LOL....leveal headed is not the words I would use these days.
Check out the updates here:
1.
101 SOUTH SHOCKER:
There are always things to deal with behind the scenes in this business, but sometimes something so utterly ridiculous comes along, that it just has to be posted for all to see. And today is one of those days.
I have been a long time supporter of all things Roger Scott Craig related - Harlan Cage, Fortune and 101 South. I have featured all releases prominently over the years and became a genuine fan of his music. I first started e-mailing him in 2001 and we've been friends ever since. Until today.
On July 28 of this year I once again gave prominent space to the launch of Roger's new 101 South album - being pressed as an independent release. It was being offered on his site as an autographed edition for a premium price and I promoted this offer and the website to order it from.
Sadly, to this day - the CDs ordered by fans of Roger and 101 South have not been delivered. A string of excuses have been offered to folks along the way, but it was clear something was wrong when the volume of complaints reaching me increased over the last 6 weeks. I immediately contacted Roger myself and was told of delays - and a promised imminent delivery.
On November 20, the album was released officially by AOR Heaven (after the label and Roger finally reached agreeable terms), with a retail price one third that of the signed version.
This week I was again informed by several unhappy fans that delivery had still not occurred.
Over the last 2 years Roger has become a fierce advocate for musicians rights and has been trying to implement ways to stop illegal internet downloads of music and make life fairer and easier for musicians. That is one mighty fine cause and something I also feel passionately about. It is something I have tried to be a part of myself - by promoting great music via this website and introducing new artists to old fans...and making it as easy as possible for fans to purchase this music.
So I was confused and upset by the message Roger was sending out to his most loyal fans - those that jumped in at the very start to support his music and purchase the new 101 South album. The same fans that paid the premium price.
I forwarded one of the complaint e-mails to Roger today with the additional message: "Totally selling your message short here Roger - please address ASAP!"
Pretty reasonable request I thought and as I have previously stated to Roger over the last few months, he is damaging his "support musicians" message by holding up the delivery of these orders.
Anyway...I got a very quick reply, but one that completely blew my mind. I have since sent Roger a couple of extra e-mails - the message I put back to him was pretty clear...but I'll leave that message up to your imaginations.
Like I stated, I rarely do this - but here is Roger's unedited reply to my call for him to act on these CD orders:
"THE BEATLES CAMP PLUS THE LARGEST UNION IN THE WORLD = MY FOCUS NOW
AND SADLY 88 PEOPLE MIGHT BE UPSET BUT I WILL APOLOGIZE TO THEM
THEY WILL GET REFUNDS THIS WEEK
BUT MY LIFE IS NOW DEDICATED TO FUTURE GENERATION OF MUSICIANS
AND I ABANDONED MY OWN CAREER TO DO SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT
SUPPORT MUSICIANS' IS GOING TO BE A VERY IMPORTANT PROJECT MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN ROGER SCOTT CRAIG AND STUPID 101 SOUTH
95% STOLEN MUSIC IS NOT COOL AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ANDREW TO ADDRESS THIS RIDICULOUS MESS??
AND DO YOU CARE ANDREW ABOUT 95% STOLEN MUSIC????
AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING????
NOTHING PROBABLY LIKE SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE!!
WAKE UP PAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DO SOMETHING, SHIT OR GET OFF THE POT!!!
I LOOK TO MY FRIENDS AT THIS POINT IN TIME AND YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING
SOME FRIEND OF THE MUSICAL COMMUNITY.............................
BUT TWO CEOS OF THE BEATLES DO CARE AND THEY ARE DOING SOMETHING
AND NOW THE AFM AS WELL WITH 100,000 MEMBERS AND WE WILL NOT SIT AROUND AND LET THIS CONTINUED THEFT OF MUSIC GO ON
WE DO CARE ABOUT FUTURE GENERATIONS OF MUSICIANS!!
DO YOU????????????????????????????????????????????????
And that was followed by this:
"88 PEOPLE UPSET BUT MILLIONS COMING ON TO MY TEAM SOON
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON HERE DO YOU????
JUST WATCH WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MY FRIENDS FROM THE BEATLES COME TOGETHER WITH THE LARGEST UNION IN THE WORLD
88 PEOPLE UPSET WILL NOT MATTER!!!"
Well Roger...they may not matter to you…but that's 88 readers of my site that gave YOU money - and that matters to me. I expect all refunds will be given to these folk by the end of this week.
You can purchase the 101 South AOR Heaven release via
www.aorheaven.com and all good melodic retailers.
2.
MORE 101 SOUTH:
A lot of e-mail and message board posts all over the place following yesterday's unusual update. may from unhappy fans who have yet to get their orders and a few from artists stunned to see a fellow musician commenting the way Roger Scott Craig did.
For the record - no response to me from Roger, but any posts relating to this were deleted from his Facebook page and the following comment/rant added in their place:
"One out of twenty people are now willing to pay me for my music. The rest think it is okay to go get my creative work for free using an Illegal site in some foreign land and they obviously think that I do not need or deserve any revenues from this music!! Just for the record I will make NO MONEY on this new 101 South ...CD called 'No U Turn' rather it has cost me $10,000 more than I will ever earn in order to provide you the fans with my music. Apart from Illegal downloading we also have 'bootlegs' of our music being distributed in so many countries for which artists receive nothing. Plus so many people burn copies of CDs for their friends and family and from some reports for every one CD sold, ten copies are burned and again no revenues go to the artists. How unfair is this? When you think that 97% of all CDs make no money at all and with only a 3% success rate you would think that people would have some sympathy for musicians but obviously not! 19 out of people now walk into our ice cream store, enjoy the ice cream then leave without paying us for the ice cream! How do we run a business using this business model? The 101 South CDs are in transit and will soon be shipped out to the fans, signed by myself and by 101 South vocalist Gregory Lynn Hall. Sadly this involves four separate shipments which takes considerable time. For those who no longer want these signed CDs FULL REFUNDS will be going out this week. Then I will be heading down to McDonalds to get a job so I can pay my electric bill!! And my house is going into Foreclosure!! Oh well, just hope those 19 out of 20 people are enjoying my music today!"
I've said my piece, but I really think one e-mail I received (from Steve in the USA) summed up the thoughts of most. It reads:
"One, I think his complete lack of dedication to his fans is horrible. A couple years ago I purchased 2 autographed Twisted Sister CDs. One was to be a gift. Unfortunately, I only received one in the mail initially. I quickly contacted the seller, got an IMMEDIATE apology, and they sent me 2 extra signed picks for my trouble (of which I never asked for anything more then the 2nd CD). THAT is how you treat fans. Keep them happy.
Two, his crusade sounds nothing more then an overzealous politician looking for attention. You can't stop "piracy" any more then you can stop the rain. I'd love a better definition of "95% music stolen", since it is those overblown, undefined stats that seem to be built on sand. 100% of my music here has been paid for. I think the music industry needs to focus more on upping the content, rather then chasing after pirates. Unfortunately for Roger, I think he now has more than 88 people upset at him (you can add me to the list), and that will grow."
If I do hear from Roger at any stage, I'll be sure to post his response/comments/updates on this PR disaster.
by Idiosyncrasy » Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:56 am 
