Tag: composing

A Goal Achieved Before Reality Sets In

Posted on 2018-05-31 Written by D. Lee Jackson Leave a Comment

One summer in the early 80s, before I entered college, I attended a brief seminar about ASCAP and BMI, the two main performance rights agencies in the United States. I concluded that I would be better served by ASCAP, since BMI seemed more radio-oriented (and I was planning a long career writing Marching and Concert Band music (ha!)). As time passed, ASCAP still seemed more my thing, but I didn’t control enough album tracks to qualify (my work for Apogee and 3D Realms was Work For Hire).

Things changed with the publication of my debut solo album, Calibrations, back on March 30th of this year. I had control over enough tracks to qualify for membership. Additionally, my publisher, CD Baby, offered a deal where they would do all of the ASCAP paperwork for you for an extra $20. I pounced on that deal like a cat on a fish filet.

A couple of months went by with no response. I checked with CD Baby and found out that the delay was not unusual – all part of the process, they said.

Then, this past Saturday, May 26th, 2018, I finally achieved my goal. An e-mail from ASCAP Member Services said;

“Congratulations!

“Welcome to ASCAP, home of the world’s greatest music creators. We are the global leader in licensing, collecting and distributing performance royalties, and protecting your rights as a music creator.”

I stared at the e-mail on the screen for several minutes before printing it out and staring at the piece of paper for several minutes more. At long last, I was a member! I could finally sign my full name as Dennis Lee Jackson, ASCAP.

Then my wife dropped a block of concrete on top of my head.

“What does ASCAP do?” she asked. (I’m paraphrasing here – it was late.)

I told her they collect performance royalties.

“Performances by who?”

Ouch. This was a valid question, because there aren’t a lot of radio stations that play video game music. Maybe some streaming ones, but how many of those are registered with ASCAP/BMI?

To make matters worse, the registration of each song in ASCAP’s database requires that it be registered with the United States Copyright Office, apparently separately. I can register the album as a collection, but ASCAP needs the songs themselves registered.

The cost per song for copyright registration? Fifty-five dollars. For the twelve music tracks on Calibrations, that’s $660. I haven’t even made this much from the combined sales of the special edition, the regular edition, the MP3 edition, and streaming editions to date. I may have to host a GoFundMe just to get the copyrights registered. Money is tight now, and with my wife about to retire soon, it’s going to get that much tighter.

I will at least register “Spicewood,” since I plan to enter it into the Grammys this year as a New Age song.

So, now I am Dennis Lee Jackson, ASCAP. Will I ever be able to use that title for something that makes money? Only time will tell.

The CD Secret is Out

Posted on 2018-03-14 Written by D. Lee Jackson Leave a Comment

After long months of coordination with artists (who finally wound up in Texas, not Denmark), and after a lot of anxiety over whether or not I was going to be able to pull this off at all, the deed is finally done. Calibrations, my very first solo album, is in the processing phase.

The album will consist of twelve tracks of music and two tracks of spoken word, created with the help of voice artist and now good friend Jake “The Voice” Parr. This very talented Brit conducted an overseas interview of me for one track (take it or leave it – my interview talents are questionable) and helped me read the liner notes and track list (for those purchasing the MP3 version).

Nine of the music tracks are taken from the songs I wrote for Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour, episode five (Alien World Order) a couple of years ago. If, for some obscene reason, you haven’t played the game yet, here’s your chance to hear the music from it. All tracks have been looped and fully remastered for outside-of-game listening.

The three new songs are going to have to remain a bit of a mystery for now. Let me just say that there’s something old, something new, and something a developer didn’t want me to do. None have been heard by the public before: for that matter, none of them have been completed before. One even had its beginnings as a failed test in 1996 or thereabouts. Believe me when I say it didn’t fail any tests this time.

There will be a digital and a physical release. Disc Makers is handling the creation of the physical discs, but I believe you’ll have to go to the CD Baby Store if you want to buy one. The digital versions will be available almost everywhere, though—iTunes, Amazon, you name it.

The release date? Hopefully that’ll be before the end of March, although I can make no guarantees. Watch this space for updates.

Finally, here is a larger version of the cover art, produced by the talented Allison Sheeler.

All Over But The Shoutin’

Posted on 2018-01-31 Written by D. Lee Jackson Leave a Comment

Musically speaking, the album is finished. It’s passed the car speaker test and the crappy laptop speaker test. There’s going to be a “liner notes” track recorded for people who buy the digital release, but the music has been mastered and is now finished.

Now comes the hard part: getting it ready for distribution.

I thought I would be going with CD Baby. Well, I still am, sort of. I’m actually going with Disc Makers. They handle the front end of things, as in printing physical copies. They then turn over the album to their “sister” company, CD Baby (who they own), who will make the album available to iTunes, Amazon, and so on.

I need jewel case art for folks who buy CDs, and that’s being worked on in Denmark. The “liner notes” track will be recorded via an overseas link to England. (Bits of the music have been beta tested in Russia and Australia, making this a truly intercontinental project.) Once these two items are done, it’ll be time to start submitting things to Disc Makers.

If you ever plan on doing this yourself, please note: DIY album publishing is not cheap. An order of 20 Jewel Case CDs plus everything else runs over $200. It’s much cheaper to go with a digital-only release, but I’m dealing with special circumstances. I’ll keep you up to date on the progress.

More Music Movement

Posted on 2018-01-22 Written by D. Lee Jackson Leave a Comment

The music just keeps on getting closer and closer. A couple of days after finishing the music mentioned in the last post, I started a new piece. I’m just about done with it now, too. In fact, I burned my first test CD today of the entire album and handed it off to my wife for testing in her car. (I’m still on the “no drive” list, despite improvements thanks to my latest back procedure.)

The piece I’ve just about finished is ambient—or at least, that’s what I’m going to put in the tag for the Genre. I wrote some ambient stuff for Shadow Warrior, but nothing like this. It’s actually got melodic features and motifs over the top of a repeating drum line, with some aetherial chords and bird sounds in between. Technically, it’s done: it’s just a matter of getting beta tester feedback to see if it’s music or if it’s garbage. I’ve even mastered the piece, just in case.

So, as it stands now, the album will start with some hard-hitting guitar/electronica, with some levity halfway through the tracks, finished with a serene, “introspective” (someone else’s words, not mine) track.

Okay, all well and good. So, when does it drop?

Good question.

I’ve never put out an album in my life. I have enough tracks to do either a digital or a mixed release and still keep my Grammy voting membership alive. I’m not signed to a label (of course). How do I proceed from here? Well, I’m thinking about going with a service called CD Baby. It’s supposed to take care of all the details, including getting one enlisted in ASCAP or BMI. I think.

Seriously, folks, I can use all the help I can get with this. Is CD Baby any good? Do I have any other options that don’t require I pay a yearly fee? Are there any labels willing to pick up a VGM composer’s stuff? Please, if you know anything about the business, leave a comment or use the Contact page to get in touch with me. I would be eternally grateful.