Post for thought

[Woody182]

I wrote this after someone in another post mentioned something about Jamison-Parker and their hype. I decided to repost it in a it's own thread.
It sucks, but this sites' popularity killed it. The higher traffic warranted a way to pay for bandwidth/time. Well the only way to do this is to advertise, unfortunately the way Tate opted to supplement this was to have bands pay for "news" which in effect could be "blah blah updated their web page" or "blah blah is working with so and so producer, look for one of the most anticipated albums of the year" or, some feel AP.net's are more credible than the regular fan and are influenced by news postings (that were paid for by the band) from the AP.net employee saying, "I heard this album and it was great, when you all hear it, it is like nothing ever released."
It sucks but the reality is they needed to pay for everything and this is the way AP.net chose to. I find it amazing that someone can take any advice regarding how good a band is from this site....take a step a back and think about a time that a band was actually critiqued here. On punknews.org (I know the rivalry, that's not what this post is for) there are fan submitted reviews, these are focused on, not the employees opinions. This creates and unbiased forum for music (with the exception of a majority of posters not liking "pop-punk"). Hopefully that made sense.
You can see it in bands such as Jamison-Parker, I don't know if the spelling is right but don't care. The band sucked, they paid for some stuff obviously or were simply embraced by Tate and it went from there. They were terrible enough that people actually noticed it and got sick of the news...however, think about the influx of news on bands such as Gatsby's American Dream, they are nothing even remotely special. I think I know how many cats and dogs each band member has and their pants sizes at this point.
Just look at the way bands are hyped...I thought this Lucky Boys Confusion album was so good...well after it was released no one on AP.net ever talked about it again...is that because Elektra didn't keep paying for news/ads?
I guess I'm not really posing a solution, rather just my opinion on the way things have come about....let me know your opinion on it.
This is not a post on whether people like Jamison-Parker, Lucky Boys, or Gatsby's American Dream, those were examples, look deeper than that.

[13th hour]

I guess I didnt realize that bands paid for their news to get posted. If this is true, and the reviews are being bought, then I say Fuck Tate. Does anyone know if this is accurate?

[Common Man]

Originally posted by 13th hour
I guess I didnt realize that bands paid for their news to get posted. If this is true, and the reviews are being bought, then I say Fuck Tate. Does anyone know if this is accurate?

I think you'd have to be paid to say you like jamison parker.

[popdisaster530]

"I think you'd have to be paid to say you like jamison parker."

Damn straight!

[nofxer]

yeah its been going on for a while. its like a constant cycle-
kid comes to ap.net
kid loves it
kid gets deeper into the music scene
kid learns about the way tate runs the site
kid gets pissed
kid finds/starts another website

and the cycle repeats itself. behold, simba...the circle of life.

[richter915]

Originally posted by nofxer
yeah its been going on for a while. its like a constant cycle-
kid comes to ap.net
kid loves it
kid gets deeper into the music scene
kid learns about the way tate runs the site
kid gets pissed
kid finds/starts another website

and the cycle repeats itself. behold, simba...the circle of life.
hah, I had no idea tate did that...no wonder people hate him so much.

[nofxer]

i dont really understand why people have to hate the man though. i mean, yeah hes does things in a crappish maner, but its his website, and he has the right to do what he wants. its no reason to hate the man. instead of making yourself look dumb and cursing him out on the message board or somewhere, just do what i did and leave. theres plenty of other message boards to hang out at.

[punklet2101]

Originally posted by cal1082
even if it is like that does it matter? you're still introduced to new music (unless you've heard them), and you can decide if you like it or not. i've heard quite of few bands suggested on the site that i like, and quite a few suggested on the site that i wouldnt cross the street to watch. Also the forums allow you to read reviews of users.

My thoughts exactly.

The site is a good place to come and find new bands ..

So, you read the news, check out the database, listen to the music, and make your own opinion.

Nobody forces you to take in the reviews and opinions of the staff here. You don't have to read the reviews.

Plus, this forum is cool.

[13th hour]

I love the forums here, but I think its really really shitty that Tate only posts news about bands that he is PAID to post about. It doesnt seem fair to me that there are other bands out there, struggling to get their name out, and they cant get anything posted about them on ap.net because they dont have enough cash to pay tate. If thats how this thing really works, then tate is a disgrace to punk. Whatever happened to anti commercialism?

[FarPastGone]

I find it kind of hard to believe that he would only post stuff about bands he gets paid by, there are so many different bands that have stuff news posted about them, maybe he posts more stuff about the bands that send him free stuff and that hes cool with, but I really don't think he would get paid to post some 50 word article about a change in a bands tour. Now the feature thing on the site I could see him getting different types of incentivse (however you spell it) for that, like personally I thought the Santa Clause Christmas cd was kind of shitty, but he had it on their forever, same with the pop-ups I could see him getting 'things' for the pop-ups.

[punklet2101]

Originally posted by 13th hour
I love the forums here, but I think its really really shitty that Tate only posts news about bands that he is PAID to post about. It doesnt seem fair to me that there are other bands out there, struggling to get their name out, and they cant get anything posted about them on ap.net because they dont have enough cash to pay tate. If thats how this thing really works, then tate is a disgrace to punk. Whatever happened to anti commercialism?

yep!

Originally posted by cal1082
plus dont forget you can submit news that can be put up.

true.

[piebaldkid42]

i seriously doubt bands pay him to post news on them

[jgirv17]

I don't think anyone can blame him if he does get paid. This, whether people like to realize it or not, is a business and a way to make a living. I'm not going to sound all righteous and say that I wouldn't take money if people were willing to pay me for publicity. I totally would take full advantage of the music industry in that way. Do I think he should allow room for other unknown bands to get publicity? Kind of, but that should be more our own jobs. We have Self Promotion forums, etc., but the problem is no one ever checks them out....

[angie710]

The bands do not pay Jason to post news about them... That is the most absurd thing I've ever heard...

He genuinely adores the music he writes about and just because you dont think they are up to par dosent mean they shouldnt be promoted...

Sometimes you people are fucking clueless...

[BrandNew20]

angie, some must because under the F.A.Q's there is a page that shows if a band pays a certain amount of money they will get 3 guaranteed news posts along with advertisements. Why would he put that one his site if no bands pay for news posts and one line wonders?

[angie710]

:confused: Hmph... I never saw that....


I suppose its possible..Its asinine and a little pathetic, but possible..

Meh, whatever... Either way, they get promoted, Tate gets a verbal BJ and everyone goes home happy...

[13th hour]

Im gonna give Tate 5000 dollars to rename the site Absolutepaul.net where it will just be about me and my band.

Here Is a sample of what the main news page will look like after I pay Tate:

Today, Paul ate Captain Crunch for Breakfast!

Band Practice, for the greatest band in the world, Maybe Next Year, has been cancelled because Jason, the greatest drummer in the world, has the flu.

Paul wrote a new line to a song today. Tom didnt like it. Boo on Tom!! Maybe Next Year Rules!!

[takingbackrufio]

Check out the Advertising Rates under 'F.A.Q'. You'll find some info there.

Plus, Tate only posts about bands he likes. Which is lots of them, but meh.

[Woody182]

I'll be expecting your apology in the mail Angie about calling me clueless, just kidding.
I think a majority of the posts on the site are not paid for and in that case it's a good thing, however, the paid advertisements and news posts/free stuff for reviews/recommendations can be very destructive. I guess it's just a bit unrealistic that every single thing said by a staffer is in praise of whatever they are talking about.

[AlwaysPunkin45]

That would be terribly sad if Jamison Parker thought they sucked so much that they had to pay someone to post news about their crappy music that no one likes anyways

[FarPastGone]

Originally posted by AlwaysPunkin45
That would be terribly sad if Jamison Parker thought they sucked so much that they had to pay someone to post news about their crappy music that no one likes anyways

It does suck that much though....