Journal: News & Comment

My first music commission

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As Air pointed out yesterday, I've received my first composing-recording commission arising from the free tunes I post to the Penmachine Podcast. In my nearly 17 years as a professional musician, this is the first time I'll be paid any significant sum for an original composition and recording (i.e. more than the occasional $2 or $6 cheque from SOCAN for songs I co-wrote with others), rather than a live performance.

Judd Bagley's Business Jive podcast (subscribe via iTunes or RSS) has used a bunch of my tunes already, but he phoned me yesterday wondering if I'd be interested in writing and recording a custom theme/jingle for his show. We've worked out a framework for a contract, and I'm going to get started right away.

This tune will be different from my others because it will be Judd's to use exclusively—he says you'll be welcome to download and play it, but no one else will be licensed to use it in their podcasts or in other "branded" ways. I'll let you know how the process goes, and when he has it ready on his show, which should be in a couple of weeks.

See? This podsafe music thing can have a (tiny) business model after all.

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