[HANASHIR:11965] questions

[Batiya5723 <Batiya5723...>]

Hello again...

The response to my CD project has been filled with encouragement and even 
some help from family and friends! But I have more questions. Any help that 
the Hanashir list can offer is greatly appreciated.

1. I am finding musicians who will play for a free copy of the finished cd, 
name credit and lunch. But at least one of them is balking at the idea of 
having to sign anything up front. How best to work with this?

2. When copyrighting music and/or recordings, the "rules" section talks about 
submitting the "best quality" copy of a song/recording. Are neatly 
hand-written lead sheets with melody and guitar chord symbols enough? Or MUST 
I find someone with a more advanced computer (and know-how) to make it look 
publisher-ready?

3. Likewise -- making the demo was pretty straightforward, since I did my own 
cover sheets at Kinko's and didn't have to really worry about high-gloss 
production values. But as I prepare to go into the studio to make the more 
"finished" product it occurs to me that my lack of computer skills (and 
up-to-date computer) means I have to get someone else to do this for me. And 
make many, many copies. 

4. Now people are sending me payments for pre-sold copies of the CD (my idea, 
to finance the studio time. Don't worry, I'm keeping careful records of 
everything and sending out receipts). So now --  do I have to, well, 
incorporate myself or something? Do I need to apply for a business license to 
make and sell a CD? Do I have to join ASCAP? And then there might be taxes. 
Ugh. What are the rules and how on earth does this all work?

In short, this whole thing seems to be snowballing and I have NO IDEA what 
I've gotten myself into. 

Suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance --Beth Hamon

------------------------ hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org -----------------------+