Brief update

I had promised to post about my whereabouts & adventures; somehow it has taken a few weeks to get to it.

The idea was to travel to Latvia and stay there for a couple of months working on my Latvian language skills, and practising some new Latvian repertoire...this while waiting to hear from the Danish Embassy regarding my potential residence permit, which as far as I understood could take until the end of November to hear about.  Hah! I arrived in Riga, Latvia on October 3rd and as I was waiting for my luggage I checked my email and there it was! My first minutes in Latvia...and the Danish government is telling me I have a year-long visa to live in Denmark, effective immediately!

Lately, my observation is that although planning seems to be necessary in order to function in life, more often than not what one has planned is not how things turn out...

So, two months in Latvia turned into two weeks, which were lovely. Then, a week in Copenhagen, a week in Dublin to visit my daughter & good friends, then back to Copenhagen. I will be here until the end of November, then back to Canada for December. Then January back in Copenhagen for real.

Joyous adventures.

So, contact info is still by email mogenpianist at gmail dot com, by phone in Canada at 647 405 7664. (Actually I get calls & voice mail at this number even when I'm not in Canada.) And, there's always facebook. Stay in touch!

4th & final "4@4"

A happy audience!

I'm quite glad to have done this little "4@4" house concert project this month. I've enjoyed it and have felt some warm support and lovely response from my audiences. This Sunday (March 25, 2012) is not only the final concert of the series, but in fact is also the final concert on the piano I have owned for the past nearly twenty years and the final concert in this house. Mogenpianist is making a move, a shift, and it involves selling both home and piano and a whole lot more! It's all good and quite exciting.

Stay tuned to see how the next chapter unfolds.  In the mean time, perhaps you can make it this Sunday to hear some of the repertoire from my upcoming Volume 3 release or perhaps we'll cross paths in other ways.  Many thanks to all who are part of my support team for my latest recording project!

Merch???

When I released my first solo CD back in 2007, I was quite excited about having a "product" that people could actually buy and take home. Throughout my entire career up until then, I had only "services" on offer. Not that those services are anything to sneeze at: performances, teaching, coaching, adjudicating, giving workshops, etc. But none of these can be held in your hand.

Now, it turns out the recordings that people purchase aren't always in a tangible hold-it-in-your-hand format anymore after all what with all the other formats available. (see previous post regarding survey results) But I still get a kick out of taking a stack of CDs to an actual store or sending them in the mail to the purchaser (well actually, my "Mail Order Dept."/Mom does that) - the novelty of doing this has not worn off.

So, maybe I should be getting into selling "merch" as well? I don't think I'm quite up for selling t-shirts at this point, but you never know.  The following is the closest I get to offering Sandra Mogensen/Edvard Grieg merchandise: as a thank you for a $10 donation to the Volume 3 recording project, I am offering some very swell "Rainbow-Grieg Fridge Magnets". (donations can be made by clicking the "donate" button on the right side of this page) I had these magnets available for previous projects and still come across them now and then in people's homes, so here they are again; designed by my daughter. You must admit, as fridge magnets go, they are pretty lovely...

Music Listening Habits 2012: survey says...

I recently conducted an online survey in order to get a sense of people's habits these days regarding "consumption" of music. Here is a summary of the results: 

• Just under 70 respondents participated.

• The majority of respondents were between the ages of 30 and 59.

• Women respondents outnumbered men by a ratio of more than 2:1.

• The most-listened-to type of music by this group of respondents is Classical (80%). Pop/Rock (68%) and Jazz (56%) are the next most popular types of music for this group.

• The  majority of respondents attend live musical performances slightly often, moderately often, or very often.

• The mp3 player is the device of choice for listening. CD players, YouTube, & iTunes are also used quite regularly.

• Music is not being purchased in digital format very often, especially considering that the mp3 player is used so extensively.

• Physical CDs are typically purchased slightly often.

• When said physical CDs are purchased, this is largely at actual CD shops or at concerts. 

• Nearly as often as the purchases made at CD shops is the amount of  purchased downloads through iTunes.

• By a slight majority, music is consumed through online streaming more often than not.

The main understanding I have gleaned from this data, which confirms my suspicion, is that we are still in a transition phase regarding listening habits and recording purchases.  As I prepare my next recording for release I was hoping to gain a more decisive picture as to what format to focus on, CDs, downloads, or what...but we live in an era of multitudinous choices. It goes without saying that the question of how artists are to be fairly compensated for their recorded work is a concern, given this reality.

Please join the conversation on this matter through commenting or tweeting.

Many thanks to all the participants in the survey! (The massive consolidated playlist is still to come, btw.)

1. What category includes your age?

17 or younger		6%
18-20		11%
21-29		12%
30-39		11%
40-49		18%
50-59		30%
60-69		11%
70 or older		1%

2. What is your gender?

Male		31%
Female		69%

3. What are the types of music you typically listen to?

Classical		80.3%
Jazz		56.1%
Pop/Rock		68.2%
Country		24.2%
HipHop/Rap		19.7%

4. How often do you attend live musical performances?

Extremely often		6.2%
Very often		23.1%
Moderately often		46.2%
Slightly often		20.0%
Not at all often		4.6%

5. What is the device you use most often for listening to music?

CD player		33.3%
mp3 player (eg. iPod)		51.5%
Radio		39.4%
Computer (iTunes)		33.3%
Computer (YouTube)		33.3%
Computer (other)		21.2%
Other		4.5%

6. How often do you purchase music in a digital format?

Extremely often		7.6%
Very often		10.6%
Moderately often		19.7%
Slightly often		19.7%
Not at all often		42.4%

7. How often do you purchase music in a physical format (CDs, records, cassettes, etc.)?

Extremely often		6.1%
Very often		9.1%
Moderately often		25.8%
Slightly often		33.3%
Not at all often		25.8%

8. Where do you purchase music for listening?

At concerts		36.4%
iTunes		51.5%
CDBaby		1.5%
Amazon		16.7%
CD shop		54.5%
Other		19.7%

9. How often do you stream music online?

Extremely often		20.0%
Very often		6.2%
Moderately often		26.2%
Slightly often		16.9%
Not at all often		30.8%

(please note that for questions #3, 5, & 8, respondents were free to give multiple answers)