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Taken August 2012:Rama Obiero shows the PeaceTones team ACREF's community space, where his grassroots arts organization holds shows, workshops and classes on various topics from music to peace activism to public health.

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Free Download - Zing Experience

Vodou Ceremony by Zing Experience

FREE DOWNLOAD|| VODOU CEREMONY from our latest artist, Zing Experience's debut album to be released December 4th! To download this song for free, click "buy now" at the link below and enter "0" for the amount you want to pay. You will be asked to provide your email so the song can be sent to you. Let us know what you think of the song and share if you like it!!

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EVENT: PeaceTones's Executive Director will be talking about our upcoming project in Kenya with PeaceTones tomorrow at 2pm EST.  Register to watch by clicking the link!

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INSPIRATION TUESDAY || Every Tuesday, PeaceTones will post a song from an artist that inspires us. Today, we give you "Independence Cha Cha," a Congolese song, composed in 1960 by Joseph Kabasele Tshamala ("Grand Kalle"). This song became the anthem of not only the nationalist movement in the Belgian Congo, but also the newly independent states of Africa and of Haiti.

Baloji - "Le Jour d'Après / Siku Ya Baadaye" (Indépendance Cha-Cha) (Eng Subtitles) (by CrammedDiscs)

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Arts, Culture and the Rule of Law

Jeff Aresty

Founder Peacetones Initiative

Originally Posted at the World Justice Project

Rule of law is, at its core, founded in respect of our fellow human beings. As human beings, we are inherently expressive of our personal and communal histories and traditions.  The ability to communicate our unique cultural histories reinforces individuals' abilities to empathize with each other, thereby ensuring equality among peoples and that all are held equal before the eyes of justice.  When human empathy breaks down, or is overridden by other interests (political and economic, for example), it is often artistic expression and communication that reminds people of our common humanity, and brings us together once again in mutual respect.  The rule of law, equally, should afford society the freedom to engage in this important dialogue and protect the intellectual property of culture makers.  We believe in this symbiosis between law, culture, and peaceful coexistence.

To read the rest of this post at the World Justice Project, please click here.

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PeaceTones Nairobi Interviews || Philip Oyoo (by PeaceTonesWorld)

In August 2012, PeaceTones traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, to meet with musicians, grassroots activists, legal advocates and music producers and to find out what inspires and drives young Kenyan artists today, and what challenges they face in being heard both at home in Nairobi and beyond. This is the first in a series of interviews PeaceTones will be publishing in the coming months. Here we talk to Philip Oyoo, a resident of one of the largest slums in Africa - Kibera - and an inspirational young artist who is working both to establish his own career as a musician and to be a voice for peace and civic engagement amongst his fellow citizens of Kibera.

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@Wanito sings to a sea of elementary school kids, during which the children sing in chorus throughout his performance!

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Carolyn Malachi's first performance at the Montserrat show for PeaceTones. This woman is ridiculously talented and has a lyrical gift.  Check out Carolyn's music and her philanthropic work at www.carolynmalachi.com

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Check out a video of PeaceTones Executive Director, Ruha Devanesan, talking about the cause followed by a performance of 'African Child' by JayArr.

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Join PeaceTones for our first Washington DC Awareness Concert!

Time: Friday, July 27th, 8pm Venue: Montserrat House 2016 9th Street NW Washington, DC 20001 Tickets: $15 (available for purchase online or at the door)

Come hear the talented Carolyn Malachi perform in benefit for PeaceTones.  Carolyn will be preceded by PeaceTones' very own JayArr, an artist featured on one of our very first releases, "PeaceTones Sierra Leone."

100% of proceeds from the concert go to supporting PeaceTones' work in discovering, protecting and earning incomes for artists in Brazil, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Kenya, and beyond!

About Carolyn Malachi

Songstress, social philanthropist and Grammy Nominated recording artist are just a few titles held by Carolyn Malachi. A Washington, DC native born of musical roots, Malachi grew into her musical talent in 2005.   She has since used her authentic jazz sound for good by promoting the power of the arts to help push people "onward and upward": a mantra developed by the singer as a reminder to always turn adversity into opportunity.

About JayArr

JayArr is a reggae singer/songwriter born in Sierra Leone. JayArr has performed at sold-out venues in Sierra Leone, the UK and in the US.  His debut album, "Born Sierra Leonean," has sold over 10,000 copies and his new album, "Here 2 Stay," was released to a sold out audience at Zanzibar, one of Washington DC's premier night clubs on the waterfront, in March 2009. JayArr and eight other well-known Sierra Leonean artists from Freetown released an album with PeaceTones in 2009 called "PeaceTones Sierra Leone: Songs from Freetown."  Ninety percent of profits from this album are dedicated to the JayArr foundation, whose mission is to provide computer training and training in the arts to children and the general public in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

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A PeaceTones July Update

With so many exciting things happening this Summer, we thought we would give you a consolidated update and highlight our exciting projects and upcoming events. It’s been an extremely busy time here in the PeaceTones office and we love sharing our successes and projects with our wonderful supporters!

As previously mentioned, we are gearing up for our upcoming Kenya project.  For now, we are working on building connections with local organizations and fundraising for upcoming preliminary trips to Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya where we will lay the groundwork for our in-country project.   Of course, this means that right now we are making a huge push to fundraise for our Kibera trips and project, especially since our preliminary trip is happening just a few short weeks away in August.  We are so fortunate that Erin Thomas, an amazing musician and beloved supporter of PeaceTones, will be performing for PeaceTones this Thursday (July 12th) in East Cambridge.  All proceeds from this concert will go directly to funding our Kibera project.  We hope you can make it out to support us and join us for some great music, food, and drinks.   On the music front, we really excited to have signed with amazing musician John Steve Brunache.  Mr. Brunache, who first recorded his album, “Chimen Limye,” in 1994, has worked with PeaceTones to put together a remastered version of the album.   His story is a unique and amazing one, so look out for more information about Mr. Brunache from us soon.  In the meantime, check out the newly remastered album, which is for sale here at the PeaceTones website and will soon be up on iTunes and Amazon.com.      Summer at PeaceTones has been hectic and packed, and we can’t wait to share more good news with you all!  Hope to see you Thursday!

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Latest Release | Chimen Limyè by John Steve Brunache

PeaceTones is thrilled to announce the release of our latest album, "Chimen Limyè" by John Steve Brunache.

John Steve Brunache is a famous Haitian musician who came to prominence in Haiti during the 80's and 90's. He spoke on the biggest social and political issues of the times in Haiti with his songs, "La Relev", "Chimen Limye", and "Linyon".

John Steve released his seminal album, "Chimen Limyè," in 1994 from New York City, where he moved from Haiti in self-exile due to the risks to him and his family created from the political and powerful nature of his music. Since the release of his album, John Steve has risen to legendary status in his home country of Haiti and his music continues to be played across Haiti and the world by Haitians wishing to connect with the soul and roots of their country.

After a hiatus of over a decade, John Steve Brunache has decided to re-release a digitally re-mastered version of his debut album through PeaceTones, because he feels his messsage and ours align perfectly. The re-mastered version of Chimen Limyè is available for purchase through PeaceTones and will soon be available for sale on iTunes and Amazon.com

<a href="http://music.peacetones.org/album/chimen-limye-remastered" data-mce-href="http://music.peacetones.org/album/chimen-limye-remastered">Chimen Limye (Remastered) by John Steve Brunache</a>

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PeaceTones Fundraiser Concert | Get Your Tickets Now

Join PeaceTones and Erin Thomas as she debuts her brand new album.  100% of proceeds from the event go to PeaceTones' next project in Nairobi, Kenya.

Nashville-based singer-songwriter, Erin Thomas, evokes the styles of Alison Krauss, Patty Griffin, Eva Cassidy and Norah Jones but remains a unique – and gorgeous – voice.  Her new album “You Don’t Know Me” is a collection of songs that tell universal stories of life’s challenges, accomplishments, pleasures, and yearnings.  It features appearances by some of the best instrumentalists in the world as well as the song “That Kind of Love”, a duet with Vince Gill. Erin has been incredibly generous in offering to donate a dollar off every copy of "You Don't Know Me" to PeaceTones and to perform at house concerts across the United States to fundraise for our work. Her very first performance for PeaceTones will be right here in Massachusetts, the birthplace of PeaceTones! Come enjoy Erin's concert and support PeaceTones at this exclusive house concert, hosted by our generous friend, Pacey Foster, in his beautiful loft in East Cambridge. Tickets:

$25 (includes snacks and three free beverages)

$15 (snacks included; cash for beverages) Location: 613 Cambridge St. Cambridge MA  02141 Date & Time: Thursday, July 12th | 7pm - 9pm 100% of proceeds from the event go to PeaceTones' next project in Nairobi, Kenya. To learn more about what we plan to do in Nairobi, check out our Causes Page: bit.ly/M1OaxT

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Here Comes Kenya (from summer legal intern Zara Day)

           As we here at PeaceTones are in the middle of research and organizational planning for our upcoming project in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, we thought it would be a good time to share with you a little bit about why we are working in Kenya and why we are working in Kibera specifically.   In a later post, I will write a little about the legal landscape in Kenya to highlight just how different it is from the landscape here in the States. 

I. A very brief outline of Kenyan history

            Kenya is located on the East African coast and has been called the “cradle of humankind.”  Scientists in 2009 found the oldest footprint fossils that have yet been discovered in Kenya, dating back 1.5 million years.              In the 1880s and 1890s, Europeans embroiled in the Industrial Revolution participated in what was called the “scramble for Africa,” an endeavor to take control of the African continent to serve economic and political posturing purposes.  At the Berlin Conference in 1884, Europeans wrote laws to regulate trade in Africa and split up the continent, dividing up political and religious alliances and immediately turning African land into colonial conquests.  In 1895 the British government created the “East African Protectorate,” of which Kenya was a key part, and opened the land for white settlers.  Kenya did not officially become a British colony until 1920.             Kenya, a nation formed at the discretion of Europeans, was (and remains) made up of many tribes.  The Kikuyus, Masai, and Lua were and still are the most prevalent tribes in Kenya, but tribal discontentment is a major of source of conflict in Kenya today.  Although there were organized uprisings before WWII, they were, for the most part, quashed by British troops.  However, after WWII, Kenyan unrest hit its peak and Jomo Kenyatta, a former freedom fighter, became an outspoken activist and advocate for Kenyan independence. In 1947 Kenyatta became the president of the unsuccessful Kenya African Union, which organized for Kenyan independence.             As is often the case, unrest and discontentment led to more vital, physical movements by the Mau Mau, who advocated a more violent approach to British rule.  Although Kenyatta was not a member of the Mau Mau, and advocated a more nonviolent approach to independence, he was arrested by the British government for “collaborating” with the Mau Mau.              Kenya finally gained independence on December 12, 1963.  Jomo Kenyatta became Kenya’s first President.             After a controversial election in 2008, there were riots and uprisings all over the country.  At the root of the riots was disillusionment with the political regime and tribal discontentment.               Kenya today is a country dealing with the same problems that we are in the rest of the world - among other things: a flailing economy and technological advancements happening quicker than we can learn to deal with them.  Kenya is also, however, dealing with an AIDS epidemic that has stolen so many lives in Africa, a poverty level far below anything we can comprehend in the United States, stunningly unequal wealth levels (particularly shocking when we imagine how much money goes into Kenya due to the tourist industry) and discord that lies deeply entrenched in a nation whose boundaries were created by outsiders. 

   Pictured above: Jomo Kenyatta with supporters (including Kassam-Kanji Rahim)  

II. Kibera

            Kibera is a shantytown outside of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.  The largest slum in Kenya and the second largest slum in the world, Kibera houses somewhere between seven hundred thousand and one million people.  Most of the people who live in Kibera work in Nairobi and many earn the equivalent of twenty cents per day.                The land in Kibera is officially owned by the Kenyan government.  The land was originally given by the British to the Nubian soldiers that fought for the British during World War II, but the title was never officially passed on to tenants or purchasers.  Subsequently, although the land was “sold” through the generations, title was never really transferred.              A lack of access to clean water is one of the most pressing problems in Kibera.  Although the government technically owns the land in Kibera, there is little to no government presence in the area.  With so many people living in such compressed quarters, there are no street names and no defined streets.  There is no free access to clean water, and the people of Kibera generally have to pay both for water and for toilet access.  The only water in the town is the raw sewage on the streets that exists because of a lack of access to bathrooms.   School is too expensive and unrealistic for many young people.             However, there is a very strong community presence in Kibera.  Community and youth programs are dedicated to tech education, arts, and sports.  There is a strong push to make the government of Kenya take heed and take notice of the goings-on in Kibera.  There is a huge spirit of possibility, which has (and continues to) created a sense of development and urgency. 

III. Kenya Today

            Despite economic, political, and social unrest, Kenya today is a hotbed of international investment, has a significant NGO presence, and is a constant state of independent evolution and growth.  As ever, there is an incredibly strong sense of community in Kenya.             Kenya is also a nation that is rapidly adjusting to technological advancements as they happen.  Nairobi, called by many the “tech capital of East Africa,” is a city that has become totally logged in to the potential of the Internet in dealing with global crisis.  Google has opened a Kenyan office, and various tech organizations and collaboratives look to connect the nation.              At the center of Africa’s tech boom, a plethora of tech start-ups have put Kenyan ICT on the map.  Innovators in Kenya are using technology to counter many of the aforementioned social and health concerns.              Perhaps the most well-known Kenyan tech innovation to date is Ushahidi.  Ushahidi, which is Kiswahili for “testimony,” was developed to map riots and violence during the 2008 elections in Kenya.  Ushahidi started out as a website that allowed people to anonymously report violence via email or mobile phone.  This was especially useful for communities that would likely have been uncomfortable directly speaking with UN representatives or police at polling stations to report fraud or voter intimidation.   Ushahidi has since been used in Liberia, South Africa, and Haiti (after the devastating 2010 earthquake).  Becoming an international phenomenon and tool used for both social change and business tracking, Ushahidi typifies the creative innovations and solutions coming out of Kenya.             Innovators are also using mobile phone technology and applications to create innovative answers to the biggest public health concerns.  Recently, a group of four students from Strathmore University in Nairobi created the “Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response” system, which tracks the spread of diseases like HIV.   Mobile phone health technology (or mHealth) has the potential to greatly service the public, and Kenyans are advocating for the money that goes to funding mHealth and tech initiatives in Kenya to be given directly to Kenyan innovators instead of to foreign NGOs and external agencies.  With such a wealth of savvy tech pioneers, Kenyan innovators are forging forward to create incredibly useful social and medical innovations.

IV. What’s next for the PeaceTones Kenya project?            

After the success of our in-country Haiti project, we have high hopes for the potential of working in Kenya and finding exciting, innovative Kenyan artists.  As a quick recap, the model of our in-country projects is simple (but unique!).  First, we will put together legal and marketing training workshops for artists, this time in the Kibera area.  We plan to partner with various local organizations based in Kibera (and Nairobi) to put together legal workshops on intellectual property and copyright law, ICT organizations to help us better understand the layout of the technological landscape, and schools and arts organizations to help us get in touch with the youth community.             After our workshop stage, we will run a competition between about twenty of the artists that have attended our workshops.  These artists then go on to participate in an online competition where voters from across the world will select the finalist that will sign with PeaceTones.  We will record and distribute an album with the winning artist and ninety percent of net proceeds from album sales will then return to the winning artist.  The artist then commits to return some percentage of their earnings back to a community development organization in their own community.  This cycle, which was incredibly successful in Haiti in the competition where we signed our artist Wanito, is aimed to re-imagine the music industry to favor the artist and the community.               Today, we are in the planning stages for a preliminary trip to Kenya.  We have reached out to several organizations in Kibera and Nairobi that we hope to partner with, and are doing research into the legal landscape.  We’re excited to start sharing news, stories, photos and videos with PeaceTones’ fans when we get to Kibera!  A PeaceTones team will be visiting Kibera in early August to set up logistics for the project and to start bringing stories from Kibera to all of you.  Please visit our causes.com page to keep up with our project! 

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A Brief Outline of Copyright Law in the U.S. (from summer legal intern Zara Day)

            We live in a time when technology is moving at exponentially quicker rates than the laws that regulate it.  Copyright law is already complicated before introducing the complexities of the Internet into the equation.  The most basic principle of music copyright law is that the product of a person’s mind is equally as important as a physical product.  For example, a song on an album has the same legal and possessory value as the actual physical album itself.  Just because a song cannot be “held” does not mean that it does not have the same qualities of ownership that an album (or, less confusingly, a painting) does.

            Music copyright is a loaded area already.  It has always been a complicated and contentious subject matter, but the introduction of file-sharing sites like Napster, MP3s, and streaming sites and devices have created new obstacles for artists, record labels, and industry executives.  My blog posts over the coming weeks will consider the various ways in which the law has and has not dealt with technological advancements.  I will also evaluate the ways in which the laws’ actions (and inactions) have affected artists, music consumers, and labels.  This first blog entry discusses some of the most basic principles of copyright law in the United States.

  I.                What is copyrightable material?

            The intention of copyright law is (presumably) to ensure that thinkers, philosophers, and musicians are not at a legal disadvantage to artists and innovators who create more tangible products.  If property regulations were based strictly on “real property,” or physical goods and, as my property professor was wont to say, “goods with thinginess,” then all property that could not be held or physically manifested would have no protections.  Just because a creation is physically immaterial does not mean that it should have less legal safeguards than something that is tangible.  This protection is particularly important for musicians.

            Songs can be copyrighted.  Recordings (“sound recordings”) can be copyrighted.  Ideas, however, cannot be copyrighted.  This means that although an artist may have been the first person to express an idea, and may believe him or herself to have been the first person to have an idea, the idea itself is available for other artists to interpret, consider, and discuss.      

       In the United States the 1976 Copyright Act outlined three basic requirements for material to be copyrightable: originality, expression, and fixation. 

Originality:             In order for a song to be considered legally “original,” the court does not look primarily to the uniqueness of the composition or song.  Instead, the general legal emphasis is on whether or not the composition is an artist’s “independent creation.” If a song is legally an independent creation, it has been created entirely of the artist’s own mind.  For example, if a musician writes a song that, unknown to the musician has exactly the same melody and lyrics as another musician’s song, both musicians can own the rights to their songs as original compositions.  In the age of instant streaming and with such a great amount of music access, this is a highly unlikely scenario, but is an idea protected by the law nonetheless. 

            Since so much of music is based on the building and reinterpreting of past trends, the courts have been hesitant to highlight “uniqueness” or creativity as a substantial element of originality. The Courts require only “some minimal degree of creativity” for a piece of music to be considered original, in an effort to not stifle creativity.  One important reason why the creativity requirement exists is so that artists cannot expressly take works from within the public domain and attempt to copyright them as their own work.  For example, courts aim to protect songs like Yankee Doodle (which is within the public domain) from being performed by modern artists and then copyrighted so that other artists would not have access to it.

  Expression and Fixation:             As previously mentioned, although an artist’s “expression” can be copyrighted, an idea is not copyrightable. Even though the idea may be new, and it may never have been expressed before in any form of publication, as an idea it is part of the “public domain” and free for use by all people.  The only way to take your idea out of the public domain and protect it as your own is to “fix” it in a tangible medium such as by writing it down and publishing it, or by recording it (if it’s a song) and releasing it to the public as your own song.

            In order for a work to be legally “fixed” it must be “sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration.” (United States Copyright Act § 101)  Essentially, when it is possible to make a recording (historically a “phonorecord” or copy) of a song, the song has been fixed.  Subsequently, a musician that comes up with a great melody and a catchy hook has no rights to this work if it is played or recorded by another artist before the first musician fixes it.  Furthermore, if a musician comes up with the lyrics and melody for a song and plays it for a friend before fixing it, and the friend then records or fixes it herself, the first musician has no rights to the song.  Of course, this can create a sense of paranoia within the industry where musicians are unwilling to share unfixed work with each other.

Summation:             In short, in order for your song to be copyrightable it must be (1) an independent creation and have at least a modicum of creativity, (2) an original expression and not an idea, (3) able to be copied or recorded.

  II.              What is not copyrightable?

            There are several types of works that are not copyrightable. Works within the public domain cannot be copyrighted.  Works within the public domain include songs for which the copyright expired because they were written long ago.  Ideas, facts, names, titles, and short phrases cannot be copyright either.  Finally, unfixed works and works of the United States government cannot be copyrighted.  Artists no longer have to register their creations with the Copyright Office to secure copyright, but this used to be a requirement for copyright ownership, so works created before January 1, 1978 that were not accurately submitted to the Copyright Office may also be within the public domain.

The Public Domain:             Works within the “public domain” are accessible to all people.  A surprising number of popular songs are not within the public domain, but those that are can be used in movies, clips, and “samples” at will and without having to obtain anyone’s permission first.  At its inception in 1709, a work’s copyright lasted only fourteen years with the option for an author to extend another fourteen years if he was still living at the end of the first period.  Today works created after January 1, 1978 are copyrighted for the entirety of the creator’s lifetime plus seventy years beyond the artist’s life. 

III.            Who can own copyright?

            Music copyright ownership is broken down into important pieces.  Owners can have rights to songs or song recordings (or both).  Ownership of a song recording means that the owner has rights to royalties of one physical album or recording.  It is most common in the industry for artists to own the rights to their songs and labels to own rights to their song recordings.  This means that artists have rights to perform and play the song (the artistic and creative creation) and the labels have rights to sell, market, and distribute the physical manifestations of the artist’s work (albums, etc).  Copyright owners then sell licenses to third parties who want to use the copyrighted material (e.g. film producers, other artists wanting to do cover songs, etc). 

Mechanical Licenses:             Mechanical licenses give third parties the rights to distribute and produce copyrighted material.  The aim of mechanical licenses is to facilitate the process of music distribution. A mechanical license would likely be given by the owner of the rights to a song or sound recording to distribution organizations who would help market and sell albums.  As distribution for music becomes more internet-based, the dimensions and dynamics of mechanical licensees are evolving. 

  Performance Licenses:             Performance licenses give third parties the rights to play copyrighted material.  Today, one of the most interesting concerns dealing with performance licenses is how they interact with the many amateur musicians who post videos of covers on youtube.

Synchronization Licenses:             Synchronization licenses give third parties the rights to use copyrighted material in other media forms like films.  The ease of music copying and manipulation today also creates problems.  Since it is so accessible for individuals to “synchronize” their music to clips they have filmed and so simple to post these clips on Youtube, it is almost impossible (and certainly would be a public relations nightmare) for record labels to police all youtube video artists who use copyrighted materials in their clips.

Artist and Label Dynamics             As the relationship between artists and labels has evolved over time, the power dynamic has shifted.  Although the industry standard used to be that labels would pay a lump sum to buy both the song and song recording rights from artists, leaving artists with literally no ownership of their own creation, today, most artists maintain the rights to their songs.  It is important for musicians to know that it is possible for artists to lose all rights to their music, however, if they sell both the song and song rights.

Royalties             For copyright and compensation purposes, songs are generally split into two sections: “melody” and “lyrics.”  Subsequently, if multiple artists wrote either the melody or the lyrics, the copyright ownership and royalties are split between creators. 

What’s Next?             After briefly analyzing some of the most basic principles of copyright law, the next entries of this blog will consider some of the modern problems that technology and the Internet have posed for musicians, music consumers, lawyers, and labels.  

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Support PeaceTones on causes.com

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Our website is in the process of getting updates, so in the meanwhile, please excuse our appearance in this stripped-down version!  We're working on some very cool ideas for the new website.  We thought we'd share this interview with PeaceTone's Adam Berkowitz by Priya Parker with you to help new visitors get more in-depth information about who we are and what we do.  Enjoy and tell us what you think!