In reaching his decision, Judge Stanton recognized the licenses that DMX has secured directly from music publishers in competitive market transactions as an appropriate bench mark for setting reasonable license fees. To date, DMX has signed licenses representing more than 7,000 publishing catalogs directly from music publishers and those numbers continue to grow.

According to Christopher Harrison, DMX’ General Counsel, “DMX believes that securing licenses directly from music publishers presents an opportunity for the publishers – and the writers they represent – to receive greater royalties through DMX’ increased use of their musical compositions. In addition, DMX’ royalty reporting is completely transparent, allowing publishers to see exactly how many times each one of their songs was performed on DMX’ service and the resulting royalty payments.

R. Bruce Rich, senior partner and co-head of Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ IP & Media practice, who represents DMX, describes Judge Stanton’s decision as “a gratifying affirmation of the role of the BMI rate court as a means of establishing meaningful alternative license structures to the blanket license. The Court’s implementation of a sensible crediting mechanism against blanket license payments otherwise owing where a user such as DMX has made significant investments in direct licensing should have broad application for other industries.”

About DMX, Inc.
Recognized as an international leader of experiential marketing services, DMX creates cohesive brand experiences across physical and digital environments. From mobile-enhanced in-store activation, to branded digital music microstores, from branded streaming music players embeddable across social networking sites, to turnkey music promotions, DMX’ interactive strategies leverage a brand’s physical and digital properties to create unique customer experiences. DMX’ in-store services include music, video/digital signage, and scent marketing. For more information please visit DMX at http://www.dmx.com or download the DMX iPhone app. at iTunes.

L.A. Scoring Strings “Lite” contains full section patches, but not the divisi ensemble patches nor the first chair solo strings. LASS Lite work have the same patch functionality as the full version including the ART and Auto Arranger scripts, plus all the remaining scripts that come with the full version. LASS Lite also has the LASS legato sound and short articulations. It’s priced below $500 U.S.

Priced below $400 are the L.A. Scoring Strings First Chairs which are the solo strings recorded in the same stage position as the full library.

A combo package for both libraries is also available.

Audiobro has set up a dollar-for-dollar upgrade path to the full library L. A. Scoring Strings Library.

Both libraries are downloadable in Kontakt 4.1 format using the new Native Instruments NCW loss-less compression format that saves both hard disk space and reduces download times.

First of all before I lift off into social media spheres I wanted to mention that of course the most important thing is to be a good composer. What do I mean with being a good composer?
 It’s fairly simple: You are skilled, you have experience, you know what you can do (and what you can’t), you know your gear and you are a nice person, which I consider the most important thing at all – nobody likes to work with assholes, we all know that. Period!

Okay, so now what is social media?

Generally social media consists of all those socializing platforms you should have at least heard once. If Twitter, Facebook or MySpace doesn’t ring a bell, you are either a very successful composer who doesn’t need it at all … or you do something wrong! Seriously, I mean it … look back a few years into the past and think about a few “vintage” social media platforms. There were letters, then there was the telephone, then we had emails and messengers, … and now we simply have social media. It is just the next step of communication – nothing else.

So, if you think that Twitter is just good for people who want to tell how their apple pie is tasting or that you are becoming too transparent when using Facebook you should stop reading here. Everyone else who is further interested in this topic and what social media can be for us composers, I would welcome you to read on!

Generally I want to add that if you don’t like social media, there is no problem at all. There have been people who don’t like to talk on the phone or don’t like writing letters or email. This all is absolutely no problem and there are always solutions to make it and reach your goals – but you have to admit that it can be a disadvantage to tell a customer that you don’t like to talk on the telephone, which has kind of an insulting touch – something like: No, I don’t like to talk to YOU!

And what does it mean to we composers? 
It’s really simple again, the two main reasons why social media is important to we composers is:

1. publicity
2. staying in touch with people

I am sure you know the situation. You received a call from a client, you talked about the project and all its details, you started working together … and after the gig was done there have been those obligatory words:
Thanks for all your good work, let’s stay in touch! … and then there was silence! 
Okay, there are several different reasons why there is silence. Humans are just complex chemistry and sometimes it just doesn’t ignite, .. but most of the time it is simply the case that everyone is so damn busy that you or your client just forgets about to send that “Hey, how are you” message from time to time. Now, here comes the strength of social media platforms … and now let’s dive into it and how we can make advantage and use of social media as composers.

In my opinion the most important social media platforms for composer are: Facebook,
 Twitter
, MySpace
, YouTube,
 Vimeo,
 Soundcloud, 
and ReverbNation

Disregarding your profession you should make sure to be present on LinkedIn and XING (if you are living in Europa) and of course have your own website!

FACEBOOK
In my opinion the best way to stay in touch with your friends, customers and fellow composers. I always like to see the timeline as a customized newspaper about all the news from people and topics you are interested it.
The options are to either publish your projects and valuable thoughts through your personal profile or via fanpage. It really depends on what you prefer. Don’t get irritated by the word fanpage. I simply see it is as a good option to separate your private from your business life. Also there is a variety of applications (such as MyBand, powered by ReverbNation) to help you boosting your profile or your fanpage.

Basically you can do everything you think is right and fair to boost your career such as publish new tracks, post news when a video game or movie has been released etc., but there are a few important things I would not do:

Facebook Don’ts
There is an option to invite friends to your fanpage. It is okay to suggest your page once … maybe a second time to all your friends after a few months (remember, we are all busy, some things are simply not that important or get lost over time). It’s also okay to suggest your fanpage to all new friends, but never ever suggest your page to everyone in your friend list every week. This makes an impression of aggressively trying to boost your fan count. Remember you are dealing with real people here, not with words or little icons. Just compare all those situations when dealing with social media with real happenings. Would you call your client every week and trying to convince in your studios guestbook once he friendly rejected the offer?

Don’t publish content for the sake of publishing! What would be the purpose of reaching out for a lot of people but deliver them tracks which are done in a hurry? Most important thing is, there are a lot of experienced and professional composers out there and they can easily comprehend how long one actually worked on a track and how much passion was invested! What’s even worse is to post tracks with the notice that it is WIP – “work in progress”. This is by far the poorest excuse to always have the perfect excuse if someone throws you a negative comment!

Never react angry to negative comments! Be nice! If someone posted a negative comment to a track of yours, be thankful! 
In the end someone invested time to react on your action! You wanted comments?! Here they are, now also deal with the negative side. You simply can’t expect the whole world to love your stuff. Even if you would have the writing and creative potential of hundred combined skilled and experienced writer, there would be simply people disliking your stuff. Why? Pretty simple – Taste! :)
But of course, if someone writes something like: This track sucks!!!11!!!11one … it would be okay to at least ask that it would have been nice to know WHY the track sucks!
Most people see that you are interested in their opinion and that you care. Maybe you get even more valuable information, maybe you get even more stupid comments. Live with it!

Never tell anyone that he/she doesn’t have a clue about what he/she is talking when it is about your music. Remember, you are the guy who did the music, but others are the ones who have to listen and deal with it. If they don’t like it, then maybe because there is TASTE?! (again). If someone states that he/she didn’t like the track, it doesn’t mean it is bad. It just stated that it is something which simply doesn’t fit his/her taste.
On the other side, we all agree that it is always nice if the commenter would write something like: Certainly not my style and I don’t like it, but it is well done! … but again, live with it and simply be thankful that people took the time to listen to your music!

TWITTER
This is a really cool way to quickly let people know what you are working on, what you are doing, where you are etc.
Twitter can be also very very informative. Not only you see what all the people you are interested in are doing, I also added all the companies I am interested in.
Within a few minutes of reading every morning you are totally aware of new released vsti’s, plugs, gear and updates. Considering that there are people out there who shake their head when they hear “Miroslav”. I think you get the idea! … I think it is very important to stay in the flow technique and soundwise.

As mentioned in the beginning. I know a lot of people who think that Twitter is just good for writing stuff like: Going for a shower, eating a burger, feeding the dog.
Let me ask the other way round. A one million bucks piano can be lame too if you just play one key over and over again and don’t care what this thing is capable of – it is what YOU make out of it!

Twitter Don’ts
Don’t try to force people to follow you. It becomes pretty obvious when a person is just trying to boost the follower count. If you post valuable information, people start following you automatically.

Don’t use words like e.g. hate in combination with your profession. If you write something like: “I hate working on my current track”, the client you are currently working for can easily comprehend. If you feel like expressing yourself, then maybe write it down on a piece of paper, ball it up and throw it in the corner of your room. Never express negative feelings regaring your own work to the public!

It is a nice move to follow someone back. Don’t think you are a superior composer than anyone else, even though the guy is only working on hobby projects. Things may happen even quicker than you think and suddenly that guy is in a major position and providing others with lots of work. I know it is a lot of if’s and when’s but you guys all know how life can be!

Even though there are tools such as Twitlonger etc. you basically have 140 signs. Think well about what you write!

You are a human being and there is no mistake by showing it to the world. If your little profile description or your posts just say: “We deliver the best music, we create awesome sound, all for the lowest price” … does that sound good? 
Let people decide if you are awesome and deliver the best music. You like to ride your bike? Cool! Maybe that one client who is thinking about hiring you for his next projects is a passionate bike driver and likes to ride in the mountains. Not only sh*t happens!

The follow friday! … if you “meet” nice people during the week you have the chance to feature them on the follow friday (which is basically setting the hashtag #ff in your post).
To be honest I am just a few months into Twitter, but I certainly fell in love with Twitter … I experienced the follow friday quite a few times now and I find it is a cool feature which is going on there. So remember, write some valuable stuff and people might think of featuring you on the #ff

MYSPACE
To be honest I don’t have too much to say about MySpace. If you are not really into HTML or other languages making your MySpace site look fancy can be very time consuming and mind boggling.
General usage of MySpace is kind of clumsy and kinda constructed out of little pieces … to me it seems it’s not really a complete thing such as e.g. Facebook. Nevertheless you shouldn’t ignore it, since you will meet very nice people!

MySpace Dont’s
Lots of people use the comment section to feature their own material. To me this is okay, but please dear posters - if you post material such as YouTube videos, make sure that autostart is off. 
I experienced the situation that someone posted a video to my comment section and as soon as someone, including me, visited my MySpace site, I heard someone else’s music. This can give a wrong impression.

YOUTUBE/VIMEO
The same here, not much to say about those two platforms. It is simply great to not only have your audience listen to your latest track, demos or project but also combine it with pictures or videos.
Most people are visually driven. Meaning if they listen to something they try to go back to something different. If there are pictures or a video going on, they might stay a bit longer with your compositions.

SOUNDCLOUD
By far the most fancy player around. If you don’t have a host or a place where to put your files, Soundcloud is really a cool thing to go with.
Besides the fancy player you get a lot of sharing and embed options. Definitely worth to check out.

REVERBNATION
This place is simply awesome! The features, options and widgets on how to present your music and yourself is awesome. Without a doubt even this platform would burst this post!
Just go and try it yourself!
Some more important things? YES!

Now, we have gone through the most important social media platforms. To get a clearer picture on each, you simply have to check it out. Also you have to be patient. It is not enough to simply create a Facebook fanpage you will get your first contract to a Hollywood movie the other day. It takes time and effort to care about those profiles. It is important to stick with it and don’t let your fans, followers, friends or simply interested people hang. You want attention? Work for it!

Now since you created profiles on some, most or all of these platforms it is important to kind of close the circle. Make sure to feature each of those platforms on your website. Make sure to get a Twitter plugin on Facebook and link back to your website. Then again make sure to post about your YouTube or Vimeo videos on every other platform. Most, if not all platforms offer you crosspostings, means that you can activate your Twitter stream inside ReverbNation or LinkedIn. The reason should be obvious to do so. Once someone shows interest in you or your music it is the most important thing to keep his/her attention and – in a positive sense – catch and hold this person as long as possible.

Now it’s up to you! I hope you enjoyed this article and you can gain some info from it … and always remember, social media is not the holy grail to your goal, it is just another tool to present you, your company and your music. Don’t expect million dollar deals within the first weeks, but if you stick to it, you will see all kinds of little wonders happens.

Finally and of course, I would be very happy to get connected to you guys. You will find all my social media profiles at the very left of the screen. Let’s get connected!

Oh! And since we’re talking of humanity and not being perfect! Just in case I forgot about any important platforms I would be happy to hear from you!
 Use the comment section below.

Thanks a lot for your time and now spread the word!!

That’s when Inon Zur’s award-winning music for the dark fantasy role playing game Dragon Age™: Origins will be performed by the Malmö Symphony Orchestra at the “Joystick 3.0″ symphonic video game music concert in Sweden on May 21st, 2010.

The Joystick concert series currently holds the world record for a game music performance with an attendance of 17,000 at the first show in 2006. Tickets for the concert can be ordered from the Malmö Symphony Orchestra website www.mso.se.

“We are very pleased to invite the music from Dragon Age: Origins into our family of game music,” said Joystick concert producer Orvar Safstrom. “Inon Zur’s compositions transcend the genre, by not only enhancing the game’s scenes but also by contributing unique and powerful elements to the overall atmosphere and storyline. Our audience is in for a real treat.”

Dragon Age: Origins was recently honored with Best Original Song (”I Am The One”) and nominated for Best Original Score at The Hollywood Music In Media Awards. The soundtrack album is available for download from popular digital music stores including iTunes and reached #1 on Amazon UK MP3 Soundtracks Chart in December, 2009.

Developed by leading video game developer BioWare, a division of Electronic Arts Inc., Dragon Age: Origins was named the “RPG of the Year” by Game Informer, G4, Spike TV, AOL.com, and PC Gamer and received over 30 “Best of 2009″ awards from a wide range of respected media outlets around the world, including USAToday.com, CNN.com, MSNBC.com, The Associated Press, GameSpot, IGN, and many more. For more information about Dragon Age: Origins, visit www.dragonage.com.

EastWest has also resumed taking advanced orders with discounts of US$200 off the list price.

Earlier this month, on April 8, EastWest announced a public beta sign-up to test PLAY 2.0, replacing PLAY 1.2.5, the current version. Prospective testers were asked to submit system specs and those selected will begin beta testing sometime the week of April 19 once an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) has been signed. Specs for Hollywood Strings require an Intel-based system with a minimum Core2Duo processor.

According to a post by EastWest president, Doug Rogers, the 2.0 update will be free to registered users.

Los Angeles, April 15th, 2010 - Award-winning composers Inon Zur (Dragon Age: Origins, Prince of Persia) and Rod Abernethy (Rise of the Kasai, The Hobbit) have composed and produced an original score for the innovative massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), TERA™. The atmospheric and emotionally engaging fantasy compositions written by Abernethy and Zur for TERA were recorded with the acclaimed Northwest Sinfonia Orchestra and feature traditional acoustic guitar, ethnic instrumentation and evocative vocal performances. Currently in development for PC by Bluehole Studio in Seoul, Korea, and published by NHN Corporation, TERA is the world’s first action-MMORPG launching in Korea in Summer 2010.
 
“The general direction for the music for TERA was to have an original score that sounded grand and to match the large-scale in-game world, mixed with some warm sounding music,” said Mr. An Yong Jin, Audio Director for TERA at Bluehole Studio. “Inon has created world-class quality, epic orchestral music, which is his best attribute; his sweeping symphonic music is outstanding. Rod’s beautiful compositions for TERA span a wide scope of musical styles. His expertly crafted blend of acoustic guitar and orchestral compositions is incredible for enhancing the musical atmosphere and their popular music appeal.”
 
TERA is an innovative massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in a richly imagined fantasy universe. TERA ushers in a ground-breaking interactive combat system that allows you to instantly respond to real-time combat conditions. Throughout a battle, you’ll move around your enemy and dodge its attacks as if you were playing an action game on your console. Furthermore, TERA raises the bar for visual beauty and varied gameplay in the MMORPG genre.

As a citizen of TERA, you’ll guard and eventually transform your world in a way never before experienced in online games. Unlike faction-based games, TERA unites players everywhere against truly dangerous foes: the rampaging monsters, insidious demons, and many horrors of a world torn apart by the gods themselves. Visit the official TERA website: www.tera-online.com.

About Bluehole Studio
Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, Bluehole Studio, Inc. aspires to become the preeminent global MMORPG developer through its unwavering belief in its people and its core values. Bluehole formed in 2007 with an intense focus on attracting pioneers and innovators with a shared vision to create the next flagship MMORPG for the global market. The studio’s inaugural title, TERA, is scheduled to launch in Korea in 2010 and features a dynamic battle system, next-generation graphics, and a gamer-centric community experience. For more information, visit bluehole.net/eng. 
 
All trademarks are property of their respective owners.

New York, April 6th, 2010 - Tom Salta, one of the most decorated and prolific music composers for multimedia, has produced an original music score for Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands™ for the Nintendo Wii™ system. Salta is renowned for crafting memorable, emotionally engaging scores for the medium and delivers a melodic and deeply immersive soundtrack that is essential to the rich gaming experience of Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands™. Developed by Ubisoft®’s Production Studio in Quebec and built entirely from the ground up, Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands™ for the Nintendo Wii™ is a new chapter in the critically acclaimed Prince of Persia® The Sands of Time series, which introduces players to a brand new storyline complete with new characters, and powers that transcend both nature and time. Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands™ is scheduled to be commercially released on May 18, 2010.

“An outstanding composer, Tom Salta is extremely passionate and truly committed to our project,” said Aurelien Baguerre, audio director for Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands™ on the Nintendo Wii™. “The action and gameplay are remarkably enhanced by Tom’s beautiful orchestrations which unmistakably evoke Persian colors, providing a grandiose and emotional dimension to our game.”

To fully immerse players in the Prince’s new adventure, Salta composed and produced an intensely atmospheric and intricately woven original music score that captures the essence and spirit of the original Prince of Persia® The Sands of Time and supports the new story and gameplay of Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands™ with a contemporary world music aesthetic. The score features performances recorded with globally revered percussionist Bashiri Johnson, dark hypnotic vocals by world music singer Azam Ali and ethereal vocals by international recording artist Judith Bérard, as well as world music and middle-eastern instrumentation such as doubek, kora, khangira, bowhammer cymbalom, lakota slide, walimba, ney, duduk and custom made instruments.

About the Video Game:
Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands™ for Nintendo Wii™ is a new installment in the popular Prince of Persia™ series and presents a new adventure within The Sands of Time universe. After leaving his father’s kingdom to prove his worth, the Prince is drawn toward a mysterious realm. He quickly discovers that he must harness his acrobatic abilities and powers over the environment to not only survive, but to save a mystic palace from unfathomable evil. For more information on Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands™ please visit: www.princeofpersiagame.com.

About Ubisoft®
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft is present in 28 countries and has sales in more than 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2008-09 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of 1.058 billion euros. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.

© 2003 - 2010 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Based on Prince of Persia® created by Jordan Mechner. Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Prince of Persia and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands are trademarks of Jordan Mechner in the U.S. and/or other countries used under license by Ubisoft Entertainment.

Wii and the Wii logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2006 Nintendo

New York, March 17, 2010 - Renowned composer Tom Salta has written and produced an original musical score for Red Steel™ 2, Ubisoft’s new first-person action title developed exclusively for the Nintendo Wii™ and designed with full Wii MotionPlus™ integration. In Red Steel 2, the player becomes a swordsman who finds himself in a remote mixed metropolis in the middle of the American desert, where Eastern and Western cultures collide. To reflect this adventurous new setting in Red Steel 2, Salta composed an action-packed ‘Wild West’ guitar-driven score blended with evocative Asian music influences. Developed by Ubisoft Paris, Red Steel 2 is scheduled for release on March 23rd, 2010.

“Tom Salta is an extremely versatile composer and delivers a unique and dynamic soundtrack for Red Steel 2,” said Isabelle Ballet, music supervisor for Red Steel 2. “He has crafted various music styles including mixing blues guitars with traditional Asian instruments to produce an energetic, hybrid score that motivates and immerses players in the action. We can’t wait to share this experience with everyone!”

For the Red Steel 2 score, Salta enlisted the virtuosic guitar performances of veteran studio musician Steve Ouimette and recorded various instrumentalists for Chinese percussion, Shakuhachi, Fue, Pipa, harmonica and violin. Salta previously scored the original Red Steel soundtrack that received numerous accolades for its vibrant musical palette, including IGN’s Wii Award for Best Original Music.

Red Steel 2 is a revolution in the action-fighting genre, taking full advantage of the capabilities of the Wii MotionPlus™ accessory. Your movements are faithfully replicated on-screen, putting the emphasis on swinging, shooting and fun! With the ability of the Wii MotionPlus to sense the strength of a swing, you will literally be able to make an impact on your adversaries through power and precision. For more information on Red Steel 2, please visit www.redsteelgame.com.

About Ubisoft:
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has teams in 28 countries and distributes games in more than 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2008-09 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,058 million Euros. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.

© 2010 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Red Steel, Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Wii and Wii MotionPlus are trademarks of Nintendo.

Commenting on the recent move, Piers Plaskitt, CEO of SSL Inc., says, “This is an exciting opportunity for SSL to expand its West Coast office and reaffirms our commitment to our U.S. operations and our planned growth over years to come. The new location offers the ability to provide a more comfortable environment to demonstrate our products. Customer demonstrations are already underway for our new C10 HD broadcast console.”

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Solid State Logic is the world’s leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for music, broadcast and post production professionals. For more information about our award-winning products, please visit: www.solidstatelogic.com.

http://alexanderpublishing.com/studyhall.aspx

Narrated by Peter Lawrence Alexander, author of the Professional Orchestration™ Series, the audio seminar covers what string divisi is, how it’s created, and how it applies to the new string sample libraries offering it as a feature. Alexander is a graduate of Richard Bland College of the College of William and Mary, and Berklee College of Music in Boston. His books on orchestration and harmony have been endorsed by winners of the Academy®, Grammy®, Emmy,® BAFTA, and G.A.N.G. Awards. He’s Film Music Magazine’s award winning journalist and the host of Sonic Control’s DAW School webisode series.