In the Beginning...

The best part of your first post on a new blog is that it doesn't matter what you say because no one is reading yet anyway.

I know, I know, if it becomes popular people might go back and read from the start, but really, let's not fool ourselves.

So I'm technically an 'Audio Professional' (Javboy Records, that's me) and all that really means to me is that I make my living working with audio. When people ask what I do, I usually just say I'm a songwriter. It's so much easier than explaining all the things that I do as an audio professional. Songwriting is a part of it, and I'll stick with that. Plus it sounds cool.
The reality is, I make most of my money in this profession working with audio that isn't even music. My biggest client right now is a TV show, B Original , and to put it simply, I make the audio that they provide me sound better and make sure it's within the specs of the network. It's called mastering, but no one really knows what that is and again, it's less impressive than being a songwriter. Don't forget to check out B Original on the DIY Network and HGTV in the Fall 2006. It's a fun show (of course I'm biased...)

As another example, right now I'm working on a recording that I did last weekend of an internet marketing conference. The conference was put on by a company called JV Alert which is owned by a friend of mine, Kenneth McArthur. So apparently, Ken is a big-wig in the internet marketing game and he put together a conference with 14 other big names in the biz and asked me to come and record it to put out an 18 CD set to sell. The speakers were: Sterling Valentine, Carl Galletti, Len Thurmond, Frank Sousa, Jane Mark and Phil Basten, Joel Comm, Holly Cotter, Michael Port, Willie Crawford, Allyn Cutts, Frank Garon, Mike Koenigs, Joel Christopher, and Cody Moya. Ok, so I've never heard of any of these people. But if Ken says they're important I'll believe him. Everyone was really nice (especially for rich folks) and it's certainly not the worst gig I've had. I'll post something about how to purchase when the CDs get released although unless you're into internet marketing, I can't imagine you'd want to buy 18 hours of people talking money and computers. Of course, if you actually do what they tell you, you'll be rich too (or so I'm told).

Enough shameless self-promotion disguised as insight into what I do.

I'll end this world-changing blog by saying that as I type I'm listening to the Colin Hay record Going Somewhere for the third time since I downloaded it yesterday. I'm in love. Thank God for emusic and if you don't know what it is, close iTunes and go there and you'll never go back. Unless you're one of those 'radio listening people' in which case we're probably not friends (unless you're my wife). If you like emusic, let me know and give me the referral so I can get some free downloads!

Rock on.

Ben

PS. I'm a grammer freak so if you see something wrong, tell me. I'll give you some good Karma.