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Newsletter - 11/1/2004 From time to time, people want to know why we do things the way we do them and we would like for you to know why we have made some of the decisions we have made. We decided at the very beginning that we would not produce software that would lock customers into our product. Having worked in the computer industry for some 34 years, we've seen programs come and go, leaving their users with no support and no future. Our objective has been to make available to churches songs with music and lyrics that can be projected with readily available presentation programs. PowerPoint(R) compatible files have proven to be the best way to do this. Besides PowerPoint(R) from Microsoft, there are several other companies who produce presentation software that will display and edit these files. Our files are therefore cross platform and cross operating system. The cost of $1.00 per song was a compromise that resulted from our first negotiations with copyright administrators. That turns out to be the cost of these songs in 100 song books. For large churches, these administrators could see larger revenue from song book sales. Our task was to convince them that churches had already paid for their song books and that The Paperless Hymnal was additional revenue for them. We also wanted to make sure our songs were legally produced and we didn't want to require our customers to obtain additional licenses or become a member of CCLI or other agency. Besides, CCLI only applies to material produced by a congregation for their own public worship and does not apply to anything produced to be sold. Once you have bought The Paperless Hymnal, there are no annual fees or subscription renewals. The songs are yours to use, under the terms of the User Agreement, of course. Because of our limited resources and meager beginnings, we decided to produce volumes, each released as we got songs ready and had copyright contracts in hand. This has allowed us to start out with songs we knew everyone wanted. As each additional volume is produced, you influence the selection of songs for that volume. We do our best to get contracts on the songs you request, so keep those suggestions coming in. If you have requested a song and it has not been included yet, there are two possible reasons: 1)we could not find an arrangement we thought was usable for congregational singing or 2)we did not have a copyright contract back from the copyright administrator in time to meet our deadline. We will continue to obtain contracts on those songs or find good arrangements and get them included in future volumes. We want to thank you for your understanding when you find mistakes in songs. We have found that we are imperfect but because of your responses, we are able to correct the inaccuracies you find. That can not happen with a song book. With Volume Five, we hired a proofreader to look over our work and we think she has done a very good job. So in the future, we hope mistakes will be far fewer than in the past. We are not about to take credit for our success. You have been very good to recommend The Paperless Hymnal to others. It has been your enthusiasm that has spread the word to so many. This has truly been a team effort. And there has been a Higher Power at work opening opportunities and closing objections. We have just been here for the ride, usually found at the keyboard - type setting another song. "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21 |