posted 12-09-2000 07:48 AM            

For those new to this board and the company, read the threads because you will see what doesn’t work and why from those who claim to want to be in the industry. You will also see the problems created by those who are in this industry and either don’t know what they’re doing OR lack hard-core information about this industry.

You will see the examples of the various mentalities and their “what doesn’t work” scenarios again and again.

The links below are from my saved collection of BB items from the mp3.com board.
http://www.avmrnetwork.com/MP3Threads/t.htm
http://www.avmrnetwork.com/MP3Threads/u.htm

The First thing that you should know is that Jodi Summers at one time was a moderator on the mp3.com BB because of her “supposed expertise” in the Music Business. However, as you read the article, you’ll see that the heart of this article is a cut and pasted one to which she responded to after a fashion. She is someone that may sound good, but doesn’t really KNOW anything!

posted 12-09-2000 07:48 AM            

Quoting from that thread:
“We sometimes get people coming to us without distribution, but they have songs recorded and want us to help them get something started. Typically we won’t get involved unless the artist is signed and has distribution.”

1. He already has established bread and butter accounts with other labels for promotion.
2. He does discuss projects where the Artist is signed and has distribution, but what isn’t explained is “Why his company doesn’t take on unsigned and non-distributed material.” He addresses promotion for an Independent Label, but notice that he says that “his” company “generally” does not take on those projects. (Notice that his reply also implies that sometimes they might. What are the circumstances behind the atypical times?).
3. What he doesn’t say is that there is a good chance that IF his company took on Independent Music for record promotion, he would lose the Major Label bread and butter accounts. In business, you don’t want to pay for services of a company that is providing services to your competitors – and that is what Independent Labels are at this stage of the game to a Record Promoter getting Major Label business!

If wannabes paid attention to the VMG Website information, this is confirmed true over and over again - As in an Independent Record is worthless because mainline radio won’t play it and stores won’t stock the product.

IF you want to obtain the services of an Independent Record Promoter (as in the kind that does Record Promotions for an Unsigned Artist), you can spend the money if you want to, if you can find one, and if they will take on your product. There are record promoters who will take your money. But, if you want the viable chance of seeing your song work for the money you spend, you Artists MUST be affiliated with a General Licensor!

FAQ’s answered
Who is paying for the Record Promotion?
Ultimately it is the Artist. Up front it is the label. On the backside in charge-backs, it is the Artist! See the Steve Albini and Courtney Love articles.

Why can’t an unsigned artist obtain the services of a legitimate record promoter?
Because they aren’t affiliated with a General Licensor.

Why can’t an unsigned artist get distribution?
Because they aren’t affiliated with a General Licensor.

Why can’t an unsigned artist get on the radio?
Because they aren’t affiliated with a General Licensor.

How do I know who is legitimate and who isn’t?
Best chance for knowing if someone is legitimate or not, is to find out “Who is the General Licensor” they are affiliated with. You still need to know what you’re doing and who you’re doing business with. The best way to do that is to get in on the inside of the business, learn it, and the requirements. The best way to learn what those requirements are is the VMG information. And NO, you’re not locked into doing business exclusively with VMG. The rules apply to EVERY OTHER LEGITIMATE COMPANY YOU WANT TO DEAL WITH!

What did Mr. Tom Barsanti really say?
We sometimes get people coming to us without distribution for their current project. They have songs recorded and want us to help them get something started for that project. We do get involved at that time because the artist is signed and will have distribution for the project if the project works. (FAQ Is that one of the meanings behind the Yellow Coding on the Atlantic-Satellite Charts? URL http://www.atlantic-satellite.com./ Answered FAQ – yes, but there is possibly more meanings involved. It is dependant on the individual company(ies) and how they want that information used. It may include such things as: testing for an additional manufacturing run or that copies of the product aren't available in some countries, etc.!)

posted 12-09-2000 07:49 AM            

Jodi comes back to facilitate and perpetuate the mythical and delusional thinking that most wannabes have in this industry through the process because of that editing/censoring she did. This editing/censoring function typically goes on with respect to the truth about this industry. Because the information is deliberately buried, all the Delusions, Lies, and Myths stay in abundance. What happens in the end is that it keeps the wannabes out of this industry!

But read Jodi’s 7/25 post

vmg...
i think everyone would like to succeed within the established music industry,
unfortunately, it is a business that requires lots of connections and money
to break an act.
most people don't have the money or relationships to do that, they're for
we're creating our own definition of
what it means to be a successful musician.
that's the beauty of mp3.com and the internet, it allows musicians the opportunity to get heard.
now their future is in their own hands.

Look at some of her non-answered FAQ’s
1. How do you succeed within the established music industry?
2. How do you get the money and relationships to break an act?
3. The relationships and money required is something that only the experts have and know about and you unsigned artist(s) don’t. In the case of Jodi it was also “Buy my book” and you too, can become an expert. What Jodi did was keep people out of getting established music industry success because she doesn’t know herself how it is done. That’s why the fallback “that requires lots of connections and money to break an act” statement works for the wannabes. The unanswered FAQ is what will work?
4. She has a problem getting an unsigned wannabe too. So what she’s about doing is creating a “definition of success” using the “beauty of mp3.com and the internet to get heard” and put the future together. The problem is that it isn’t working. The non-answered FAQ is why? Unless of course the answers to the questions include the “Download Me and I’ll Download you Whore-Dom” as the “definition of success” and includes the “beauty of mp3.com and the internet to get heard”! See URL http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/11/30/download_trading/print.html. Then too you can go to their (mp3.com’s BB) at http://msg.mp3.com/artistforums/listnews/ and count the number of them for yourself!

The Answered FAQ’s
1. Learn this business with the rules that work.
2. Prove your product and become your own Executive Producer or become savvy enough to put that investment together for the Executive Producer’s share of the investment. All Superstars are their own Executive Producers. If they are Executive Producers, they paid their share of the investment.
3. You can tell if a Relationship or Connection is legitimate by finding out if they are affiliated with a General Licensor. Now your job is to determine if they have the integrity to do the job that you’d like for them to do or not.
4. Yes it does take time and money, but the amounts required are not phenomenal to start with. If a starting point for a career in the Music Business is a PromoLibrary at $450.00 and is too much for those who want to be in this Business, what does that tell you about their business acumen? What do you think it says to an investor? The answered FAQ is that it is a good bet that they aren’t a good investment and it doesn’t matter how good their music is. If they can’t manage themselves, they aren’t going to be responsible to their investors or the other portions of investment in a recorded music project!
5. The information is available on the VMG Website, and doesn’t bounce in the REAL WORLD of RECORDED MUSIC. Those who will take the time to learn this industry as they should, can put a career together JUST LIKE THE SUPERSTARS DO!
6. The new definition isn’t working and won’t because of that non-affiliation with a General Licensor! All everyone has to do in order to prove this to themselves is look at the lawsuits affecting the OMD’s of which include mp3.com and napster for starters!

posted 12-09-2000 07:50 AM            

Consider Phil’s story – the one where Joe Satriani was on his Independent Label “Hard Boiled Records”. The same story unfolds and he says that the reviews were great, everyone liked it, but no radio play. He was told that Radio Stations aren’t in the Music Biz, they are in the Advertising Biz. Are you newcomers to this industry seeing the same old story/pattern/relationship one more time? He didn’t get the whole story from the people that he talked to as he admits in his post. However, the information about the importance of an affiliation with a General Licensor is not only in this thread, but also in many others like it. In Phil’s case, he’s also been on other boards as well – meaning he has seen the information about the General Licensor requirement several times.

So now what we have is viable Industry Information that doesn’t bounce. Phil (and others like him) has seen the information more than one time. The information was and still is out in front of God and Everybody with respect to what works in this industry and why; and, what doesn’t work and why! Then you see posts such as the ones contained in these threads. Industry Ignorance is one thing, but when these types of individuals do the same what-won’t-work and what-never-did-work scenarios again, it isn’t ignorance any more. It is Stupidity.

Answered FAQ’s
What is Industry Ignorance?
This is, simply put, not knowing!

When does it become Stupidity?
When you do the same things that don’t work, again! It is also knowing that you should do something and you don’t; or, knowing that you shouldn’t do something and you go ahead and do it anyway!

posted 12-09-2000 07:51 AM            

To be sure, his problems are grounded (brainwashed is more like it) in the Lies of the PRO’s like the publishing is free to songwriters, which it is, portion. But then to someone like Walter, everything else should be free too. If there is money involved, it is automatically a con game.

Walter IS also a Never-Did-It-Himself Expert. Walter ISN’T totally ignorant. He does make certain valid points. He’s been corrected where he’s wrong and still stays on his Paranoia AND Stupidity. Nothing is good enough for him as we’ll see in this and other FAQ posts in the future.

Check out his 7-26-99 Posts

For the first thing, no one had a problem understanding RadioWiz’s posts if they really wanted to. The truth is that VERY few really want the truth. They want to stay in the delusions and myths of this industry. It is for that reason most wannabes will NEVER succeed. They will grow old and say, “they never had the right connections” or they “never got the breaks”! The truth is that they wouldn’t put their business house in order.

Secondly, why didn’t he call Jodi Summers for her IDENTICAL inability and writing problems? Remember Jodi IS a writer. She has books for sale. Her post contains: incorrect punctuation, incorrect capitalization, and an incorrect usage of a pronoun. So, one of the big problems that you’ll see is Walter Halley’s hypocrisy.

Walter cannot figure any of it out because he’s brainwashed into the “everything is free” mode of thinking and if it costs, it MUST be a con game. If a song is done, it is a release, it must be manufactured, and if it isn’t, it’s a con game, and he just cannot understand it. Remember he’s coming from the publishing is free to the songwriter’s perspective and everything else must be “free” also.

In all his, “How to get your song published” books, testing a song isn’t included because that isn’t the nature of those types of books. And, since we’ve already explained the problem with getting the term “PromoLibrary” in general Music Business Books, it certainly isn’t going to be in the “How to get your song published” ones. Walter is missing a bunch of information about this industry.

As a non-performing songwriter, he can’t put it together that this is a complex industry and that in a recorded music project, many parts come together. Never forget that Walter is brainwashed into the EVERYTHING IN THIS INDUSTRY IS FREE because publishing is free to songwriters; and, if it costs, it must be a con game.

According to Walter, who is the Never-Did-It-Himself-Expert coming from the Everything is Free perspective, a charge for the PromoLibrary is “raking in their money” (see the con-game inference). Well it must be because without a full CD, you can’t get it to radio, and of course, without a CD radio stations don’t have anything to play (see the never-did-it-himself-expert).

You will also see his never-did-it-himself expertise in the posts to other people. Pay attention to his response to Thunder where it is obvious. Remember, as in NEVER forget – HE’S NEVER DONE IT HIMSELF!

Check out his 7-27 post where he asks for the list (Is that supposed to be free too?). If it costs, it’s a con game. After all you should be able verify its accuracy like the books tell you to do. And because publishing is free to songwriters, and everything is free in the industry or it’s a con game, so should that list. Look at the problems that he inferred because the list wasn’t provided.

What are the answered FAQ’s concerning a paranoid?
I’m at a loss for coming up with the questions. For the likes of the “everything is free or it’s a con game” mentality, nothing can be done for them until they decide differently. Nothing will work until they get out of that mentality which most don’t! Paranoids don’t get anywhere because they won’t move on something that is legitimate. They are too afraid they’ll get caught up in a con game.

What are the answered FAQ’s concerning a Never-Done-It-Expert?
Every time you turn around, this mentality is stuck in the brainwashed rut of Book Expertise but no REAL THING EXPERTISE. What question can be answered to the Never-Done-It-Before-Expert that they don’t already know? They know all the answers, but what is it really worth coming from someone who’s never done it? Answer - Not much!

posted 12-09-2000 07:52 AM            

Jodi Summers NEVER addressed Radio Wizard’s questions about that proposal nor did she follow up on it. In addition, she edited/censored out the TRUTH about this Industry. What it caused is the on-going perpetuation of the Lies, Scams, Myths, Delusions, etc., of this industry that is/are still effecting the Artists wanting to be in the Music Business but are keeping them out.

But what REALLY DID THE TRICK IS where Radio Wizard exposed 4 Blatant and Outright Lies. I caught an uncensored/unedited copy of Radio Wizards 8-2-99 re-post and saved it!

Jodi was asked by Ty Gonty “What makes you think VMG is a fraud?”

She replied that she “emailed customers from the VMG website”.
THERE ARE NO CUSTOMERS LISTED!

No one had anything positive to say about the business model.
FROM WHO? – THE LIKES OF THOSE WHO ARE INDUSTRY IGNORANT AND THEN TURN STUPID, THE PARANOIDS, AND/OR EXPERTS THAT NEVER HAVE DONE IT THEMSELVES?!

Some of the replies were posted elsewhere on her bulletin boards.
THAT NEVER HAPPENED BECAUSE THERE WEREN’T ANY, AS IN ZERO, POSTS AND NEVER WERE!

And when challenged to produce those emails and posts –
THEY NEVER CAME BECAUSE THERE WEREN’T ANY!

She didn’t know much about how this industry really works herself. The information was available for her to read and rid herself of Industry Ignorance. She was caught in Blatant Lies for which the VMG Camp is known for not putting up with and/or tolerating. And, she was involved with a behind the scenes quelling of something that would have been terrific for mp3.com artists.

Not long after that, Jodi Summers was gone as a forum moderator!

FAQ’s that are answered
How come the VMG Camp has a problem (yes there are other problems) with mp3_PROVEN_GUILTY_OF_STEALING_PEOPLE’S_ROYALTIES.com?
What is the SuperLiar Jodi Summers Story really all about?

And now you know the Rest of the, SuperLiar Jodi Summers, Story!

Future FAQ’s
ASCAP and Tiffany Barsotti
Tracker Exposed
The Incompetent Damned Liar Rod Underhill