So I got an email from Google (who run Blogger) & they killed one of the blogs that had digital download links to Silber stuff (the blogger didn’t have any contact info to ask them directly to cease & desist). I’m not sure how I feel about the whole thing. On the one hand I don’t want to set up an “us versus them” thing between Silber & Silber fans. On the other hand I can’t spend a couple thousand dollars per release to give them away. I don’t know, it’s exactly the second site I’ve had taken down (the other was charging for the downloads!) of about a hundred who’ve posted links (most I just ask to take stuff down & they do, also most review a record instead of just listing links so it seems like they are trying to promote the music rather than pirate it). & of course I realize it’s just a temporary fix & the same guy now puts up all his links via Twitter. What’s worse is it ends up the guy is based in a territory notorious for bad postal service & famous for lack of respect for copyrights (I know you’re thinking Italy, but it’s actually Brazil) & he actually runs a net label that has done some stuff with people I know! Of course it saying on his page that Google had taken his account down twice previously & he just puts it back up doesn’t make it seem like he thinks there’s any moral ambiguity with what he’s doing. I don’t know. It’s a pretty frustrating situation & I feel like a jerk.
I got an email from Gimme Sound saying Remora earned two cents last month for their downloads/profit-sharing plan. Hard to say how I feel about selling music for a penny. But I think that if I just think of it as an alternative to MySpace who might pay me $10 a year it seems okay.
I just bought some software for setting up the Silber Download shop. We’ll see if I wasted some money. (A couple people have told me these automated set up stores never work properly, but I did pay an extra $30 for the people to install the thing. So maybe it will work?)
Got an email from Jon DeRosa (Aarktica) complimenting me on the amount of reviews & radio coverage the new disc has gotten. It feels pretty good when the artist feels satisfied about things (even when sales aren’t happening & they aren’t making money).
Filled a few orders & sent out a few promos. One of the promos was for Mark Tucker who I’ve been having a little debate/conversation with about the nature of physical objects & packagings importance to musical experiences. Another one of the promos was a Lost Kisses DVD to a person I was in touch with it at Cartoon Network three years ago. (I probably burned all my bridges for ever working with CN by refusing to sign a work for hire contract for Lost Kisses. (Which is possibly why both Lost Kisses isn’t on TV & Silber isn’t in the black – I mean, how much more jaded would I really be? At any rate I did wait until the contract I did sign had expired to manufacture the DVD.))
More news tomorrow.
Random Short Fiction
I want to feel a sword plunging in my chest to remind me of my youth. To remind me of when I was young & strong & unstoppable. To remind me I was not always the King of Aquilonia. To remind me of who I really am. A mercenary, a barbarian, a child of the frozen wastes. A warrior decorated by scars, not medallions. Alive & aware, not drunk on stagnancy & luxury. Destined to die in battle against incalculable odds. What have I let happen to myself?