The care & handling of Steve Chatterton

Call me crazy, but I’m a proponent of the theory of “gift economy.” In a nutshell, what this means is that I give away everything I create for absolutely free with no strings attached and leave it up to you the consumer to determine if, when, and how well I should be compensated.

There are no secret clubs to join & no extra fees involved; no hidden downloads for folks who know the secret handshake. Everyone gets the same deal.

Think of all the times you’ve felt ripped off after paying full retail for an album based on one radio single or a favourable review just to get it home and find out it wasn’t worth the hype. I will never do that to you.

I will always give you the opportunity to get it for nothing, and I will always make it easy for you to find the free downloads on my site: http://www.stevechatterton.com/music

If you have some money to spare

You get to chose what you think the music is worth. If you think it sucks, you are free to have it for free. If, however, you’re one of those rare individuals who enjoys it, you might want to consider clicking on the “Donate” button to your right and sending me some compensation.

Think of it this way: if you like my music, and you want to hear more of it, help me justify my existence to my family so I can continue to stay at home and keep honing my craft. Otherwise, I’ll have to get one of those real jobs that tends to get in the way of the creative process.

If you have no money to spare

There are other ways to help me keep the music coming without directly sending me money. I’m talking about my sponsors.

You’ll notice some ads on the site. I try to keep them relatively diverse yet relevant and unobtrusive.

Google ads allow you to pay me without spending a cent. Every time you click on one the site you visit pays Google for sending you there and Google sends a cut of that to me. Pretty neat, eh?

Now don’t get any funny ideas, because if you abuse the system Google will cut me off forever and I’ll track you down & make you explain to my doe-eyed children why daddy can’t afford to feed them any more.

I also have other ads from companies like Amazon & Guitar Center where I’ll be paid a certain percentage of sales sent their way from my site. It costs you nothing extra. If you’re thinking of purchasing something online from one of these sponsors, you can help the cause by initiating your transaction right here.

Help get the word out

Another way to help me out is to let everyone in the known universe know about who I am and what I do. This could be as simple as telling a friend about a song you think they should hear & sending them a link.

Mind you, if you have a more public forum to help get the word out I’d greatly appreciate anything you can do. I make it a policy to include a link from my Resources page to anyone who mentions me in their blog on plays me on their podcast or does anything else to help get the word out.

The strongest advertising is strictly word of mouth, and I’m deeply appreciative to anyone who takes it upon themselves to help me out this way.

Non-Commercial uses of my music

If you like my music, you are free to download it under a Creative Commons Attribution – Non-commercial – Share Alike license. What this basically means is that you can privately enjoy my stuff & you can (by all means) share copies with all your friends & relations. You can put it in your podcast or YouTube video & make derivative works (remix, mash-up or whatever you crazy kids are doing with your electronic gizmos these days) to your heart’s content so long as it’s all legitimately non-commercial.

If you do use my music for any non-commercial public works like a video or a remix please send me a link so I can help promote your creation. I’ll give you a shout-out in the blog and a link from the Resources page.

Student film exception

Student film makers are free to use any of my tunes in their films so long as there is no commercial distribution deal in place. Once you get distribution, you can continue to use my music through the official channels outlined below or you can contact me directly to work out a some sort of deferred payment agreement if you’re really strapped.

Commercial uses of my music

My performing rights are administered in Canada by SOCAN and internationally by ASCAP. Contact me directly to work out the details of any other forms of licensing licensing (mechanical, synchronization, sample, etc.) as required.