Let's be Honest - FOR ALL PEOPLE WHO WRITE ABOUT MUSIC PLEASE ANSWER

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I know I wouldn't if I did not get the promo cds. I need to kick it, the habit that is, please help me not to blag anymore.

― Jimmy the Saint (Jimmy the Saint), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 10:52 (twenty-two years ago)

the promo CDs are there to help me do my job is the way I look at it. in a way, they are my job.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 10:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Promo CDs?

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 10:57 (twenty-two years ago)

90 pct. of the promo cd's are crap anyway. so that's no reason!

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 10:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I think the immediate answer is for all album promos to be sent out by Sainted PR. Then everyone would be put off blagging them.

(I mean, is it just me or are Sainted the most unhelpful and arsy PR office going?)

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 10:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Promos are cool but I find that i get overwhelmed with crap and very rarely have any time to listen to the music I actually buy.

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 11:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Nail/head

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 11:24 (twenty-two years ago)

But the thrill of GETTING MAIL IS WAY TOO MUCH!!!! i don't care what i get I LOVE OPENING UP PACKAGES. "A gift FOR ME????".

I just want to stop but I know I won't because I love getting free music. I was an ex-Columbia Record House scam artist as well. Job schmob. Screw writing just give us more music.

― Jimmy the Saint (Jimmy the Saint), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 11:40 (twenty-two years ago)

i did it for the bitchiz (they didn't notice tho)

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 11:43 (twenty-two years ago)

but the thrill of getting thick packages of cds quickly palls when you open them up and find that 99% of them are unsolicited, unlistenable, unsaleable crap. then you end up resenting pr offices for making you have to trudge down to MVE/the ill-lit skip downstairs to get rid of them (i don't even bother taking them to MVE any more; the time and effort it uses up aren't worth the invariable tenner i get in return).

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 11:48 (twenty-two years ago)

NO WAY!!!!!!!!

I'm addicted.

I only throw out dodgy garage/metal singles! But the rest MY GOD HELP ME! My editor emails me telling me that I should check out the GHOST ALBUM AND TO CALL PR X. MY GOD I NEED TO STOP BLAGGING!

― Jimmy the Saint (Jimmy the Saint), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 11:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't find it so bad. Most of the companies who regularly sent me stuff I wasn't remotely interested in have given up, leaving only the good ones, plus a few feckless troupers who punt reams of mindless slipcased loser indie wank my way and don't seem to care that I haven't liked any of the last five million CDs they farmed out.

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 11:53 (twenty-two years ago)

BTW that Ghost album will make you want to buy an oil burner, if you don't own one already

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 11:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I read somewhere that even if you stop writing, the promos come for years afterwards. I worked at the used rekkid store 12 years ago now, but if yuo look in teh bargain bin, there are still promo items by the shit that did not stick, that were bought in en mass when I worked there!!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 12:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Yay endless promos! My thought is I can always recycle the cases to replace old busted ones.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 14:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Ned otm re: cases.

I got promos for just a year, back in 1999 as a student 'journalist' and 'editor'. It fucking ruled, obviously, and I gave to my friends all the CDs I didn't want (some of which, over time, I ended up wanting of course, and as 'editor' I had to hand out a few of them). So stop your whinging and buy a bigger bin. Getting free stuff=classic. End of.

― Enrique (Enrique), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 14:44 (twenty-two years ago)

NED OTM

Many times when I get most anything from like Mush Records or whatever, I use the cases for more deserving products. I also tend to sell a lot of the stuff or give them away to my stupid friends.

― Rollie Pemberton (Rollie Pemberton), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 14:49 (twenty-two years ago)

promos for stupid friends=OTM!

― Beta (abeta), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 14:57 (twenty-two years ago)

It was still good in '99.
Things are drying up a bit. Or maybe it's just me. I have no clue. I've been sorta, I don't know, off the trough for a while. Sorta.
I still get stuff that label pr people think I'll like or something. I don't know.
I hate it. I look at the discard box and I just think, landfill.

― Huckadelphia (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 14:59 (twenty-two years ago)

But Enrique, go back up and read what Roger says, it's painful and true. I started being a student mag editor in 99 as well and lapped up the free shit like a man possessed, dizzy with the realisation that Domino were willing to let him listen to their records without making him pay! A few years later I have Babel Towers of CDs that I'm doing my best to listen to although I know they're going to be pish. Boo hoo indeed.

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Unsolicited promos = almost always bad. However, if you can manage to get every CD you want for free = obv classic. Take the good with the incredible abundance of bad.

I don't think my friends would take most of the promos I have, and I still have a complex about throwing them away.

― dleone (dleone), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah, well I Gave Up in October 99, when coincidentally my stereo broke. So for me it's sweet memories rather than cumulative ennui. Now I would like free DVDs more than anything.

― Enrique (Enrique), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Almost everything I get is utter rubbish. It all seems to be Scandinavian techno too. But occasionally there's a gem. Fuck it - it's not like I'm getting paid otherwise. Hurrah for the internet.

― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Y'know what's the worst?
Free books. They're heavy. Hardcovers are nearly impossible to sell (used book dealers generally prefer softcover) and they're much more likely to have some "Advance reading copy--NOT FOR SALE" printed on them, not just a sticker or a line through the bar code. And they're heavy.

― Huckadelphia (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:11 (twenty-two years ago)

(I mean, is it just me or are Sainted the most unhelpful and arsy PR office going?)

it's just you - ever dealt with the italian job - now there's a bloodcurdling excuse for a woman...

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah but hold onto proof copies, you could have the next Harry Potter golden egg on your hands in a few years*

*In your fucking dreams

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Elsewhere I'm told it's okay to burn books, no need to recycle. And they do furnish a room. I don't like them much, though, not enough space.

― Enrique (Enrique), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I've never sold a promo to a record shop; I give them to a mental health facility that uses them for therapy. Sometimes the stacks of CDs get overwhelming, but that's the breaks.

― teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I miss the promos. Sigh. The good ones anyway.

― Lee G (Lee G), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:18 (twenty-two years ago)

what is this "elsewhere" you speak of?

― Huckadelphia (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I give my promo CDs to a couple of different local arts/culture organizations who sell them at fundraising garage sales. Though in tough times, there are few assets as liquidatable as CDs.

― Huckadelphia (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:25 (twenty-two years ago)

can I repeat, making paper in to new paper does not save anything, not energy, not trees, not global warming, nothing.
-- Ed (dal...), February 4th, 2004.

― Enrique (Enrique), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I've been writing about music since 1989, and I've never really gotten used to the notion that people were sending me stuff for free. Dunno why. Maybe it's because for every one good thing then send you, they also send you a ton of crap you'd never want. So, when something you're actually interested in (and would otherwise buy with your own money) turns up, it's like a gift from on high.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:30 (twenty-two years ago)

The girlfriend keeps trying to get me to give them to the PDSA shop but so far I've declined cos ~~I'm scum~~ it would upset the delicate balance of free Select CDs and Bros tapes contained in said emporiums

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:33 (twenty-two years ago)

this place gets whinier by the day

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:45 (twenty-two years ago)

all those who want to receive free stuff from PR offices, email me and i will give you a crap tip about how to get on PR agencies mail outs, maybe.

― ambrose (ambrose), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

"My name is Ambrose White and I've just moved house..."?

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Okay Strongo,

I do love being able to listen to and know about stuff before it's released and having a forum to express my opinions. Also, it's better to go to the mailbox to get records/CDs than to have to take the bus to the mall.
The crapload of terrible CDs that come are a hassle, but they don't exactly make my life hell or anything.

― Huckadelphia (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 16:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Free CDs are great; rubbish CDs are rubbish. Try and argue this statement...

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 16:07 (twenty-two years ago)

what about free rubbish cd's?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 16:08 (twenty-two years ago)

At the end of the day, they are quite literally rubbish

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 16:09 (twenty-two years ago)

marcello... here's a tip: if you want pr companies to stop sending you records, ASK THEM TO TAKE YOU OFF THE MAILING LIST. sure, you'll still get some desperados sending you shit, but i'm betting most of 'em only want to send their promos to people who actually play them, and maybe even - shock horror - LIKE something they haven't already read/heard about.

― emsk, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

It's a weird thing. Sometimes I want to ask PR people to just send me the stuff I actually want to write about because 1/3 of what I get is crap...but if I did and they did, I'd miss out on a great deal of really incredible music I hadn't heard about, much of which I wind up writing about anyway as a result of the promos.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 16:15 (twenty-two years ago)

oh yeah, there's nothing better than the unexpected great album. where you get to feel like Vasco de Gama.

― Huckadelphia (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 16:16 (twenty-two years ago)

hey dleone, here's the big question: did you pay for the 'Amplify' set? not that it isn't worth it, but it sure is a lot for a 7 or 8 disc set.

I'm all for reviews treating the recording independently from the price being asked for the recording. But there are also times when I wish I'd had a headsup, and there are occasional cases where price factors in. I was excited to pick up that hafler/autechre collaboration until I found out how much they were asking for it. Very sorry about Andrew's expensive medical condition, and yes very nice packaging sure fine thanks artifact, but also get lost.

― (Jon L), Thursday, 5 February 2004 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I get about 30 CDs in the mail on some days, 50 on others, sometimes 100. Probably (I'm guessing) as many as anybody in the country. And they're really not *that* hard to deal with. You just listen to the ones you want to listen to (or the ones you HAVE to listen to -- in my case, to write a show preview or because somebody pitched me the record or because my superego tells me I should be keeping up with Norah Jones or whatever the hell), and you don't listen to the rest. I keep a limbo shelf, too, of stuff that's not ready to clear out but that I think I MIGHT have to listen somewhere down the line, for whatever reason. It's surprisingly not that big a shelf. It wouldn't make sense to just request stuff I already know I want to hear, because then I'd never get surprised by stuff that I DIDN'T know I might like, because I've never heard of it til it came in the mail. That would make no sense at all to me. And I mean, I listen at least briefly to everything that looks fairly promising (judging from the press release, the CD cover, what I've read or heard elsewhere, whatever). Sometimes right away, sometimes after a couple months, usually somewhere in between. And right, the vast vast vast majority of it is utter shit. Which is....fine. Lots of it ISN'T utter shit. And I get to decide. Which makes me feel pretty lucky about it all.

― chuck, Thursday, 5 February 2004 01:24 (twenty-two years ago)

we should take pictures of our filing systems. I have a million little cubbies with post-it notes that say "NO" "FUCK NO" "COOL, BUT NO" "FUCKING CHRISTMAS MUSIC" etc.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 5 February 2004 01:30 (twenty-two years ago)

You do have one that says "CHRISTMAS FUCKING MUSIC" I hope.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 5 February 2004 01:35 (twenty-two years ago)

you should all be grateful. i get freebies of production music ferchrissakes!

― mullygrubber (gaz), Thursday, 5 February 2004 01:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Worse than free books, though: Free T-SHIRTS. Always always always "extra large". I mean, what the fuck? Do they think I'm gonna wear them for pajamas? Or all XLs just easier to buy in bulk??

― chuck, Thursday, 5 February 2004 01:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I always assumed it was because they figured people would eventually grow into them.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 5 February 2004 01:39 (twenty-two years ago)

so all the guys i see in baggy shirts are journos?

― mullygrubber (gaz), Thursday, 5 February 2004 01:39 (twenty-two years ago)

But of course.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 5 February 2004 01:41 (twenty-two years ago)

I got a folder full of promos once. It's probably in my room somewhere. The only joy I've yet to receive from it is reading the promo description of hard-rockers Habit of Mine. Something like "take AC/DC, Jane's Addiction, Metallica and Ted Nugent, put them in a blender, and you'll still come nowhere to the thrill of seeing this band live!"

The album was not a live album, mind you.

― Andrew Unterberger (Andrew Unterberger), Thursday, 5 February 2004 01:43 (twenty-two years ago)

More promos please thank you. And definitely more XL t-shirts.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 5 February 2004 01:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Promo I'm listening to right now, honest:
Perry Como, *Platinum/Gold Collection.*
OK, that one took me longer than most to get to. But it's not bad.

I still haven't made it through the ZZ Top box set. Four discs is daunting as hell. Usually I don't even bother. But hey, this is ZZ Top.

― chuck, Thursday, 5 February 2004 02:02 (twenty-two years ago)

(Como came out May 6 2003; ZZ Top Oct 14 2003, for comparison.)

― chuck, Thursday, 5 February 2004 02:06 (twenty-two years ago)

If I ever get a ZZ Top Box Set for free in the mail, I will consider myself having "made it."

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 5 February 2004 02:07 (twenty-two years ago)

AND it came in this really cool box shaped like a backwoods Texas barbecue shack, Anthony! And there's a little flip book inside where they twirl their guitars around!!

― chuck, Thursday, 5 February 2004 02:10 (twenty-two years ago)

haha give me all your XXL t-shirts! what do they think I am sending me these L t's, some kind of midget?

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Thursday, 5 February 2004 02:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Also, ZZ Top sent me a pecan pie in a wooden box from Good Barbecue in Houston for Christmas. (I swear I'm not making that up. I assume it had something to do with us running reviews by both George Smith AND Dave Queen of their most recent album {*before* the pecan pie -- so *not* a conflict of interest}. They'd definitely never sent me a Christmas present in the past, that's for sure. Only problem is I don't really like pecan pie, but what the hell.) However, this is only the second best promo item I have ever received. Numero Uno would have to be extremely badass boots from Busta Rhymes a few years ago, which I have worn ever since during winter months, including right this second. And they were the right size, even though I have small feet!! And I have still yet to ever assign a Busta Rhymes review! (Third place: A bullwhip from Faster Pussycat, upon the release of their *Where the Whip There's a Way* album many years ago. Since I do not own a bull, I never got the opportunity to use it. I think I wound up giving it to somebody for Christmas a few years later, but I forget who.)

― chuck, Thursday, 5 February 2004 02:16 (twenty-two years ago)

wow. and here I thought I had no ambitions left in life.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 5 February 2004 02:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I happily accept any and all pecan pies from interested parties. email for details. thanks.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Thursday, 5 February 2004 02:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Chuck, who assigned that Busta review Greg Tate wrote a couple years ago, then?

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Thursday, 5 February 2004 02:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Didn't Great White's label one time send actual large fish tanks to journos?

― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 5 February 2004 03:20 (twenty-two years ago)

does anyone get drugs?

― mullygrubber (gaz), Thursday, 5 February 2004 03:23 (twenty-two years ago)

i wish

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 5 February 2004 03:25 (twenty-two years ago)

hey jim i can get tugboat on the radio. send cocaine.

― mullygrubber (gaz), Thursday, 5 February 2004 03:26 (twenty-two years ago)

i can send you coca cola and cigarettes, will that help?

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 5 February 2004 03:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I wish I were a rock critic.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Thursday, 5 February 2004 03:33 (twenty-two years ago)

No you definitely don't

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Thursday, 5 February 2004 03:59 (twenty-two years ago)

* looks at dwindling music budget.
* cries!
m.

― msp, Thursday, 5 February 2004 05:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Chuck OTM re: XL t-shirts. Some of us music crits are skinny fuckers. I suppose I could figure out some way to make papier-mache out of the shredded cotton, and use that to construct shelves to hold all the excess CDs in my limbo pile, which would kill a couple of birds with one stone.

The real problem is simply space and storage. If I had an office, no problemo, but spending my entire life walled up in this bedroom where I can barely find the floor for all the vinyl, and all available wall-space is covered by shelves, and CDs are currently creating odd jewel-case-drifts that lean up against my bed -- well, let's just say that I think about San Francisco's seismic susceptibilities often, and with more than mild trepidation. If the big one ever hits, I hope one of my ILM brethren/sistren will be kind enough to send a sniffer dog for me.

― philip sherburne (philip sherburne), Thursday, 5 February 2004 05:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Space is a huge concern for me.
If I had more, I would really have nothing to whine about. Oh yeah, except time. That's one of the reasons, I think, why my tastes have gone more towards pop lately. I simply don't have time to give every disc that comes in a fair listen. Sometimes ten seconds is beyond fair, but I've probably shelved or donated stuff that I would have loved, stuff that I would eventually have used as the soundtrack to the video of my children being born, but it failed to take after one listen so out it went.
I do sometimes listen to stuff twice, just in case. And I hold on to stuff for at least three months, usually around six is when the stacks become safety hazards. But this is a strictly part-time gig for me. I would love to devote 40 or even 50 hours a week to it (and maybe if I did for a few months, I'd finally make it pay) but as it is, I have a dayjob that I need for now and something of a life and other interests.
So, yeah, time and space.

― Huck On the Uptake, Thursday, 5 February 2004 06:24 (twenty-two years ago)

i second phil on that one. definitely gotta secure my shelves to the wall in the event of seismic disaster. and yeah, start sending me mediums cuz i ain't no rock star but i definitely try to look like one.

promo issue, however, becomes a problem when your mailbox can only fit 3 bubble mailers max, and your idiotic mail lady keeps dropping your discs in your neighbors box. should i give her a pre-xmas tip to get that shit right?

― ken taylrr, Thursday, 5 February 2004 06:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I wish I got all of Chuck's free stuff!

Drugs? Yeah. I've gotten stoned by the band. Then the panic sets in around five in the morning and I scream out MY FUCKING GOD I'VE GOT TO WRITE THE REVIEW AND GET IT FILED BY NINE - FOUR MORE HOURS.

For me there is about four PR's who publicise music that I like. I only bother with those four. It works well. Sometimes they will tell me about something and I will go NO WAY and then its COOL and it does not get sent on. But yeah I get excited when I get CD's from the four pr companies 'cause they always do such neat stuff that I always take a listen when it comes through the post box office and write bout it as well!

Do other people/writers find it hard to get big ups for bands and record labels who don't use prs?

― Jimmy the Saint (Jimmy the Saint), Thursday, 5 February 2004 09:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Getting my music collection sent to me is well, THE ONLY REASON WHY I WRITE ABOUT MUSIC.

― Jimmy the Saint (Jimmy the Saint), Thursday, 5 February 2004 09:54 (twenty-two years ago)

It annoys me when I'm sent utter shite by PR companies who work on bands I actually like, but the co. never sends me anything by these artists.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 5 February 2004 11:52 (twenty-two years ago)

What is up with that?

One company sends me EVERYTHING from the direst pub rock to the latest fad gadget rip-off and I'm all like, DUDE JUST send me the stuff i want to get. And then you get the email 'HEY FRIEND DID YOU LIKE BAND X WERENT THEY FAB. THEY ARE PLAYING THE DUBLIN CASTLE'.

At least Fierce Panda took me off their list. Fierce Panda is everything dire in indie-rock rubbish. I DON'T DO GARAGE ROCK TRENDS.

― Jimmy the Saint (Jimmy the Saint), Thursday, 5 February 2004 12:46 (twenty-two years ago)

i went through a stage of running out of clean clothes and when just about to start rummaging for the least dirty thing in the laundry basket, lo and behold, a sparkling promo t-shirt arriving (all of bands/labels i like, too). it happened so often that i ended up asking greensleeves if they'd start producing promo ragga underpants (a brilliant idea anyway) and socks, then i'd have had no need of a washing machine ever again. a pecan pie would have been equally good, tho, if stickier to wear

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 5 February 2004 12:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Try getting sent XL t-shirts when you are a 5'2" female, UK size 10. I could camp under most of them. You only need so many things to sleep in.

I was supposed to get a pair of IDG Agent Provocatuer knickers, but they went 'missing' from the PR office. The PR did actually phone up to appologise, since I was one of the few women on the mailing list and would have actually appreciated them. (I could never have phoned myself: "Where is the posh underwear you promised me! Send me knickers now!")

I once got sent 20 pairs of false eyelashes. No idea why.

― Anna (Anna), Thursday, 5 February 2004 13:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't receive many, perhaps one or two per week (though I got six last weekend for some inexplicable reason), usually the kind of stuff that ends up on Chuck's limbo shelf. There are a few publicists whose taste I like, so I look forward to the records they're promoting. If I had a P.O. Box, this might be frustrating. My friends who run record labels are always pleased when I give them empty mailers, so that makes it all worth it.

― Kate Silver (Kate Silver), Thursday, 5 February 2004 13:44 (twenty-two years ago)

have we had a promo swag thread yet?

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 5 February 2004 13:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I got some rolling stones boxer shorts last year (speaking of underwear).

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 5 February 2004 13:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I got lip balm once.

― Huckadelphia (Horace Mann), Thursday, 5 February 2004 14:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I think my first ever ILM post was regarding my numbered promo lock of aphex twin's hair...

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Thursday, 5 February 2004 15:04 (twenty-two years ago)

>>Chuck, who assigned that Busta review Greg Tate wrote a couple years ago, then?<<

Eric Weisbard, probably --I'm pretty sure it was before I got here, wasn't it?? Unless my mind is deteriorating even faster than I thought. (If so, maybe Bob Xgau assigned it???)

― chuck, Thursday, 5 February 2004 16:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Agent provocateur knickers, Human League/Viz mug and teeshirt (XL), countless chocolate bars, promotional pseudo-Rizlas, lots of tight-fitting teeshirts from Britpop era when skinny-rib shirts got sent out all the time, sunglasses.

Writing about fashion = goodie bags at parties. Just got an invite for Fendi fash-week party and am salivating at the thought of the carry-out potential.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 5 February 2004 16:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I would like to be a pizza reviewer.
Send all the pies to me!

― Huckadelphia (Horace Mann), Thursday, 5 February 2004 16:27 (twenty-two years ago)

yep, greg tate on busta = 1998. i was still freelancing in philly:

http://villagevoice.com/issues/9852/tate.php

― chuck, Thursday, 5 February 2004 16:28 (twenty-two years ago)

*YOU* got my knickers then Suzy!

― Anna (Anna), Thursday, 5 February 2004 16:30 (twenty-two years ago)

(things you never thought you'd say: part 1)

― Anna (Anna), Thursday, 5 February 2004 16:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Set me on fire. Kerosene.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Thursday, 5 February 2004 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

At least Fierce Panda took me off their list.

can you get them to put me on it? i spent a shiteload getting CDR promos of their recent vinyl-only things.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 5 February 2004 22:56 (twenty-two years ago)

(neither of which were remotely garage rock)

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 5 February 2004 22:57 (twenty-two years ago)

gotcha, Chuck. thanks for clarifying.

really, the folks who have it absolute best, shwag-wise, are food writers. Andy B, a sometime presence on this board, is still semi-in the foodie loop thanks to several years at a restaurant magazine, and when he tells me about some of the meals he's had I have to cover my ears.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Thursday, 5 February 2004 23:04 (twenty-two years ago)

pecan pie!!! i think everyone should send desserts with their promos!

― geeta (geeta), Thursday, 5 February 2004 23:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I almost hesitate to ask because you guys are having such a good time. But I'm curious about a complex of questions.

1 - How often do you guys review records that you paid for,
2- What level of resistance do you get from which publishers when you attempt to do so, and most importantly,
3- Have you noticed any subtle differences in your approach between reviewing records that were assigned, unsolicited promos, solicited promos (i.e. you consciously assured your presence on a promo list), or painstakingly self-acquired?

― (Jon L), Thursday, 5 February 2004 23:40 (twenty-two years ago)

1 - pretty often, around 20-30% of the time
2 - I've never had any, though early on I was insistent that I buy my own despite editors' saying "Are you sure? I can get that for you free, you know." also, I recently reviewed something for a magazine and had a fact-checker call up asking for the publicist's name. "I don't know," I said. "I bought it at Tower." he laughed and hung up. right, you should certainly adopt a superior attitude--that's why you're a fact-checker and I'm a writer and editor. dork.
3 - a review's a review's a review, and they're all different from each other for 100 different reasons. so no, not particularly.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Thursday, 5 February 2004 23:43 (twenty-two years ago)

actually, 1 is mitigated somewhat by the fact that most of my self-purchased items are paid for by sell-back money.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Thursday, 5 February 2004 23:44 (twenty-two years ago)

1) Quite often. Get sent A LOT of stuff, but similarly buy lots of stuff as well.
2) Not much resistance, really. Certainly no-one I write for *needs* a band/artist to have a PR (actually, The Times might be the only exception here); the only drawback is getting the material before the release date, but if I'm buying it because I haven't been sent it that means it must be pretty obscure anyway, so such criteria aren't a concern. Now I have a scanner, things are mush easier - I can scan sleeves in for image purposes...
3) Not necessarily, but if i bought something I'm far more likely to listen to that than promos I've been sent, most often.

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 5 February 2004 23:46 (twenty-two years ago)

1. Almost never, unless the artist has just started and you heard it, loved it, and bought it. Music reviewers and journalists, especially freelance, aren't always paid as well as the consumers who buy the magazines they write for (or at least those readers have more disposable income). Also, if you've been writing features for over a decade you can get anything you want biked to your door, and if you buy stuff you can claim it back of an editor in many cases.

2. None. Zero. They expect you like music and buy stuff that isn't being catered to by the industry in that way yet.

3. You're not figuring in something crucial about journalism - the lead times. The magazine I write for needs me to have heard and decided on someone 6-8 weeks before the record is out, not to mention sorting out the interview and liaising with all the people that entails. In 'doing the rounds' of press offices as part of your job, you get information about release dates from PRs and they offer to send stuff, or you're eyeing up an artist because you missed them last time out. So that advance planning thing takes over your approach somewhat.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 5 February 2004 23:54 (twenty-two years ago)

lead times. that's what i was fumbling to say.

― stevie (stevie), Friday, 6 February 2004 00:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Stevie, I saw a job ad for Fetus Ed of Junior Metal Mag, are you gonna try it on?

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 6 February 2004 00:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Video-game reviewers get some serious goods.
A few years ago, Sony sent me a brand new $400 Burton snowboard with a copy of PlayStation's "Cool Boarders 3" for review. I couldn't believe it. I work at a friggin' daily newspaper, not Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ethics policy dictated that I donate the board to charity, which I did. Believe me, I was bummed. I was due for a new board at exactly that time and wound up buying one that winter.
But I still reviewed the game, if I remember correctly.

― M Deeds, Friday, 6 February 2004 00:36 (twenty-two years ago)

FETUS ED????

to be honest, i'm probably the least metal writer at kerrang!, so i doubt i'm what they're looking for (and at 28, i'm hardly fetal now)
xxx

― stevie (stevie), Friday, 6 February 2004 00:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually, food writers are beggars compared to travel writers.
A friend of mine financed her novel by writing travel for a airline magazine. She already had a bit of a name/reputation for short stories and some feature journalism, so she basically got to fly for free (even when not on assignment) stayed in nice resorts and "adventure/real life" kindsa places, and then was handsomely paid for describing it all in excruciating detail.

― Huckleberry, Friday, 6 February 2004 01:15 (twenty-two years ago)

(Features Ed, Stevie, I was being a dork)

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 6 February 2004 08:31 (twenty-two years ago)

suzy, i was very stoned when i replied last night, i realised this morning that you probably meant the features ed of K!... Not for me, not at all. i love writing for K! but am totally aware i exist on their fringes, plus i'm too busy editing Loose Lips to take another mag on (even one that actually pays)... no, this is the year i make freelancing work for me, not the other way around!

― stevie (stevie), Friday, 6 February 2004 08:38 (twenty-two years ago)

hahaha! Same here (the smoking, that is).

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 6 February 2004 08:46 (twenty-two years ago)

*smiles in nostalgia from the other side of the desk*

― Orbit (Orbit), Friday, 6 February 2004 08:52 (twenty-two years ago)

1 - Not very often. I wish I could do it more but I am always genuinely grateful to people who send me stuff for free, so I'm always aware of negating their generosity if I start doing that...
2 - Bigger mags are a bit sniffy, smaller/'local' ones much less so. As you'd probably expect
3 - Don't think so, really, but as Stevie said up there you tend to give a much more thorough hearing to something you've actually shelled out notes for. The fact that half the time promos arrive in crappy slipcases which fall down the back of the radiator or something doesn't help exactly

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Friday, 6 February 2004 10:11 (twenty-two years ago)

The fact that half the time promos arrive in crappy slipcases which fall down the back of the radiator or something doesn't help exactly

oh, this is SOOOOOO key! its only in the last couple of years that i've been sent 'finished' copies of most things without having to ask for them. that's why mp3 could never truly replace the commercial artefact for me - i want sleeve art, i want liner notes, i want a spine that gazes out at me on the shelf beckoning, play me, play me...

― stevie (stevie), Friday, 6 February 2004 10:26 (twenty-two years ago)

less crapping on, more fierce panda promos for jim

― the surface noise (electricsound), Friday, 6 February 2004 10:39 (twenty-two years ago)

steve. otfm. i like freebies of course .. but nothing beats the packaging/proper malarkey. so much more fun than a few megawhatsits on some chunk of technology.

― mark e (mark e), Friday, 6 February 2004 13:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Travel writers get the best schwag by a long shot, if you want to count the comps. Then entertainment/film writers who whore themselves to junkets (trust me on this one.) Then maybe the foodies. I think music writers get better stuff than the book people.

I'm really glad a lot of labels send stuff in generic form, as opposed to the full liners and retail-styled CDs, especially with box sets. I always tell labels to send me generics if they have them. If I really like the album, I almost always buy the retail version because it's still fun to tear off the packaging and wander through the liners. Labels take advantage of the promo clause in record contracts waaaaay too much.

1. Like Matos, I probably purchase 20% of the albums I review, and probably at least 15% of what I acquire every year is through purchasing.
2. No editor has ever cared that I did this, except for one who routinely tells me that I'm "stupid" for paying for anything.
3. I don't think there's much of an influence on whether I pay for an album or get it for free, as far as the review goes. Although, I probably wouldn't buy something unless I THOUGHT I would like it, as opposed to the free stuff that comes in where a lot of it I may not have even heard of.

― don weiner, Friday, 6 February 2004 14:45 (twenty-two years ago)

I think music writers get better stuff than the book people.
Plus, reviewing a book takes a lot of work. Like, you gotta read a whole book!

― Huckadelphia (Horace Mann), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Chuck, you are a few inches taller than me, and we probably weigh the same so I feel your pain about the XL shirts. Matos, I have a shirt from a Japanese chick band called Megababe. You are so getting it!!! It's royal blue with bubble-gum pink lettering. HAWT!!! I put it on and it looked like a dress. Regarding promos, I get a small percentage of what the Big Dogs get, but my place is small so they pile up. I have an intricate filing system (read: I'm anal) and I scribble stuff on the press release while listening to the CDs. "Singer sounds like Neil Diamond" was what I wrote last night (band is the Bloody Lovlies). Stuff to help me remember. I also file away articles, reviews, & features about bands in a small filing cabinet (hanging folders, file folders, alphabetically arranged). Nerd central.

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:18 (twenty-two years ago)

P.S. I get about five kits a month from bands that say "Chuck Eddy told us to send you our press kit." : )

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I got a medium Jaylib t-shirt the other day, and a large (not extra-large) white Dizzee Rascal t-shirt!

CD's I don't like and/or use I give back to whoever gave them to me. We have a sort of reverse mail box at the radio statio I work at. Every few months all the CD's that are still there get sold and the profits go to somewhere like War Child.

― JoB (JoB), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:52 (twenty-two years ago)

P.S. I get about five kits a month from bands that say "Chuck Eddy told us to send you our press kit." : )

Hey, that's service! :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I got into a huge argument with the defacto review editor (he's the most senior whatever and best buds with the boss-boss and the guy who most of the promo copies are addressed to in the mail. favourite thing to say: "Huck, I'm not your boss, BUT...") when I was trying to quit doing reviews for a certain publication which I still do reviews for. This place actually pays (a very token amount) for reviews and when I was trying to explain why I didn't want to write for them anymore I was explaining how given that the pay is non-existent, the main motivation for doing reviews is free CDs. And since Mr. I'm-Not-Your-Boss was hoarding all the good stuff (seriously, one week I got a box full of nothing but Klezmer reissues, which like, would have been okay, but this is a very general audience publication, and I'd already reviewed two Klez albs that quarter), I was like, this is not worth the bother.
His response: "Well, if I had known it was just about getting free CDs, I would keep them all for myself!"
BUT YOU DO!!!
ARGGGGGG!

Anyway, since then I've gotten on a number of mailing lists myself thanks to a bunch of other places I write for, so I continue to file reviews of stuff I get not from them. Just to keep my name in print. And to justify all the labels and p.r. reps sending me more good stuff. Which is like, the point, right?

― Huckadelphia (Horace Mann), Friday, 6 February 2004 16:01 (twenty-two years ago)

And to justify all the labels and p.r. reps sending me more good stuff. Which is like, the point, right?

It's the only reason I do it baby!

― Jimmy the Saint (Jimmy the Saint), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:08 (twenty-two years ago)

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