On the Brink...

Was looking forward to a good Islanders playoff run this spring, but that now seems a remote possibility - given that they are heading into tomorrow's game in Raleigh trailing 3-1 in the opening round.  There's a strong argument to be made that the Isles have actually been the better team at 5 on 5, and that a lack of discipline in game 4 (along will some fairly questionable officiating ) has put them in a bind they might not otherwise be in.  Just win one game in Carolina boys, and with game 6 on Long Island - you never know what can happen.

Released the video for "A Million Years" this past Friday; the standard audio release for download/streaming will be available at the end of this week.  Since this is just an introductory track for the purpose of establishing a social media profile, we're not marketing it so the same extent we'll be marketing the follow-up - but we have gotten some kind initial feedback on the track, which we greatly appreciate!  Always nice to hear ;) 

    

The stupidity of leaning into low limit...

Lost a fair amount this weekend in two different 2-3 sessions at two different poker rooms.  The first loss (on Saturday) was pretty large, owing to a series of poorly conceived plays based on advanced strategies that I'm realizing simply aren't conducive to winning play in low limit games.  You might recognize a button raise as light and three-bet with an appropriately wide range from the blinds - but when the button raise was preceded by a couple of limps and then everyone calls anyway for roughly 15BB with any two cards, you're pretty much playing bingo poker.  Leaning into that is just plain stupid.

On Sunday, I resolved to play primarily for value, eliminating the speculative end of pre-flop ranges and significantly reducing bluffing - resulting in a much more comfortable, low-event (boring) game that yielded about a breakeven result.  That might seem pointless - but in these games, you're going to make your money with nutted hands against a field that simply refuses to fold.  You don't always get nutted hands, and this was one of those sessions.  The key is strengthening resolve to make it through six hours of play while maintaining that level of discipline, and I don't mind resigning myself to that for awhile until it becomes second nature.

Just scheduled a new date for re-filming the EPK interview questions in late April.  Looking forward to finalizing that aspect of the promo materials...

Game 1 for Isles vs. Canes in T-minus about 20 minutes.  Followed by my game tonite, for which I'll have to leave prior to the end of that game 1 if it goes into OT.  Really hoping the Isles win it in regulation!

    

Saturday musings...

Saturday morning, and trying to figure out what's next on the to do list for this upcoming video/single release.  The initial upload to youtube apparently failed, so... waiting for that two hour process to complete once again (hopefully with success this time around).

Watched the first draft of the EPK last night; very happy with the content, but not particularly happy with the look.  We kind of threw the interview together off-the-cuff without focusing on the appearance aspect, and (at least to me) it very much looks that way.  Reached out to the videographer to see if it might make sense to refilm those scenes...    

Found a really cool pint glass for the merch page, which is a nice option for fellow beer-drinkers out there...

How 'bout those Islanders?  Not only made the playoffs, but avoided a first-round matchup with the Bruins.  Cannot wait until game 1 Monday...

Going to make my way to one of the local poker rooms later today, and get as many hours in as possible this weekend...

    

What a Disappointment...

How does a team come out so flat against an opponent that's not making the playoffs, isn't skating its best player (and several other regulars), and doesn't even have a full roster due to salary cap issues?  Isles have to hope they win their last game, and Florida loses its last or Pittsburgh doesn't win its last two.  

Got the record company and publishing accounts established today, and linked up the direct deposits with the distributor, BMI and SoundExchange.  Still waiting for Songtrust to get back to me with an answer to my registration question...        

A little luck...

Played 2-3 last night and booked a win, although it was the result of a terrible all-in bluff check-raise that spiked an ace on the river.  I need to temper my instincts to try to force people out of hands that they shouldn't be in at these levels.  Nobody is folding.

Need to start scheduling blackjack trips at some point, although I'm really not looking forward to that...

Home Stretch...

Gearing up for a release has proven to be an incredibly involved process.  It's great that I'm running everything through the first time with a "preliminary" single that's primarily being used to get the social media ball rolling (which - thankfully - I'm leaving to the promotions team, since I know nothing about it).  Here's a breakdown of what's been going on:

Distribution:   Just finished sending a link to download the 24-bit master for the iTunes channel.  (Everyone else, like spotify, pandora, etc. requires a 16-bit master)...

Reporting: Sent the single info to both Mediabase and Luminate to register for sales/stream/radio tracking in North America.  Need to consider doing the same for Official Charts overseas, although that may be overkill at this point...  

Soundexchange: Started the registration process (for collecting digital sound recording performance revenue), but awaiting feedback with respect to registering "26th Street Records" as the recipient...  

Promotions: Finished uploading the rest of the raw video footage from the orchestra recording and final overall mix session, which they'll use for social media and possibly other forms of promotion.  I also answered several "interview" type questions they posed, which led me to think about a few things I hadn't previously considered.  Still need to solicit some quotes from both Matt and Steve regarding the project...  

Video:  Need to figure out how to get the first video to youtube; I think the distributor needs to first send the track to them so that they can establish an artist profile.  I also need to work out a youtube promotion campaign with Lee at Music Gateway... 

Merchandising:  Need to add my newly acquired office address to my CA seller's permit, and then remit a new resale cert to the supplier, so that my home address doesn't show up on invoices... also need to ask them to redigitize the II logo in a slightly simpler format for embroidery (as opposed to print) products...

Publishing:  Waiting to hear back from Songtrust on a question regarding applying the right IPI to my publishing moniker...

Copyright:  Need to start those registrations!