I remember first taking voice lessons in high school to prepare for college scholarship auditions. Shoveling out $20 per half-hour lesson already took some planning, so I was stuck with a decision: would I push the budget further to purchase all the music I would be singing, or use illegal copies of my teacher's music?

I also remember being offered a spot in a small ensemble that covered copyrighted music. The money was good, and the musicians were good, but there wasn't clarity as to how performance rights were being navigated. I passed on the gig.

One of my goals as a composer is to protect high schoolers, college students, and choir directors from these dilemnas, so that everyone can feel better about doing what they need to do to make music.

Just like most composers, I sell my music to musicians so they can copy and perform it. But before money changes hands, I make sure I'm selling musicians exactly the permissions they needed so they don't have to choose between breaking the bank and breaking the law just to make music.

I do that by sending a Purchase Agreement before you pay me. Take a gander at the sample agreement above. Maybe you want to be able to legally copy music for your voice students, or buy a reproducable score for your choir. We can put that in the purchase agreement so you don't have to worry about copyright issues.

This is an experiment, and it relies in part on good faith (as does every music distributor). Thanks for your cooperation. I hope that by working together, we can make the tangled world of music rights a little easier to navigate.