Silvia Bluejay

I must say I'm not optimistic. The organisers wouldn't be able to avoid making a large loss unless absolutely everybody who would have attended pre-Covid is prepared to attend this October. Better still, if even more people than usual attended. Of course the mass vaccine rollout helps, but I doubt the country will get back to normal any time this year, simply because the rest of the world won't, and we can't close our borders completely, unlike New Zealand (which is NOT a big international hub like the UK). So there will still be many people who don't feel comfortable mixing with others, and government-imposed social distancing and restrictions, especially indoors. Since the Bash needs months of planning and organisation, I think we're on a loser here. I very much hope to be proved wrong, though.

Oh, THIS may be interesting as well.

More details HERE. Moral of the story, always keep your own masters, and if the contract doesn't comply, change it (or change record company). Self-publishing makes this easier (but also makes everything else a bit more difficult).

For once, being a bedroom bass player is an advantage, as motivation doesn't come from gigging. I've played more than I did pre-Covid as I've had more time to dedicate to bass, as opposed to spending evenings gigging or days driving around to look for gigs or preparing our equipment to gig. Unless I'm too knackered, I play bass for at least half an hour before going to bed (headphone amp), so it's now 4-5 times a week. I feel I am improving faster than I was previously.

The problem is that most modern mobile devices don't have a socket for hard-wired connection to the internet. I'm not talking about phones, they'd be too small for that, but laptops lost theirs long ago, for instance, and I've been missing the option ever since. Desktops should always be hard-wired if at all possible - at least for the time being, as they still come with sockets!

Nah, mine was just a reminder. The female in question - and indeed anyone else - is free to like shoes and handbags, no prob with that. Just as long as we remember that there's a wide variety of things women may be interested in (more than in knowing which bass guitar is which), that never seems to make it into this kind of conversations.

Quick note to remind you gentlemen that shoes, handbags and, yes, children, are not the only interests women have. And we're not stupid. Just sayin'. 😉

Welcome to the forum, Eliza! I see that you received a few replies on your status update. There are also a few older threads that may be useful for you to read. and and even this.

Same for our songs on some rockabilly radios - although not all of them. Some radios broadcast both online and on air, others only on one medium, but my impression is that a good number of them are registered.

You're correct. What musicians can do is scour Sentric's website for ads requiring music for various uses in ads etc. - there seem to be a few - and apply if appropriate. So the onus would be on us to do the legwork in order for Damo's music to be put forward. As you say, they're getting paid for us doing the work (or not bothering to do it), which ain't ideal. Damo doesn't have the spare cash to sign up to PRS, and at this stage we don't expect any significant earnings from his music. Things may change in the future - it's possible to leave Sentric, giving appropriate notice, and move to another company.

Regarding playlists on the radio, I thought the ISRC codes embedded in each track direct royalties to the correct songwriter?

My astonishment at how poorly organised this country is in getting setlists (from in-person or online gigs) registered with performing rights companies is undiminished since the last time we talked about this topic. 🤦‍♀️ Even if the music venues don't do that (they really should be obliged by law), all it takes is for one band member to spend a few minutes on the computer; in the case of a mostly unchanged setlist, copy and paste will take care of most of the work each time. Yet most musos can't be ar$ed. @Happy Jack and I helped Damo And The Dynamites' frontman sign up to Sentric, as opposed to PRS, mainly because they don't require payment of an upfront fee. They are mostly a publisher but also do royalty collection, and work out as slightly more expensive once you look at their cut on any earnings you get from your music. In our case, so far it would only be a matter of pennies, so we're not fussed.

Or the sacking of the lighting engineer or camera person?

But you can make do with the first 5 frets on a 5-string, and not miss anything anyway. 👍

Best done with a 5-stringer. No need to go beyond the fifth fret with that! 😉👍😎

In other words: Band Discover That Sex Sells More Easily Than Talent. Whoopee do. Opposite sex equivalent, more or less? And - oldie alert - this was what I didn't mind ogling, around three decades ago - despite the person himself being a complete idiot (even then).

While that three-point bridge looks horrible, it certainly solved the perennial problem of keeping the bridge properly upright and at an angle of 90 degrees to the top of the bass! 😮😉

We're all hoping it'll happen soon! And we want to see Alison again, and get punters into her pub.

Yay! That was great fun. Thanks for coming to see us! I was behind the sound engineer tablet and the camera. I will have footage of you guys singing along and dancing in your seats. 👍

Welcome to the club, @mcnach

Paging @MacDaddy...

... but you need to move to Europe or go and collect them in person... 🤦‍♀️

No prob! I'm not involved with that survey at all, but I do think that the more voices coming from our corner are heard by the powers that be, the better.