up going bankrupt.    After that experience, I hooked up with a national touring act and went out on the road in the US.  "Swimology" had been released in Japan and I toured there as well. Once I was back home and on my own label again, I decided I HAD to start my next album.  I went into the studio with Winter and 6 months later, "Orbiter" was released.

So, each album has been a totally different experience and also reflective of my growth. By the time I was ready to record "Orbiter," I had learned (through a lot of bad decision making with the previous unreleased album) to be more direct and part of the production end of things.   I was more clear on what I wanted my album to sound like.  I was happy to be working with my friends again and felt very positive about the whole making of the album.

I am already thinking about my next album.  Although I don't see its creation starting for at least another year if not more... I can't wait to see what it will be like with MORE experience under my belt!

Question:
You have a lot of space imagery in "Orbiter".  Was there a reason for that?  Is there something that space - stars, etc. symbolizes for you that you wanted to get across in your songs?

Answer:
Yeah- it's weird.  I realized about 3/4 of the way through writing the album that a lot of the songs had space and planets and spatial journey as metaphors.  Once I noticed this, I wrote a few more songs with this in mind.  I was already in the studio at this point and the album title was the very last thing that came to me and glued it all together.  I think a big part of the inspiration for the space stuff was the fact that I live up in the mountains and the stars shine really brightly up here because of the lack of streetlights and such.  I became very aware of the vastness of space and the concept of the "big unknown."  A lot of the songs have a feeling of longing about them.  I think space became a mirror for my own wonder and longing . What is out there?  I'm reaching and reaching and for what?  Thoughts of my career inspired some of  the songs; confusions about the business of music and the weight of my dreams. A few of the songs are relationship songs but most are "what the hell is life about?" songs.  Towards the end, I knew the album was looking a bit dark and so I wrote "Open My Eyes" right at the last minute but even that one took on its own "space" theme.  I was into it.  I thought it was cool that it  threaded all together like that.  It's funny, I had not planned for it at all. 

Question:
How do you think your outlook on the business of music has changed since you started? What advice would you give to other songwriter/performers about this aspect of their careers?

Answer:
I've made a lot of changes in the last year or so and also brightened my outlook. But I was VERY solidly frustrated for a while there.   I grew up with a big dream in my head and heart. I was encouraged by friends and very much by my family to follow this dream.  The dream of being a very successful singer/ songwriter.  It never crossed my mind as a youngster that I would have any challenges. When I got to be about 17 I started to really understand the concept of "being signed."  At 19 a music lawyer said he wanted to help me out.  At 20 I landed a publishing deal. This publishing company believed in me a great deal as a songwriter and after I recorded my third album "Swimology," they promised to help shop it to the record companies.  Nothing much happened.  Then a manager came on the scene and suddenly, a buzz started and I was "hot news."  I met with a great many labels; major and independent.  But it was funny, I realized that over half the people I was meeting with had heard my album months before and had not been the slightest bit interested.  Now, they were interested.  Same music, same artist. They didn't care before and now they did just because someone else said it was good.  I thought it was all pretty silly but mostly I just wanted to be signed.  Badly.

I was very close to signing with several major labels but every time the deal would get close to being on the table something would pull the plug.  At one label, the president got fired. At another the A&R people couldn't get support from the president. Another changed their mind at the last minute.  A bigwig head of a major label flew in from New York to see me play and afterwards said I was very talented, but not angry enough.  One label head said I had the songs but not the live show.  Another said the opposite and so on. Like I mentioned in a previous answer,  I finally ended up signing with a brand new, small but supposedly very financially loaded independent label.  I signed the deal out of desperation to be signed knowing fully well the company was very new and unstable.  I went into the studio to record my album with producer Richard Dashut.  "Swimology" had been critically acclaimed  even though it had not been released with any major distribution. Now they (the label) wanted me to re-cut all the songs on "Swimology" with a more "rock" sound to them as my next album.  Big mistake.  If it's not broken, don't fix it, right?  Meanwhile, my manager at the time,who was not too experienced, did not budget for the record correctly (or at all) and we went WAY over budget.  The company was mad, my band members were irritated for their own various reasons and after something like 7 months in the studio, the record was sounding really lame.  One day towards the end of the recording process, Richard brought one of my biggest heroes, Lindsey Buckingham, into the studio to give production a shot.  We all knew the record was having some problems and Lindsey believed he could help out.  Unfortunately, we were too far into the production already and his ideas of what needed to be changed  in order to "make me a hit"  just made me more upset and confused.  A few weeks later I got a call from the president of the label.  My very "financially backed" label was filing for bankruptcy.  No one understood why.  They had not released one record yet!   I didn't care.  I started to look for another deal.

The same thing started up all over again.  People were interested and people wanted to sign me and nothing happened.  I was put together with a mass of producers.  Most of them very sweet.  None of them right for me.  My publishing company was no longer interested in helping me financially.  My manager and attorney didn't know what to do with me.   Industry people were telling me I was amazing and yet none of them would take a chance on me.  I became bitter. Then, after a series of lucky events, I got the chance to do some touring.  Suddenly, I was out on the road playing music every night and I started to feel excited again. I had been so set on being signed for so long that I had not realized that there were other routes to success (despite what some people might think) apart from a major record deal.

So, in the past few years I have really worked through a lot of stuff concerning the business of music.  I'm not so bitter anymore because I don't feel dependent on a guy in a suit to make my dream come true.  I've also had to really look at what I want concerning my career. I want to be able to write songs and tour and make albums and be paid money for that.  I'd love to be on the cover of a big music magazine! (Hey, I'm not going to lie about that.)  But, I don't need that in order to feel validated as a songwriter, musician or performer.  I find the industry today is very fear based and more about appearances and one hit singles than it is about nurturing talented career artists. I learned that I'm the one who needs to nuture and support my own career!  Because there's always going to be rejection. It's not personal, it's just the buisness.  I'm still learning that one.

Question:
You mention that you've been doing a lot of touring.  Do you find your songwriting changing because of audience reaction to a set?  What types of songs (in general) do you find your audience responding to? Or does that even matter? Is it all in the performance?

Answer:
I think everything affects my songwriting process; just living day to day.  My songwriting changes as I change and playing live is part of that growth and change.  As far as performance- a lot can depend on the type of venue.  I tour solo acoustic at this point and if I'm playing to a noisy crowd it can be tough.  When I opened up for The Samples, who play college clubs and bars, I found I had to stick to my "upbeat" stuff just to cut through the noisy bar atmosphere.  It was hard because a lot of my songs are really intimate and I really missed playing those.  I did start thinking, "Oh great, now I have to write more hard and upbeat stuff just to be heard!."  Then I did some dates opening up for Dan Fogelberg; 2000 seaters and you could hear a pin drop. It really freaked me out actually, because I wasn't used to a big audience really listening and being so quiet.  I came away from those Fogelberg shows thinking that that was much more my type of gig; people there just to hear music and not to get drunk and be chatty.   At a club/bar if I play a song like "Nervous" or "Talking Sacrifice,"  I can see people perk up and start grooving because those songs are more rock/pop. But at an intimate show where people are ready to shut up and listen they get a chance to hear ALL the songs, including the ones with quieter and deeper subtleties.  That's what I'm into.  It's a much more rounded show that way and a chance for people to really get what I'm about. But to be in that position all the time is almost impossible when you are still in the process of starting out.

Question:
When you were putting together the songs for your album, did you use the same sensibilities you would use for a live concert?  Or were there other considerations?  What would those considerations have been and are you satisfied with the way things turned out?

Answer:
I'm really happy with the way the album turned out.   For me, it really had nothing to do with a live show since I didn't have a band at the time I started up in the studio.  I knew I wanted my album to be produced with a band, so the players on the album were picked and put together at the birth of the project.  I used the songs that I felt were strongest and fit the best with each other as a whole.  I just played Bruce (producer/engineer) all the songs and we decided how they would be best produced for the album and with which players. The band I have now is made up of the folks who played on the album.

Question:
Any advice for those songwriters just starting out? Anything you would have done differently?

Answer:
I guess there are skills to be used...but mostly I would say write from the heart.  I don't think a songwriting class can teach songwriting in the same way medical school can teach medicine. It's a heart and soul thing.  Keep writing.  Be patient. Sometimes a song comes easy and sometimes it takes a while.  Keep writing.  You must love the process!  Throw songs away.  Come back to them.  Re-form them.  Start all over again.  Find new chords.  Get frustrated.  Let go. Keep going. Anyway- that's what I do. For me, it's a passion.

Question:
What do you have planned for the future, Cory?  What projects are you working on and where can people see you perform?

Answer:
I am so excited about this year.   I want to do as many shows as I can; that's my goal.   "Orbiter" is still such a new album and I really want to tour in support of it as much as I can before I go cut another record.  I'm moving out of my beautiful mountain home that I've been renting for the last 5 1/2 years.  Both my last albums have been written up here and it's a big deal for me to move from this sacred place but, this time in my life is all about change and part of that is about letting go of certain things.  I'm really in a space of moving forward and it's very exciting.  (Scary too, a little bit, but more exciting.)  So that is my goal for 1999. After that, it's hard to say.  I'm sure I'll be thinking about cutting another album about this time next year or if touring is going well, maybe not!  I'm learning to take things a step at a time instead of planning my whole career from whatever point I'm standing on.  I want to become more and more successful and that is my ultimate goal.  But, I want to enjoy the process!

My first two albums "Life Affirming" and "Bloom" are coming out on CD this month (they were previously only available on cassette.) The album is called "The Bedroom Tapes" and there are some really cool things on it:  a duet with Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket), some of my earliest four-tracks, and a few previously unreleased songs.

To find out about my tour schedule, listen to songs, order CD's etc... people can go to my web site: http://www.buzzworm.com/corysipper to get on my mailing list (e-mail and snail mail) write to: csipper@hotmail.com .

******

Singer/songwriter Cory Sipper has put out four albums on her own label Drumdrum Records.  Cory's thoughtful, strong songs and powerful yet sensitive voice consistently captivate listeners.   Although her music invites comparisons to artists such as Joni Mitchell and Sarah McLauglin, Cory has a sound all her own.  She has worked with such artists as Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket) and Mick Fleetwood and has toured nationally opening for The Samples and Dan Fogelberg.

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WS64
Created by Wolfgang Schneider

This month we bring you a short review on a fantastic site/utility that can be used for music training and songwriting. It was developed by Wolfgang Schneider!! If you've never heard of Wolfgang...Don't feel bad, we had never heard of him either, until we stumbled upon his useful site. It is simplistic and to the point.

Do you play a bit of guitar but would like to expand your chord vocabulary? Are you trying to learn keyboards? These interactive programs will make it easy for you to see, play and hear all of the examples each one offers. That elusive chord or melody in that song you have been writing is just waiting to be discovered.

Here is the guitar version:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Towers/8045/gitchord.html

Here is the Keyboard version:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Towers/8045/keychord.html

Take a peek, its the best free program of its kind that we've seen so far.

Keeping an eye out for you <0>,
Tommy Merry

******

Tommy Merry is a songwriter and guitarist who produces music for television, radio and indie movies when he's not busy being a webmaster/designer for Sun Microsystems. He also fronts the instrumental guitar project called Tommy and The Stompers. You can see them at http://www.shredzone.com/stompers.

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CUSTOMIZED GUITAR AND BASS TAB SERVICE
Guaranteeing accurate tab to suit your standard/needs. If you're frustrated that your favourite music never makes it to tab, then contact me for more info. I tab all styles, loads of indie, even some of those complex jazz solos! Email me j.britton@england.com, or visit my webpage at http://homepages.thefree.net/tabservice/.

SHOCK VALUE MUSIC WEBZINE
Sending Shock Waves Through the Music Business! Written for and about unsigned/independent music makers. It's free on the web: http://members.aol.com/SVwebzine
E-mail SVwebzine@aol.com for more information.

THE FREEBIE TIMES
a free weekly newsletter with something for everyone. In each issue we have great contests, Sweepstakes, free stuff,and much more. E-mail washack@epix.net with Subscribe FT in the subject to subscribe.

ATTENTION SONGWRITERS:
A new a capella quartet is looking for songwriters.  We sing r&b music like Boys II Men, 98 degrees, NSYNC, etc. If you can write or arrange four part a capella, please contact Jeff Spencer, 1050 Shelton Suite 243, Chadron, NE 69337 (308) 432-7622, jspencer@cscu.csc.edu

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Jodi Krangle ...........EDITOR
Kathryn Obenshain ......GRACIOUS PROOFREADER
Bryan Fullerton ............SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR

Back issues and other information available at: http://www.musesmuse.com/musenews.html The Muse's News is part of The Muse's Muse, a web resource for songwriters.

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