darkpowrjd said:
I know you mean well, but I think you're too much on the "I need to know if you're legal first" thing. I would want to know if it's good to be fast paced and get singers up as quickly as possible, or just be more conservative about the pacing. That's something that no pre-loaded drive or a bucketload of money is going to teach anyone. I wrote a long rant about my viewpoint about SC's stance on here, and from that, I'm sure some people might have an idea on where I stand on that.
Personally, and I don't mean this out of any disrespect, but you're reasoning behind why you won't copy a track for another person is somewhat flawed because you're already assuming that the person is going to make copy after copy, and you're viewpoint is too black and white when gray area clearly exists (which burns me about this whole piracy debate). I would ask why and what for first? Maybe they've been trying to find that one song and no one else had it, and that disc is now out of production (which are grounds as to why some courts will scoff at some copyright cases). But that's just me, and I'm sure I'll be in the minority. I just want to put out those questions as a sort of Devil's Advocate thing.
To me, if you have the talent to put on a good show, have good equipment, and consistently market your product to people who give a **** about having good people do the shows, then as long as you aren't in an over saturated market where there are KJs on every street corner, then it's not really going to matter who else is in the market and where the songs actually came from. I understand your plight, and it's a good point, but I think you've generalized somewhat too much there.
I think you missed my point. I am not railing about the copyright law or beating that dead horse, etc... and if you think I am generalizing, come stand in my shoes for a week...and on each night, let me tell you where my competing shows are, and I will just send you to the illegal ones. Look at the singers they have. Then come to my show, and look at the discs that my singers bring me, that I will happily play without asking them if they are legal or not...and realize that they were made for them by another KJ, and they are bringing them TO MY SHOW to play, and they always offer to let me copy them. I dont make this stuff up to make generalizations, this is the real world. I have no illusions that if I share a song with a singer, they WILL USE MY DISC that I give them at another show, and the host will ask to copy it, or the singer will offer it to them. IF I HAVE THAT RARE hard to find track, let them come to my show and sing it, what financial benefit is in it for me to put the song on the street and let them use it at another show?? There is NO ASSUMPTION on my part that this will happen, it is a fact. Like I said, stand in my shoes for a week... I do this full time, and people share everything with me about other shows...they have no idea what piracy is, so they always come up and tell me who makes their discs, or who copies them.
A new guy on the block visited my show the other night...and I have been full time for 12 years now and he said "...my singers all say you are a stand up guy, and speak highly of you, so if you ever need any of my music, I would be more than happy to share it with you anytime." He then brought me a CDG with 15 of his songs he sings in case I did not have them, and said to feel free to copy it.
I used to be the go to guy for advice in getting started...still am really, but now, I must insist on knowing the library is legal before I will help. I am tired of assisting the people who are competing against me with no overhead. THAT is why I personally ask that question.
Just reading my facebook page now, and I see two of my singers have just booked 3 nights in the area 12 miles north of me. I know they do not use a legal library. Should I wish them luck?? Guess whose shows they have cultivated friendships and singer relations at? Three guesses, first 2 dont count.
