Been a crazy week. Lots of things on fire. First I’ve had my creative art cap on in the efforts of getting new artwork done. Had an old family friend reach out for music advice. Several releases from the past 5 months have not been fully fixed on Apple Music. And lots of places in the state are literally on fire.
With the on-going effort to update old releases, I’ve been working on art for all the singles/EPs that are due in the coming weeks and months. Starting in a few weeks, an old album will get removed from streaming services. Replacing it is something that has been re-mixed, re-mastered and has new art for each song.
The eventual cycle thru all the songs will finish with the drop of the entire album. Followed by the entire album getting a Dolby Atmos release. It’s a long time in the making.
In the interim an old family friend reached out about his daughter who wants to be in the music business as a songwriter and artist. I had a bit of a reverse deja vu moment. When I was starting out I was fortunate enough to have Rick Springfield’s bassist – a family friend and a former sponsor of my skiing, give me a leg up.
He reached out to Jack White, Rick’s original drummer, to listen to my music and give me feedback. When Jack called me after getting my demo tape (yes it was the days of cassettes), he said it would take him a week or so.
About an hour later I got another call from Jack. He explained that he was initially thinking it would be him saying that I didn’t have what it took to be in the music business and was going to late me down as easily as possible. Instead, he explained that he really dug my demos and wanted to help me.
Upon meeting the family friend’s daughter and chatting with the concerned parents, I was setting it up similarly. I’m still waiting to hear the daughter’s music, but will say that she passed the initial test of a question that I ask any young person wanting to make a career of music.
Essentially it’s become my Pay It Forward situation with this young woman, so to speak.
There are roughly 6 releases from the past 5 months that either have missing info or their animated cover is not in the system. I don’t blame Apple Music for this issue. I’m actually laying it at the feet of the distributor. I’ve been emailing every other day – because their customer service is so fuckin slow, to ask for these things to get fixed.
Today marks a change on that as I’ve started complaining a bit higher up the food chain. The hopeful result is that they will all get fixed prior to the first re-release.
If you’re a fan of things moving forward and building a fire, then today’s release is definitely for you. The Los Angeles Rams version of Do You Want to Play has released. With a fire yellow vibe to the team colors, it’s apropos to the fires I’ve been building or putting out this past week!
