Amazing

This morning I woke up not knowing what would become of this day.  Around 11AM I was out and about when I got notification that Kickstarter had replied to my submission.  YES!

I opened the email and to my surprise, they declined it! Apparently they declined it cause I used certain licensed music in the video for the presentation.

Kickstarter does not allow anything licensed to be used in any Kickstarter presentation on any level.  This is how the the people at Kickstarter watch their own backside from being sued.  I can understand that.  However I was livid.  I have already put an enormous amount of time and energy into this project.  Not being accepted by Kickstarter would be a huge blow that would take quite a bit of time to recover from.  I knew that I was taking a risk by using it but did it anyways since I felt it was miniscule.  I was already planning on purchasing licensing rights from ASCAP today.  Yes, today.  Purchasing those rights would secure safety that my station would not be sued if I played licensed music.  So it is a very important piece to the puzzle.  I messed up by submitting the project a day before I purchased those rights.  Had I waited, I could have presented the licensing rights along with the project.  (Still may have been declined but I do not know)


The news of the project being declined almost ruined my entire day.  As I said, I was livid.  I was mad at them, and I was also mad at myself for taking that risk.  My anger grew more and more until my displeasure at being declined was all I could think about.

Then.... something amazing happened.

On my way home I had stopped at a gas station to put in some gas for my car.  The moment I walked in I heard something that changed everything.  It lifted my mood, gave me faith, and provided me with confidence.  It was a sign!

Inside the store, the radio was on a local radio station called Magic 105.3.  No more than two seconds of walking inside the store I heard the DJ on the air began to speak. It just so happens, Magic has a station positioning statement that says...

"Magic 105.3, giving you the very best of the 80's, 90's, and today!"

When I heard the DJ say that, I stopped in my tracks.  I was aware that Magic used that slogan as a station position statement, but I haven't heard it in several years since I am not a Magic listener.  To me, this was a sign that everything is going to be alright.  This was simply going to be a temporary snag in the creative process of making this station come to life.  

My bad mood was gone, my confidence was restored, and suddenly my day went back to normal.

As soon as I got home I immediately submitted an appeal for reconsideration.  In  this situation, they give you 500 characters to explain why your project needed to be reconsidered.  I told them in my appeal that I would edit the video and take out the music even though I had purchased the ASCAP rights this morning.  I assumed they would not care I had the legal rights to use the song that I played in my Kickstarter presentation video. 

Now, I wait yet again.