Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Letter from MusicBizAdvice.com Editor in Chief

Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Hi Everyone,

You may have noticed that recently when it comes to site updates, our main site,
MusicBizAdvice.com, has not been as active as we usually are.

Because I value you as readers and as people, I want to tell you why. Some of my advisors would prefer I tell you a story about having to go out of town on behalf of a client or something. But MusicBizAdvice.com is a private company (mine) with no outside stockholders to keep happy, and you deserve the truth.

First off, rest assured, we’re not going anywhere. As many of you know, for over ten years I’ve battled the illness CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, sometimes called CFS). I won’t go into a rundown of symptoms, (
you can read more in my CFIDS Q&A), but Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers have it, too, and Cher and Stevie Nicks have battled similar illnesses. (CFIDS is in a category of illnesses known as autoimmune disease. Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Grave’s Disease, Epstein-Barr, and chronic Lyme Disease are other diseases in this category.)

As often happens with immune system diseases, recently the CFIDS Monster had enough of my working around it and decided to raise its ugly head and get noticed by intensifying the symptoms I’ve become accustomed to (and throwing in a few I hadn’t had for many years).

One symptom, something I call “CFIDS dyslexia” for lack of a better term, makes it difficult to write. It’s been years since I last experienced this, and I hope you’ll bear with us during the longer period it takes to post new material while we regroup over the next several weeks, rally the staff, and give my new vitamin regimen a chance to do its thing. Meanwhile, there will be new material trickling in, so check back.

But, I reiterate: we’re not going anywhere. And the CFIDS Monster, colossal pain in the a** it may be, will not win. After all, there’s always an upside: on a bad day my number comprehension is off too, so having me order lunch is good comedy. Maybe we can get Vegas involved and have people take bets on where each day’s delivery ends up? Just kidding.

As you can see, my sense of humor is in perfect health. …Comes in handy in the music business, as well as for putting the CFIDS Monster in its place. Thanks, as always, for reading
MusicBizAdvice.com. (Thanks too, to JH and DW for their assistance in writing this.) And never, never, stop working toward making your dreams come true.

Randi Reed Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
http://www.musicbizadvice.com

Copyright 2006 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.