deannajazz

i was just doing a google search for "danilo perez artistshare" and came across your thread. i don't know if anyone's still discussing this subject, but i thought i'd throw in my two cents. i'm a pianist/composer who is also another artistshare affiliated musician. because artistshare is so new, it's going to take time- especially for someone like myself, who doesn't have the name recognition of maria schneider or danilo perez- to see the end results. i have had two recordings out under two different labels. in each of these situations, i paid for the majority of the recording expenses- and the publicity expenses- myself. i never recuped what i spent on the projects (and i didn't spend nearly as much money as someone like maria did, who has to pay a group of 17 musicians, rather than just a trio or quartet). i also didn't retain the rights to my masters, which unfortunately happens to many of us jazzers who just want to get our product out there. maria has made it known that this is the first time that she's ever been able to make money from one of her recordings. i think that's amazing. maria is the one who got me interested in artistshare in the first place. the fact that i am able to document my creative process and share it with fans is a great asset to me. and even if you don't want anything beyond the cd (by the way, at my deannajazz.com site, the main "studio level" is $19.95 and includes lead sheets and live performances in addition to the cd), the fact that the individual artist is making their creative process to you is amazing in and of itself. believe me, it takes a lot of time to set up the artistshare sites (both on the tech end from the artistshare folks and on the artist end in terms of constantly updating the site with content). the artist is making a commitment to you as the individual fan, just as much as you're making a contribution to the artist. i hope that all of you will be rooting this weekend for maria schneider to win at least one of the grammys that she's been nominated for! and my fellow quartetmate, saxophonist donny mccaslin, has also been nominated for a grammy for "best instrumental jazz solo" for one of his solos on maria's artistshare cd. i hope you'll visit my site and welcome your feedback. all the best, deanna witkowski http://deannajazz.com http://deannawitkowski.com