Music Scams- GLightFirm & Afton

Music ScamsFirst of all, I should clarify why I am calling these companies scams. They may have valid services, but the way they market or approach people is, in my opinion, scammy.

This week, poor VvonV was contacted on his Sparklejet Band's FaceBook and MySpace pages with two different solicitations.

The first one was from a company called 'Afton'. They sent a note from a woman who claimed she gets paid to 'browse' MySpace for bands. She states that she liked the music and thought the band would be a good fit for a gig set up for Feb 19 at some venue (named the venue, but not the town or state). I got deja vu, because a couple of years ago I got contacted by someone with almost the same wording regarding my band.

That kind of perked my ears up, because while it's true that I used to have a band, and I had pictures posted on my MySpace, I did not have any links to my actual music. So I knew that whoever wrote it was scamming, because they couldn't possibly have listened to my music and thought it would fit in with some show. Turns out THAT company turned into what is now Afton. I don't like the misleading comments they send in their notes. I don't believe for a second that anyone from their company listened to Sparklejet's music at all. Researching brought up many google pages titled 'Afton Music Scam'. Apparently, many musicians feel that whatever setup Afton has regarding ticket sales and payment is a scam. Thankfully, we don't personally know, because we did not sign on with them. Check them out carefully before you decide to.

The second music scam solicitation he got was from a company called GLightFirm, and it also was presented as a note from someone trying to make it sound like they were a recording or publishing company. After checking out their website, it becomes apparent they are nothing of the sort. What they are is someone who 'qualifies artists through production evaluation'. WTF? I read the whole site, and as far as I can tell, it's just some people who want your band to pay them to critique you. I'll do that for $5!

What's interesting is that one of their tabs gives information about their 'referral' program. Yep, an affiliate program. So the person who sent VvonV that misleading note most likely doesn't even work for GLightFirm, and was just throwing out random notes to every band they could find on MySpace for the sleazy affiliate link money.

That's the problem I have with these companies, and why I call them scams- because they are not up front or honest about what they are, what they do, what they cost... or even whether or not they've even really listened to your music. I have nothing against affiliate links- I use them myself. But I do not solicit people I don't even know in a misleading manner just to make a sale. That's sleazy.

Please, bands, especially young ones, be very wary when approached by anyone about your music. It's flattering, but 99/100 times it is some shark wanting to make money off of your desire to produce music, not by helping you produce, market or sell your music.

The eHow UK Fiasco- What is Up with eHow's Backlinking?

IF IT LOOKS LIKE A SCAM, SMELLS LIKE A SCAM AND TASTES LIKE A SCAM, IS eHOW UK A SCAM?

I am going to post what I wrote on US eHow's Community Chatter Forum Boards today, just in case it manages to get 'disappeared'.

(I'll be filling in some backstory on the whole thing tomorrow).

"I'd still like an answer to why ALL of the US articles were not just taken down from the UK Site as originally promised? Why all the extra work to redirect instead? And, will the 'fix' for the newer articles still ending up on the UK site be to just 'redirect' them as well? That makes no sense, and has not been addressed ONCE. Why the complicated redirected 'fix', when simply removing all US non flat-rate eHow articles could just have been removed and coded not to be listed in UK thereafter?

Obviously, I am not stupid, and there MUST be a reason a choice was made to deal with it the way it has. If it was losing eHow money, no doubt they would have been removed immediately. Which suggests it is beneficial to eHow to approach this the way they are, by continuing to post them there and redirect them back.

When I Google 'eHow UK' and click on the site, first thing I noticed yesterday was that many of the featured articles were from the US. Going into eHow article search and typing in 'California' pulled up many articles that were not redirected to the US site. In fact, the first one I clicked on, "How to Sell a Used Car in California", did not redirect... and based on the comments, the article has been up since 2007 in the US. In the sidebar are 5 more articles by the some author, none of which redirect, but clicking on the author leads you to a blank page with no articles or comments. Other authors I clicked on had articles listed but no personal info, and some had a variation of one or the other. A few of the US authors articles did redirect. Obviously there is quite a lot of mess going on, and quite a lot of 'splainin' to do.

Also, when I click on the third link on Google when I search for eHow UK, it comes up with Garry Crystal, eHow UK
, and clicking on that I see that this person is a UK writer who somehow although being a novice with only 110 points (I have 2240 points after 8 months and 19 articles, and many comments) wrote about 80 articles, about 70 of which were supposedly written on 08/01/07. Only 4 of them have any comments, and even though he is described as a published author, there are no affiliate links or personal links in any of the articles, only 1 pertinent link to a non-paying info site in each article. Now, how could anyone write/publish 70 articles in one day, and if the UK writers were never getting paid, why would anyone write them or not put backlinks into the resources? And if they were getting paid residuals, why no backlinks? And only has 2 friends and 4 comments after 2 1/2 years?

Now, why do all of Garry's articles, since he claims he lives in the UK, redirect to the US URL? It seems to me pretty obvious all of the US/UK problems have occurred purposefully in order to build up huge backlinks for the UK site. Or eHow is flat-paying US writers to write UK articles, post them in the UK, backdate them, and then redirect them back to US?

SOMETHING REALLY STINKS. "
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It's getting all over... I'll compile all the links I've found tomorrow- for now, here's a link that's been following it as well- You'll notice I haven't removed my eHow sidebar... partly because I don't know what to do with it, and partly because they are holding some of my articles.

The Prostitutes and Whores in Fresno, California

The Blackstone Prostitutes


I'm not all that keen on prostitution, especially when it gets the eye of my two boys. As in, why is that lady on the corner wearing shorts when it is raining?

And my answer is a lie- maybe they are waiting for the bus?

Because I don't want to tell them the real reason, which is that some people are so desperate for money that they will trade money for sex.

I find it sad. Sad that people are able or want to to fuck random people, and that some people are willing to pay to fuck strangers.

Letterman and Tiger Should Become Friends

Celebrity excuse?
I get that Letterman is a celebrity, and that he has some issues we ordinary people don't.
But in his personal life he shares something all of us common people do- the fallout of cheating.

At first, people complained a lot, claiming that he hadn't cheated on his wife of a few months, because they were not married at the time. I would disagree with that criteria. I personally think you shouldn't sleep around on your partner even if you aren't married, unless you both agree to it beforehand.

But I didn't need to worry, because facts came out showing that he'd actually cheated on his wife while they were married for a few months. as well as before.

I used to ditch high school and go to Bobby's house (Who was only 16 but had his own apartment) and watch David Letterman when he first started. I thought he was funny, but not in an obsessive way.

I understand that he was tempted by having semi-attractive interns, but please. I don't even feel that sorry for his wife, as she was an intern while he was involved with another woman. People rarely change, and she no doubt knew what he would do, considering that he did it with her. Most people (and men specifically) are able to have exclusive relationships with people. Maybe celebrities think their lives are somehow different?

Funny how the wife hasn't made any statements at all? Maybe she has some class. Or likes his money?
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Tiger isn't any Better!

Tiger cheats. Tiger likes Whores and prostitutes. Does anyone care?
I don't think so.

I'm guessing his wife feels otherwise.

I had a relationship once where I found out the person was cheating on me (as far as I know, of my 30 year experience with relationships have not involved cheating) and the first thing I did was to go to a clinic to check out whether I'd 'Caught' anything, even though I'd heard that condom use (which I am a huge supporter of) would make that possibility rare. I luckily came out clean.

I am not a stupid person, and I have read things from female pimps who have said that Tiger requested 'Bareback', meaning no condom.

What kind of jerk does that, and what kind of idiot prostitute does that? I would never have sex with a celebrity without condom use, because they are all essentially whores.

His wife has kept her mouth shut. I can't imagine how humiliating it would be for everyone to know (she's had 2 kids with him) that your husband was having unprotected sex with prostitutes while they were having sex with you. That is so low.

Why I hate Craigslist Pet Ads

I hate Craigslist. Mostly because they are popular, and more specifically, because they are popular for advertising pets for sale. Craigslist COULD be a great resource for shelters wanting to rehome animals instead of killing them, but instead, Craigslist pet ads are swamped with sleazy backyard breeders.

It draws the most stupid of the stupidic, because on the pets page it specifically states " no pet sales or breeding please -- rehoming with small adoption fee OK"

Now that is stupid. Because 50 times a day someone with 6 inbred pups posts an ad stating that they are 'SELLING' and 'rehoming' the pups for 50-400$ each.

Every single one of those backyard breeders are aware that they are breaking the rules by advertising the sale of animals, but Craigslist does nothing about it.

Any check of the flag help forum reveals multiple people every hour whining about why their ad was flagged off- even people openly admitting to selling animals. The majority, however, claim that they aren't. Boo, hoo. Why did my ad get flagged? Often there are ads that say 'Glad you flagged me- now me and my backyard bred pitbulls can repost right at the top of the pet pages!'

The forum can be pretty harsh, and they call out backyard breeders and irresponsible people, but Craigslist really does nothing to support them. Some of the people on the flag forum are jerks, but can you blame them for having to work with such a**holes?

The only power anyone has is to log into Craigslist daily and flag off the backyard breeders, and the people responsible for the glut in shelters having to kill animals.

I hate how Craigslist forces it's members to police the ads and enforce the 'no pet selling' by flagging them off- enough to have written a specific article giving all the details of How to Avoid Having Your Ped Ad Flagged Off Craigslist.I think it covers a lot of things. If you think it doesn't, please let me know.

Radio Surfing

Anywhere The Wind Blows, Doesn't Really Matter

I never bothered to get a CD player for my car. I've never seen the need. One less thing for people to steal.

That said, I treat the car radio like many people treat their channel changer on their TV. I jump, hop and skip.

Some of the songs I came across today while out doing chores and picking up the boys-

S&G "I am a Rock". This really has to be one of the saddest songs there is.
"I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me."
Sad.

And then there was Elton John and Kiki Dee (has anyone ever heard of Kiki Dee since?) and the duet "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart".
"Don't go breaking my heart
I couldn't if I tried
Honey if I get restless
Baby you're not that kind"

I got a kick out of imagining me and VvonV recording that duet. Just for cheesiness.

Moved on to Pink Floyd-
"So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
Very short, very sad song. But one of those songs where it's completely linked to the album, in your head, to where when it's over, you expect the next song on the album to start- which doesn't happen on a radio station.

Then on to SuperTramp-
"So you think your schooling's phoney
I guess it's hard not to agree
You say it all depends on money
And who is in your family tree"

I do have to say that among all of the concerts I saw in my teens, SuperTramp has to be one of the very best. Their songs are 'crisp'. Stellar.

Then there was-

"Wake up Maggie, I think I got something to Say to You"..
In my mind, a perfect example of a solo/wank that works. Generally I hate solos, because they are usually just wank-a-thons with no redeeming purpose. But in this song, it's integral, and it just plain works. If it wasn't there, you'd miss it.

That's just a sampling of the songs I heard today. Thinking about it, it'd be kind of funny if VvonV and I recorded 'Muscrat Love', too. Cheese factor.

I would be remiss to not give this link to what I consider to be a genius song- Lake Marie
This one is close- Jupiter and Teardrop

Why Jury Duty Sucks

Who Can Afford to be on Jury Duty?

VvonV has recently been scheduled for Jury Duty. He got the mailed order, and had the option to lie in order to get out of it, but he didn't.

So, yesterday morning he had to report downtown at court for Jury Duty. Meaning, that he missed work. Most people don't know that if you do Jury Duty, your employer has no obligation to pay you while you miss work.

Meaning, that VvonV missed a day's work, and will not get paid for it.

There are all kinds of ways to get out of Jury Duty. The most obvious of these would be making statements that show you are racist. There are a ton of other commonly known ways. The thing is, VvonV didn't resort to any of those things. It's one of the million reasons why I love him to death.

But, he's been brought back again today. Which means another day with no pay. As far as I know, the only reimbursement you can get for Jury Duty is parking fees, which for VvonV would be about $7 a day.

It doesn't look good, in that he hasn't been sent home yet today- I hope he's not going to be signed on. We cannot afford for him to not get paid for days/weeks/months of him being on a Jury, just because he is an honest person.

I can't count the times I've gotten screwed over because I was honest. I understand why a lot of people are dishonest- you get rewarded for it. For some people, I'm guessing myself and VvonV, it's just impossible not to be honest, even when you are aware of what being honest will entail. What it will cause.

I just hope whoever he's being kept on for will plead guilty or have their case dismissed, because we absolutely cannot afford for him to not get paid while he's serving as a juror. And it's not likely he'll be dismissed, because he's the perfect combo of being a minority (spanish) as well as being destructively honest. He's an attorney's wet dream.

UPDATE
He ended up losing over a week on this jury duty. For which he had to pay for lunch everyday down by the courthouse... with a reimbursement of about $80 for his mileage and gas. It was about some Indian (from India) gangster who'd assaulted another by using some Indian bracelet as 'Brass Knuckles' on his face. Guilty, but got no time even with prior convictions. WTF? I wish selfish people like that would think of other people. The judge, prosecutor, lawyers all get paid, but all the people on that jury (and their families) suffered lost wages, just to see them get convicted... and then slapped on the wrist and let go. I can see why people lie through their teeth to avoid jury duty- we really needed that week of VvonV's pay that he didn't get because of some selfish criminals.