| mattwesselmusic.com |
| matt's journal october 22, 2008 |
| Hey everyone! Remember me? Haha. A friend wrote me a nice e-mail yesterday, commenting on my September journal. It was a wonderful note, but also a nice reminder that I haven’t written one in a while.
But this time I have a really, really good reason. It’s the same reason that I haven’t really had any shows this summer/fall. Well, aside from that accident I was in … You see, a friend of mine and I have started a web site! After years of frustration while trying to get my music published by a major liturgical publishing company, I finally decided that there has to be a better way for independent composers like myself to make our music available to the world. If you’re not published, you really have to just market it yourself through your own site. That means that only people that you know, people that come to your shows, or people that find you by pure accident are going to have the opportunity to buy your music. There just had to be a better way. But there wasn’t. Until now. Introducing, Holy Measures. It’s a site that aims to bridge that massive gap between the thousands of composers of religious music like myself and the people/institutions that long for new, fresh music. Composers can use our site to sell their songs – and it’s free! They have the opportunity to bring their music to a massive audience, while also making some money for themselves. The process isn’t that un-technical, but it’s somewhat simple in thought. We’re going to have all composers provide their songs in a PDF form. We’ll embed the song on a unique page on our site, allowing visitors to preview the first page. If they like what they see and decide to purchase the song, they’ll be able to print it out directly to their home or work computer. Prior to checkout, they can decide (and pay for) any copies that they plan to make of the song and any worship aids that the song might be used in. And our technology ensures a secure delivery, meaning that buyers can only print one copy from an isolated IP address. That ensures that the copyright of the composer is protected. My friend and I are really excited about the potential for the site. We’re marketing it now to composers. The site won’t officially launch until January, but composers can currently sign up for their own accounts and begin uploading music. We want to have a good-sized library in place when we launch in a couple of months. After all, this site would be kind of lame if the only thing we were selling was Matt Wessel music. Haha. When I think about the possibilities of this page, my heart starts racing. I think we’re in a position to truly revolutionize the world of liturgical music. There have been so many religious songs I’ve heard throughout my life that have had lasting impressions on me, to the point that hearing them to this day still inspires me and awakens my soul. There are thousands of songs like this floating out there, with no good way to find them. But now there is. So check it out if you have a few minutes. Just go to www.holymeasures.com. Pass it on to any of your friends that might be into liturgical music. Even if they’re not composers, they can join our mailing list and we’ll reach out to them when we launch in January. So that’s what I’ve been busy with. It’s sort of consuming my music life right now. Between that, work, wedding planning and seeing friends and family here and there, there’s just not a lot of time for anything else! But here’s hoping I write again soon. (Oh … and I can’t leave without saying this … stupid Cubs!) |