NAJM Rant - NAPSTER SUCKS - A Label Fights Back



		NAPSTER SUCKS! A Label Fights Back!
		The Following MP3 Rant is brought to you by Vital Record's Micheal Castaldo (Martha Wash - Listen To the People & Sounds of a Better World): Napster is NO GOOD for small indie labels such as Vital Records. This weekend I finally got a chance to relax with friends on Long Island, NY. However I also surfed the net on my friends computer and checked out the latest on Napster. Well guess what folks...many people on Napster are sharing "Listen to the People" MP3 files. Well how flattering that there are people out there who know about the record and like it enough to spread the word and share (steal) it.


	For those who know me personally, know that I can be extremely tough when it comes to protecting this 'tender' "Sounds Of A Better World" project. I started sending out e-mails to all these 'pirates' putting them on notice to stop this illegal 'sharing'. My general question was...'hello there friend of Napster...by the way do you have permission from the copyright holders to 'SHARE' this file? Boy was it fun watching that long list of people dwindle down to just a few persistent folks who just kept on 'sharing' and not caring to respond. I finally sent this note to Napster directly putting them on notice: People are sharing Martha Wash's "Listen to the People" on Vital Records without permission from the copyright holders. You are now on notice to stop this illegal sharing. Over 7000 files have been "shared" (stolen) which is a loss of income to the copyright holders. Thank You for your prompt consideration. Micheal Castaldo Vital records label manager Well guess what? Twenty minutes later, Napster hears us...and shuts the folks down and took "Listen To The People" off the server. Yeah! A VICTORY for us (at the moment) without having to go to court. I estimated that over 7000+ files that were sent out by over two dozen different people. Most of the files were the Haarmeyer anthem mix (extended dance mix) 9:48 8+ megs in size. If those people had to buy (that mix) from the Martha Wash remix collection on Vital Records they would have had to spend $10.00+ per CD for 73 minutes of music. Do the Math...that's a loss of $70,000+ in gross sales. that's a lot of money for an indie label and it's partners. This is what the folks who use Napster have done by 'sharing' these files... 1- Various children's organizations lost money. 2- The Foundation For Small Voices lost money. 3- The artist lost money 4- Various retailers lost money 5- Our distributor lost money 6- Vital Records lost money 7- The songwriters lost money 8- The publishers lost money 9- The producer/Remixers lost money 10- The state lost sales taxes 11- Our potential licensing partners could lose interest. 12- 7000+ people are happier cause they got a free Martha Wash record. 13- It's now known that Napster and it's users are no friends of Vital Records. Napster SUCKS! Can you imagine the millions the majors are losing? All we can hope is that these people who have illegal Listen To The People copies go out and BUY the CD now. Vital Records will make this record available in a secure downloadable site ASAP.

	Show Your Support and Visit Sounds of a Better World Online

	NAJM AFTERWARD: Many people who download and trade illegal MP3's think that free music is their birth right. The bottom line is that most people don't realize that the music pool is going to dry up. After all, who is going to make music for free? Once enough independent labels have been sunk by this lack of income, there will be less independent music produced. Which in turn means less choices for you the consumer.

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