The Book Of Worlds

Greetings fellow earthlings, 
Let me introduce myself. My performance name is Domina Catrina, you can call me Catrina for short, but please leave out the 'for short' part, it is not supposed to be part of my name. I am in Singapore & am Asian. 

The music I create, the CD album I made, “The Book Of Worlds” which feature the ambience of musical instruments from the world over via the modern miracle of samples and loops, locked in step with acoustic jazz guitar, this site of mine focuses on letting gaians know of the worthy and exceptional music that needs their attention and support to grow.

A link from my gaia blog will take you to either 
My Space  where you can experience a small journey
or to where you can 
download “The Book Of Worlds” directly.

“Have you heard any good books lately?” I co-opted this slogan from somewhere. But it is apt. The music has been described as 'brilliant, fiery', and also 'peaceful', and 'divine'. It has gotten 'thumbs up' from legendary jazz guitarist, Martin Taylor, and winning new friends every day now. 

I am about to start work on a new album that I hope I can perform live sometime soon. 

Re: The Book Of Worlds

And here I am again…

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Thank you DominaCatrina for joining Dreams Of Artists™!

Very well done on completing your CD ”The Book of the Worlds”
I recommend putting a cost in on each song and having a way to receive money such as PayPal or some financial arrangement with your webmaster to receive money.  

The normal cost at iTunes is $.99 and for some artists $1.29

Money does not flow back on disorderly lines so I highly recommend that we all have our flow lines and desk/studio areas orderly which only takes about a day or two if that needs to be done.  It is like a cope when you are promoting… then organize after.  It works to help in your organization.  Again, I am not saying this would be you, but that was something I mention to any artist at first as they set up for doing business.

I would recommend putting the attention of the ear of your beholder on the music and not the personal preference.  That will give you a broader audience to reach to with your music genre.

In the beginning, it is in a phase I with all artists.  I call it a pilot program where you do your other jobs to maintain support while you burn the midnight oil preparing to deliver and the first year or so you may have to single-hand things until you pull in your team.  That is normal from my personal experience of running my own games.

OK… so now that the order is there, your websites are up, I recommend connecting your website with Google AdSense Twitter, FaceBook, etc.

Have a picture of the cover of your CD… same size exactly as you see other CD's on iTunes and have that with the individual price and entire album price and how to order it on all of your sites.

Promote a lot.

Keep a list of all of the comments on your music in one place.  You will need these testimonials and reviews so the eye of the beholder gets the reality of what others say.

A lot of artists create their own labels and sell through that name until picked up after promoting to the majors and other indie producers that have statistics in the area.

Perform live and announce where you are performing next even if its a small venue.

Have fun!
Kathy

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Hello Domina “For Short” Catrina :)   Bravo!  Sure glad to see you here.  The video is awesome and the music divine.  You're one brilliant artist.   I promise I will order your CD (not becuz u are a starving artist, lol, but because I really love your music) and I will also tell the others in my world about it.    So keep up the good works.

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Hey Amy for shorter ;P
It is no crime to want to buy the CD just to help me but it is a great sense of honour and privilege that you wish to get a CD because you love the music. All the work I did was not for nothing, if it can begin to take off now. You are sensitive to this music, and I had hoped to reach the hearts of visionaries like yourself with it. You do know it tells your life story, your inner life story? It is the Hero's Journey. it is about you =)

Dear Kathy, thank you for your advice. I have my CD for sale at cd baby
http://cdbaby.com/cd/dominacatrina
and both the CD and digital downloads are available there now. It took months for CD Baby to get it right, there were some confusion with all their clients like me, as they had just made a problematic change to their website. It is all working well there now and not a problem to order from them. One bought a CD after listening to my music samples at MySpace http://www.myspace/xhulijingx and received her Cd in a few weeks. CD Baby handles all orders, and credits funds to my Paypal.

It is the promotion of the CD that would be a bear. Many would hire a marketing team, but many would also have the money to do so. Many also are able to secure gigs. I keep trying to get a gig. I mean I keep trying. So far for more than 7 months of continual trying I have not been able to get a single gig. I will let you know if I do =)

I have a facebook, a MySpace, my gaia account, but no twitter and no adsense yet. There does not seem enough time in a day to set up my street tarot busking (my 'day job'), practice music, compose music, set up my recording gear (all portable), blog, and keep adding friends and promoting my CD online, and go out to knock on doors too. But I can try to pace myself. Schedule which day is for what. 

The thing is not to panic… 

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Thanks :- “You are sensitive to this music, and I had hoped to reach the hearts of visionaries like yourself with it. You do know it tells your life story, your inner life story? It is the Hero's Journey. it is about you =)”


Wow. And more thanks.  I would like to dedicate your lovely words to the true “visionaries” in each of us.  

Also, thanks for your thanks over on my GV.  Hey, it's the least I can do.  The most the rest of us can do will cost us money we never have… so wanting to buy your CD is not giving anything much really but gaining something as well….

Anyway, I am inspired to do a short blog to at least reach the people in my world, esp. the ones who visits my site, etc.  Hope u think its a good idea too :)…..(it might not generate any leads but we never
know….plus it all depends on how good my marketing skills are, eh? :)

 And
hey, you do know that when we try to help others, we're also helping
ourselves in a way.  So why don't more of us try to do it?  I guess its
either tough work or we're too lazy or your guess would be as good as
mine.

Anyway, here is wishing your CD and more to come will take off.  Keep up
the good works.  It seems to me that nothing is ever done in vain……..if not now, then
i'm sure the seeds you plant today will blossom into a bountiful crop
sometime later.  I also hope others will join your friendship circle.  Together, “yes we can” :)    Just keep on doing your best which I can tell you
truly are doing.  Some crops take a lot longer to ripen than others…because of lack of sunshine?  Yep, its a tough world for small trees like us who are overshadowed by giant trees.  

“The thing is not to panic”.  Easy for me to agree, eh :(

Hugs and love.   And also to Kathy for creating such a wonderful place to help artists fulfill their dreams.  ~K, you are a true kind-hearted visionary.

Amy :)

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Dear Amy,
kind words and deed, thanks. =)

I cannot answer why we do not help one another more. No amount of telling others - 'you should do this' is going to do it either. 
For myself…
Ever since I was a kid (despite the strange upbringing I had to endure) I could not always feel the distinctions between me and others around me so well. Not that I was crazy (ok, I was crazy) but they call that empathy I think. I try to help when and where I know I can. I can't help imagine that it is me that going through all that.
But..
The last ten years have had been very troubled for me,I even know the exact date it started or culminated -
September 11, 2001. 

So, My own personal life took a severe nosedive the same time as the world did. So I could not reach out to help as much as before (and cautious to do so, as I was not often asked for money, but advice and intangibles like that) , just mostly to street people, buskers, beggars, people like myself - my own dreams were in standby mode for a whole decade, or longer really. I just want to do music that awakens a feeling. A feeling of being in love. With the everyday of life. With the bears. With the cats. With leaves. With water, with fire. Being in love.

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I agree, you're crazy.  Lol. So are the rest of us in our own way.

Kidding aside, this has touched me…because its a basic wish really to want to be in love with the whole wide world…   ”just want to do music that awakens a feeling. A feeling of being in love. With the everyday of life. With the bears. With the cats. With leaves. With water, with fire. Being in love.”


On my part, I have started to let others in my circle know that your CD exists…yikes, I have even tweeted to my 40 something strange followers on Twitters…(oh right, re-tweets wouldn't hurt, considering that's all some people really do there.)


Will try to do a blog as well……… I supposed every little bit helps.   

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Am I glad you are on my side! =)

Amy, I have heard of twitter, but pray tell, watdaheck is it? I heard it keeps track of your every move, and I do not think I have the tech for it, then.

And once again (stop me if it gets tedious to keep hearing this)
thank you!

This thread has you and me, and I wonder if I should go to the other threads and bug people there. In a nice way ofcourse *hee*

Write me a review for the CD when you get it, wont you? =)

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Catrina,

 Thank you for sharing your CD and your journey with us. I look forward to hearing and vibrating with the music of the world… I have not been to CDBaby in sometime, thank you for reminding me… 

Best of luck… 

I am Love, Jeff

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Hey Jeff, good to see you:)  

Hi Domina,
Lol, it doesn't bother me….all I have to do is keep on saying, Thanks for the thanks. So if that gets tiring, you know what u have to do.

Oh yes, no worries… I shall definitely let the world wide web knows what I think about your CD.  

And hey, I am sure you will be welcomed on other threads as well.  Like ~K says, if you don't ask…?   And even Jesus said “ask and it shall be given”.  And 'sides, if ~K and myself are nice to you (and we have non-existent combats boots on :), then I am sure others will be just as sweet or nicer.  .

Now for Twitter.  That bit on Twitter keeping tracks on our every move, do you mean that it keeps a tracking log on us?  *frowns*  Hey, but all sites do and those that don't probably live under a rock ;)

Now watdaheck is Twitter? A friend of mine (very afraid of her computer) asked me a similar and here is my response to her but edited a bit here and there …

  

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Apologies, Amy
and to Jeff too
Internet has been down over on my end for over 24 hours.
I just read your epic reply
on the brief new toy they call twitter?
I have not slept but 3 hours this morn
I will go twit when my head feels ok
besides which in 1 1/2 hours I've to hit the streets 
pick up my table and 2 chairs and - hate this part,- go offer tarot to people on the pavement. Sounds like you have had fun on twitter. 

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Hi DominaCatrina,
As mentioned on your intro, we keep personal things off Dreams of Artists™ as it is read outside Gaia on the web & we have an ethics standard. 

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I'm not sure how I violated  policy, but I will try not to bring up tarot, or twitter or non music issues, if it not in alignment with your pod's policies. But I would like you to indulge me just once and point out where in this thread or in your pod at any point I brought up the topic of sex. 

Or if this is a pre emptive strike, then… well struck, Lee, well struck.

respectfully,
Domina Catrina

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


mod note:  
Hi DominaCatrina,
As mentioned on your intro, we keep personal things off Dreams of Artists™ as it is read outside Gaia on the web & we have an ethics standard.  So what you have on your blogs are fine but we edit out personal things relating to gender/sexuality or things that may put the reader in a feeling of chaos; both fine for twitter, blogs, myspace & facebook.  Thanks for understanding.  This in no way reflects your art or music as mentioned by Kes in your intro above, and it the ABOUT THIS GROUP ”As cultivator I reserve the right to edit things not related to artforms and the betterment of a culture or terms of use on Gaia for this pod:”. We follow the terms of Gaia and work to align with their mission. Being an artist is a professional career and our policy here is to set an example for marketing & promoting to the mainstream public.

Respectfully, the trans stuff was removed to promote the talent not the sex.
 …This is a free service promoting and sharing the greatest good for the greatest number for the eye of the beholder our publics that buy and appreciate art of any form such as painting, graphics, music, IT, photography… & reserve the right of what is appropriate for kids too. It is for artists all over the world.  I don't have time here to go into detail on things other than Lee explained it as diplomatically as possible for the group. What was edited out is gone & has all been removed to not be drawn attention to. He will write to you directly as with issues that come up for the entire group are sorted out by e mails only.
We are over it now and will move on.
Please don't ask on the threads for an explanation of any ethics point.  Ethics is a personal thing and I am not here to put my attention units on this any further than this statement. Thanks!  Kathy


This person is no longer here.  May your music do well on myspace/facebook/cdbaby/twitter & other websites.  Occasionally help is taken for destroy but our intentions here are to help create. K I made you this banner so may it help create!