Hello My Friends:

In the excitement of putting Mezzrow together, our new baby jazz club, I haven't spoken much about the other big project that has been taking much of our time this year - the launch of our new SmallsLIVE site and the musician revenue sharing project.  If you're getting this email then you are most likely registered for the free use of our live stream.  Streaming and archiving the performances at Smalls has been my main prerogative since I started managing the club in 2007.  As we stand now, we have more than 9000 recordings in our archive in both audio and video and represent nearly 1000 jazz musicians.  Our goal is to create a live streaming subscription platform where our fans can access this ever growing library of music.  Our goal is also to create a fair revenue sharing system whereby the artists that perform here are 50/50 partners with SmallsLIVE.  Our goal is to generate revenue through subscriptions to the library and to fairly distribute the royalties to the artists.  David Byrne is an advocate for a new revenue sharing model that is exactly in line with the direction we're going.  Here's a link to a great interview with David Byrne about this very model ---> CLICK

We've come a long way in making this happen.  Earlier this year I made a good partner - my friend Nate Aune, who runs his own website development company.    Between Nate and his company and me and my SmallsLIVE staff (who I really need to credit for their hard work - they work here in this office and really bust their butts.  Let me mention their names - Mike Bond, Una Stade, Michael Sansevere, Michelle Watt and Steve Brickman) we have been designing the site together.  Some of the biggest challenges we've faced in the last two months has been how to tackle the issues with copyright laws and licensing fees.  This has involved some extensive research and the consultation with two top copyright lawyers - Mr. Steve Gordon and Mr. Jonny King (who is a master jazz pianist in his own right).  At this stage we think we have a handle on the legal issues involved and have formulated a strategy on how to really go forward with our project.

When the SmallsLIVE site is finally launched it will be a nexus for live jazz performance and hundreds of hours of archived jazz music - exclusively available only from our site.  Furthermore, it will be a platform for each artists that has played at Smalls to mange their own content, license material of their choice, sell their own music and create an on-line following of fans who have already watched them perform via our live stream.  We are also beginning to move into the educational realm and will be doing live masterclasses from the club with the intention of building an extensive jazz education library.  I am also very excited to announce that SmallsLIVE has made an agreement with Joel Chriss who is a highly esteemed promoter.  We will be booking "SmallsLIVE Presents:" concerts at jazz festivals world-wide.  This will give us the opportunity to send Smalls musicians on the road for performances.

We are also interested in making new partnerships in order to make SmallsLIVE a reality.  We are very close to completion of the site but could use a financial partner to help us get through the expenses of our first year until revenue is generated.  Anyone interested in speaking with me further on this matter please contact me directly.  You can respond directly to this email.

As usual I thank you for your support for this music and of Smalls Jazz Club.  I hope to see you in person down here.  This particular week looks unbelievable and the feeling in the club has been electric as of late.  Don't miss it!

Best Regards,

Spike