1/24/05 3:14pm On a flight from Beijing back to Taipei

The sun is shining through the window of the plane and I'm sitting alone with my laptop. I'm a little tired but I feel great as these past four days have been very exciting and productive. Beijing was cold but very comfortable and pleasant especially compared to my last trip here a couple weeks ago. The combination of sunshine and cold winter is simply wonderful and reminds me of LA weather during this time of year. The album is out finally and many of you have already had the chance to hear it. I've read and heard quite a bit of discussion about the album and I realize that there are mixed reviews and feelings about it. This was something I had anticipated and, therefore, had written in the album's prelude that it would be challenging" to some listeners. Your comments are appreciated as they make me think about quite a few things. There is also a bit of discussion about whether David Tao has turned "commercial" with this album. There is no right or wrong in what everybody has to say because music is indeed something very subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and what each person likes is entirely his or her own choice and taste. All of this discussion, however, does generate quite a bit of interaction and thought amongst all of us, which is, positively, a good thing. On the subject of commerciality, I would like to say a few things. First, "commerciality" is NOT a negative or bad thing. When the ideal and artistic freedom is compromised due to commercial considerations then it may be perhaps something negative. Let's not necessarily equate commercial music with "bad" music though in recent years much of Chinese commercial pop music has been quite disappointing. Without the exposure and commercial success of my previous albums I would not be able to continue making music today and definitely wouldn't be able to retain my creative freedom. Do I consider the market and my audience when I'm writing a song or making an album? Certainly I do, in the sense that I want to give my audience the best I have. Do I chase and follow trends to ensure my commercial validity or appeal? Perhaps to a small degree unknowingly but never obviously. If I were to ask those who say my music has turned 'commercial' HOW it has become so-what would their answer be? Which song or particular element signifies commerciality? I realize that when people comment on my music as turning "commercial" they don't give any specifics to back it up. Are people merely throwing around the word "commercial" simply for lack of a better term? Perhaps they simply don't like the music or they think other facets of me have changed? From my perspective, I honestly feel that I've become more "uncommercial" and "unconventional" in my music making and albums compared to my previous works. Perhaps because of this reason people are misconstruing my music as being more "commercial"? When somebody is not used to something or does not like something are they tempted to use "commerciality" as a blanket statement? These are some things to ponder and think about. One of the most gratifying things during promotion of an album is the fact that I can share my motivations, inspirations, and stories behind the music with the media and audience. This time, I did just that with the press and media while I was in HK and Beijing. However, one thing that bothered and still disappoints me is the fact that one of the songs on this album is banned on the China release. That song, as many of you know, is "Ghost". I won't go into the details as to why it was banned but to say that all of us did everything in our power to preserve it but still lost. Therefore, in order to somewhat preserve the completeness of the album; an official download site has been created to allow those who do not have this song to obtain it freely. On this site, you'll also find the complete, unedited music video for "Ghost" which was also banned from TV airplay in many regions as well. This site is www.downloadghost.com I would greatly encourage all of you who have purchased this album but do not have the song "Ghost" to download this song and place it right before "Catherine" in the album sequence. This restores the album's balance and integrity as it was meant to be. If you have friends who have purchased official copies of "The Great Leap", I urge you to share the above site with them. It hurts to see one of my songs banned and my album copies of "The Great Leap", I urge you to share the above site with them. It hurts to see one of my songs banned and my album delivered incomplete to you. Freedom from censorship and freedom of expression is something we must fight for and work together to ensure.

DT