Magnatune partners with major NPR affillate on a brand new kind of pledge drive

Guest Blogger: Shannon Coulter

KQED reaches more than 745,000 listeners a week, making it the most-listened-to public radio station in the U.S. This year the station is taking a new, really sophisticated approach to their winter pledge drive: brief on-air announcements invite listeners to visit a web site where they can not only pledge, but also "buy out" the disruptions in radio programming that typically characterize pledge drives.

Together, KQED listeners have whittled the on-air pledge drive down to just two days! Magnatune is happy to be a part of this innovative effort to support public radio; 300 Magnatune gift certificates for $20 each are available on the cool new pledge site, which they've taken way above and beyond the typical sweatshirt and tote bag experience.

Flash film of famous classical composers

Magnatune fan Michael Borges has made a Flash film overview of some of the great classical music composers, with stills of their faces, and music from Magnatune.

You can find the video at Google Video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3707400295394769876

or watch it below.

Thanks Michael!

The video is released under a Creative Commons "non-commercial share-alike" v2.5 license and may be downloaded from here.

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Description: Presenting twelve world class classical music composers and their performers at Magnatune.com

Program Notes: Composer, Artist/Group, Album, Song Clip 1. Bach (Johann Sebastian Bach) American Bach Soloists J.S. Bach - Favorite Cantatas 01-Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 140) 2. Beethoven (Ludwig Von Beethoven) Tanya Tomkins and Eric Zivian Beethoven Piano and Cello Works 02-Sonata in G minor op. 5 no. 2 rondo allegro 3. Brahms (Johannes Brahms) Shlomo Mintz virtuoso violinist playing Mozart and Brahms 09-Violin Sonata No. 3 - Op. 108 (Un poco presto e con sentimento) 4. Franck (Cesar Franck) Rudens Turku Virtuoso violin sonatas 10-Allegretto poco mosso - Violin Sonata in A major (Franck) 5. Grieg (Edvard Grieg) Gleusteen and Ordronneau Grieg - Dvorak - Franck 01-Edvard Grieg Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Minor Op 45 6. Handel (George Frederic Handel) Brook Street Band Handel Oxford Water Music 25-Handel Oxford Water Music Suite in D major: Bouree 7. Haydn (Joseph Haydn) 03-Finale Vivace (Trio 1 in C major) (2:05) Laurel Zucker Haydn - London Trios and Divertimentos 8. Lizst (Franz Lizst) Markus Groh Franz Liszt Piano Sonata in B Minor 02-Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H S.529ii 9. Mozart (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Andreas Haefliger Mozart Piano Sonatas 12-Sonata in D major KV 576 10. Schubert (Franz Schubert) Luiza Borac Wanderer - Schubert and Liszt 03-Schubert: Wanderer Fantasy - Presto 11. Tchaikovsky (Peter Tchaikovsky) Kyiv Chamber Choir Praise the Lord 16-Tchaikovsky-O Holy God 12. Vivaldi (Antonio Lucio Vivaldi) American Baroque The Four Seasons by Vivaldi 04-Concerto No.2 in g minor RV 315 :SUMMER: - Allegro non molto

Song of the Day is popular

Just 3 weeks after starting up, the Free Song of the Song feature at Magnatune is quite popular.

The list now has 500 subscribers, and by a net total of 14 people a day (20 new subscribers, 4 people leaving per day, 2 bad email addresses)

the past week is shown here:

Music Licensing and More at Magnatune...

At any hour, from any place, experience a modern play…with Magnatune Music

 Houston Playwright Michael S. Crawford has founded an innovative online project PlaysinPerpetuity.com where original plays are produced specifically for the internet.

Michael contacted us about licensing the beautiful baroque music of Ensemble Mirable for his new play ‘Writing a Woman' about “as many kinds of love as people on earth.”

He was complimentary about licensing with Magnatune “Their tagline is ‘We are not evil,’ and I can attest to the fact it makes the process of finding and licensing music move at about 100 times the normal rate. Good people and easy to work with.”

Ensemble Mirable was choosen because their music was “the most appropriate fit with how the play feels.” The Ensemble is an award-winning San Francisco-based band who performs rare cello and continuo works by Triemer, Geminiani, and various lesser-known baroque composers.

An idea whose time has come, PlaysInPerpetuity.com presents modern dramas online. The plays are filmed using one camera, from one perspective, rendering a genuine theatrical experience and available to anyone with a computer.

A prolific playwright, Michael already has a new work in development 'Confession...(A Hell of a Thing)' which should premier this spring. The wonderful music of Japanese flutist Tilopa will be used in the play.  Listen to Tilopa at http://www.magnatune.com/artists/tilopa

Plays in Perpetuity can be found at http://www.playsinperpetuity.com

Enjoy Ensemble Mirable at http://www.magnatune.com/artists/ensemble_mireable

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Gothic Bellydance meets Gothic Music

Since 2000, WorldDance New York has produced numerous highly-regarded commercial, promotional, and non-profit video projects that present incredible belly dance, flamenco, samba fitness workouts and professional level dance training and choreography videos.

The dynamic company recently licensed the music of Magnatune middle-eastern fusion artist Shiva in Exile for their dance DVD ‘Revelation’ currently in production. The project is the successor to their successful Gothic Bellydance series

Shiva in Exile was requested by none other than Jeniviva, described as the “best-known and most gorgeous Goth” in New York City. "I discovered Shiva in Exile and fell in love with the track Nomad" enthused Jeniviva "The song has so much beauty and power to it, the singer's vocals also sent bolts of emotion straight to my gut...how could I not dance to that? Nomad is simply moving and powerful."

World music is one of Magnatune’s best selling genres and in addition to Shiva in Exile, artists such as Falik and Solace are very popular with Middle Eastern dancers.

WorldDance videos posted on YouTube are a real visual treat. Check them out at http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=StudioEast

WorldDance New York website http://www.worlddancenewyork.com

Jeniviva's website can be found at http://jenibellydance.com

Dance to Shiva in Exile at http://www.magnatune.com/artists/shiva_in_exile

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100% Legal Music for YouTube, Revver, Blip TV....

We love it when videomakers use Magnatune for their projects, so when YouTube enthusiasts starting contacting us about including our artists, it seemed a good time to introduce a special music license policy.

Posting on commercial sites like YouTube and Revver has emerged as an important way for video producers to distribute their work. However, finding low-cost/high-quality music that is rights-cleared and 100% legal can be a challenge.

Now non-commercial videomakers can purchase any Magnatune album for the minimum price of $5 and include the music in projects to be posted on commercial sites like YouTube. The only requirement is that attribution is included in the form of a visual credit that includes the (1) Song Name, (2) Artist Name and (3) Magnatune.com in the end credits of the video.

The policy covers only non-commercial works posted on sites like YouTube, Google Video, BlipTV, Revver, et.al. and virtual world sites like Second Life. If the video project supports a business, organization (profit or non-profit) or commercial venture in any way, our Video/CD/DVD music license easily covers this type of use.

More about music licensing at Magnatune can be found at http://www.magnatune.com/info/licensing

Questions are welcome and can be sent to Teresa at teresa@magnatune.com

posted by Teresa Malango, Magnatune, 1/17/2006