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Promo CD selling - industry lameless

mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
edited September 2007 in Strut Central
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2007/09/07/06interesting piece from On the Media about the Universal Music Group trying to stop someone from buying and reselling promo CDs on eBay. Don't believe the "not for sale" sticker. According to the Supreme Court, promo CDs are perfectly legal to resell.

  Comments

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,903 Posts
    You would think Universal would look more into people/dept that "sell" promotional products.
  • SouthCrackalackSouthCrackalack 3,853 Posts
    You know about Universal getting into the mixtape game, right?
  • hammertimehammertime 2,389 Posts
    That has led Pat Schroeder, the head of the association, to say that they have, quote, "serious issues with libraries," unquote. And one of their spokespeople, back in 2001, compared some in the library community to Ruby Ridge and Waco-style terrorists.


  • theory9theory9 1,128 Posts
    Shit, when I worked at EMI this was a "word-of-mouth" strategy. Dump stuff on the local guys, hope that you can build some sales out of it.
  • Controller_7Controller_7 4,052 Posts
    when I worked at Amoeba it was not uncommon for customers to bring up promo copies of cds and tell me that it wasn't for sale. They would argue with me, basically trying to claim that it should be free to them, like they had discovered the magic fine print. Some even threatened to call the authorities. Some people are out of their minds.

    Universal should spend more time and effort into doing soemthing effective instead of walking down a dead end alley like this.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    when I worked at Amoeba it was not uncommon for customers to bring up promo copies of cds and tell me that it wasn't for sale. They would argue with me, basically trying to claim that it should be free to them, like they had discovered the magic fine print. Some even threatened to call the authorities. Some people are out of their minds.

    That's so fucking hilarious though honestly, I can see the logic in that hustle.

    Just holler back: "Bobbs-Merrill Company versus Straus...beeeeeyaaaaaaatch."
  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    when I worked at Amoeba it was not uncommon for customers to bring up promo copies of cds and tell me that it wasn't for sale. They would argue with me, basically trying to claim that it should be free to them, like they had discovered the magic fine print. Some even threatened to call the authorities. Some people are out of their minds.

    Hahaha people really did this? Wow.

    These conglomerate music corporations are just searching for a way to shut down the used CD market. Sickening, really.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    when I worked at Amoeba it was not uncommon for customers to bring up promo copies of cds and tell me that it wasn't for sale. They would argue with me, basically trying to claim that it should be free to them, like they had discovered the magic fine print. Some even threatened to call the authorities. Some people are out of their minds.

    Hahaha people really did this? Wow.

    These conglomerate music corporations are just searching for a way to shut down the used CD market. Sickening, really.

    The part I don't get is that shutting it down doesn't make any sense. What does make sense is finding a way to make money off it. I'm surprised there are more labels auctioning off shit that's been sitting around the office. Can't beat 'em, join 'em!
  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    when I worked at Amoeba it was not uncommon for customers to bring up promo copies of cds and tell me that it wasn't for sale. They would argue with me, basically trying to claim that it should be free to them, like they had discovered the magic fine print. Some even threatened to call the authorities. Some people are out of their minds.

    Hahaha people really did this? Wow.

    These conglomerate music corporations are just searching for a way to shut down the used CD market. Sickening, really.

    The part I don't get is that shutting it down doesn't make any sense. What does make sense is finding a way to make money off it. I'm surprised there are more labels auctioning off shit that's been sitting around the office. Can't beat 'em, join 'em!

    It would seem to me that their reasoning is that if they prevent the sale of such promotional and rare CDs (impossible), which are supposedly in-demand because they have tracks unavailable on commercial versions, they can then release "special" editions with those tracks and make a buck off it. That's the only reasoning (irrational as it is) that I could come up with.

    What is always so surprising about these "intellectual property" lawsuits is that there seem to be more and more of them every year, even though in the cases I've followed, the big companies and rights holders who sue don't win. It really has the appearance of an uncoordinated organization, where the legal department acts on its own without recognizing that their strategy is failing and giving the larger organization a bad reputation.
  • keithvanhornkeithvanhorn 3,855 Posts
    According to the Supreme Court, promo CDs are perfectly legal to resell.

    not exactly.

    if you work at a radio station and the labels are sending you FREE promo cds, the first sale doctrine wouldn't apply because 1) there was never a legitimate first sale, and 2) radio stations are probably gonna have some contractual relationship with the labels regarding promos.
  • coffinjoecoffinjoe 1,743 Posts
    i know a fellow who took baseball bat action on some cd promos
    he found at a bay area store

    the clerk was speechless
  • knewjakknewjak 1,231 Posts
    There was a local artist in the west MI area who would search ebay for his own records. And whenever he found someone selling a promo copy, he would notify eBay, and they would pull the auction.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    [color:red]when I worked at Amoeba it was not uncommon for customers to bring up promo copies of cds and tell me that it wasn't for sale. They would argue with me, basically trying to claim that it should be free to them, like they had discovered the magic fine print. Some even threatened to call the authorities. Some people are out of their minds.
    [/color]

    At the store I used to work at, we covered up the "not for sale" blurb with a sticker that said something like "used CD's are your best bargain" or something like that. There were still a lot of Top 40 fans who were used to buying their discs at Coconuts or some other glitzy chain, and these folks weren't quite hip to the concept of used CD's.
  • yoigotbeatsyoigotbeats 1,667 Posts
    There was a local artist in the west MI area who would search ebay for his own records. And whenever he found someone selling a promo copy, he would notify eBay, and they would pull the auction.

    Suicidal Tendencies does the same thing to this day.....
  • SouthCrackalackSouthCrackalack 3,853 Posts
    There was a local artist in the west MI area who would search ebay for his own records. And whenever he found someone selling a promo copy, he would notify eBay, and they would pull the auction.

    Suicidal Tendencies does the same thing to this day.....

    no shit? Damn..I hate to hear that about a band I loved as a shorty.
  • Rich45sRich45s 327 Posts
    The Buckley estate did the same to the shop I used to work years ago for selling a promo Jeff Buckley something or other.
  • FlomotionFlomotion 2,390 Posts
    In the UK a lot of label promos are now digitally numbered so that they can be traced back to the relevant individuals in the case of getting sold/leaked. Selling promos before the product drops is not a good look but often it's lowly people within the labels doing it.
  • theory9theory9 1,128 Posts
    In the UK a lot of label promos are now digitally numbered so that they can be traced back to the relevant individuals in the case of getting sold/leaked. Selling promos before the product drops is not a good look but often it's lowly people within the labels doing it.

    Yeah, the new UNKLE is like that, but it seems to be more for advance copies than promo copies.
  • Young_PhonicsYoung_Phonics 8,039 Posts
    You would think Universal would look more into putting out better music that people WANT to buy[/b]
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    According to the Supreme Court, promo CDs are perfectly legal to resell.

    not exactly.

    if you work at a radio station and the labels are sending you FREE promo cds, the first sale doctrine wouldn't apply because 1) there was never a legitimate first sale, and 2) radio stations are probably gonna have some contractual relationship with the labels regarding promos.

    Keith,

    You didn't read the story. Promos and gifts are considered legitimate first sales under the Supreme Court. UMG will have to argue for an exception to this rule in they want to prevail in their case.
  • 33thirdcom33thirdcom 2,049 Posts
    The promo CDs qualify as used... and anyone in the industry on the retail side for more than a minute knows that this is part of the game (whether right or not). This is how most people at the labels in the non exec jobs make their money, and how alot of sales are tabulated through new/used stores.

    This is NOTHING new and was a procedure established back in the infancy of the music industry. When alot of music stores were jewish owned, they would have product shipped to them directly from bluenote (boxes of reords). I know owners in LA that used to have product dropped off to them direct from Death Row in its heyday as a thank you from Suge.

    The only way universal can stop it in reality is by going comletely digital, but then they pretty much lose all of their retail sales, fake or legitimate.
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