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How clean is your metadata?

admin — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:55:33 +0000

As a lyric writer, I’m not usually terribly interested in legal affairs. They are important, I can recognise that. But it’s not something that I follow closely. But skimming through the programme of the World Copyright Summit, I was surprised to see how much data is on the agenda.

Let’s face it, data translate into money. All of our lyrics and music end up as files and are managed in large banks of other files. Whether it be for programming, licensing or the precious work that goes on at authors’ rights societies, if your data is not in order, you won’t get paid.

It’s worth remembering this the next time you make MP3 copies of your files. Check the metadata. Are the composers listed? The publisher? Is there contact info? I usually also add my URL. One of the reasons I mention this is that Last.fm now requires that you add the composer and hopefully the IIRC code to the files so they can accurately credit the people involved. As a reminder, Last.fm pays authors’ rights. I’ve often wondered how they did this, so there’s the answer right there.

Metadata and micro-payments
If you’re wondering what metadata is and how you can add it to your files, check your music software and/or use one of the many tools you’ll find on the web. For Winamp users, click the “view file info” button and you’ll be given all the various options. It’s very easy to use. Get into the habit. Increasingly, authors rights involve recovering multiple streams of micro-payments. You won’t get these without accurate metadata in your files.

Those that are legally-minded might want to get the broader picture at the World Copyright Summit in Brussels for €900 (I told you data means money). Speakers include major publishers, composers, lawyers, authors rights societies, Google or, as the French would say, the complete intellectual property ecosystem. Check the programme.

Interview on Club97 radio Friday March 25

admin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:50:21 +0000

Cover of CB Milton

If you’re into the Internet radio scene and dance music, you might want to check Club97 radio, transmitting from New Jersey. It’s run by Mike Delaney, the former president of the 2 Unlimited fan club in the US, and who has been following the dance, Eurodance, techno and House scene for more years than we’d both care to mention.

He interviewed me recently about what it was like writing lyrics for 2 Unlimited, CB Milton and others. As usual, I talked way too much. So maybe you’ll find something of interest amongst the anecdotes and ramblings. Check here for Club97 Radio. The show goes out Friday March 25 at 8pm CET or 3pm SET.

Something I didn’t think to do is ask people what they would like to know about writing for these groups (just remember, I didn’t write all the hits – far from it!). So feel free to post a question. I’ll link to the interview afterwards.

For Club97 Radio listeners, here are the tracks I mostly talked about: Nothing Like the Rain and It’s a Loving Thing (which has just been re-released in a mix by Phil Wilde).

Blink 182 to auction lyrics in support of Japan

admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:07:51 +0000

Pop punk maestros Blink 182 have added their names to the list of bands making a contribution to the crisis in Japan. Mark Hoppus is donating a number of items to an online auction. Goodies available include a T-shirt used in a video for “Dammit”, used backstage passes and the door sign from their MTV VMA award appearance.

Pride of place must go to the handwritten lyrics to their first major hit, “Dammit”. At the time of writing this, the four sheets are valued at $20,300 with six days still to go. Check the auction on eBay.

Classic lyrics to be auctioned for UK charity

admin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 12:04:06 +0000

Britain’s PRS has organised a wonderful charity drive. On December 15 they will put up for auction the lyrics of classic songs handwritten by the lyricist themselves! The proceeds go to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Pieces have been donated by world famous artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Paul Weller, Jim Kerr, Sir Tim Rice, Julian Lennon and Annie Lennox. The pieces are in storage ahead of the auction which takes place at Bonhams Knightsbridge on December 15th). As well as raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust the project hopes to create a lasting legacy of the music and song lyrics of our generation.

Click through for the list and further details. Remember, though, that buying the lyric sheets does not give you copyright of the actual lyrics!

"Born Free" by Don Black

Sir Paul McCartney – Why don’t we do it in the road’
Brian May – We Will Rock You
Rod Temperton – Thriller
The Stranglers – Something Better Change
Sting – Message in a Bottle
Simple Minds – Jim Kerr – Alive & Kicking
Sir Tim Rice – Don’t Cry for Me Argentina
Barry Mason – Delilah
Duran Duran – Girls on Film
Doug Flett – Fallen Angel (from the Jersey Boys)
Status Quo – Down Down & Rain
Julian Lennon – Saltwater
Gary Barlow – Back for Good
Jethro Tull – Locomotive Breath
Pet Shop Boys – Neil Tennant – various
Don Black – Born Free / Diamonds are Forever
The Cure – Robert Smith – Plainsong
Chris Rea – Road to Hell
Annie Lennox – Sweet Dreams
Craig David – Walking Away
Graham Gouldman from 10cc’s – I’m Not In Love
Paul Weller – Andromeda
Mark Knopfler – Get Lucky
Stephen Warbeck – Shakespeare in Love
Eric Clapton – Back to Your Side
Jeff Christie – Yellow River
The auction takes place at Bonhams in London.

Kid Creole/August Darnell announces concert dates in Germany

admin — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 10:50:40 +0000

August Darnell, better known as Kid Creole, has announced a number of appearances in Germany. He will be appearing as part of the Night of the Proms events with other performers. Darnell is a songwriter’s songwriter, capable of turning out floor-fillers and touching ballads. Stylistically, he has always been influenced by the swing period of the 40s. His shows in the eighties featured up to 20 musicians on stage, with Darnell appearing in fancy zoot suits accompanied by the Coconuts. The whole vibe was reminiscent of Cab Calloway, although Darnell proved deft at adapting his tunes to the sound of the moment. During that period, he raked up a string of worldwide hits such as “Annie (I’m not Your Daddy”), “Stool Pigeon”, “I’m a Wonderful Thing” and “No Fish Today” but later faded from the public eye.

He still tours and writes. For details, check Kid Creole, although you’ll find more music on YouTube and DailyMotion.

Click through for the German concert dates:

South Africans encouraged to learn national anthem

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:28:30 +0000

If you’ve been around here before, you’re probably aware that I hate most national anthems. I’ll make an exception for South Africa’s “Nkosi Sikeleli Africa”. For one thing, it features four different languages, and most importantly of all, it’s not a call to arms.

But as South Africa is hosting this year’s World Cup, the organisers have a problem: not enough people know the words to the anthem. So they have started a TV campaign to try and increase awareness. This gives us videos like the one above, which is a pretty cool way to present an anthem.

Factoid: South Africa has no less than nine national languages.

Musicians kick up a row at the San Remo song festival

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:30:33 +0000

VALERIO SCANU Per tutte le volte che SANREMO 2010
by Roma-eterna

I’ve seen audiences get riled up about song contests, but rarely seen an orchestra almost run riot. Italy’s San Remo song contest is a prestigious event that celebrates the classic tradition of Italian canzone. What is surprising is that contestants have to face two juries: the orchestra playing behind the singers and the general public. The 2010 edition, which just closed, witnessed some incredible scenes, when the orchestra started throwing music sheets and booing when one of the contestants got through to the final three. TV presenter (and grandson of Italy’s last king) Emanuele Filiberto had given a comparatively poor vocal performance and should have been eliminated. But the popular vote got him through.

At the end of the day, however, the festival’s honour was saved when Valerio Scanu won the 2010 award, singing the ballad “Per tutte le volte che” (for all the times) written by Pierdavide Carone. The best man won this time at least.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t embed the scene of the musicians letting rip. But you can find a report on Euronews.

Biffy Clyro and Tori Amos lyrics up for charity auction

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:31:49 +0000

On 25th February Cancer Research UK’s Sound & Vision event will take place at the iconic Abbey Road Studios, celebrating rock, pop, the people who make it and the images it inspires. A range of memorabilia is up for grabs, including lyrics by Biffy Clyro, Tori Amos and a neat drum skin from Kaiser Chiefs with the lyrics of “I Predict a Riot”.

Find out more on the e-Bay page.

Eminem agrees to tone down homophobic lyrics for UK tour

admin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:44:06 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Eminem will be back in the UK for a show in 2010, the first in over 5 years. However, organisers were worried that the shows would be boycotted by the powerful Outrage gay rights group, who protested at previous shows and have been very effective in obstructing shows by Jamaican artists with overtly homophobic lyrics. So an agreement has been reached with the body, in which Eminem agreed not to perform lyrics that promote hate or homophobia and Outrage will not picket the shows or his hotel.

This inevitably raises the issue of censorship and free speech. But not that many poeple seem to be jumping to defend the right to be offensive.

Steve Willaert & ChiBeJa concert dates in Belgium

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:47:05 +0000

One of my writing partners, Steve Willaert (known for his soundtracks for movies such as “Hell in Tangier”, “Stille Water” and “Vermist”, has just announced concert dates for an ambitious project he put together with a bunch of multinational musicians.

ChiBeJa features Chinese flautist (and Real World artist) Guo Yue, Japanese drum master Ryutaro Kaneko, dancers Gerlo Geverien and Christiaan De Donder and singer Chantal Kashala. It took me a little time, but I eventually worked out the name is an acronym of “China -Belgium – Japan”.

They promise to play extracts of “Stille Water” and compositions combining the multiple influences of the performers. More details can be found on the Eventually Productions site.

Click through for the concert dates.

ChiBeJa dates in Belgium, October 2010

* zaterdag 3 oktober 2009
CC Casino Beringen
* zaterdag 10 oktober 2009
CC De Plomblom Ninove
* zondag 11 oktober 2009
CC Ter Dilft Bornem
* vrijdag 16 oktober 2009
Arenberg Schouwburg Antwerpen
* zaterdag 17 oktober 2009
CC De Biekorf
* donderdag 22 oktober 2009
Schouwburg Kortrijk
* vrijdag 23 oktober 2009
De Spil Roeselare
* woensdag 28 oktober 2009
Stadsschouwburg Sint-Niklaas
* vrijdag 30 oktober 2009
Stadsschouwburg Brugge
* zaterdag 31 oktober 2009
Cultuurcentrum Hasselt

Gimme cover – Susan Boyle and Wild Horses

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:45:24 +0000

The infobahn is alive with Susan Boyle’s rendition (nice word, eh?) of the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses”. There is an overwhelming opinion that Boyle has now recorded one of the definitive versions of the song. This, however, is seen as sacrilege by others, who cling to memories of the Stones and Gram Parsons. This sort of fuss is frequent when someone decides to cover a song. Why? What’s the issue?

One of the most enduring myths in pop culture is the myth of the auteur. There is a strange obsession about artists singing their own lyrics. I think it comes from our desire to associate the performer with the song – as if most men could actually love you “all night long” or Marilyn Manson was as dark and twisted as he tries to make out (which I doubt – he’s remarkably well-read and articulate). To burst the bubble, all one has to do is think of some absolute defining moments in pop and ask: who cares who wrote them?

Who cares that Elvis Presley didn’t write “Hound Dog” (Lieber & Stoller)? Who cares that Edith Piaf didn’t write “Je ne regrette rien” (Doumont & Vaucaire)? Who cares if Jimi Hendrix didn’t compose “Hey Joe” (Billy Roberts)? Each made history and moved countless millions of people with their versions. What’s more, how would those songs sound if sung by their respective authors? The answer is easy: disappointing in most cases.

If it’s worth singing, sing it well
So I can’t knock people singing “covers”. It’s a tribute. If a song is worth writing, it is worth singing well. And for me, the better the singer the happier we should be. Yes, even if that singer is Celine Dion, Nana Mouskouri or in this case the winner of a TV show.

Coming back to “Wild Horses”, Boyle has indeed created a superb version. Yes, it’s a bit incongruous Susan Boyle slipping into a song made famous by Mick Jagger. But she breathes new life into the song. When you look at it from a songwriting perspective, “Wild Horses” is basically a magnificent melody and structure with dubious lyrics. I’m not sure how Boyle manages to put such emotion into Jagger’s mild misogyny, but she does. Being a nice guy at heart, I salute verses such as:

I watched you suffer a dull aching pain
Now you decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind

Wild horses couldn’t drag me away
Wild, wild horses, couldn’t drag me away

But I’ll pass on the rest. We should be thanking Susan Boyle for her voice and heart. We need more of both in the charts.

Susan Boyle: I Dreamed a Dream

Tip: Jack Stafford Foundation

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:38:27 +0000

I met Jack Stafford once (so in showbiz terms he’s “a dear friend”, when he sells a few more records I’ll bill him a “very dear friend”). He’s a Brit currently living in Amsterdam and playing about 200 shows a year. Two things strike me about this vid of “Cedar Room” from the album “Long Live Love”: one, it’s a pretty cool song; and two, it’s a classic example of doing things small but well. Click through for the Jack Stafford Foundation tour dates in Germany, the US, Switzerland and Belgium.

Jack Stafford Foundation tour dates
Aug 7, 2009 6:00 PM Schlauerbauer Festival Wetzikon, Switzerland
Aug 8, 2009 5:00 PM Poetry festival Hengelo, Netherlands
Aug 8, 2009 8:00 PM Gebaude 9 @ Stereo-Summerland Fesitval Colgone, Germany
Aug 10, 2009 8:00 PM Cafe Gattlich Bonn, Netherlands
Aug 11, 2009 8:00 PM SubRosa Dortmund, Germany
Aug 13, 2009 8:00 PM Erbse Dillenburg, Germany
Aug 14, 2009 8:00 PM Kiste Stuttgart, Netherlands
Aug 15, 2009 8:00 PM Abendsegler Feldberger Seenlandschaft, Germany
Aug 22, 2009 8:00 PM Hafen 2 Offenbach, Germany
Aug 29, 2009 8:00 PM Intersoup Berlin, Germany
Aug 29, 2009 8:00 PM Kunstbaurkino Grosshennersdorf, Germany
Aug 31, 2009 8:00 PM Li-Wei Apolda, Germany
Sep 1, 2009 12:00 PM Cafe Galao Stuttgart, Germany
Sep 2, 2009 8:00 PM Steinbruch Duisburg, Germany
Sep 3, 2009 8:00 PM Spatz and wal Unna, Germany
Sep 4, 2009 8:00 PM Pferdestall Bremerhaven, Germany
Sep 5, 2009 8:00 PM Kassel Museumsnacht Kassel, Germany
Sep 17, 2009 8:00 PM The Space Hamden, CT
Sep 18, 2009 8:00 PM The People’s Pint Greenfield, MA
Sep 19, 2009 8:00 PM P.A.’s Lounge Somerville, MA
Sep 20, 2009 8:00 PM Burren Somerville, MA
Sep 21, 2009 8:00 PM The Red Door Portsmouth, NH
Sep 22, 2009 8:00 PM Radio Bean Burlington, VT
Sep 23, 2009 8:00 PM Langdon Street Cafe Montpelier, VT
Sep 24, 2009 8:00 PM The Monkey House Winooski, VT
Sep 29, 2009 8:00 PM Cafe Nine New Haven, CT
Sep 30, 2009 8:00 PM The Saint Asbury Park, NJ
Oct 1, 2009 12:00 PM Dewey Beach Music Conference & Festival Dewey Beach, DE
Oct 2, 2009 12:00 PM Dewey Beach Music Conference & Festival Dewey Beach, DE
Oct 3, 2009 12:00 PM Dewey Beach Music Conference & Festival Dewey Beach, DE
Oct 6, 2009 8:00 PM Tin Angel Philadelphia, PA
Oct 7, 2009 8:00 PM The Wonderland Ballroom Washington, DC
Oct 8, 2009 8:00 PM The Triple Richmond, VA
Oct 9, 2009 8:00 PM The Boot Norfolk, VA
Oct 10, 2009 8:00 PM MANSIONS 462 Chapel Hill, NC
Oct 11, 2009 8:00 PM The Acoustic Coffee House Johnson City, TN
Oct 12, 2009 4:00 PM WDVX Knoxville, TN
Oct 13, 2009 8:00 PM Caledonia Lounge Athens, GA
Oct 15, 2009 8:00 PM Preservation Pub Knoxville, TN
Oct 16, 2009 8:00 PM Music City Bar Nashville, TN
Oct 17, 2009 8:00 PM Ri’chard’s Whites Creek, TN
Oct 19, 2009 8:00 PM Record Bar Kansas City, MO
Oct 20, 2009 8:00 PM Vaudeville Mews Des Moines, IA
Oct 21, 2009 8:00 PM The Picador Iowa City, IA
Oct 22, 2009 12:00 PM Mojo’s Davenport, IA
Oct 22, 2009 8:00 PM The Frequency Madison, WI
Oct 26, 2009 8:00 PM Pike Room Pontiac, MI
Oct 28, 2009 8:00 PM The Bug Jar Rochester, NY
Oct 29, 2009 8:00 PM Perfect Wife Manchester, VT
Nov 19, 2009 8:00 PM The Aardvark Fort Worth, TX
Nov 20, 2009 8:00 PM Saxon Pub Austin, TX
Nov 27, 2009 8:00 PM The Corner Pub Conroe, TX
Dec 16, 2009 8:00 PM Lokaal Vredebreuk Den Haag, Netherlands
Dec 17, 2009 8:00 PM Pageturner @ Pakhuis Wilhelmina Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jan 7, 2010 8:00 PM Cult Bar St. Gallen, Switzerland
Jan 8, 2010 8:00 PM Musig Bistrot Bern, Switzerland
Jan 9, 2010 8:00 PM Atelier Art and Bar Wohlen, Switzerland
Jan 10, 2010 8:00 PM Fassbeiz Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Jan 14, 2010 8:00 PM Weekender Innsbruk, Austria
Jan 16, 2010 8:00 PM Triebwerk Wiener neustadt, Austria

You can find their tracks for sale on eMusic and CD Baby