For the New Year: Repentence and Returning (PP#82)

I was never a big fan of repentance.
It always brings up an image of a New Yorker comic
with a guy in a long robe walking the streets
with a big placard,
someone Holier Than Thou,
who are you to tell me to repent for my sins?

But T'shuvah has other meanings
It is taking responsibility for one's actions
It is being accountable
And in another way it can be translated as "return".
A return to where you have come from
a return to the beginning
as we all finally return to the same nothingness.

When thought of this way
T'shuvah is really the 4th Step Prayer
a time to clean my side of the street
admit what I did wrong
and a willingness to change
to make it right in the future.
And it is when I become accountable
that things begin
changing
improving
creating space for what
the Universe has to offer.

Passion Party #567: Commitment vs. Obligation

We all take on commitments, and each commitment creates obligations.

We run into trouble when we end up with obligations that we realize we really don't want to fulfill.

So before I take on something new, I ask myself, "Is this a commitment I want to take on? 

Or will it end up being a bunch of obligations that I really don't want to do?

And what in my life now is really just an obligation that I don't care about any more?

Clearing out the obligations and focusing on the commitments I actually want to fulfill  simplifies my life and helps me feel more "in balance".

Passion Party # 566 - You Can't Push The River, and You Can't Fight The Stream(ing)

The Summer of Streaming is upon us, and the music business will never be the same.
The whole concept of a music fan owning music, caring not only about the artist but the additional players, the production people, the artwork, the care and thought that an artist puts into the concept of an ALBUM of music, meant to be listened to from beginning to end, is truly over.  Music is now a commodity, and musicians are not artists, we are merely content providers.

Some examples, from an excellent Wall Street Journal article by Neil Shah:
 - as of June 30, 36% of music sales are from streaming, compared to 26% from physical albums and 20% from digital downloads.
 - This summer Chance The Rapper released the first streaming-only album.  He has no record deal and creates no physical product. He  has a deal directly with Apple Music for distribution and his album(?) "Coloring Book" debuted at #8 on the Billboard chart.
 - Last week Riahanna's album "Anti" only sold 5,000 physical copies,but it is in the Billboard Top 10 with more than 26 million streams

The good news is that music sales and streams are up. In 2015 317 BILLION songs streamed on-demand.  People are listening to more music more often.
The bad news is that although Apple Music, Spotify and other streaming services are getting super-high valuations, the artists are making dramatically less money.

The basic formula that the industry is using is that each stream of a music is worth 1 cent, so 1500 streams should equal $15, the price of an album.
Given that formula, Drake's new album "Views" has streamed 2 BILLION times, and it should be the equivalent of seeing about 1.3 million albums.  2 Billion streams = a million+ selling album.

But the $.01 per stream formula is counting all the revenue that Apple or Spotify pay for the stream.  This is divided up between the record label, song writer, the publisher, the artist.

Looking at my digital sales report from my distributor CD Baby, if it is a song that I am all those things (record label, song writer, publisher, and artist) I do get paid 1cent, but in cases where I am only the record label or the artist, I can make as little as 1/10th of 1 cent  ($.001)
If I get a Million streams of this song, I earn  $1,110.  I don't think I will be retiring on my streaming royalties any time soon.
But I might buy stock in Spotify when it goes public...
Here is an example of the report:

Aug 24, 2016

	Jul 2016	iTunes - Apple Music – US	George Kahn	Jazz & Blues Revue	I'd Rather Go Blind	Yes	stream	1.0	$0.00189917	$0.00189917
Aug 24, 2016	Jul 2016	iTunes Match - Americas	George Kahn	Jazz & Blues Revue	Something's Got a Hold On Me	Yes	stream	1.0	$0.00111095	$0.00111095

Passion Party #565 - Father's Day 2016

POSITION: Father (also known as Daddy, Dad, Pop)

JOB DESCRIPTION: Long-term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidate must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24-hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required.

LENGTH OF JOB: The rest of your life.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION: Not much until Grandparent position opens up.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: None required. On-the-job training mandatory.

SKILLS:

• Ability to fix any broken toy
• Bug Catcher
• Doctor
• Chef
• Chauffeur
• Teacher
• Principal
• Finder of lost objects
• Master pancake maker
• Clown

BENEFITS: No paid holidays. Available benefits include lifelong opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love, and occasional hugs.

These are only a few reasons to celebrate all the men we know and love who are great fathers!

Happy Father’s Day!

 

Passion Party #564 - Master Class

I have never had the guts to audition, to put myself in a highly competitive environment musically.  The only time I had to audition to get into graduate school in a jazz program, I hated it so much that I decided that continuing schooling was just not for me.  I never went back to a formal degree program after getting my Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition - I was just not a real academic, in the "ivory-tower" sense.  And this decision worked well for me.

My son Evan, on the other hand, is on a solid path to get a Masters in Cello Performance (Chamber Music) from San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  Right now he is in Los Angeles as one of 40 students from around the world that were chosen to participate in the Piatigorsky Cello Festival
https://piatigorskyfestival.usc.edu/

We went to the cello festival this afternoon to see Evan play for a master class with Raphael Wallfisch

Evan was one of three students that played in this, the first master class of the week (each of the 40 students gets a chance to play for one of the master teachers.)  Evan was nervous, and understandably so.  He was not only playing for one of the most recorded cellists in the world, he was doing so in a concert hall FILLED with other cellists that were really outstanding, including three cellists that had played for the LA Philharmonic.

The first two students that played were really quite good, and Raphael was a great teacher - very precise, and humorous in a very British way. They were both nervous, and he worked on their bowing quite a bit.

Evan played the Debussy Sonata for cello and piano.  The pianist (who played for all three) was really phenomenal.  Raphael clearly knew the Debussy inside and out, and had very specific suggestions for Evan, mainly regarding interpretation and direction of the phrases, really detailed stuff.  He clearly enjoyed Evan's playing.  He let Evan play all three movements of the piece - the only student that he let complete their pieces.  And at the end he clearly said, (very softly), "Bravo" to Evan, when he finished the last dramatic ending of the sonata. 

We were so proud.  I almost started to cry.  It was a huge triumph for Evan.  Now he gets to just go to cello concerts, recitals and other master classes for the rest of the 10 days.

Tomorrow night we see him perform at Disney Hall as part of an 80-cello orchestra!


So I guess this falls into the old "Follow Your Dream" category.  Or perhaps "Follow Your Reality - find what you are good  at, and keep doing it".

Prince, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Herbie Hancock walk into a bar...

Not it's not a joke, it's some of the music you'll hear on Wednesday at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood when the George Kahn "Secrets" Band takes the stage to play an eclectic night of Jazz;  Music starts at 8:30 PM,
Here's the program:
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1)   Killer Joe

2)   Rumor Has It - Adele

3)   The Night Has 1000 Eyes

4)   Freedom Jazz Dance – Eddie HArris

5)   Roger Kilowatt - Kahn

6)   Can’t Feel My Face – The Weeknd

7)   Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran

8)   Thieves In The Temple - Prince

9)   Wayne’s World - Kahn

10)                  Work Song – Nat Adderly
Wednesday, May 11 at 8:30 PM.  Please call for reservations, to make sure you get a great seat 323-466-2210 or buy online at CATALINAJAZZCLUB.COM

Passion Party #563 - Behind The Front Page

I never use this blog for this purpose, but I just have to share the various news stories I read today in the Wall Street Journal.  None of these showed up on the first page, and none of them were reported in the LA Times.  I believe they are more newsworthy than the latest thing that any politician said today.

1.  -  Millions of documents that were leaked from Mossack Fonseca & Co. list 140 very prominent public officials, executives and celebrities that used their services in setting up shell companies and offshore accounts for its clients: Many business associates of Vladimir Putin, The Prime Minister of Iceland, eight relatives of China's Politburo Standing Committee, the brother-in-law of Chinese President Deng Jiagui, Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko and others.  The law firm and all individuals have denied any wrongdoing.
2.  - Although college students take notes on the computer 33% faster than if they hand-write the notes, students that take notes by hand  consistently learn better,  retain information better and are faster to grasp new ideas.
3.  - New rules from the Labor Department will, for the first time, require stock and insurance brokers to act solely in the best interest of their client, and fully disclose the commissions they earn by making an investment recommendation.
4.  - Although the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (established in 2009 after the Great Recession started) named specific executives at Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and AIG that they felt should be brought to trial for violating federal securities law in 2011, NO Wall Street executives have faced criminal charges for the events that brought about the financial crisis.
5.  - Bill Gross, the "Bond King" of Pimco was paid a $300 million bonus for his work with the firm in 2013.  He quit in 2014, and is now suing PIMCO for $200 million in damages for a bonus he claims he is owed for the time he worked there in 2014 before he resigned.

 - Just another day here in paradise.