The Ketchup Report, Vol. 1

Lots of interesting stuff crosses my (virtual) desk. Sometimes it grabs my attention and feels worthy of a full post all by itself and I have time and I write a post. Boom. But sometimes it's just interesting, or I don't get to it immediately, or I don't have time to write something long and witty. (Or at least long.) So I'm going to start what I'm calling "The Ketchup Report." Why ketchup? It's because it's for things you (or I) should catch up on. Get it? (I could have also called it, all apologies to Justin Roberts, the Mustard Report for things that must be heard. Ach, I'm having a meltdown.) Expect it semi-regularly. -- Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer are celebrating more than 25 years in the family music business with a new 3-song EP, Triple Play -- preview and buy it here. They also have their 25th Annual Family Music Party -- when Ella Jenkins chooses to show up for a party, you know you've got it made. IWantADog.jpg-- Jamie Broza has a new album out soon -- I Want a Dog! -- and he's also got a Halloween-themed single "Trick or Treat" which, until Halloween 2010 can be downloaded here for free. -- Matt Clark joined the illustrious group of musicians who've submitted their music to Click and Clack's "Dean of Auto-Music and heard their tune on Car Talk. A snippet from "Car Seat Blues," a song from his first album, was included on last weekend's show. -- Finally, this video (and song) from DidiPop is the best bagel-related video since, well, this one.

Crowdfunding, Part 3: Matt Clark Does It...

A few weeks back, I highlighted the attempt by Portland, Oregon's Matt Clark to use Kickstarter, a "crowd-sourcing" site which puts folks under a deadline to raise funds from fans for a wide variety of projects. Matt's project was to record the follow-up to Clark's debut, Funny Little Fella -- he was looking for $3,000 for mixing, mastering, and duplicating. Well, as you can see from the fancy widget below, Clark made his goal. I'm posting this for two reasons: 1) Yay, Matt. 2) For other musicians considering this route, the details on how people chose to fund the project -- i.e., at what levels -- I think are useful reading. You'll actually have to click on the widget below to see that, but I found it interesting that folks bypassed the cheaper reward levels and were only interested in the higher levels. In other words, if you're gonna get somebody invested in you... make 'em invest.

Crowdfunding, Part 2: Matt Clark Kickstarts His Project

FunnyLittleFella.jpgTwo or three weeks ago, Jim Cosgrove, AKA Mr. Stinky Feet made a splash in the kids music world by announcing he was "crowdfunding" his next album by asking for supporters to pledge money toward the costs of recording, producing, and distributing the next album. Cosgrove's views on why he went this route are essential reading for kids musicians. He also noted that he hadn't previously heard of Kickstarter, a site which helps musicians (and countless others) do the same thing. One major difference, though, between Cosgrove's approach and Kickstarter's is that Cosgrove's going through with the project regardless. (In fact, I'm pretty sure he's starting recording this week.) But if a person seeking Kickstarter help doesn't reach the required amount, they receive squat. So let's hear it for Portland, Oregon's Matt Clark, who's established the first genuine kids music Kickstarter project. That's right, if you go here, you can be part of another crowdfunding experiment. $3 gets you 1 mp3; $5 gets you 2, and so on. My favorite level -- $50 gets you (among other things) 3 chances to name the new disk. Clark's debut, Funny Little Fella, was a nice little disk -- here's hoping he gets the $3,000 to have round 2 see the light of day.