Oh the irony!

02009-06-20 | Uncategorized | 10 comments

Vic Says:
Received my Asiabeat – Monsoon CD from Amazon. It’s basically brand new with a hole punch through the UPC code. Putting it in the CD tray as I type this to load onto my iPod. : )

A very good example of our system failing. Here is what happened. Vic took the perfectly legal option and bought the album on amazon. That’s commendable, of course. But what really happened here? The hole in the UPC code signifies that the album was for promotional purpuses only. Legally that CD was never actually given to the person or group (a radio station or a newspaper perhaps) that originally received the CD, instead, it was lent and is supposed to be returned upon request – which, of course, never happens. So, said person sold the item, which s/he received for free, to a CD reseller, who advertises on amazon. By buying the album Vic in essence paid money to UPS for shipping the album, amazon for facilitating the sale, the CD-reseller who sold the album and the person who sold said CD to the reseller. Unfortunately no money went to the record company and Lewis/Asiabeat did not receive a cent!! (((artists do NOT get paid on promotional copies!)))

If, on the other hand, Vic had taken the illegal option and downloaded the album for free through a torrent and sent Lewis $5…. well, you see where this is going, yes?

The way we deal in music is broken. Nobody has a perfect solution yet, but here is to hoping we’ll find one soon.

10 Comments

  1. Vic

    Talk about having to make some tough decisions for just trying to by some music!

    I debated using a torrent to download the music for free and than sending Lewis the $$$ as you suggested. I checked a few torrent sites and some wanted you to register asking for info, others were a subscription service wanting credit card an personal information… something I am not to keen on providing on sites that I know nothing about or have never dealt with.

    Other than iTunes, I’m not too fond of downloading music from sites for virus and malware reasons and actually prefer a hard copy of the music I buy. It is for that reason that I decided to look through Amazon and ebay to buy this neat CD. I do feel bad that Lewis will not see a penny from me buying this CD, but I am willing to go one step above all this and send him the suggested $5. for two reasons. The first of course is so that he can receive the royalty he was denied for the reasons you mentioned. Secondly, and I feel most importantly, that he will be made aware that his music is being introduced to new fans through you and your site. We will in turn recommend his work to others and so on.

    I will say that I already have a couple of favorite tracks from this CD but will need to listen through the CD a few times to get a solid feel for each one. Thanks again for the recommendation.

    Reply
  2. Vic

    I just posted the following message to Lewis’ Facebook:

    ” Hi Lewis,

    Upon the suggestion of Ottmar Liebert, I purchased the Asiabeat Monsoon CD. From my initial listen, it is a great CD and already have a couple of favorites.

    I am contacting you because Ottmar has also made me aware that the CD I purchased is a promo CD and not a retail copy. This, as I understand, means you will not see a well deserved royalty from my purchase. I would like to rectify this by forwarding you the suggested amount of $ 5. for a the CD I purchased. I can forward the amount via PayPal by providing me with an e-mail address you would like me to send it to. If you would rather not provide an e-mail or don’t feel it is necessary for me to send you the $ 5., that is OK.

    I would like you to know that we were introduced to your music through Ottmar’s site “Ottmar-Friends” and that I appreciate that he made us aware of your music.

    Looking forward to your response.

    Vic ”

    I’ll let you know what his response is.

    Reply
  3. Ottmar

    Hey Vic, that was very nice of you, but I was just making a point. You did everything right in the first place. It’s not your fault that the system is broken. Anyway, nice gesture on your part.

    Reply
  4. Kaz

    Saturday Thoughts -090620
    Wide Awake!
    Hello Friends, Back from a few weeks vacation, “technology free” and one of the first things I do as soon as I get back… is check up on you guys…I see I missed quite a bit of STUFF!. . Anyways about ‘That Comment’ I have to agree we both you and Victor I think everything is connected nothing is ever lost and I think things are more likely discovered than created!
    PS I want to share with you all one of the books I read – ‘The Hidden Messages in Water’ by Dr. Masaru Emoto. I Loved it!

    Reply
  5. Vic

    Thanks, Ottmar. You know, after reading your reply and listening to the CD, I just felt that it was something I wanted to do.

    Reply
  6. Carol

    Doing the thing you feel is right instead of what is possible leaves a good feeling forever. I had an example of that when the order was duplicated for the camera I sent for my son. People gave me all kinds of reason why I should keep it. “You’ll just get someone in trouble” etc.
    I paid for it because I’d never feel good about using it if I hadn’t.

    Reply
  7. Vic

    It’s all about the Karma! ; )

    Reply
  8. Adam

    Vic, if you do it for the karma, do you get the karma after all? Hmmmmm… :) (kidding of course)

    Ottmar, there’s a donation system on the SSRI site for people who copy CDs for friends (or maybe also for people who torrent your CDs), right? If it’s not a business secret, can you tell us about your experiences with that – is the model working?

    Reply
  9. Ottmar

    Adam: once in a while…

    Reply
  10. Brenda

    Truth makes changes.
    Changes will happen with music of truth.
    Suits of smoke and mirrors will eventually crack!
    Music of truth will relect a strong reflection of change.
    Keep on… keep on.. Ottmar – Friends.

    Reply

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