The email said:
“Ha ha ha ha ha. RIAA paid its lawyers more than $16,000,000 in 2008 to recover only $391,000!!!” (Further Details: Recording Industry vs. The People – http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/)
What is wrong with this picture? What has happened to the music industry?

I remember several years ago an attorney told me that recording companies seriously consider suing its customers as a viable business model for the music industry (let’s say, several thousand dollars for each case settled). What a joke. But it was not a joke.

Why do I hear more news about RIAA suing people or organizations, rather than about some recording companies coming up with innovative products or services that are gonna amuse music lovers and change the future. Instead, they are suing John does, Jane does, dead people, computer-illiterate grandmas, Napster, Grokster, now Limewire, etc..

My friend Nicolas, who once got actively involved in the 90’s music scenes in the city, said “Napster was the best thing that ever happened to the music industry!” What?! Somebody from RIAA might try to kill him for saying that because Napster literally killed their once steady business model. Steady but probably was not that sustainable. Frankly, in some ways Napster was one of the very innovative music services we hadn’t seen quite in a while. It’s unfortunate that the music industry didn’t try hard (or didn’t know how) to turn that into new business opportunities.

So making a 9-year-old-free-downloader boy a criminal would be the only aid to resuscitate the music industry? Do you think it’s that simple? Think again.

How about the music video I accidentally posted below? Ok. Let’s talk about that. Let’s say I want to post music on my blog or want to use some music for my video to post online, how much I should pay for it? If I use the music I downloaded legally (so I paid for it and I own it), is it okay? Otherwise, Is it gonna be insanely expensive? Who should I contact to license? Is it even possible to license the music even if I find somebody to license it? A lot of people nowadays may not be that interested in downloading or physically owning the music. So it may not be about downloading any more. Then, do you know what kind of license is it required? Do you know that there are several different types of licensing: Mechanical Licensing, Performance Licensing, Synch Licensing, Blanket Licensing… Do you know what to get for what you wanna do? Do you know who to contact for each different kind of licensing? Do you know the difference among ASCAP, BMI, Harry Fox Agency, Publishers, Recording Companies, Sound Exchange? Do you know the difference in their licensing roles? Hmmmm… If you have no clue, then the music industry has no clue that you have no clue.

I once had a brunch with a well-known music licensing attorney. He whispered that if anybody tries, they are gonna demand a large sum to scare people away. Also, when I visited an office of a big music publisher before, they had a very complex licensing map that was divided into certain percentages depending on the regions. But how can you deal with that? Nowadays, when you put it up online, that’s instantly global. How come you have very meticulous, complex, incomprehensible division in the licensing rights and then expect people to geniusly figure out how to comply? How are you gonna solve that? How and when are you gonna return the pleasure of enjoying music back to people? I wanna know the answer.

Oh, how about this?: the music industry can give me a portion of the money spent on or to be wasted on the law suits. Let’s say, $3 million. Then, I’m gonna turn that into a very interesting business that could change the future. How about that? Are you interested?

I love Flight of the Conchords because they are real music lovers. Unlike some manufactured pop stars who are more obsessed with their styles and cheesy outfits than with creating real music, Flight of the Conchords knows how to create and enjoy real musical delights, bringing up real emotions from people. When they talk about global issues or their daily lives, they don’t do lecture in a condescending way. They don’t claim that “we are the world.” They are just “one of us,” talking about their experience as we all do. They don’t claim that they are big stars with the power to gather everybody and heal the world. To the audiences, ironically, they are real stars because they know how to reach to us and really touch our heart with their music and lyrics.

I love Flight of the Conchords because in their music I find something similar to my experience in the city. It just feels like I have known them for a loooong time. Flight of the Conchords is a music duo coming from New Zealand to New York, trying to find their place in the music business. I also came from a foreign land to make my presence in the entertainment and media industry. Let’s say, it’s kinda a sense of empathy. It’s great amusement to share their experience and compare theirs with mine with a lot of laughs.

I bumped into Bret a few weeks ago in my neighborhood and had a moment with a jolt of excitement, along with a brief conversation with him. Ahhhh. I was feeling like a teenager groupie girl and turned the conversation into a total nervous awkward encounter. I hope that I would do better and different next time I talk to him or Jemaine.

Just check out their videos. You will know what I mean. You are gonna be very amused. My favorite songs are “Business Time” “Mutha ‘Uckas” “Foux Du Fafa” “Think about it” “Robots” “Inner City Pressure.”

Their second season starting today on HBO January 18th Sunday at 10PM. Tune in. Gonna love them.

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I often get requests from friends and their friends who are looking for jobs to take a look at their resume. It always surprises me by the number of mistakes or perhaps assumptions that people sometimes make with their resume. There are some pretty well “Do’s” and “Don’ts” (at least I think there are).

So here my quick rules regarding a great resume.

1. Keep it Simple! Repeat, Keep it Simple!
2. Only 1 Column! This is a resume, not a newspaper or brochure.
3. Use 1 and only One, Uno, Eins, Ichiban, Yi, Typeface or Font!
4. Make sure that the Typeface you use is EASY TO READ! A Sans is usually best.
5. NEVER MAKE YOUR TYPE FACE SMALLER THEN 10 or 11 POINT. We are getting older and don’t want to bring out a magnifying glass to read a resume.
6. Make sure your Typeface is compatible with Macs and Windows.
7. Sending a resume as a PDF is fine, but be prepared to immediately send the same resume as a word document on request. If you are sending your resume to a recruiter or HR department at a corporation, always send a Word version and include a PDF of the same document (just to be safe).
8. Get rid of anything that doesn’t apply. It’s just noise, and I certainly don’t need more in my life. Remember, Keep It Simple.
9. DO NOT REPEAT YOURSELF – I can’t tell you how many resumes I’ve seen that say the same thing 20 times – they are the ones that immediately go into the Bin (the one under my desk marked “Shredder”).
10. Eliminate anything that is obvious, redundant or overly general. For example, saying that you have Experience with writing doesn’t tell me anything. I expect everyone to have experience writing. But if you have “Experience Writing, Editing and Proofing Scripts” or “Copywriting Experience”, that’s a SKILL that can be used.
11. Unless you performed a job that required your travel, I have no interest in knowing what countries you have been to. Vacation is not part of work! On the other hand, If your job required that you travel to Antarctica, Kenya and Tibet as Foley, then I’m interested. Feel free to tell me during the interview if you feel that it’s relevant.
12. Don’t tell me that you have a skill that you can no longer perform. For example, if you used to work with machinery and lost an arm, don’t make it seem that you are still capable of doing the same job, unless you really can. For example, I’ve had a woman who give me a resume that was great, indicated that she could work on location just about anywhere, but when she came in for an interview, she revealed that she was a single mom with two small kids, so having her go to the jungle in Ecuador for 6 weeks was out of the question.
13. If you can fit your resume on one page, then by all means please do so. If you have an extensive background that spans pages, then have two resumes. Call the longer one your “CV” or “Curriculum Vitae”. Use the short one as your default resume and have your CV ready to produce on demand. If you resume must span more then one or two pages, make sure that the important stuff fits on the first page. I realize that a lot of people in entertainment usually have many credits. Try to list these, but be brief with them. I don’t need to know, in detail, every thing that you did in the past 40 films, television shows and commercials you worked on.
14. Read it again. What can you remove? What did you describe twice or more times? Did you forget anything? Are there grammar or spelling mistakes?
15. If your resume is going to be longer then one page, ALWAYS put a footer with your NAME, Phone Number and Page Number.
16. ALWAYS put your first and last name on your resume. A resume that is called RESUME.PDF usually ends up in the trash.
17. Don’t stress that you can multitask. This is such an overused resume “word” and frankly, nothing more then a bunch of crap. Most people can’t multitask very well, and those who claim to be able to do 25 times at the same time usually do none well, and frankly scare me.
18. One more time, Simplify! This is a resume, it is designed to get me interested in you and your potential to fit into a job that I may have. I am not interested in reading your Biography.
19. Make sure your structure follows this:
    • NAME & CONTACT INFO
      I need your name, your phone(s), your email and your city, state and zipcode. I don’t need your street address. If you have a blogs/reel/portfolio/website online, put that here as well, don’t make me hunt for it because it’s buried someplace else. If you have an IMDB or Linkedin page you can also list the url here. But never put more then 3 url’s in this section. It’s also OK to split this section (and only this section) into two columns. I’d rather have 2 columns of 3 lines each then have you use up 6 or 7 lines with your contact info.
    • CARRER OBJECTIVES
      I want to know what you want to do, where do you see yourself in 5 years?
    • SUMMARY OF YOUR SKILLS/QUALIFICATIONS
      I will read this first and determine if your skills match what I need).
    • JOB HISTORY & DESCRIPTIONS
      This backs up your Skills Summary above. Keep your descriptions to short, relevant bullet points. I don’t need a “How To” on using After Effects, just that you used it, and maybe 1 (one!) example of the use. Tell me the name of the company, the date range, and your job title in the first line. As a rule of thumb, try to limit the number of items. I don’t need to know every single thing you did, even though you might think that your 25 different things from maintaining the website to cleaning the toilets will somehow enhance my view of your abilities.
    • RELEVANT SKILLS
      If you are applying for a job as a Graphics Designer, then put down Computer Software you use, but your ability to field strip an M16 blindfolded probably doesn’t apply
    • PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
      If you are any, list them. Some organizations, such as the PGA or the WGA have high standards and a comprehensive vetting process, and membership carries extra weight.
    • EDUCATION
      Unless you are in high school, only tell me what College(s) you went to and what degrees you received. DO tell me of any special training you have received, either on the job or as part of a program. If you have taken a weapons wrangling course and have an FFL certification, then I’m interested. Don’t EVER exaggerate or lie or misstate your education and training. If you only completed 3 years of college, it’s usually OK based on your experience as described in your Job History and Skills. If you tell me that you have Weapons Certification and it turns out you don’t, well, that’s a felony almost everywhere and I won’t bail you out when you get arrested.
    • LANGUAGES
      I’m always interested in your language skills, especially if you are a fluent speaker and bonus points if you can read and write.
    • EXTRA STUFF
      If there is some extra items that you feel someone might be interested in knowing about you, then you can list it here, and only assuming that you have space to do so. Also don’t go overboard. I probably won’t read this part, but if I do, I don’t want to see more then 2-3 lines. Remember, you always have the interview to tell me more about yourself.
    • REFERENCES
      When I get a resume, I don’t care to have references listed. When I’m ready to hire you I will ask for them. However, it’s usually a good idea to just put a notice at the very end of your resume that states: “REFERENCES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST”

So there you have it. These are my quick and dirty rules for resumes.