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September 7, 2026

I think it’s safe to say that a song can now be written (generated?) with software as its first audience. A potential listener may still be someone driving to work or relaxing on the beach…

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August 3, 2026  

I’ve struck an interesting balance these past few weeks with a couple of clients who have not only hired me to edit, mix, and master songs, corporate bumpers, and voice-overs, but also to teach them…

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July 20, 2026

AI-generated music may be approaching market saturation, and the reason for that is simple: the novelty has worn off. What once looked like a disruptive breakthrough now, in many corners of the industry, looks like…

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May 4, 2026  

The first Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy of the United States, were held on May 4, 1959, casting a new national spotlight on several musical achievements from 1958. They were originally called the…

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April 6, 2026  


Here are ten (quite) random musical thoughts and queries this week:  

Were Mel Tormé and Bob Wells commenting on ageism regarding the “kids” in their 1946 holiday classic recorded by Nat King Cole?  


Is it…

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March 9, 2026   

Indeed, but you can never leave. Messrs. Henley and Fry were on to something with that sublime turn of phrase in the little song inspired by goings-on inside the once-iconically pink hotel on Sunset Boulevard…

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March 2, 2026  

The compact disc (CD), a 1.2 mm-thick polycarbonate roundel 120 mm in diameter, can hold up to 74 minutes of stereo audio, roughly 650 MB, on a single spiral track. It is read by a…

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January 12, 2026  

If, as a society, we continue to increase our likelihood of failure by perpetuating a toxic labeling effect, drawing on psychological concepts in which assigning a name to a behavior turns it into a self-fulfilling…

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November 17, 2025  

Last Tuesday, November 11, 2025, a German court ruled that OpenAI's ChatGPT violated copyright law by using song lyrics without permission. The court ruled that OpenAI should have obtained licenses for German lyrics in GEMA…

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October 6, 2025

It's fascinating to see how many places around the world witness history being made and reshaped every night, often in basements. As kids, we frequently find ourselves in trouble or hiding from parents and babysitters…

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September 1, 2025

Suno, an AI music generator, is challenging copyright infringement claims from independent artists with a bold legal stance that will change the debate over AI music. The class action lawsuit, filed by aptly named…

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August 11, 2025

It’s been another enjoyable week of guitar tracking here at the studio, with an eclectic mix of songs and cues going out to clients, both old and new. I feel fortunate to still be able…

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August 4, 2025

Finally, on Wednesday, July 16th, 2025, in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism held a hearing on the use of copyrighted works to train artificial…

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June 9, 2025

The song didn’t come on the radio, I wasn’t playing it live at a gig, it didn’t even pop into my head during a morning walk; I just abruptly remembered that the song “Africa,” the…

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June 2, 2025

Taylor Swift’s acquisition of her music catalog on Friday marks a significant triumph for artists’ rights, establishing a strong precedent and highlighting the importance of creative ownership within the music industry.

By reclaiming the master…

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May 19, 2025

Alan Freed, a pioneering radio disc jockey widely cited as popularizing the term "rock and roll," emerged as the central figure in the notorious payola scandal of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Payola denotes…

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May 5, 2025

I’ve been fortunate to work with several new recording clients over the past few weeks, each of whom has pushed me to be quite creative in the guitar tracking process. Often, I’m tasked with delivering…

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March 10, 2025

The trend of catalog sales by artists spanning nearly every genre is shifting the music industry's balance of power, creative control, and financial incentives—and not necessarily for the better. It is also changing the landscape…

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March 3, 2025

A Carnegie Hall benefit concert, “Thanksgiving Jazz," took place on November 29, 1957, produced by Kenneth Lee Karpe for the Morningside Community Center in Harlem. Voice of America recorded two sets that night performed by…

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February 24, 2025

When practicing music, limitations can be beneficial because they compel you to focus on specific areas that need improvement. They encourage creativity within those constraints and help to develop a deeper understanding of technique and…

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February 10, 2025

On this date, 98 years ago, "The Shepherd of the Hills" became the first song performed on two continents on the same day. Even more remarkably, the performances happened just after the song was…

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January 27, 2025

The new EP will be released at the end of the week, and I'm looking forward to setting this one free. I've had this music in the can for quite some time, waiting for its…

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January 13, 2024

The last two years have been the most inordinately productive of my professional life. Perhaps I’ve released too much music, but hopefully, it is more useful emancipated from my hard drive than imprisoned by it…

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January 6, 2025

As an independent artist, difficult to pigeonhole from a marketing perspective, Spotify was the perfect platform for my music - for a while. Although early classical, folk, and jazz tracks never received massive streams, when…

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December 23, 2024

There is Mr. Eliot again. Looming large and still kicking up a fuss after all these years. I started with Prufrock, then on to ‘The Wasteland,’ and then all the rest. Flawed? Yes. Difficult? Indeed…