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One day I received an unusual email. It was in English from an American pop artist unknown to me. In the letter, he said that he recorded a song and shot a video for one of my instrumental compositions, because it sank into his soul. That song was then sold by me on a popular audio site (a site where you can buy a license for one-time use of a track in some project, for example, in a YouTube video as a screensaver or background, but all rights to the track remain with the author of the track) and, as I understood, the performer purchased one license, recorded He even shot a video for my track. Naturally, this was a violation on his part, since such compositions are prohibited from being used as a "backing" for his songs, and even more so then releasing them on services like Apple Music.

 

I listened to the song, watched the clip he had already posted on YouTube, and was impressed by how well he sang and how everything harmoniously combined with the music. Besides, he added this song to his new album. It wasn't a performer from the American charts, but he has a great voice and an audience of some kind too. On the one hand, he should not have done this without my consent, permission, which I informed him that this was a violation, to which he replied something like the following: "I didn't know that it was forbidden, I didn't properly understand the terms of use of the purchased license" and apologized. On the other hand, this song with his vocals was so attractive, memorable, as if music and voice were made for each other, at least that's what it seemed to me at the time.

 

It was a real dilemma. I saw two ways: I could rejoice at such a combination of circumstances, give a track to this artist and consider that I fulfilled my purpose, created a track that could become a hit in the future, but at the same time always feel that I gave a stranger the fruit of my labor, and he used it without even asking me, the author but I just put it in front of the fact, albeit very politely and delicately. Or the second way: to insist that the track be removed from all sites along with the clip, but then, perhaps, regret that he did not give this world something very important.

 

I thought for a long time, and believe me, this question weighed heavily on my soul. As a result, another path came to me, also not very pleasant, although profitable, and something inside resisted it, but my mind saw some way out, especially considering the financial situation. There is a practice when composers sell not just a license for their track, but also all the rights, that is, as if you had never composed this track. You just give it away, get a fee and forget about it forever, and whoever bought it does whatever he wants with the music. Actually, that's exactly what that performer did with my track, but I didn't get any royalties, except for a few bucks, for which he bought the wrong license at all.

 

Cats scratched at my heart, because I did not want to part with my child, which I really liked, I felt a lot of kinship and intimacy in it. But I did what I did: I deduced the optimal amount and voiced it to that singer. With a successful deal, I had to forget that I was once the author of this music. However, as it turned out, fate had its own plans for this composition, and it seemed that it had its own path, which I should not have changed. The singer refused. And after that, strangely enough, it became very easy for me. I didn't get any money, but it was like a stone was lifted from my soul. And I understood everything. Everything became crystal clear.

 

I informed him that he should immediately remove this song from all venues, music stores, and the clip from YouTube should also be deleted, since all these actions violate my copyrights. He had nothing to hide, because in any trial it would not be difficult for me to prove that I am the author, because all the music tracks and the project are stored in my archives, and he does not have such a thing. He deleted the song and the video, asking only not to forbid the distribution of the 50 copies of physical CDs that he had already made. I was not against it. He sent one of the discs to me by mail, straight from the state of Texas.

 

This CD and his letter are still in my desk, as a kind of reminder that you need to follow the Path of the Heart, because after a while the Ships Fly Up project was born, which marked a completely new stage in my life, and this track with modifications became the title track in the first album, and even later An animated clip was drawn for him. The song is called Journey to Ranucan, and if I had broken up with it then, maybe everything would have gone differently, and I would not have received the right impulse to create SFU along with the track The Way of the Heart. Following your heart is sometimes not easy when the mind drowns it out with its "advice" and "recommendations", warnings and fears, but the path that has a heart is still closer to me.