Web & Blog Design

Beware of the Music you use on your site you just may be breaking the law and copyright infringements. There are laws that you need to learn about if you are posting music on your website, an on-line slideshow, or even YouTube video. These laws protect the rights of music artists ,their work, and how the consumer uses or shares their product.

A question arose from one of our clients trying to find music that was protected under creative commons. A slideshow of one of their events made by a third party contained music that was violating copyright laws.

How could we help the client understand that the music they are using is violating a law and still help them create a slideshow for the website?

I asked for help from Jose “Pepe” Pesante (@joeprog) radio host of http://frecuenciasalternas.com and editor-in-chief of http://vorticeonline.com for assistance with finding a site under creative commons related to the music industry. Thanks to his expertise, he was able to provided me two sites; one called SoundCloud and the other Bandcamp. Both offer CC licensing and options for purchase, free download or streaming only.

I would recommend SoundCloud over Bandcamp because it is very obvious that it is for sharing. SoundCloud 101 is a simple guide that has a section for music artists and those looking for music, regarding the terms of their site. It also provides details of how one shares music under the creative commons license. There are samples you can listen to on the main page.

You can sign up for both sites as an artist or group promoting your music as long as you are complying with U.S. copyright laws and the websites’ Terms of Use.

Here are the links to some of the sites that I found useful that talk about copyright law for music along with links to SoundCloud and BandCamp.

http://mpa.org/copyright_resource_center/copying

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_copyright_law

http://soundcloud.com/

http://bandcamp.com/

photo credit by bwhistler

I have heard many people ask different people how often they should update there blog. I use to have that question until I had the opportunity to see the following speech by the awesome @unmarketing author of UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.(affiliate link) at the Inbound Marketing Summit last October in Massachusets.

If you really want to get an overview of how you should handle your blog I recommend you to watch this video on @unmarketing’s presentation. ( I would Recommend you to go to minute 12 unless you want to see the whole video)

Here are our recommendations on how often to update your corporate blog:

When you have something interesting to share with more than one person! On many occasions we go through the trouble of reciting the same event or information over and over again with clients. If you create a post you allow many people to have access to it and those who are interested can get as much detail as they want.

If you have something that is valuable to your community! On multiple occasions I run into many resources like videos, articles posts, and experiences I know my community would take advantage. If that is the case you should definitely create a blog post.

When you have the time! Many people create schedule on blogging and if you need to do that that is fine but in my case I try to write when I have the time. My main goals in life is primarily my family and second growing my business. If I stop focusing on the clients I have acquired because I have to post something on my blog I will start getting into trouble very quickly. The same goes with not taking care of family and friends. Try to make time to blog but if you are too busy then you should definitely leave it for another occasion.

If you have an Event you should write a blog post about it. It is key that you write a post previous to the event preferably with a significant amount of time to get those who might be interested in the event engaged. During the event it is good if you provide resources for people to use especially if it is a multiple day event. Posting schedules, pictures and videos can actually increase the reach of your event outside of those who are attending. After the event it is a great opportunity to get your attendees engaged and set up the stage for the next event making them part of your community.

When YOU can create an Awesome Post! In the words of @unmarketing the best time to update your blog is when you have something Awesome to post. If you go to his blog un-marketing.com he posts periodically with no set schedule.

How often should you update your Corporate Blog?

Here are our recommendations on how often to update your corporate blog:

What do you think is the right time to update your post? What have been your experiences?