While Justin takes a well-deserved vacation, several guest bloggers are filling in for him. Today's guest: graphic designer/music evangelist Michael Gregoire.

Each month when preparing the next compilation for the website I run,
I scour the internet for shining examples of music that's released
under a Creative Commons license. I always find plenty of excellent music from all over the
world that meets that criteria. Each time I look for these musical
gems, I quietly hope that one of the artists I discover will be from
my home state of Maine (there's nothing I'd love to do more than to
promote bands from here). Alas, after 18 of these compilations, I've
yet to find one Maine music artist utilizing this important tool
that's so easily at their disposal.

Creative Commons licensing is important because it provides creative
individuals a powerful way to harness the internet and its amazing
viral capabilities. So why is it that Maine music artists aren't
using Creative Commons licensing? Is it a misunderstanding of what it
is? Is it an unawareness of it? Is it simply a lack of interest in
using the internet as a promotional tool beyond having a Myspace
page? Myspace pages are fine and all, but there are many more
opportunities for promoting your music online. The biggest is fan to
fan file-sharing. The modern equivalent of word-of-mouth and also the
best method for spreading the good word about the music you make.

Creative Commons licensing is not a replacement of traditional
Copyright. It's a supplement to it. You don't lose rights when you
choose to license your music under a CC license. You give rights to
your fans/listeners and you only give them the amount of rights that
you feel comfortable giving them. Simply stated, you can allow the
following:

- You can allow fans the sole right of sharing your music non-
commercially.

- You can allow fans the right to share and to remix your music non-
commercially.

- You can allow fans to share, remix and commercially use your music.

With every above option, those who share or use your music in any way
are required to clearly credit you and they must also use same
license that your music was originally licensed under. The common-
thread here is the fact that your fans can now legally podcast your
music, remix it or use it creatively on video soundtracks, depending
on how open you've made your music. All these uses of your music,
makes it viral. These uses give your fans/listeners the power to be
your "street team".

Let's face it, the music industry is changing. There are an ever
increasing number of avenues for fans to find new music. Getting
"signed" doesn't have the same sheen it once did. Even if you do get
signed, you'll need to sell a large number of units to cover the
advance you receive and for the label to keep you on board for a
second album. A label signing, doesn't necessarily guarantee that
you'll earn a living.

Music artists worldwide are now realizing that they need to do much
of the promotional legwork to earn a living. That's right… licensing
your music under a Creative Commons license doesn't require that you
give up all hope of earning a living with your music. It's quite the
opposite. Artists who completely embrace the internet and know how to
harness the power it provides can earn a living. You can both sell
your music and allow it to be shared.

There are two perfect examples of music artists that come to mind
when I think about CC licensing, file-sharing, innovative music sales
and internet promotion -- Brad Sucks and Josh Woodward.

Canadian Brad Sucks has been able to translate CC licensed music into
earning power. An excerpt from his bio says it all:

"My name is Brad and Brad Sucks is the name of my one man band. I
write, record and produce songs and put them on this website for
people to download and hopefully share and enjoy. There are also some
albums for sale.

In 2001, I started using the Internet (blogs, MP3s, P2P) to spread
my music and not worrying so much about copyright violation. I've
even been giving the source of my songs away for remixers to play
with. I figured that spreading my music should be the number one goal
and so far it's worked out pretty well.

Despite giving my music away for free online, my songs have been
licensed for television, played on commercial and campus radio, and I
made enough money from licensing and sales to do a real pressing of
my first CD: I Don't Know What I'm Doing."

American Josh Woodward has also used CC licensing in a way that earns
him a living and keeps his dedicated fans happy:

"Josh Woodward seems to have a career death wish. A prolific indie
acoustic-rock songwriter, he has released seven albums in the past
five years (his most recent four in the period of 8 months), but he
has chosen to give away all of his music for free. In a world of $18
CDs and lawsuits against file sharing grandmothers, Josh offers over
120 songs as free downloads from his websites, and sells CDs on a
name-your-own-price basis.

This gamble has paid off well; he's used file sharing to build a
viral, worldwide network of fans. After over a million MP3 downloads
from his site, he's living proof that the music world is changing.
His brand of energetic and passionate delivery with vivid stories,
clever wordplay and dark humor may not be for everyone, but the
Internet has made it possible to find its audience."

The previous two artists are relatively unknown in comparison to
artists like Nine Inch Nails (who also utilized CC licensing with their most-recent albums, "Ghosts I-IV"
and "The Slip") yet they're widening their audience with every
release because they "get" the internet and have innovated ways to
promote and sell what they do.

If you're a Maine artist, heed the following. The key to using the
internet successfully is "getting" it. If you don't "get it", then
find someone who does and let them help you.

We're still in the early days of a future music industry. With the
internet, Maine music artists can be as competitive as L.A. artists
or London artists. Knowing how to utilize the internet and all the
tools it provides does a lot to level the playing field. With all
that the web offers, you no longer have to relocate to make your mark
in world music culture. If you take your music seriously… give
Creative Commons some serious thought.

So tell me… are Maine music artists ready for Creative Commons
licensing?

For more about Creative Commons, view this informative video:

Michael Gregoire is a graphic designer by trade and music evangelist
at heart. When Mike's not designing websites and albums, he's
building a dedicated network of net-audio listeners through his
website blocSonic.com and it's regular netBloc compilations.