The Life/Art Integration Project

We made some changes to the website. We added new download links, a brand new photo page with pictures from our travels, and our travel blog.

First, we separated the download page from the listen page. On the new download page there is a link where you can buy my music at CDBaby. There is also still a link to download it for free directly from me, or you can download it from The Internet Archive. At the archive you can find the higher quality .wav version of my album along with the .mp3s.

Also, there is a new photo page. We picked the best images from our travels throughout Asia and put them together in a slide show. You can also view our travel blog, Have You Had Your Rice Today? through the website now. We are doing all we can to merge Kyle Butler the musical image with Kyle Butler the actual human being, whereas before we thought for some reason that the two should be separated. (Christin calls this the Life/Art Integration Project.) Also, to that end, we are going to try to make some music videos with footage we get during the next leg of our travels. So as always, there will be more to see.

Novice monks in Chiang Mai.

Finally, we added more info to the listen page. While you listen you can peruse my album notes and bio. We're working on adding the lyrics, and we'll have them up as soon as we figure out a seamless way to integrate them into the site. (We haven't forgotten about you Khris. Also, the lyrics are attached to the .mp3s. Just right click the song in iTunes and look for the tab that says "lyrics." Or, just turn the volume up and listen real hard.)

Please Buy My Music

I changed my mind. Give me back all that free music. >:-[ whyIoughta...

Just kidding! ;-) (I promise that this will be the last time I use emoticons in this blog.)

I've put my music up for sale at CDBaby.com. You can buy the mp3 version of It'll Never Come Again for $9.99 or $.99 per song. It will also soon be available on iTunes, Amazon, etc. I would recommend CDBaby, though, because (selfishly) I get the biggest cut from them and (unselfishly) they are currently donating $1 from every album sold to the American Red Cross and to Mercy Corps, a Portland-based relief organization with a large presence in Haiti.

I'm still giving my music away for free at the website and at archive.org, but if you have the money and you want to support my work, then you can also purchase it. Either way, the best way that you can support me is to play my music for your friends and join the mailing list.

Also, I just want to say thanks for all the support you guys have given me so far.

love,
Kyle

What's up with the Downloads? Or, The Down Low on the Downloads

So apparently the download links have not been working properly (I thought you guys just didn't want my music). To rectify the situation, we've put the album up at archive.org. Point your browser to http://www.archive.org/details/ItllNeverComeAgain to download it from their server. You can download individual tracks if you want, or for the full album download the .zip file underneath the "whole item" heading. We're working on the website, and we'll have something new up and running soon.

Please Steal My Music

You may have noticed a new button at the bottom of every page that looks like this:

That means that anybody (including you) has permission to distribute, remix, or use the songs on It'll Never Come Again under a Creative Commons license. There are, however, a few catches: The tiny man (BY) says that you have to give me credit. The crossed-out money symbol (NC) says that my music is only available for non-commercial purposes. (If you wanna make money, then I wanna make money. We can work something out.) The little circley arrow (SA) says that if you rework, remake, or remix my music then you have to freely share your rework, remake, or remix the same way I have freely shared the originals.

Why would I leave my car door unlocked with my intellectual property sitting in plain view on the front seat and a big sign that says "Please steal me!" on the windshield? (What a metaphor!) I think that the internet is an amazing distribution outlet for creativity and people should be free to use it without fear of legal retribution. This way, the free flow of ideas will not be hindered and our lives will be richer for it.

Here's what the Creative Commons people think:

So if you want to make a techno remix of I've Been Stuck in New York City for Way Too Long and put it on your Myspace page or put Origami under a slow motion video of your uncle getting hit in the nuts by a tennis ball, or (better yet) share It'll Never Come Again with your friends via a P2P file sharing site, you have my blessing. I love watching other people get hit in the nuts with stuff.