Want to hear full versions of [many of the] tracks?

Many of the tracks on GovAccessMusic.com have been posted to Tom's last.fm site . This would be a good way to hear the entire track on some of these tunes, in case the previews don't give you enough of a taste.

Check it out - and leave Tom a shout if you like what you hear!

Does GAM accept Purchase Orders?

YES!

Perhaps a longer answer is in order.

We do indeed accept purchase unless the terms proposed are unreasonable (we've seen some fairly outrageous terms sometimes - including  250 days net instead of the standard 30 days net).

You can mail POs to

GovAccessMusic.com
PO Box 13526
Macon, GA 31208

We do have a fax number, but would prefer not to post it online 9we get enough junk faxes as it is). Use the handy contact form to ask about the fax number  and we'll get back to you with the number.

New Track: Fun

We just added the track Fun in Electronicaloopy. Check it out!

New Track: Flop, in "Calmness"

Just added a new track in the album Calmness titled Flop.
Check it out!

Video preview for July 2009

GovAccessMusic.com: New Tracks for July 2009
Uploaded by TomGAM. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

New album added: ElectronicaLoopy

We just added a new album to the GovAccessMusic library: ElectronicaLoopy. There are several tracks that are more electronic in nature than our previous work.

These tracks will be useful when you are looking for something a bit off the beaten track. Go by and check it out!

Coming soon - a podcast and video demo of the new tracks added - keep watch here, or go ahead and subscribe to the podcast!

Where do you get your background music?

I ran into an interesting issue in the LinkedIn group. Someone posted an opinion stating that since their government access channel was hosted by XYZ cable company - who does pay royalties - they are covered under the XYZ cable company payment schedule.

This is FAR from true! The cable company is only paying royalties for the music they use in THEIR productions - not yours! You as a content creator (or the entity paying for the production) are responsible for royalties/tracking/etc. That's why it is such an advantage to use GovAccesMusic tracks for your productions - by license they are royalty-free, which means you have a license to use them in your productions for a loooooong period of time.

So why not just go by your local blank-mart and pick up some CDs cheap? There are a LOT of reasons:

1. The music on those CDs is NOT licensed for broadcast use. It would be illegal to use that music for that purpose


2. Often the tracks are of a lesser quality - which gives a really bad impression to your audience.


3. Using music obtained illegally also sends the wrong message to your audience (hey, it's OK to rip off artists and musicians) and to the artists (who have little reason to create).

So pick up some tracks from GovAccessMusic.com - our music is licensed for broadcast use, and all the tracks on the site are full length. That's so you don't waste time listening to 15-second commercial length cuts.

We also offer a discount for purchasing a full album's worth of music. Swing by the site and check us out!

No, we ain't dead!

Things have been a bit quiet in the GovAccessMusic cave, but they promise to start heating up (a good thing, since it's about to get cold down here in the South).

The big news of the moment - we've changed our pricing, and have significantly increased the discount you get when purchasing an entire album. Swing over to the Cart and check it out!

Boring but Necessary - license & terms of use

We've posted the official License and Terms of Use on the main website.

Here's the totally-unofficial-Plain-English explanation:

These tracks are for use in "background" types of applications - background music behind a powerpoint thing running on a Government or Publis Access station, for example. In this type of usage, the tracks are truly "royalty free" - meaning that you never have to buy another license.

However, you might find a track (or several, we hope!) that would be PERFECT for use as your theme song. In that case, please contact us. That usage would require a different license and pricing. It isn't a huge deal - we just prefer keeping all the ducks lined up correctly!

If you are looking to use our tracks in an educational setting (elementary, secondary, or higher education)  - contact us! We're both teachers, and firmly believe in educational pricing.

In terms of Customer/Client information (names, purchases, email addresses, etc) -

• We don't give it away.


• We don't sell it.


• To Anybody.

(unless a US court orders us to do so. We'd rather stay in the studio and out of jail.)

You can read the entire thing here, if you'd like.

More music coming soon!

5 new tracks posted!

Tom has contributed Another New Ager in the Calmness section and Birthday Jelly in Up Piano.

(Yes, it is a pun - referring to some jamming he did on his birthday a while back.)

We've also added some tracks from Joey - Morley Magic, Scratch That Itch, and Whistle While You Work It (featuring an incredible jazz whistler named Francesco Bonifazi). All of these tracks are in Light Jazz. Click on the links, check out the podcast, and enjoy!

GovAccessMusic.com - Quality, Interesting, Royalty-Free music especially designed for use by Government and Public access cable TV channels.

Here's a Low-Cheese-Factor freebie for you

To celebrate.....uhhhhh...... Friday (why not?) here's a free ringtone from a GovAccessMusic.com track for your cell phone. Don't forget, your carrier may charge you something - depending on your cell plan (but we can't do anything about that!).

This is Sunday Brunch, from the Light Jazz album on GAM.

Senate Records at Myxer

Coming soon: episode 2 of the podcast / vodcast

We've been hard at work getting several new tracks ready to post on GovAccessMusic.com but it IS summer, and vacation is beckoning!

Now, granted, I'm not going to be thinking about any of that while strolling the streets of Savannah, GA - but I certainly will get back to it after vacation.

So what's coming? Some guitar work by Joey, plus some new piano-based music by Tom.... all of it different from the tracks already posted on the site.

So keep an eye out - we'll (of course) post on this blog when the new podcast is up.....or you could subscribe and receive it automatically. Check the link on the main site at GovAccessMusic.com.

What kind of music?

So what kind of music should you use on your Government Access or Public Acccess channel?

(Anything from GovAccessMusic.com, of course!)

I'm sure you'd like something a bit more useful, so here are some thoughts:

1. Match the style of the music to your content. You probably shouldn't use uptempo edgy guitar music for screens describing disaster preparation procedures -  and real slow meditative tracks don't work for pictures of graduation ceremonies or school activities.


2. Match the time of day as well - uptempo might work in the morning (to pep people up), but then again it might be annoying for those who wake up slowly.


3. Variety is good - but within limits. It can be jarring when successive tracks vary wildly stylistically or in instrumentation. For example, going from a slow vibraphone piece directly to a hard rock guitar-driven piece probably won't work - UNLESS you are doing it to grab attention that something just changed (like going to a new program).


4. I personally like using Christmas music during the summer months. It's a nice reminder of tunes that people realy do like, but are dreadfully tired of by December mainly becuase the radio stations have been playing Christmas music since mid-October).

So do you have any suggestions? How do YOU decide what music to program? Leave a comment, and we'll probaly write about it later!

Previews & File Formats

We had a question about the Previews you listen to at GovAccessMusic.com - and one about the file format we are using for the tracks you purchase.

Previews

Some library sites you visit give you a standard 30 second preview and others let you hear the entire track. We decided there were disadvantages to both approaches - 30 seconds won'tlet you hear the various sections of the track, but our clients probably don't have time to listen to all 3 or 4 or 5 minutes of the full track.

So our previews are an edited version of the full track - each contains snippets from the major sections of the track, so you get a full representation of the track. Previews are created from the full track, and generally run between 1 and 2 minutes long.

File Format

We are using high bitrate mp3s for the downloads - generally 256kbit - 320kbit. As musicians, we are aware that mp3 (no matter how high the bitrate) are sonically lower quality than CDs - but we have found them good enough for these purposes.

If you are interested in CD quality, please accept our compliments for being concerned about your audio......and keep an eye out for the CDs we'll be offering in the near future!

We're open!

The cart has been designed, the Paypal API has been fed and watered, the hamsters in the web server have all been checked out - and GovAccessMusic.com is [finally] open for business!

We've been really busy in the last few months getting the nuts and bolts together - and still have a few to nail down. But for now, you have 30+ tracks to choose from or ORIGINAL music, and most tracks are over 3 minutes long.

We'll be adding new material constantly as the months go by. Everytime we do, we'll be announcing on the blog, AND posting samples on the podcast. So save yourself some time - go ahead and subscribe to the blog (there's a link at the bottom of the left sidebar) and you might as well subscribe to the podcast as well (there's a link to do that up at the top of the blog).

You can subscribe using iTunes, or any of the web-based "podcatchers" like Odeo or Yahoo.

Huh? Royalty-free? What does THAT mean?

I recently had someone ask what the big deal was about "royalty-free" music, and exactly what that meant.

In this post, a bit of background (disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, so this isn't legal advice). This may sound a bit idealistic, but here goes anyway:

Copyright law basically says that the creator of a work owns it - and he can then rent it out, sell it outright, give it away, etc - but only the OWNER of a work can do that. (I know - lots of people out there who believe otherwise, but they are wrong). The advantage is that creators of works (music, art, etc) potentially benefit financially. The more money you make in your art, the more motivated you are to create more - it's the basis of capitalism.

Another right granted by the lawmakers is something called "public performance" - i.e. the writer has the right to be paid everytime there is a public performance of their work. A public performance takes place anytime the work is played at all - whether streamed off the internet, played off a CD, played on the radio or satellite radio, etc. So officially anytime you use a piece of music you owe somebody some money.

There are several types of library music available, in terms of licenses:

• A "needle drop" license means you fill out a form and send some money everytime you use a track. This can obviously be a real hassle when you run a government access or cable access channel and need background music 24x7.


• "Royalty Free" music means that you buy a permanent license to play the music whenever and wherever you need it (depending on the license you agree to when purchasing the music. Some of the licenses restrict what you can do). Note that you can't do absolutely anything with that music - you just don't have to pay a usage fee everytime you use the track. This type of license can about in reaction to the "needle drop" licenses. Traditionally,royalty-free tracks were of a lower quality (in terms of the music and/or the audio quality). This is not as true anymore.


• There are some hybrid licenses out there. For example, some companies make their music royalty free for certain uses, but require a different license if the track will be used in broadcast media. This is not an evil thing - just a business decision. It is something you need to watch for when purchasing library music.

Website news

We are getting closer to launching the site. Behind the scenes a shopping cart has been installed and wea re working on making it fully functional. At the start we'll be using PayPal to process payments, and the files will be available for immediate download.

Later we'll be adding the ability to order CDs with custom designed playlists - the idea being you just pop the CD into your player and you've got a well designed set of music to go behind your cable access/government access cable channel.

More details as they become available.

Also coming "real soon now" - a free demo track of some of the music that will be available.

The music DOES matter.......

I've been perusing government access channels in some of my recent travels, and have noticed quite a few things that pertain to GovAccessMusic.com's target audience. As I flip around the dial, i try to view the channel as if I was a resident of the area instead of just someone traveling through.

1. Having no music at all is boring. I flipped away from a residential area channel that had no audio at all, even though the pictures that were showing of a recent event were nice.



2. Having bad music is even worse. Once educational access channel I watched for a while had music that was VERY badly recorded - and was even distorting on top of that. No one with any ears at all was going to watch their content for very long.



3. The music had a direct affect on my perception of the quality of the information being presented. Bad music meant the station staff either didn't care about the presentation as a whole (so why should I believe or pay attention to the information?), OR they were incompetent and didn't know any better (so why should I believe the information?).


So if you are managing an access channel of some kind, PLEASE pay attention to the music you use. You'll be able to pick up some quality tracks from GovAccessMusic.com before long!

Why Royalty-Free music?

There are several reasons to use royalty-free music from GovAccessMusic.com for your government access channel. Here's just the beginning of the list!

(Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, and I've never played one on TV. Although the opinions expressed in this article are well reasoned, loaded with common sense, and correct, please don't treat them as a legal opinion. That's a whole 'nother arena!)

1.  Using Royalty free music from GovAccessMusic.com lets you use high quality music for your channel without worrying about licensing issues. You don't have to pay a royalty every time you play a tune. You don't even have to track it. You just buy the CD, and you have permission to use the CD on your government access cable channel for a very long time (Check out the agreement terms for details).


2. You'll be getting music DESIGNED for this application - music that is access-channel friendly. This saves you search time!


3. You avoid setting a bad example for the public. If YOU use unlicensed music on your channel, you are in essence saying that the law doesn't matter - neither does right or wrong. By buying music from GovAccessmusic.com you are purchasing a license - staying legal (and in the right) - and setting a good example. in fact, you might want to put a slide up in your program, that the music has been purchased and licensed (If you send us a screenshot, we'll put it up on the website!)


4. You'll support talented musicians that, while not broke, are still hungry! (One of us has teenage boys in the house, so there's never any food in the frig......)

More to come!

What kind of music? (pt.1)

Since we began working on GovAccessMusic.com, I've been paying attention to various government access channels during my travels. It is fascinating the variety of music that I hear, and inevitably I reach some conclusions on whether the channel is useful based solely on the quality of the music and audio.

For example, if I hear music that is extraordinarily cheesy - it sounds like it was picked up at a flea market or is the musical equivalent of a veg-a-matic, I tend to believe that the channel isn't worth my time. On the other hand, if there is quality in the music - it is interesting and recorded well (even if it is a style I don't particularly care for), I'll stop and watch for a while.

So the first point is to make sure you are using quality tracks - and that your audio sounds good. DON'T ASSUME! Make sure!

If you are taking the time to put material up for the public, take the time and make sure your audio is quality - or you will negate the work you put into the visuals.

Next time: Why royalty-free music?