I saved the diamond commercial on my DVR so I could remember the lyrics and do a net search to find the artist.

Very disappointing that a full version of the song does not exist.

I have listened to her other songs on iTunes. They are nice – but not in the same feel of “How Can I Tell You”.

Best of luck to your label and Chan’s career in 2007!

John

I appreciate your comments and your constructive advice. But I would submit that Chan has worked VERY HARD to “grow her base” on her own terms, and her numerous televison appearances, worldwide touring and willingness to be involved with a wide range of film and advertising endeavors speak to that point.

Though Ms. Marshall has other projects pending at the moment, if she wanted to record a full-length version of “How Can I Tell You?”, we’d certainly be supportive. But with all due respect to you and the several dozens of persons who have written to Patrick, Chris and myself about this issue, there’s more than one way to grow a career. Chan’s had a pretty good handle on how to do so for the past 12 years, and had she not already achieved a substantial fan base, name recognition, I sincerely doubt the diamond co. would’ve paid her a pile of money.

I am pleased you’ve been encouraged to purchase Cat Power music via the TV ad in question. However people learn about Chan is a-ok with us.

I understand your frustrations. One of your artists has created a tremendous amount of buzz over a commercial, and your artist really wants people to focus on her original music, not her commercials.

I do not know Chan’s (is that the artist’s name?) career motivations, but I am assumming that she is looking to grow her base. If she is not, then not wanting to produce that song is understandable. If she does want to grow, then I suggest she reads on.

That being said, there is a tremendous amount of demand being generated by a market that is well beyond the current Cat Power market. I am probably not your target demographic- middle age married male; but I did purchase her music as a result of the diamond commercial.

As a disclaimer, I am not in the music industry and wouldn’t know the first thing about music promotion. I am an executive in the software industry and get paid a pretty hefty salary to promote those products. So here is my unsolocited, non-industry advice!

The 30 second snippet of that song has created tremendous demand. A full version could very well vault your artist to become a household name. Christmas is over, and so is that commercial. Your window to market is closing rapidly, as the public’s memory is very short.

In my industry, the moto is produce and promote or die. I have to assume that is the same for yours.

John

Dr. Shanoi — and I presuming you are a doctor of music —- if Matador Records and Filmworks was in the habit of forcing it’s recording artists to do things they didn’t want to do, how many of those artists do you think would eager to continue working with us?

“get her to record the whole song”. Sure, just as soon as we’re done hypnotizing the rest of the roster.

As far as being haughty is concerned, you might wanna save the money you were gonna spend on a cover version of \”How Can I Tell You\” on purchasing sense of humor. Or failing that, try to come to grips with the incredible notion that Chan isn\’t just some human jukebox put on earth to soothe your material whims. She\’s pretty darn busy these days performing, writing and recording, with no small emphasis on songs she wasn\’t commissioned by a commercial entity to cover.

That said, I do thank you for your constructive criticism. Indeed, we are a very small company and we can use all the help we can get from smart persons such as yourself.

believe it or not, Chan’s got bigger fish to fry, both performance and recording-wise. But this is her call, either way. We don’t make the recordings. We just flog ‘em to you.

T –

it’s a bit less sinister than that. The diamond folks specifically wanted a certain section of the song, so that’s what Chan gave ‘em. Had any of us anticipated there’d be such great demand to buy the full length version, certainly it would’ve been a conversation worth having, but to Chan’s credit, she’s been pretty busy trying to promote and sell a newish record of her own songs, too.

“I’ve seen the ending anyways, and Love wins.”