What Is That You Hear?

When I said “I do” a month and a half ago, I didn’t mean I would do this. If anyone knows what’s going on with Stanza, it isn’t me. (Savanna here.) Mostly, I am relying on things I’ve heard from my husband. But I will try to tell you a story, and hopefully explain a few things. 

So. Suppose you’re walking in the forest. Dappled sunlight, cool, deep shadows, vast silence, all of that. You are calmly stepping through the familiar world where you feel comfortable, when you hear a strange sound. 

Your eyes roll with fright. You stop, tense. What is it? The sound comes again, louder this time. A low, beautiful, beguiling sound. But is it safe? Nervously, you stamp a hoof. You snort a little. You really should keep your distance, you tell yourself. It might be dangerous. But it’s such a nice sound. Your ears flick. Your muscles relax and you put a cautious hoof forward toward the noise, then another and another, listening to that entrancing call…

What Stanza needs right now is not a deer call, but a songwriter call. Perhaps some enchanting music floating on the breeze, always just out of reach…Just like the Pied Piper, we want to spirit you all away. But not to an endless wandering of the world. Why, we aren’t even going to shoot you. 

Since I am not officially one of the team, I can tell you something about these Stanza guys: They are crazy. No, really. They are. But let me tell you something else: They care about you as a writer. They care about your work. And they want to make the use of your songs a good experience for you. They want you to ask questions and share concerns if you have them. They want to help you if you need it. They are concerned about fair author agreements and good user experience. And while this project is a new venture for them and they are working out the answers as they go along, you can trust them to do the best they can for you and for the project. 

So, we’re blowing the deer call. Please sign up your songs. If you are ready to sign a contract, get in touch with one of us.

However, if you prefer not to sign up your songs, or sign up only some of them, we certainly respect that decision as well. Your agreement will only give us permission to use the very works listed on the contract: it has nothing to do with any future material. The rights of contracted songs will still belong to the author. 

We also appeal to those of you who don’t write, but know someone who does. Ask them if they’ve signed up their music. Encourage them. We are looking for published works from absolutely anyone who cares to share them. 

Kent is still writing code; the work goes on. Challenges and solutions continue to be discussed. And the music pipes, far in the distance. As of today, we have official permissions for 284 songs. We hope to see your songs among them soon. 

Stanza needs support from more than just authors. Pray for the work and the decisions that need to be made. Tell us your thoughts. Donate toward further development. (We have gotten some inquiries about beta testing, but we aren’t really ready for that yet.) You see, a project this large cannot be left solely to us. It will take the interest and support of many, many people to reach completion. We need people who will stay with us as the project goes on. We need songs. We’re calling you, and we hope that you don’t flick your ears and bolt the other way. 

Thank you for the support and interest so far. Till next time.