Mully Advanced Member Posts:849  
| 8/31/2005 8:52 AM |
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My 2 cents ...
Una, if you have an influence/contact with the band, get them to change their name ... its worse than 'Ham Sandwich'.
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PilchardAdvanced Member Posts:699
| 8/31/2005 9:17 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Una
If you really want to get wound up about conflicts of interest, then take a look at the most influential music press here, who are so f**king corupt, it makes me sick, and the fact is, bands that are hard working and that people like me or you might want to help out would never get a look in in those publications, if they didn't hand over a couple of thou in advertising revenue. That's the truth. So, am I the bad guy?
no, of course u are not the "bad" guy. this is not a good or a bad situation, merely one which points out several things about how you validate information u receive on the internet and the use of boards like Cluas by street teams to hype acts (not that i'm accusing u of this).
there is a HUGE difference between recommending a band (ie I saw Celest at the weekend and they were BRILLIANT) and doing their European press, especially when u are also a music writer. as someone pointed out, u build your reputation here by the quantity and quality of your posts and by being caught in this way (and IT Is been caught - otherwise una would have declared an interest at the outset), you not only invalidate your case but you also cast questions over other recommendations u make.
carlsberg questions the use of the term "being caught" - why? this is what has happened. una recommended a band. kierry pointed out that una managed said band. una then said no, she did their european press. and i jumped in. its called a debate. there has been give and take on both sides. no-one has lost an eye.
jmc105 asks at what point did una's recommendation cross the line. unfortunately, it crossed the line when she was found to have a business relationship (non-paying maybe, but a business relationship nonetheless) with the act in question. This is the kind of thing internet folk jump all over offline media for and we should apply our own high standards here as well.
yes i am sure there are many hacks who have agendas based on cronyism and friendships but i never take any notice of what they say. a long life spent reading the music press has taught me that when, say, Alan Corr starts talking about Blink or George Byrne about The Thrills, that it has more to do with pints of ale than musical smarts.
i'm curious as to the "corrupt" journalists that Una is talking about and would welcome some examples.
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Una Veteran Member Posts:1721
| 8/31/2005 10:05 AM |
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for 'corruption', see hotpress
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PilchardAdvanced Member Posts:699
| 8/31/2005 10:09 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Una
for 'corruption', see hotpress
examples please
also can i assume that u are not going to comment on any of the other above points? if you are not to going to, can we can draw this debate to a close?
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UnaVeteran Member Posts:1721
| 8/31/2005 10:24 AM |
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I'm not going to get into a never ending debate about that publication, but really, anybody who knows anything about our music press knows the policy of payment for column space, bias, buying covers, reviews etc.
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PilchardAdvanced Member Posts:699
| 8/31/2005 10:40 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Una
I'm not going to get into a never ending debate about that publication, but really, anybody who knows anything about our music press knows the policy of payment for column space, bias, buying covers, reviews etc.
I'm certainly not going to start a debate about that publication!
Just one simple question which you did not answer when I asked it before so I am going to ask it again.
Are you going to respond to any of the points raised in my last post about your relationship with the band you do European press for? Dont change the subject!
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benniAdvanced Member Posts:947
| 8/31/2005 10:48 AM |
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Hey Una - good to meet you the other night at the Hub.
I do have a point to make... but does the fact that I met Una once
and therefore establish an informal relationship mean I have a
conflict of interest? :-P
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Damien Basic Member Posts:316
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UnicronVeteran Member Posts:1696
| 8/31/2005 11:39 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mully
My 2 cents ...
Una, if you have an influence/contact with the band, get them to change their name ... its worse than 'Ham Sandwich'.
"Hello, we are The Be Sharps."
I'll admit to knowing a couple of guys in that band ( seeing as declaring potential confilcts of interest is so important :P ) but I find something endearing in the s**tness of their name.
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UnicronVeteran Member Posts:1696
| 8/31/2005 11:46 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Pilchard
Just one simple question which you did not answer when I asked it before so I am going to ask it again.
This story was posted here ages ago by someone and I hope I've got the details right but I understand that when the Saucy Monkey album came out the reviewer that it was assigned to wrote a pretty scathing piece on it. The label got wind of this and had a word in Stokes' ear about them taking out future advertising in the rag. Lo and behold another review was written by someone who had a "more favourable" opinion of the record. Guess which one was published? |
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PilchardAdvanced Member Posts:699
| 8/31/2005 11:51 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Unicron
quote:
Originally posted by Pilchard
Just one simple question which you did not answer when I asked it before so I am going to ask it again.
This story was posted here ages ago by someone and I hope I've got the details right but I understand that when the Saucy Monkey album came out the reviewer that it was assigned to wrote a pretty scathing piece on it. The label got wind of this and had a word in Stokes' ear about them taking out future advertising in the rag. Lo and behold another review was written by someone who had a "more favourable" opinion of the record. Guess which one was published?
unicron -
my question had nothing to do with Hot Press but with how Una is dodging points raised about her involvment with a band she's plugging here AND writing about by bringing up HP!
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MullyAdvanced Member Posts:849
| 8/31/2005 11:58 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Unicron
quote:
Originally posted by Pilchard
Just one simple question which you did not answer when I asked it before so I am going to ask it again.
This story was posted here ages ago by someone and I hope I've got the details right but I understand that when the Saucy Monkey album came out the reviewer that it was assigned to wrote a pretty scathing piece on it. The label got wind of this and had a word in Stokes' ear about them taking out future advertising in the rag. Lo and behold another review was written by someone who had a "more favourable" opinion of the record. Guess which one was published?
It was Stokes himself who wrote it.
http://www.saucymonky.com/archive/hotpressreview_turbulence.html
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mickBasic Member Posts:411
| 8/31/2005 12:59 PM |
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this thread was cool when it was about how s**t spirit was ;)
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PilchardAdvanced Member Posts:699
| 8/31/2005 1:59 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mick
this thread was cool when it was about how s**t spirit was ;)
gotta agree with u mick.
seeing as una aint prepare to play ball and prefers to dodge the question, i'm calling time.
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UnaVeteran Member Posts:1721
| 8/31/2005 3:03 PM |
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what's the question pilchard? I'm genuinely confused, not trying to dodge anything
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PilchardAdvanced Member Posts:699
| 8/31/2005 3:44 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Una
what's the question pilchard? I'm genuinely confused, not trying to dodge anything
Not so much questions Una as your response to points raised in the above mails. i'll surmise the points as following
(a) do you think its OK to write for a magazine about music AND also have a business relationship with a band?
(b) do you think its best for your own credibility that you declare an interest when recommending the band in question?
(c) do you think the same standards should be applied to both online and offline recommendations? if you knew for example that someone in The Irish Times or Irish Indo or Hot Press was hyping a band that they were managing or whatever, would you jump all over them? Shouldnt similar standards apply in this case?
There u go, three points, replies and responses please. In your own time.
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UnaVeteran Member Posts:1721
| 8/31/2005 4:58 PM |
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I think it's perfectly OK to write about music and have some kind of relationship with a band, as long as you don't explictly go beyond attention that band would be given anyway in a publication
If you're referring to who I chose for highlights of HWCH, that list was comprised based on recommendations from a collection of people. It would be pretty arrogant of me to personally decide who people should go see, as that would be singularly based on my own personal taste.
I think the same standards should be applied to offline and online. I have never excessively hyped a band in an article.
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PilchardAdvanced Member Posts:699
| 8/31/2005 5:34 PM |
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as they say in all the best TV legal eagle shows, the prosecution rests.
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Ciarán Ryan New Member Posts:47
| 8/31/2005 10:55 PM |
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Woooh, just jumped on this thread.
I was potentially in a similar situation to Una's. Writing for cluas a few years ago, I wrote gushing reviews of Waiting Room and giveamanakick. At the time, I had no involvement with either band but became a big fan of both. Now, I'm involved in a label that puts out releases from them, and when I approached another publication to do a review of a record we were putting out before, I was told I could do the review myself under a pseudonym. Obviously, I didn't but I've seen a number of reviews nationally over the years that seem a bit too pally for my liking
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strollerAdvanced Member Posts:576
| 9/1/2005 3:03 AM |
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I'd like to ask the people who believe that Una has a conflict of interest what their opinion is of Leagues O Toole? He presented No Disco whilst simultaneously running the Volta Beats record label. I can remember a hip hop special curated by Leagues entitled Yo Disco which featured such luminaries as Gang Starr, The Roots, De La Soul and er....Creative Control (who were signed to Volta at the time).
Also Donal Dineen plugged the f*ck out of David Gray's White Ladder when it was first released despite the fact that he did the photo art for the sleeve. Apparently David Gray went on to play alongside Glen Hansard and david Kitt at Donal's wedding. Do those facts make you have any less respect for him?
Personally I have no problem with either of these guys. Ireland's too small to have an impartial press. Everybody knows everybody. It's just a fact of life.
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