"CharaFan
n00b
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Posts: 1
Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2003 7:34 am Post subject: my email to saphirecut
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To:
soundfront@comcast.net
Subject: Soulseek - why you just don't get it
Megan,
Before you hit delete, I'm not angry, and I'm not going to mailbomb you. Undoubtedly many others will, and they'll probably trash your website and send you viruses and make your life a living hell but such childish antics are not my style.
I don't know you and I don't know your music. And in all likelihood, I never will. I use SoulSeek to share music by my favorite artists who do not have distribution in the US or Europe.
Take Harry Nilsson for example. He's a talented guy who had major success in the 60s and 70s, but who unfortunately passed away 10 years ago. Since then his record labels have been very slow to re-release his material. Subsequently myself and other fans have begun sharing his bootlegged music and videos on SoulSeek (but never his current legit releases!) and I can proudly say that I've turned dozens if not hundreds of people onto the guy and his music. Thanks to file-sharing his fan base is actually growing on a daily basis, not dying off. Record labels like growing fan bases, and we now see definite plans are underway to remaster and release more and more of his back catalog in the coming years.
Or take Chara for example. She a contemporary Japanese artist. Huge in Japan! Signed to Sony Records. You could compare her to Madonna in terms of her popularity and her affect on pop culture there. Outside Japan, she's nobody and no record label will ever distribute her music outside Japan. I share some of her b-sides and videos and the odd re-mix single. Generally stuff you can't buy via mail order or couldn't get unless you actually lived in Japan. Other western fans really appreciate that.
Now, back to you. You should be so lucky that people will even be sharing your music when your dead, or for that matter, after you retire from music and move on to something else. I'm a musician too, and I've long since let go of that dream and moved on with my life (30's ish songwriters just don't seem to crack into the top 10 these days), though I still write music for my own amusement. Anyhow, it's great that you do have fans that buy your music, and you should feel so lucky to have fans around the globe who seek out your b-sides and alt-mixes. Those are the very same diehard fans who buy your CD the DAY it's released in the stores. And you should be so lucky that they like your CDs so much that they want to share with other people who might just become fans too.
Tell you what, I regularly download megabytes of MP3s of new and old artists and I end up listing to maybe only 5% of it a second time. If I downloaded your music and I didn't like it, who REALLY gets hurt? I hit delete and forget about it. Would you rather I BUY your CD and still not like it? I'd feel cheated and I sure as heck will get online and tell all my friends not to waste their money on it. Remember after you bought that Styx LP back in 1982 and it made you wretch? On the other hand, if I liked your CD, and I shared it with others, aren't these new fans going to request it at the clubs and on the radio? Of course they are. So it gets played in public and you now have even more fans and I'll bet they are going to eagerly anticipate your next release and buy it.
My last point, then I'm off. If you think ratting on SoulSeek will stop your music from being shared online, think again. There are more file share networks than anyone can keep track of. It's a moving target. People who like your music and want to share it will simply use other software. You will NEVER win this battle as long as you consider it to be a battle. I'm not threatening you, it's a simple fact. So accept it. Accept that people will always share your music and so appeal to your fans personally, the last thing you should do is piss them off. Use the net to keep in touch with your fan base. Offer them incentives and remixes and other merchandise and create a real virtual community. Capitalize on the fact that you have this fantastic opportunity to do so, don't keep yourself awake at night wondering if you are going to go bankrupt due to a handful of shared files.
Ok, I'm done. I'm not at all happy about what you did to SoulSeek. It's return is inevitable, and in that light, what you did seems very petty and ignorant. I hope that you find the path to inner peace and prosperity.
- Steve "
http://www.napjunk.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1910#1910
