A recent email from Discmakers had a couple of interesting articles:
-a story of how an independent band did marketing through myspace, making it up to 1,000 sales a day on iTunes. It’s pretty amazing.
-a piece by a songwriter on creating a songwriting community that has application to churches.
Royalties to publishers and songwriters for digital music continues to be 9.1 cents.
Transposr.com is a new tool that lets you transpose MP3s or chord charts for free.
This is a helpful little article on choosing songs for children.
The criteria they list are:
1. Biblically accurate
2. Gospel centered
3. Musically excellent
4. Accessible
5. Age-appropriate
6. Liturgically diverse
7. Fun!
For those who may not lean toward the “liturgical” side of things, thinking thematically (going over different themes at different times) would be a helpful replacement.
This morning I listened through “Hello Love” by Chris Tomlin. I’d heard Jesus Messiah on the radio, but the rest were new to me. There are a number of songs that are quite well done, but none that seemed like a “must-sing” to me. Ones that stood out to me were Jesus Messiah, God of this City (fills a niche), Praise the Father Praise the Son, God Almighty, and My Deliverer.
Christian Music Today did an interview with Tomlin that gives a pretty good picture about where he’s been and where he’s going. I really respect him for the way that he defers praise and for the way he’s made some of his bigger decisions. God has given him a great melodic gift.
Looks like AmazonMP3 on the Android phone will be a healthy competitor to the itunes/iphone platform.
Announces a new type of digital media. Seems like we’re nearing the end of physical distribution for music.
Let’s be in prayer for this nation.
Just two days after two Iranian men were charged with apostasy because they converted from Islam to Christianity, the Iranian parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of the death penalty.
Just last week, September 9th, Iran’s parliament voted in overwhelming favor of a bill that mandates the death penalty for apostasy.
There were 196 votes in favor, seven against the bill and two abstentions, according to Christians Solidarity Worldwide. Just days before the vote, two Christian men, Mahmood Matin-Azad and Arash Basirat, were charged with apostasy.
The two men are Christian converts from Islam. They have been detained since May 15, 2008 and are still awaiting their penalty.
Currently, apostasy is a capital offense. However, judges are free to decide what penalty will be given. The bill will be debated from this point forward and will possibly be voted on again later. Glenn Penner of Voice of the Martyrs Canada said there is no set deadline or plan of action.
Today we got in the mail a catalog from Music in Motion. It had a quote from JFK that I thought was worth repeating:
The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, is very close to the center of a nation’s purpose and is a test of the quality of a nation’s civilization.
That’s always hard to quantify in budget seasons, but I think his quote rings true in many contexts (our nation, and on the local level).
