there has been an uncontented feeling in me about the scene for a long time, and i havent made a voice about it. fortunately though, somebody already did, and i honestly think tat ppl serious about the scene here should root for. thanks to our brother colin who has painstakingly voice out his voice of discontent and spread it through myspace to concerned ppl in the scene and the scene fucks. so here he goes:
THIS IS FOR ALL LOCAL BANDS AND SCENE FUCKS
so i guess you guys have been to shows like TOTAL METALCORE,MUSIC MANIA 1,2,3 and 4 and what have you not. you might have enjoyed yourself,or you might have not.but one thing's for sure.some bands that played in the show definitely did not have a good time trying to keep their places in the show.
in order to keep their places,bands are made,if not fucking forced to sell 20 tickets,going at 10 dollars each by a certain date, made to sign contracts that guarantee compensation upon failure to sell all the tickets,and on frequent occasions made to buy merch. one of the bands were even issued a pretty blatant threat when they refused to buy one of the shirts that were on sale during the TOTAL METALCORE band meet. the organisation behind this series of events?XTREME MUSIC "PRODUCTIONS".
i hate math but im going to do it now anyway. for example,the TOTAL METALCORE show.
one band: 20 tickets one ticket: 10 dollars total bands: 30
30 x 20 x10= the amount XTREME MUSIC would make if all bands panicked and busted their asses selling all the tickets.
ps.this is EXCLUDING the TOTAL METALCORE shirts that theyre making everying single band playing in the show buy, or else 'they will know what to do'.
i am not even going to start on the music mania series.
now the question is WHY.why the fuck are XTREME MUSIC trying to make big money out of a small scene?and whatever happened to mutual respect between the band and the organisers?why are the organisers making labourers out of the bands who are INVITED to play? where's is the gratitude?and WHY ARE THE BANDS GOING WITH THE IDEA?why isnt anyone voicing out?just because they want to play so badly they would do anything?is it worth not eating for?most bands end up forking out their own money just to meet XTREME MUSIC's quota. why are WE allowing XTREME MUSIC to laugh all the way to the fucking bank while the bands pay the price to play?when was organising show ever about making big amounts of profit?
i am not trying to change anyones opinion,im not trying to be political,but i am,for a fact too fucking free.free enough to give the whole situation good thought.and i am urging the bands and all the fashion fucks,the people who came for the music,and whoever who shows up just for their friends,EVERYONE who actually pays for their gigs,to give this situation some thought.we go the shows to have fun.shows used to be affordable.we go to shows because we love our music,WE DONT GO TO SHOWS TO MAKE MONEY FOR SOME ORGANISATION WHEN WE BARELY HAVE ENOUGH FOR OURSELVES.WE DONT NEED ANOTHER GOVERNEMENT TO RUN THE SCENE.WE DONT DESERVE TO BE OVERCHARGED, AND BANDS SHOULDNT BE GOING ALL OUT TO PEDDLE TICKETS FOR THE ORGANISERS WHILE THE LATTER WAITS FOR THE CASH TO ENTER THEIR POCKETS. I'D RATHER BE BROKE THAN TO MAKE MONEY OUT OF BROKE PEOPLE.
BANDS,IF YOU THINK THIS MAKES SENSE,PLEASE.GIG OPPORTUNITITES COME FLICK AND FAST.IF YOU FIND YOURSELF HAVING TO DO STUFF LIKE SELLING PRESALE TICKETS JUST TO PLAY FOR A SHOW,THINK TWICE.AND IF YOU KNOW THAT THE GIG IS RUN BY XTREME MUSIC PRODUCTIONS,DO NOT EVEN THINK AT ALL.DO NOT EVEN BOTHER.ORGANISATIONS LIKE THESE THREATEN TO MAKE THE CURRENTLY ROTTING LOCAL SCENE DISAPPEAR INTO THIN AIR.
SAY NO TO XTREME MUSIC.
ps. if you think this make sense,spam it.fight one virus with another.
i personally, would root for his ideas. and a few others i know would. sufrin for one. he was stating the same fact the other nite before our jamming session. ok here's the breakdown:
in my view, the pppl tat spearhead xtreme music productions, i've heard lots of stories bout them, their scheming ways and all. but i never tot it was true until we played a few times in gigs organized by them. ok i admit, i'm quite a new comer to the gig scene, in terms of playing.. but, i've been in it, the observer of the scene for a long time, spanning near a decade, i'm proud to say, and am still proud of the local talents we have here. except tat there have been vast changes if we compare the scene now and then. seriously different changes which are both good and bad. and one of the changes is in how these gigs are now managed.
in the past, i've never or seldom heard bout bands having to plead to their close frens to buy tickets to their gigs. or for tat matter, if u think about it, sell their gigs. or pay to play. seriously, colin has stated wat i have to say in his note loud and clear. hell, i dont even know wat happened to weekend trip at youthpark where most of the gigs would happen. for FREE. and all the band would ever hope for is dat there would be a crowd.
so, xtreme music has had their scheming ways, but still support flows through. they ought to be thankful even after the made their scheming ways to the bands loud and clear at one point. this, cause i was there at the meeting about the total metalcore tee shirts. he was telling the parties present tat out of the 16 bucks tat each of the tee shirt is gonna cost, he is gonna keep 2 bucks. calculate yrself how much he would roughly keep for himself from the sale of the tees... 28 bands.. lets say each band buys at least 4 tees, he would easily have at least 220.. not counting the sale from the spectators..
ok maybe business has to be business, but the money their ripping from is off mostly kids..and wat's more damaging in my view is dat it ruins the state of the scene.. it's like indirectly forcing the bands to pay to play. and all they ever needed was a stage to express their creativity and talents. its kinda saddening.
on behalf of colin, i guess i'm urging bands wif the same sentiments about this, to unify and make our voices be heard. this, wat's happening is extortion. think about it.
