Waiting on the World to Change?

Sorry John Mayer - had to borrow the name of your song for this article, but it was fitting! Check out what Time Magazine says the top 10 ideas that are changing the world are...I like #3, but that's just me :oP

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1884779,00.html

The Past Due Review

Hey guys!

Wow - I feel like it's been forever since we've had an update! That can be good or bad depending on circumstances, but fortunately this time it's good :o)Things have been busier on this end than I can remember them being in a long time, but the reason they are so busy is that so many opportunities have presented themselves.

As most of you know from our conversations, I've usually got my fingers in about 10 pots at the same time, so there are a lot of things in process that I won't tell you about until they completely come through (don't want to tempt fate, ya know? ;o), but the main thing that has come through that makes a huge difference is this - I signed a publishing deal.

What does that mean? Basically, a publisher saw enough promise in my songwriting to say, "Hey - I think your songs have enough potential that I want to pay you money on a monthly basis to write songs for me so that I can get them placed in tv shows, movies, ad campaigns, and pitch them to other artists to record."In turn, my publisher pays me up front to write songs for the catalogue, and he gets a percentage of money on all of the placements that he gets.

What does that mean for you? Just look forward to hearing many more songs; in fact, there will probably be more than usual and there will be lots of variety in them!

Thank you all so much for all of your support over these 3 years (almost 4 when July rolls around) of my full-time music career. I could not, and I cannot do it without you. Hope you're having an awesome Tuesday, talk to you soon

Matt

With or Without a Doubt...

After having a discussion about the first chapter in Tim Keller's book, The Reason for God, I thought a good topic for discussion came out of it.

When a person is asserting a creed, they're obviously claiming their faith in that particular belief. Doubt, on the other hand, could seem to be an antithesis to belief, but in contrast, it implies a definitive belief opposed to something. Essentially, doubt requires a belief that something will not happen or does not exist. Anytime that doubt is present, there should be an examination that takes place to figure out what is instilling that doubt, and what basis it is rooted in.

Once again, these thoughts are not original, they definitely came from a discussion over Keller's book, but I wanted to share that because I'm always a proponent of perpetuating a good conversation :o)

Matt

Worth a look...

This video should definitely generate some interesting conversations...or, at least make you think over a few things while your coffee is brewing - check it out:

http://www.flixxy.com/technology-and-education-2008.htm

Matt

Amazon vs. Itunes - who wins?

Hey guys,

I posted a blog about this when Amazon first started to offer MP3 downloads without the DRM nonsense being attached, and asked if people thought Itunes should move over. . .

Many thought that Itunes was way ahead (which, they most likely were), but I wanted to share this article with you guys:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080115/ap_on_hi_te/amazon_pepsi

I think this could be huge for Amazon, and I'm definitely an advocate for them and I'll tell you why. When an independent artist wants to get music on Itunes, unless there is a nice "expediting" budget to use to get the album up there sooner, it takes about 4 months for the album to go "live" on Itunes where it's available to sell. As you can imagine, there are a lot of lost sales that take place.

Amazon, on the other hand, takes about 1 week to get a CD live, and they let you determine a release date, AND they have variable pricing for newer and older CD's. Man, I love Itunes just as much as the next person, but I think Amazon could really give them a run for their money this year. . .

Anyway, check out my new album "Passerby" on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/Passerby/dp/B0012QLY0Q/ref=sr_f3_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1200675396&sr=103-1

See what ya think! Talk to you soon,

Matt

Songs for You. . .and me too

(this is a repost from my myspace blog, but I thought ya'll might get something out of it too)

Hey guys,

I've been working hard writing and recording over the last month or two, and being on the cusp of putting out a new CD (Jan. 29th ;o) always makes me evaluate and consider the artform of songwriting. I think this notion can be applied to many fields of the arts, but since I have the most experience with music/songwriting, I'll talk about that :o)

I try to write in ways that challenge my way of thinking - musically, sonically, lyrically. . .all of those elements can spark the beginning to an either excellent or average song. More importantly though, I believe, is the consideration of who the ultimate listener is once the song is finished. Sometimes, that person is just me - therefore, I have 100% complete freedom of expression and can be as concrete or abstract lyrically and musically as I would like.

The other scenario that occurs is that I am writing a song for me, but other people that I don't even know act as the ultimate listeners - as you can imagine, sometimes that can be an intimidating feat. This upcoming CD, "Passerby" has been in the making for about 2 years - I really wanted to make sure that I had written a group of songs that were genuine, but could also be relateable. That's not to say that every artist should do that by any means (some of my favorite songwriters only had themselves in mind as the ultimate listener and they've made history!), my personality is such that I do. If you end up picking up the CD, I'd be interested to hear your opinion. . .

So, to sum up - I think it's just as challenging (and rewarding) to make great art as it is to make great art that is stimulating, yet attainable. What do you think?

Matt
P.S. - sorry for the very apparent ramblings and non sequiturs in this stream of consciousness blog! ha ha

Milestones

We're coming to the close of another year, and being the analytical person that I am calls for an evaluation of how the year has gone - personally, career-wise, relationship-wise, etc.

Personally, it's been what I call a "growth" year for me. That's my diplomatic way of saying that I went through a lot of crud with friends, family, and of course with girls (I'm a songwriter, how could I not have girl troubles, right? ;o) So, my take on that type of year is that I can sit and stew in my own mental juices about how certain things are not fair or try to figure out the "why" of the reason they happened. . .or you can just decide to accept them and try your best to grow. I'm not an expert, but it seems like the more they happen, the better I am at dealing with those particular issues.

Career-wise, this has been an incredible year on the other hand. I put out an EP (for those of you who are not familiar, that's an acronym meaning "Extended Play". . .it's basically a short CD) in January of 2007, got to open for Sister Hazel, Brett Dennen, Paolo Nutini, and Michael Martin Murphey, and I even signed a deal with a tv and film placement agent to help with licensing deals and things of the like. If the release of "Passerby"(my next full-length CD coming out at the end of January) goes as well as the last one - this year should be a rocker as well!

So, I encourage everybody as we go into the last days of this year and the beginnings of a new one - think about what has occurred. Has it made you better? Has it made you worse? Regardless, the sort of thought process will inevitably plant some sort of seed of change - shoot me an email if I can help ya work through it! ha ha

Have a great rest of the year guys,

Matt
http://www.myspace.com/therealmattjones