I’ve been getting all kinds of email asking for permission to use my music in videos, post photos of me online, or for clarification on what my bootleg policies are. Maybe this is a good time to address this…

• If you want to post photos of me at a performance or convention, I strongly encourage it. All I ask is that you let people know who that guy in the photo is.
• If you’re videotaping or recording one of my live shows, I would love to see those recordings spread around. Just do me a favor- try to remind folks that they can get professionally-recorded live music at matthewebel.net. If you want more concerts, I need to keep paying my bills- subscriptions are the best way for me to do that.
• If you want to use my music in your project, just bear in mind whether or not it’s a money-making project. You want to put Everybody Needs A Ninja behind your kids’ martial arts tournament video? Awesome. Want to use it on a site that’s bringing in Google Adwords or affiliate link revenue? Talk to me first. I want to make things easy for you, but again… I have bills to pay. If I’m helping you pay yours, I’d appreciate some assistance.
• For anything you post online, try to tag things with either Matthew Ebel or matthewebel so Google and I can find it. And whenever possible, I always appreciate a link back to matthewebel.com as high up on the page as possible.

So there are some official policies straight from the musician’s mouth. Er, blog. The point is that I’m not some RIAA stooge, I’m not commuting to gigs in a private jet, and I’m not trying to break anyone. I want to see my fans get as excited about the music as I do, so if there’s anything I can do to help (or if you have any questions), just email me!

Update: Contest entries have ended… time to decide on a winner!

Matt Needs A Drink
Originally uploaded by RoninOtter.

Pay attention, you could win a Matthew Ebel dot net All-Access Pass for one month! My room mate RoninOtter took this picture as we were testing out some of his new photography equipment. Right after he posted it, C.C. Chapman mentioned it looked like a mugshot.

Well, C.C., you’re absolutely right.

So what’s the contest? Reply to this blog post and tell me:

The winning entry will be picked on Feb. 1 by a panel of random friends who haven’t entered the contest. Yes it’s totally subjective and will be based on whatever makes us laugh the most. If you really want to skew your chances, try photoshopping this and posting to your own blog, but make sure you link to it here in the comments with your official entry.

Contest ends at the end of January 2009 and you can enter as often as you like!

Leave your entries here…


Update: I thought it would go without saying that entries containing vulgar language or epithets would be deleted. Apparently, it needs to be said. Be tasteful.