slushy

I have the first two, but I would love a copy of ...Art!

There is a huge fucking difference between one of the worlds biggest hardware chains and Hopeless Records you doofus. Uhhhh, except that isn't true at all in this case. Most labels do not advertise test pressings as being for sale, but are likely very happy to work out a deal with anyone interested, or pass the email onto the members of the band if they do not have them (and then it's real likely they'd be stoked to offload some junk that's collecting dust for some $$$). The idea of anybody working at a record label (no matter the size of the label, or position of the employee) being shitty about someone who is clearly a fan/supporter reaching out to them is B O N K E R S.

I think queries relating to test pressings is more of a misc. request due to the fact that they are for the most part not-for-sale items. I just had a quick look at their website, and it sounds like she's the director of operations at Hopeless, and typically people in operations are the ones to go to for misc. requests, so shooting her an email about it is pretty acceptable. And as someone in operations this would be a great opportunity for her to get some details added to the FAQ about test pressing requests. But that is all besides the point. The idea of fans wanting to give money to a record label/band for test pressings should never be seen as something to be annoyed or pissed off about, especially from somebody at a record label. It takes 2-5 seconds to glance at an email and if this person is truly annoyed about the idea of spending 2-5 seconds on somebody who wants to spend their hard earned money on a band they work with, that truly is HOPELESS (lol, get it?).

Then you would simply respond saying the offer would need to be significantly higher to be taken seriously or just delete the email (and block the email address if they keep contacting you repeatedly). I cannot even begin to get my head around how anybody could possibly think that passing on or shooting a message to a business email address about possibly making a purchase from said business is out of line.

How hard is it to read and respond to/forward on/delete a few emails? Work email addresses in the first name@business name format are intended for that exact purpose (people that require a no-nonsense inbox typically have a more secretive system in place). It's not like this persons private phone number or home address has been given out and people are harassing them at home. If anybody is genuinely pissed about having to field some emails where people are offering money for items they would like to purchase, well then, they should probably be sacked as that is a repulsively lazy attitude.

I reckon every single record I received last year that was warped or the jacked super damaged was from 11 Spot, Sub Pop or Mondo. With standard mailers, maybe one out of twenty will have tiny insignificant damage to the jacket and one out of fifty will show up with a record that is warped to some degree. But with these new frustration free mailers, 50% will turn up with jackets damaged in one way or another, and one in five will show up super warped. Standard mailers only seem to be troublesome when people pack one single record in a mailer made for 2-4 records without any extra padding (as you mentioned), but those are few and far in between, and most people packing records know to fill that space with something. They're even worse than those thin cardboard envelopes that UK punk labels always use.

The only time I seem get damaged jackets are when they're sent in those frustration-free, easy open mailers. Lots of bigger labels seem to be switching over to them, obviously because they make packing records way easier due to not having to tape stuff, but they are a poor substitute for the standard mailer.

spreadsheet+discogs.

Against Me! ??

There are thousands and thousands of bands out there who would love for their records to be released/reissued. I don't get why these label people would instead decide to release records that the creators do not want them to release. Even if they are purely looking at this through business goggles and how many units they can shift, surely there are still bands who would both sell loads of copies AND be happy to be apart of the process of having their music easily available.

I didn't tell anyone anything. I commented to no one in particular that a band should be given copies of their own records for their own personal collections when said records come into existence. I have only released records as one off releases not attached to a label, and my personal experiences come more from the book publishing side of things, but the etiquette is the same. If an artist creates something and you manufacture copies for sale, you should always send them a handful of copies for their personal collections. Is it really that jarring of a concept?

This is a forum that is more about the physical objects the music is stored on rather than people talking about the actual music itself. Is it not expected that the politics and peoples disappointments surrounding the release of said physical objects will be discussed? Also it's not like this is some new ***drama*** exclusive to VC/other similar forums; these kinds of things were hashed out in the MRR letters section years before the internet even existed. Obviously people will look at these things differently. Some people will see things in a very black and white way, in that if someone has the rights to release a record then that's all 100% above board and there is no issue at all. Other people, perhaps people who are artists themselves, would look at this in a way that maybe it would be cool for the artist to be kept in the loop and for it to be more of a collaborative process, even though it doesn't actually technically need to be legally speaking. Like it would just be the nice thing to do, y'know? This case in particular is worthy of thinking about because the artist involved is no longer the person that they were credited as, a person they feel like they never were according to most trans folk. Most trans folk also often talk about how they prefer to not be referred to as the name they previously went by (Laura has mentioned on twitter before that she would prefer her credits on label websites to be changed). If she was spoken to about this and didn't find out about it after the fact, it could have been worked through. But this all really begs the question, is having affordable copies of this album available on vinyl more important that avoiding something that may very well deeply hurt a persons feelings? Obviously some people will care more about adding their sweet new limited edition colour reissue to their collection, but having empathy is not as out of line as some would suggest.

Really dumb comment. Are you one of those people that demands to know what films a person has made if they talk about how they don't like a certain movie as well?

RHCP are definitely a greatest hits band, but all the hits you'd want are on What Hits?. Knock Me Down is easily their best song.

And I thought the Pixies pressing their live shows as 2 compact discs was ridiculous!