"Disabled" Musicians Make the Sweetest Sounds

How many "disabled" or truly physically challenged people have you seen in your workplace lately or over the years? Be honest please...One? Two? Maybe three? Over how many years of working? I can count on one hand the number of disabled workers I've seen in an office setting over thirty years of employment - Many buildings are "handicap accessible" but not necessarily the hearts and minds of the folks who occupy those buildings. They sometimes need a gentle nudge. I'm one of those musicians who always kept her day job only now I 'm a disabled musician looking for a day job. Now - how many disabled musicians have you seen perform? Besides Ray Charles, the blind blues guy in the movie "Road House", Diane Schur and Stevie Wonder? I mean locally, in your area - how many rock and rollers or jazz or pop performers with canes or in wheel chairs? I reckon very few if any. There are millions of disabled people in the United States, and probably many thousands of musicians among those millions, but where are they hanging out? Where are the "disabled" musicians playing their music if not in your local pub or concert stage?
If they're like me, they have gone underground, first to learn to deal with the disability, come to grips with new physical limitations and secondly to deal with and overcome an entirely different set of limitations - those of perception. How they see themselves and how others see them.
What once was taken for granted - the ability to walk up or climb up onto the stage, to shop for groceries, to try on clothes in a department store, to go for a hike and climb a hill, to go visit your friend in that beautiful house in the Hollywood hills with all the stairs - all these things and more suddenly or over time become projects requiring serious logistical planning and/or assistance.
Once these issues are honestly confronted then comes the part where you decide what's really important in life - For me that point came after I had four surgeries on my right hip, resulting in a serious infection that almost killed me and the deaths of three immediate family members including my mother and brother within a two year period. I was ready to cash it in but something kept me going and that something was this - a very old friend of mine whom I had not spoken with in years sent me a CD of music composed by our mutual ex - her ex husband and my ex-boyfriend(that's another entertaining story for another blog). Turns out he is also disabled and for years had been quietly composing and recording in his apartment some of the most beautiful music on the planet. When I heard the music I cried and then I called him. Then I visited him ( he lives in the Northwest and I was in California at the time) and we played music together for the first time in twenty five years. We recorded that session. I never looked back.
I planned my escape from California, window shopped for recording software and keyboard before I had any money to purchase it and waited for my employer to lay me off so I could at least have a cushion of unemployment benefits while I looked for work in the Northwest. When my employer finally did lay me off I was ready - I ate top Raman for weeks so I could have my meager one room of furniture and boxes shipped to Seattle via Starving Students. By the time I left California my furniture had already been waiting for six months in a friends house where I was going to live. I cashed in my 401k and bought my digital studio set-up for the room I occupy in my friends house. Learned how to use the software. Started composing and recording like there was no tomorrow. And for me there isn't - only today - only now.

I have been now in the Northwest for one year and a half and my first CD is nearing completion. I look for work every week, scrape by on unemployment, have no insurance and though I cannot walk very well and am never without physical pain (though I am hardly conscious of pain anymore), I am doing what I love, what I was meant to do, and what gives others the most pleasure - making music.
And that's the answer to the question - where are all the disabled musicians hanging out? In their bedrooms and livingrooms with their keyboards and guitars or whatever. It's time to come out of hiding, give your gift to a world that needs a little joy right now. Stand up spiritually (if not physically) and get up in the face (in the nicest way possible) of a society that would rather forget your existence because you remind them of their own frailty and whose icons are sometimes crazy but rarely crippled. You are needed - if only you knew how much -
Look in Wikapedia for a list of names of great musicians who are or were disabled. It's a significant but short list. Let's make it a longer one - Our hearts have been opened by our experiences and we make the sweetest sounds....

Should dance labels make deals with cable networks

Question of the week @ RealDanceFM
Post your views on this subject at http://www.realdancefm.com/
By Douglas Ruffin: President, RealDanceFM LLC.

Should dance labels make deals with cable networks?

The deal with USA Network and Virgin Records sends a strong message that record labels cannot rely on radio alone. The music industry is hungry for platforms and the Virgin Records deal with USA Network marks a new trend that others are sure to follow.

The dance music industry should follow this lead. We all know the value of platforms. Using dance music to promote a television brand should be well planned to serve the needs of the network you intend to approach. Conceptually, dance music does several things well. The key benefit to dance music is its ability to generate excitement, its spiritual vibe and in the way dance music is used for health and exercise.

When using dance music to generate excitement; consider regional, national and international sports networks. The fast paced action in sports provides a perfect fit with dance music.

Consider the value that spiritual networks have for dance music. Dance is one of the most spiritual music genres I know out side of Gospel music. Religious networks that use music to spread its message to a younger audience can use dance music (Vocal House) as a valuable promotional tool to bridge all fans of music to its music driven programming. Keep in mind, spirituality is not just about worship. Take a good look at networks such as Lime TV and others who use motivation to encourage personal and professional growth.

Health and exercise go hand in hand with dance music. From Chill out to Pop Remixes, dance music pumps encouragement when exercising. Dance can hit the health and fitness networks. In addition to that, look at the health and fitness programs that are on during all day parts on many cable networks. Perhaps a shopping channel can use dance music when selling fitness equipment.

The possibilities are endless. But you have to think strategically. The thousand channel universe is a reality but broadcast networks and major media companies own many of those channels. New laws will make it easy for program suppliers to cherry pick the cities and neighborhoods they serve. That means independent networks with a small targeted audience face challenging distribution issues. To that point, dance labels should further study the businesses that own these cable networks and see if the fit goes beyond one channel and can work through several of the networks businesses own. For example, MTV networks goes beyond MTV and MTV2. When considering MTV, remember that they operate Nickelodeon, TV Land and LOGO.


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Original programming is an important element to many cable networks. Labels can research the production companies cable networks are using and the projects scheduled for development.

Understanding how marketing and promotion works for cable networks will reveal additional opportunities for your label. For instance, cable networks start promoting programs in front of thousands of program supplier employees often prior to the air date. Cable networks have regional representatives who travel to cable systems, satellite companies and now phone companies to educate and encourage sales and awareness of their programming. You can reach marketing managers, sales teams and customer service staff.

Get artists involved. When a dance artist or DJ / Producer involved in the project is performing in a market with a large cable system. Ask the cable network and the area marketing director at that cable system office to let your artist do a “walk through” to meet the customer service and sales reps. Artists can hand out CDs and offer tickets to the venue where they are performing that night. The ever changing services provided by cable operators require its employees to be diverse and tech savvy. Therefore, dance music will likely be welcome in this environment.

Take a look at the platforms cable networks are using to promote their programming. The cable industry is getting involved with cell phone services. That will provide cable networks with what the industry calls, ‘the third screen”. That is, TV, Internet and the screen on your cell phone. Be sure to license for all viewing opportunities.

What is the fit? Here are a few examples your label can consider when reaching out to cable networks.

Mainstream / Pop Remixes FIT TV (Discovery Networks)
CN8 (Comcast) & amp;nb sp;

Instrumental / Drum & Bass Sports networks (league and team ownerships / FSN)
Action dramas: FX (FOX) TNT (Time Warner)

Acid Jazz / House Fine Living / DIY (Scripps) &nbs p;
The Travel Cannel (Discovery Communications)

Vocal House Inspirational Networks / Lime TV

The dance music industry can win big with this opportunity. However, labels should act fast. If dance labels don’t take advantage of this, Rock and Hip Hop will.

RealDanceFM is an interactive career service for the dance music industry. To post your thoughts on this, “RealDanceFM: Question of the Week” Go tot http://www.realdancefm.com/ .