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Dave's Top Eight
1. Jerry Reed...Revisited by Darrell Toney (reviewed 6/07) (5 Stars) Click title to purchase at CBD.com...click artist name to read Dave's Review. A CD will automatically fall out of the Top Eight after twelve months if no CD surpasses it before then.
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Why blog? (Three years and counting)
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-----------May 18, 20072007 Singing News Top Five Fan Awards And then there were five. Click HERE to view the complete list of finalists for the 2007 Singing News Fan Awards. I'd love to see the following winners on September 13: *Male Singer - Arthur Rice Female Singer - Sheri Easter Horizon Group - Ball Brothers Horizon Individual - Jeremy Lile *Musician - Jeff Stice *Young Artist - Scott Inman Songwriter - Dianne Wilkinson Song - "My Anchor Of Hope" Album - Revival by Gold City Group - Triumphant Quartet Tenor - Brian Free *Lead - Arthur Rice Baritone - Mark Trammell Bass - Eric Bennett Alto - Debra Talley *Soprano - Lauren Talley *The asterisks are for nominations I recommended from the very beginning. I went ahead and put asterisks for Arthur Rice and Lauren Talley under "Lead" and "Soprano" as well, since they were my original picks for the overall "Male"and "Female" categories. Labels: Fan Awards, Singing News April 28, 2007Copyright Duration: Details and Oddities Below, I'm essentially reprinting an entry that I wrote on the Singing News message boards just now. I spent so much time on it, I thought I may as well post it here where other readers could see it. The question was asked initially about the legality of modifying lyrics. This morphed into a discussion about the duration of copyright. I had responded at one point, but later found out I had at least one mis-conception of my own. I knew the current term for copyrights was the life of the author plus 70 years, and that on songs published prior to 1978 (when the law changed completely), the period was 95 years. My mistake was in assuming that 95 years applied to all songs dating back 95 years...it doesn't...not yet. By the way, the message board thread title for this is "Question for Smart People," so I just naturally assume they're seeking MY help. :o) They may not have wanted quite this much in the way of worrisome detail, though. Unfortunately, complication is part of the game when it comes to law. Let's jump into the conversation where Daniel Mount asks: "So are you saying everything released over 75 years ago--i.e., 1931 and older--is PD?" No, I was saying that all songs over 95 (1911) years old are in the public domain. The Sonny Bono act added a 20 year extension to pre-1978 songs in 1998. As it turns out, though, that isn't exactly correct. The magic date is 1922, and it will be the magic date for a number of years. Right now, we're in a freeze period of 20 years while the 1998 extension runs its course. I'll work through the example you mentioned first. Assuming 1928 is the first year "Give The World A Smile" was PUBLISHED or REGISTERED (which may not necessarily be the year it was written), it would have held a 28 year copyright initially, taking it to 1956. At that point, it could have been renewed for another 28 years, which means it would have expired in 1984. I should interject here that beginning in 1962, the renewal term began to grow a bit each year, leading up to the 1976 copyright act. This did not have an effect on "Give The World A Smile," since it was renewed in 1956. In 1976, an entirely new way of dealing with copyright was approved. The 1976 copyright act did not go into effect until 1978. It preempted existing law. One thing it did was fix the renewal term for all works prior to 1978 at 47 years, so for our example, you must go back to 1956 and add 47 rather than 28. At this point in history, "Give The World A Smile" would have expired in 2003. Then along comes the 20-year extension of 1998, and as it sits right now, "Give The World A Smile" is good through 2023...95 years. Now, here's why the magic year is 1922 rather than 1911. I did some research and you are correct that any song that had already expired before 1998 did NOT get a 20 year extension. Here what the law states: "304. Duration of copyright: Subsisting copyrights (a) Copyrights in Their First Term on January 1, 1978. — (1)(A) Any copyright, in the first term of which is subsisting on January 1, 1978, shall endure for 28 years from the date it was originally secured." "(2)(A) At the expiration of the original term of copyright in a work specified in paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection, the copyright shall endure for a renewed and extended further term of 67 years, which —" "(b) Copyrights in Their Renewal Term at the Time of the Effective Date of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act.7 — Any copyright still in its renewal term at the time that the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act becomes effective shall have a copyright term of 95 years from the date copyright was originally secured." (I've cut and pasted the pertinent parts only. All this comes from the federal government's own website.) It's simply a long way of saying any song published before 1978 that hasn't entered public domain will have a 95 year term. This means that any song published in 1922 or earlier would have to be in public domain now. A song published in 1922 would have expired in 1997 under what was the existing 75 year maximum of the law in 1997. ---------------------------------- Now for another wrinkle...PUBLISH date is more important than WRITTEN or CREATION date of a work. The 1998 act stipulated that a song written but not published or registered before 1978 gets the current copyright protection of the life of the author plus 70 years. This means you could find some song your great-granny had written in 1930, register it, and claim royalties off of it for another 70 years after the date of her death. To wrinkle the wrinkle a bit further, if she died in 1931, you would think the copyright's maximum life for a work that hadn't been registered until, say, 2002, would already be over...since the 70 years were up. Nope...you could have registered the song in 2002 and still got protection on it through 2047! For that matter, it didn't have to be written in 1930. It could have been written and lain undiscovered for centuries. If you registered it by 2002, you got protection until 2047. Why this odd language was added to the law is a great mystery that I will never understand. It's so specific, it had to have been written so that some particular entity could benefit from it. What other rational explanation can there be? Someone must have had a stash of unpublished songs they figured would have potential market value, and they somehow convinced Congress to add this peculiar 4-year window during which they could register those works and take advantage of 45-49 years of copyright protection on songs they themselves didn't even write and that the songwriters didn't bother to publish. Weird stuff. ---------------------------------- By the way, if you're curious about anonymous, pseudonymous, and "work for hire" terms, those get 95 years from the first year of publication OR 120 years from the year of creation, whichever expires first. This doesn't give anyone who steals a song protection, though it may seem that way when you first read the law. If the anonymous or pseudonymous writer lays claim to their song once it's published, then the current copyright law of the author's life plus 70 years goes into effect. A work for hire songwriter could obviously dispute the claim that they wrote the song on a "for hire" basis, if in fact, they didn't. ---------------------------------- One final note. I'm obviously NOT a lawyer, so don't take any of this as legal advice...it's just what I understand the law to say. Labels: Copyright Law, Observations, Other Forums, Singing News April 11, 2007So You Want To Be A Charting Station?
MY OPINION - FOR WHAT IT'S WORTHIt's something I have personally experienced. It's a problem I have overcome with some artists and record promoters. Charting and non charting status with the Singing News. Just so you know,.. my station does not chart for SN,.. but it's something I don't worry about much anymore. Some radio stations do have to deal with the concerns of their "non-charting" status. These comments (in italics) are from a Southern Gospel radio station General Manager.. who is a subscriber to one of my radio services: There is a big difference in radio service to charting and non-charting stations. We have applied to be a charting station with The Singing News on several occasions. I never receive a response on what we need to do to become a charting station, I just get ignored. Our station is again being reviewed to chart but I don't know what will happen, that's why I don't want you to use my name because I don't want to sabatoge my station. Artists have told me that it doesn't count if I chart for one of the other companies, the only one that matters to them is The Singing News. Some of the companies that send compilations have told me that they cannot send me a project since we don't chart. This puts me in a place that I do not always get music that is quality. Some of the songs on the charts we do not have for airplay because I don't have the money to go out and buy the cd. The companies that produce "less than quality" music are very easy to work with and send their compilations on a regular basis. So, I guess we air what we get. I don't know both sides of the story in this case.. but I do know that it happens. Non charting stations are treated as inferior in some situations. I know first hand what it means to feel that you are not "up to par".. because your station doesn't report to the magazine. I also know you can work around this problem. I would suggest that stations who are not allowed to "chart" for the SN.. should make themselves valuable in other ways. When I faced the dilemma.. I got on the phone, sent email, stayed in touch with the artists and record promoters,.. and most important,. I made sure my station sounded great! I worked hard and programmed professionally. I made noise.. and I tried to create a desire for air play on my station. Now I have pretty good record service.. and I still have not been invited to join the Singing News charting club. If an artist or promoter doesn't want to send product now,.. that's ok.. I have plenty of others to play. Make yourself valuable by being the best radio station you can be.. Don't rely on a "charting ticket" to get you where you need to be. Let me know if I can help in any way. April 5, 2007The Rest Of The Review (McKameys - Telling The Story) Space is pretty limited on the Singing News review page, so it's inevitable that articles I submit will sometimes be trimmed or slightly re-worded. Such is the nature of being a work-for-hire writer. Of course, Singing News depends on advertisers to stay in business as well. As much as you'd hope this wouldn't affect what shows up in a review, sometimes it does. This was fully expected on my part when I agreed to write reviews for Singing News. My first submissions were pretty much left unchanged, which pleasantly surprised me. In the back of my mind, though, I figured it was only a matter of time before one would be altered to the point that it didn't accurately represent what I wanted to say. This has inspired what could possibly become a series of Musicscribe.com articles (assuming they don't kick me off the team for doing this, of course). And so, in the spirit of the legendary Paul Harvey, I give you the first installment of....The Rest Of The Review! My review of the McKameys' Telling The Story (April 2007, p. 80) had a few minor modifications in the top and middle sections...a few words were left out that didn't change the spirit of what I had written...a couple of paragraphs were merged into one...no big deal. The last paragraph completely changed the overall impression of the project that I wanted to convey to the reader, however. I had submitted: I would stop short of using the words “smooth blend” to describe the family harmonies found on Telling The Story. Some vocals actually approach strident territory. The true appeal of the McKameys is simple songs that describe a strong faith in God. At concerts, they often refer to themselves as “God’s cheerleaders.” That description is accurate. In the magazine, this became: The true appeal of the McKameys is simple songs that describe a strong faith in God. At concerts, they often refer to themselves as “God’s cheerleaders.” If Telling The Story is any indication, there's no description more fitting. To read the printed version of the review printed with my byline, you'd think really I enjoyed listening to this CD. Only you online readers got to read...The Rest Of The Review. Labels: CD Review, Singing News March 16, 20072007 Singing News Top Ten Fan AwardsTop Ten Nominations By now, you may have already read that Singing News announced the Fan Award nominees for 2007. Click HERE for the complete list. As it stands at the moment, there are ten categories with ten nominees. Subscribers who receive the May 2007 issue of Singing News will have the opportunity to vote and narrow the field down to five nominations in each category. Subscribers who receive the July 2007 issue will then determine the final outcome. I didn't mail in a ballot, since I'm writing reviews for the Singing News now. If I had, here's who would have received my votes: Group - Dove Brothers Quartet *Male Singer - Arthur Rice *Female Singer - Lauren Talley Horizon Group - Skyline Boys Horizon Individual - Bryan Elliott *Musician - Jeff Stice *Young Artist - Scott Inman *Songwriter - Kyla Rowland Song - "Sky Full Of Angels" Album - Everyday by Mark Bishop Those marked with asterisks made it past the first round. I'd stick with them on the next ballot, of course. In the categories I missed, I'd go with the following : Group - Brian Free & Assurance Horizon Group - Crist Familiy Horizon Individual - Jeremy Lile Song - "My Anchor Of Hope" Album - Revival by Gold City Part Categories Return Along with the announcement of the nominees, Singing News has reactivated six categories that had previously been slated for deletion. In May, subscribers will vote to determine five nominees each for Tenor, Lead, Baritone, Bass, Soprano, and Alto categories. Here's how 2007 compares to 2006: 1. 13 categories from 2006 have been retained. These include Female, Male, Songwriter, Song, Horizon Individual, Horizon Group, Album, Tenor, Lead, Baritone, Bass, Soprano, and Alto. 2. The separate categories for Pianist and Musician have been combined to create a single Musician category. 3. The category for Young Artist has been retained with modifications. 2007 nominees must be no older than 25 and previous winners are ineligible. The previous requirement was that artists be 30 or younger. 4. Mixed Group, Traditional Quartet, and Trio categories have been combined to create an overall Group category. 5. Soloist, Band, Website, Small Market DJ, Medium Market DJ, and Large Market DJ have been eliminated. (Soloists are eligible in the overall Male or Female category.) There were 22 presentations and 23 acceptance speeches in 2006. (The extra speech was due to a "statistical tie" for the Traditional Group category.) Also, there was a point in the program where the three DJ categories were announced. Reducing the number of categories to 10 at first was probably an over-reaction to complaints regarding the length of the ceremony. They can always leave off the six vocal part presentations when editing it down to a length suitable for a TV special if length is still an issue for that department. All things considered, this is a good compromise. Labels: Fan Awards, Observations, Singing News February 27, 20072007 Singing News Fan Awards BallotIt's already time to submit nominations for the Singing News Fan Awards. The list of categories is a LOT shorter this year. Although they took the axe to more award categories than I would have liked, I do hope this reduction in categories elevates the honor of winning in years to come. One thing is for sure (barring a rash of "statistical ties"), every singer and their DJ sister will not be receiving a Fan Award this year. The following are my favorites right now: 1. Group - Dove Brothers Quartet 2. Male Singer - Arthur Rice 3. Female Singer - Lauren Talley 4. Horizon Group - Skyline Boys 5. Horizon Individual - Bryan Elliott 6. Musician - Jeff Stice 7. Young Artist - Scott Inman 8. Songwriter - Kyla Rowland 9. Song - "Sky Full Of Angels" 10. Album - Everyday by Mark Bishop If you're a Singing News subscriber, be sure to get your ballots in the mail right away. The deadline is March 12. That's the date the Singing News must receive your ballot. They don't go by your postmark. Speaking of the ballot due date, one rule I don't like this year is the eligibility period for Song and Album. I'm glad the year of eligibility is specifically spelled out, but using April 2006-March 2007 AND requiring ballots to be in by March 12th is unfair to artists with projects releasing in March. You can't vote for Mark Trammell's new CD, for example, unless you run out and buy it on March 6, listen to it to see if it's really the best, then cross your fingers hoping your ballot gets to the Singing News office by March 12. If any projects are releasing later in March, it's impossible to vote for them unless you lie...saying it's your favorite when you haven't even heard it. The eligibility period ought to be March 2006-February 2007. Labels: Fan Awards, Singing News January 26, 2007Freemans Headed Back To Number One?I was just glancing over the February Singing News Top 80 chart and noticed the Freemans have a song titled "He Chose Me" sitting at number four this month. More significantly, the song debuted at number eight on the January chart, surpassing debut singles on the same chart by Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, the Gaither Vocal Band, Gold City, Legacy Five, Three Bridges and the Booth Brothers. If this song reaches number one, it will be the third time for the Freemans. They last took the top spot in January 1997 with "Hello In Heaven." Actually, if I'm reading their website correctly, they already know "He Chose Me" is going to be a number one song. That's how the text reads, but then the photo link refers to it debuting at number eight for January, and has quotes from individual DJs who say it's their number one for the month. The new CD hasn't been released yet, by the way, but they already have the performance soundtrack available for purchase. It's a smart way to work the system...get a single out there first, then release the recording. With a big hit already, and it being an independent release, I hope they have decent distribution set up for this new recording. Labels: Observations, Singing News My First Singing News Article The February Singing News is out now. On page 76, you can read a review of Allison Durham Speer's This Old House, my first CD review for the magazine. Hopefully, it's the first of many to come. I'm always a bit worried when I submit an article to a publication that I haven't dealt with previously. You never know what might be changed. Some reviews I wrote for Christian Book Distributors several years ago are considerably different from what I originally submitted, for example. I had an editor there who took the "edit" part of her title seriously, but hey, I didn't complain because she paid great! Other articles I've written for publication in the past have been printed with no editing at all...and some needed editing to correct a word spelled wrong here or there or to fix some minor sentence structure problem that I didn't notice. Well, I'm VERY happy to report that Singing News only made two very minor alterations to the review I submitted. These more or less canceled out, as one was of no particular consequence and one only made it slightly worse. The word "though" was removed from the end of one sentence...no big deal, because the sentence didn't really need the word and reads just fine without it. They also changed my correct spelling of "Sandi Patty" to "Sandi Patti." Of course, Patty's own record company spelled her name wrong on her recordings for years until she finally put her foot down, so I suppose that's an understandable mistake. Labels: Observations, Singing News 
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