Ooh I do love a good mystery. Except that it isn't.
It was when I first stumbled on this thread many months ago. I got one of those emails that seems to have upset everybody so. Compared to most of that sort of stuff that I get, simply because I'm in a band and have a miniscule web presence, it was rather tame.
Normally I'd bin it but I scrolled down and the address was local. No probs, they can have a CD and, if nothing more, we'll at least have one kicking around someone's office in our most immediate market. I rifled one into the post and promptly forgot about it.
A couple of weeks later an exceedingly glossy magazine, the seemingly much reviled AnR Magazine, a heap of accompanying CDs and a placement price list arrived in the mail.
So far so good. I could follow the logic. I give you money and my band gets a placement in the magazine, the more the moola the better the view. I worked for a Melbourne street magazine for a few years and game is the same albeit a far more upmarket approach and a narrowly defined audience.
Hmmm. Better have a look on the net, that paragon of virtue, surely that won't steer me wrong. Not much really, no web site, a few mentions and then I found this thread. It was just after it closed. The first time.
I read the entire blog, as it was at that point, and to be honest, had more and more misgivings the deeper I got. I came on cobber's salutary remarks and snapped out of it. After all extrapolating inference is rather shaky ground upon which to perch an allegation.
Norman's own addition obviously didn't help the situation but then how does a person react when one reads such things about themselves as have been inscribed in this thread.
Anyway, I'd made up my mind so I forgot about it. Until a couple of days ago when, thinking I'd have a laugh with a friend, I found the thread again and realised it had arisen again, just as eloquent and equally as full of fact as its predecessor.
You see Mudcatters, in the intervening months we sent Norman some money and in exchange we designed and placed a basic looking ad in AnR Magazine. Given it's glossy nature (and we're talking top end) it stuck out like dog's nuts. The 3 songs we put on the accompanying CDs came up ok but we master for hi fi not radio so our levels weren't as up there as most of the rest of the recordings on the discs.
About a week after we got our copies of the mag we got a small licensing deal with a New York record company for one of the songs. A few other things have occurred since then and with our new album almost ready, we feel we're putting this next one out to far more opportunities than the debut.
And we're not talking big biscuits for big biscuits were never promised. We are a niche band despite our predominantly folk/country approach and Norman's forte is sourcing licencing in foriegn markets. He does other things but we're interested in the licencing at this time. We have no desire to chase fame and fortune on any other terms than our own, and I have expressed this to Norman personally. His, or for that matter anyone else's agreement on that is not required.
What Norman does won't suit everyone. He's not a starmaker. He's one of a myriad of people around the world, making a living by helping people who know their craft, generate a living for themselves. And won't always succeed as is the case in life.
Up until we parted with the cash we had given Norman a CD and five sheets of paper, and he had given us an impressive industry magazine and 6 CDs. That's a pricey scam to be running among predominantly poor musicians.
I've written this because some of you people have ripped yourselves off. I've no doubt Norman's services could be useful to some of you although probably useless for the rest. We have no problem throwing our CD at an opportunity when it comes along but I can understand how some people can be precious about that sort of thing.
We use Norman's services because his magazine offered us, as we saw it, an opportunity to get into a market we hadn't thought about.
I won't tell you I know Norman because I don't but I can say that since I've been dealing with the bloke I have found him to be a typical industry person, that is, able to talk and absorb as much bullshit as I can. But then isn't that exactly what this industry runs on? Bullshit.
By the way, my band is grumpy neighbour and we're at;
www.myspace.com/grumpyneighbour
so you know I'm not having a lend of you. and no, we haven't put Norman on our site but we only briefly mention the fact that we've been in the soundtrack of Fat Pizza and Shift and Swift Couriers for the last 4 seasons. We're not super professional like other musicians.
grumpy ray