Amen, Richard Cheese!

Richard Cheese is a musicain of whom I find great ejoyment. He posted this on his blob, so I feel the need to post it on mine!




With "friends" like these...
Current mood: aggravated


Say, here's a cute little message I got from someone in response to one of my promotional bulletins:

"Im sorry but thats a little annoying. I like your music, I think its creative but I am about to delete you from my friends because every blog i get its buy this buy this fuck you how about sending a blog thats not selfish before i just THROW all you cds out the door. Not like you dont have enough money already you selfish piece of shit. Play music because you enjoy it not to get rich you cocksucker!!!"

Isn't that sweet?

I wish I could reply to her message, but I'm too busy counting all my money!

Yes, that's right, I'm rich! I make tons of dough! I'm loaded!

Oh sure, I have a few debts on the ledger. Like independently paying for the manufacture of thousands of CDs out of my own pocket, paying to hire promoters and publicists, sending out promotional CDs and packages, paying the publishing royalties for every single song we sell, paying the band and the recording engineers and the studios and the graphic designers and the merchandise clerks and the mailroom staff, paying for airfare, rental minivans, hotel rooms, and meals on tour, and covering the costs of website design, shipping, postage, phone calls, envelopes, dry cleaning, attorneys, and taxes.

And of course, there's that $14,000 corneal transplant I have to get in February.

But hey, I'm rich, so no big deal, right?

Thank goodness everyone in the world supports us by paying for our CDs, instead of stealing them online, filesharing, burning illegal copies, and ripping off our copyrighted material. If that ever happened, I wouldn't even have enough money to pay for this free blog.

It sure is wonderful to be rich and free of worry!!! Yay me!


---

Let me make something very clear:

I love what I do, but it does NOT make me rich. The record industry is in dire straits, the harsh American economy makes it difficult for the majority of my fans to spend their hard-earned money on our products, and we have been losing money on every CD we have released.

I am an independent artist, I pay for EVERYTHING out of my own pocket, and despite 7 years of releasing CDs and touring, we are still in a lot of debt.

It isn't fun to sit here and watch corporate lounge singers like Paul Anka and Michael Buble steal my act and sell hundreds of thousands of CDs, while I'm barely able to afford studio time.

Every dime that I do earn gets invested back into this business. I don't own a house, I don't own a car, I don't even own the rights to my 6 previous CDs.

Nevertheless, I continue to put out new CDs because I LOVE MY FANS, and I want to keep entertaining and pleasing our loyal supporters. I sell my CDs (and T-Shirts and Posters and Autographs) to raise money so I can keep doing this.

I MUST SEEK MONEY SO THAT I CAN CONTINUE TO SUPPORT MY ART. IT IS MY RIGHT TO TRY TO EARN MONEY SO THAT I CAN AFFORD TO KEEP DOING WHAT I DO.

If anyone out there doesn't like the idea of me trying to BREAK EVEN on our albums, let alone make a profit so that I can finally get health insurance and pay for my parents' medical bills, then FUCK OFF.

Do not listen to my music anymore, destroy my CDs, and go to hell.

Because if I don't sell more CDs now, then there won't BE more CDs in the future.



I AM NOT YOUR MONKEY. I WORK FOR A LIVING, AND IF YOU WANT MY MUSIC, THEN YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT.

MY ART IS MINE, AND IF YOU WANT IT, YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT IT ON MY TERMS.

If you want to support what we do, then BUY MY CDs, BUY MY MERCHANDISE, and HELP ME.

But if my efforts to put food on my table are an inconvenience to you, then I don't want you as my friend, either.

B-Bye,

RC