Case Studies/Tom Benjamin
These are some of the most famous songs of all time. I hope to bring them to life. It would be fair to say I'm a guy who can take a 100 year old song and make it sound like a 50 year old song. — Dr Tom
Overview
Dr Tom Benjamin is from Detroit. He was reared on the Early Great American Songbook. As a teenager he sang in frat-party-rock bands. In his career as a Clinical Psychologist he often participated with ward sing-alongs and music therapy groups. These old songs from his childhood now seemed a bit lifeless. They pre-dated syncopation. Play-along instruments like tambourines only made things worse as they gave a temperance movement marching feel to the tunes - fine for two songs but deadening for a party. All that changed with midi. Dr Tom was a pioneer in introducing midi music and karaoke to the music therapy movement. Now Dr Tom is a researcher in a Centre for Learning Innovation in Sydney. His earlier music experience has come in handy as internet radio gives him the outlet and incentive to test-drive Web 2.0.
Radio-Tom.Com is the result - an mp3 playlist of free music with lyrics for download and sharing. For most people, Dr Tom's will be the first time they have had a chance to hear famous and greatest songs that they'd only read about.
License Usage
These songs cost Dr Tom next to nothing (but time) to record and hosting is now free. This lack of costs is passed on to his listeners.
Motivations
The goal is to generate interest. If people like what Dr Tom does with these ancient tunes they may well want to hear what he can do with more modern songs as well. The latter cannot be done for free as there are permissions, licenses, and fees. Oh, and did we mention the not-so-minor detail that you can buy recordings of the later songs done by the most famous artists in history? So this would clearly call for a conventional recording deal so that these could be done to everyone's satisfaction. In the meantime, there are enough public domain songs to keep Dr Tom busy feeding Radio-Tom.Com.
Media
Music