Afterblog

Hi, my name is Tony Marshall. I’ve been writing songs for about 8 years, and performing for a lot longer. I have over a dozen album’s worth of material, and nearly a dozen’s worth of material written under pseudonyms. Not all of them are very good, but there are a few that I can say I am very proud of. I consider music first and foremost to be my craft, and I like to think of myself as a craftsman in my own kind of way. My medium is sound. I’m not the greatest musician but I pride myself on being my own vocalist, and on knowing what sound to place with those vocals. My lyrical style is my own, though I borrow many cadences.

I’m also a product of the age of amazing informational technology that allows me to take total control of my own career. My catalog up to this point is now available completely free. Free of DRM. Free of charge. Free for the use and licensing of people who believe that our art and thoughts are our own to share as we see fit.

I trust my licensing protection to the basis of copywrite as a fundamental right of the artist. I cannot own the way my music is listened to, but I do reserve the right to control the way it is used for commercial purposes.

I believe music, as a basis of human  communication, isn’t only meant to be free, but is unavoidably free. Given it’s stature as a fundamental part of the fabric of the human psyche, I’d say listening to music is damned near a  deeply religious experience at times. To be honest I can’t really imagine a religous experience without a song playing in my head. I think most people would agree with that.

My music is free in that way. I however, am a songwriter by trade, as well as a booker of shows, a collaborator and trustworthy ear, an emcee, a decent producer, a workable sound engineer, and whatever other ways I’m starting to understand are involved with the process of making music.

If you need a solid acoustic opener, something more experimental and ambient, a kick-ass band of people who love to make music, an emcee with a badass beatboxer and/or DJ,  spoken word, proudly lo-fi sound and video work, or you just like my music and think that you could help me make it sound better, then drop me an email to booking@tonymarshallmusic.com.

The same goes if you want to use my music for a purpose of your own. This is my livelihood. I license my work under the terms of a Creative Commons license, and also with the full power of of a type of copywrite which actually makes sense to me these days. I own 100% of all licensing rights to albums which I’ve made freely available for non-commercial use, I however, am a poor young family man. I’m looking to expand my audience, and I know that I can do it by working with people who make their livelihood from music. If you’re a venue, I’ll bring you as much crowd as I possibly can, and the best reason I can for people to come and hang out at your establishment. I can fit in well with a lot of different styles of music. If you want to record with me you should read up on Creative Commons Licensing. I believe the law is finally catching up to the modern idea of music, and that the Creative Commons license is a great tool for helping artists of all kinds take total control of their trade Let’s take advantage of this modern control, and do business as owners of our art, and conscionable plyers of our trades. Let’s lead by example, and teach the people at the RIAA the army of small business model way of making big business.

That’s my explanation of why I use a Creative Commons license, as well as my mission statement.

Tony Marshall
Neckbrace Substitute Productions