BOOKS FOR BRATS Tue, 9/15/2009 - Books Around the world, children of military personnel are being confronted with the difficulties of having a parent deployed. So former music industry publicist and military brat Michelle Ferguson-Cohen decided to ease their burden by writing a new children’s series devoted to their special issues. "Daddy, You’re My Hero!" and "Mommy, You’re My Hero!" was issued online to help military and reservist’s families speak with children about deployment. The books are available for free downloading online But what Ferguson discovered is that giving something away for free doesn’t necessarily mean that sales are lost, as she reveals in this DIYReporter interview.....

CO-PRODUCERS "REMEMBER" BOUNCING SOULS Tue, 9/15/2009 - Film The 2003 DIY Film Festival best documentary, "Do You Remember? Fifteen Years of the Bouncing Souls" was discussed and screened at the May 3rd Club DIY in Hollywood. Co-producers Jeff Alulis and Ryan Harlin talked about the film, their backgrounds and how they put together 400 hours of footage with DIY Film Festival programming director Richard Martini.....

GUIDED BY VOICES - AND A LITTLE LUCK Tue, 9/15/2009 - Film Michael Nigro had a crazy dream. What if he could get his favorite guitarist, Doug Gillard of indie rock legends Guided By Voices, to contribute a soundtrack to his short film? Nigro and his partner Perry Grebin made that crazy dream reality. But then they had an even crazier notion -- what if they put out an actual soundtrack CD to the short film in order to finance its print? How they did it is revealed in this DIYReporter exclusive......

HOW TO SELL 10,000 CDS THIS YEAR...OR STILL MAKE MONEY IF YOU DON'T Tue, 9/15/2009 - Music A panel discussion at the April 3rd edition of Club DIY in Hollywood offered practical advice and strategies on reaching a sales goal that will sustain a living and launch the drive to the next career level. Although the discussion focused on music, the marketing advice offered at the event applies to anyone trying to sell entertainment products to an audience in these tough economic times. Can you sell 196 CDs per week in the next year? Join Derek Sivers of CDBaby.com, indie radio promoter Bryan Farrish, Militia Group record label leader Rory Felton, record retailer Todd Clifford and publicity/marketing guru Steve Levesque to learn the secrets of such success in this DIY Reporter exclusive......

INDEPENDENT MUSIC IN FILM & TV: A CLUB DIY DISCUSSION Tue, 9/15/2009 - Music Ever wondered how you can get your music placed in a major motion picture or network TV show? Are you a filmmaker who just has to have a certain song to make the perfect movie? The May Club DIY panel in Hollywood answered all your questions about the mysterious process of placement in its examination of "Independent Music in Film & TV." Joining DIY chairman Bruce Haring were ASCAP’s Mike Todd; BMI’s Ray Yee; Dave Freeman of Falling Elevator! Music Group; LukeHits.com founder Luke Eddins; Michael Eames of PEN Music Group; and Danny Benair of Natural Energy Lab. What they had to say is encouraging to anyone trying to crack this ever-expanding market......

JOHN WAITE: NO BRAKES ON MY CAREER Tue, 9/15/2009 - Music John Waite gave the keynote address at the 2005 DIY Convention in Los Angeles. The discussion was moderated by Billboard West Coast bureau chief Melinda Newman.

MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME Tue, 9/15/2009 - Music What happens when you team a talented singer/pianist with one of the hottest producers in the world? In Judith Owen’s case, it meant heartbreak. Corporate record company shenanigans tied up her career for years when producer Glen Ballard’s Java label folded. So now she vows to release two to three albums per year, starting with her latest, "12 Arrows." "I believe the Ani DiFranco way is actually a great way to do things," says Owen. "The more you can control, the better it is." In this DIY Reporter interview, Owen talks about her past, her future, and her connection with husband-and-sometimes bass player, humorist Harry Shearer.....

MAJOR DAD REMEMBERED Mon, 9/14/2009 - Music It’s a smartly-designed box set with three CDs, 74 tracks. It has a 36-page, four-color booklet including notes and quotes by David McGee, Gregg Geller and Johnny Mercer. The lovingly-chosen tracks include standouts from Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and more top-shelf names. The span of the recordings covers an amazing eight decades. The catch: you can’t buy it. Major Songs, a family-owned and operated music publishing company, has just produced a limited edition retrospective on one of the unheralded greats of American song, Carl Sigman. Besides honoring their father’s memory, there’s a goal to producing a lavish CD that’s not for sale: licensing, licensing, licensing. In this DIYReporter interview, Carl’s son, Michael Sigman (the former publisher of the LA Weekly), reveals how a small family publishing business is succeeding the DIY way....

VRENNA NOT PLAYING WITH GAMES Mon, 9/14/2009 - General For the second year in a row, Chris Vrenna’s dark soundtrack to the game "American McGee’s Alice" is seeing a sales surge prior to Halloween, even though the video game that inspired the CD is over two years old. Why? "It’s the perfect music to hand out candy to," says Vrenna, who is a founding member of NIN and has remixed U2, P.O.D., Marilyn Manson and others. In this DIY Reporter interview, Vrenna discusses how he broke into the gaming field and the challenges of creating music that gamers have to hear thousands of times without opting for the shut-off button....

THE DIY REMIX FORUM - SAMPLES, REWRITES AND EDITS Mon, 9/14/2009 - General Technology has made remixing your music, film and books as easy as...well, as easy as mixing a cake. The problem is when you want to have your cake and sell it, too. The DIY Remix Forum examined the emerging issues that are being created almost daily by remixed film, music and books, issues that are the subject of much hand-wringing by the show biz powers that be and their friends in Congress. Is it illegal to remix a film? Can you write a book using someone else’s characters? And what’s the rules on sampling? DIY Remix Forum moderator and technology writer Peter Rojas and the panelists attempted to tackle some tough issues.... PANELISTS: Jeffrey Bernstein, Bastone & Burnz, remixers Wendy Seltzer, Chilling Effect Clearing House Jack Marshall, D.C. Phantom Editor