"Secret" Gift for downloaders of Cyberdust app (Churchbox), Secret Samadhi Churchbox Sessions 1996 Options

[dangum]

Chad Taylor and Live tweeted the following a few hours ago.

LIVE ‏@Freaks4Live 4h4 hours ago

Download @cyberdustapp and add (+freaks4live) to receive a “Secret” gift later today! #DustMe

https://twitter.com/Freaks4Live/status/568158305660633088

Cyber Dust is a messaging system. It's available for Andriod and iOS.
https://www.cyberdust.com/

[zmanpga]

I always find it interesting when someone appoints themselves as a morally superior ‘better’ person who can look down on people for ‘thinking they deserve something’…when this very same person, not one second later, decides it’s okay to make the judgment that someone else “*doesn’t* deserve something”.

You ask from your soapbox “who the fuck are we” to make a judgment regarding what we deserve and don’t deserve. I ask, “who the fuck are you” doing the very same thing (that of making a decision of what someone else does or doesn’t deserve) while simultaneously faulting US for this.

I also want to point out that this whole “deserving vs. not deserving” issue is a distraction, and it’s NOT THE REAL ISSUE. This isn’t a question of deserving. This isn’t a question of whether it’s okay with the band that the music is out there. That question has already been answered when an actual member of the band put this out of his own volition.

And before I get to what this is about, I should also point out that paying $100 for something isn’t the issue either, nor is the chance of exploiting this music for money. Again, anyone who got their hands on this is in the very same position to “exploit” this… but nobody would really do that because… let’s just be honest here. NOBODY GIVES A FUCK ABOUT LIVE ANYMORE…. EXCEPT this very small group of people who gather in these small communities, who only want to ENJOY the music, NOT sell it. NOBODY here wants to make a cheap buck off the music. ANYBODY here would gladly pay THE BAND for this music.

But it’s funny how someone will cherry pick a move by the moderator of this board who’s offering money (only because he’s a huge fan and has been left out in the cold, and NOT to dick over the band), and say:
"THERE, LOOK… SOMEBODY IS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH WHAT “I’VE” DECIDED IS THE TRUE NATURE OF THIS…. Therefore, fuck all of you. Fuck all of you who didn’t get in trouble with your boss to go download some files before they were taken down… fuck all of you who worked many years straight and finally took a vacation away from technology for three days, and were not smart enough to anticipate what some bonehead guitarist was going to do out of the blue (even though he promised he would give this to everyone YEARS ago).”

It’s funny how someone can point a finger at Dan and say, “I don’t like what he tried to do here, and I’m morally superior to him, and I’m therefore morally superior to all of you because you’re not as good as me, you didn’t pay $1,000 on Pledgemusic to be served breakfast in bed by Chad and Pat, and you’re not “friends” with the band.” ….and then taunt us with a Rick Rolls vid.

And finally, before I tell you what the issue is, there’s ONE more thing that it isn’t. It ISN’T any retort you have to any of what I typed above. It ISN’T “actually, I only paid $749 on Pledgemusic, and they cooked me breakfast in their kitchen, NOT in bed, so your whole argument is empty now”. And it ISN’T any retort to anyone else’s frustrations that I’m sure you would LOVE to conveniently take out of context so that you can be “right” and not be revealed for being a douche who’s forgotten that there are other Live fans out there who are grown adults with lives of their own who don’t need to worship the men behind the band to truly appreciate the music.

So WHAT IS THE ISSUE HERE THEN? The issue is Chad’s blatant disregard of any real common sense and decency toward fans who have supported the band for so long for years. Fans who got Birds of Pray a month early for free yet still paid $13 when it came out (at a time when money was tight) just because they wanted to make sure each band member got their 20 cents off the sale. Fans who used Pledgemusic (not for breakfast in bed, but just as a way to buy the album in a way that supports the band a little more directly) when they KNEW that Amazon would deliver the whole album sooner (which they did). Fans who saw Live WITH Chris the last time they were in town on this recent tour, cheered just as loudly as anyone else, and looked forward to whatever the band might want to create, knowing they would support them with or without Ed.
So….What do I mean when I say blatant disregard? I mean that if you have any intelligence whatsoever, you know that the MUSIC is always the most important thing when it comes to any band. You know that a signed guitar pick doesn’t mean shit compared to a song created by a group whose art you really appreciate. A backstage pass isn’t as important. A Pledgemusic tour of their studio isn’t as important.

So here you have this unique and apparently totally awesome spin on a classic album by the band. A snapshot of music that was created in that moment when they were crafting this art. And you have someone from the band PROMISE to give it to the fans. YEARS AGO. And fail to deliver.

Now you can go and say “it’s his music, he can do whatever he wants.” Fair enough.
But speaking of fair, since again this ISN’T about “deserving” or “what we’re entitled to” or “who’s a REAL Live fan” or any of that other nonsense you use as an excuse and distraction to rub it in our faces and convince yourself that you’re better than us…. Let’s just talk about what the real issue here is.

This is about being a decent person. And having the respect to keep your promise. And not in some half-assed fucked up “stalk me on twitter and find my post and sign up for my project within 24 hours, or fuck you” type of way.

Does NOBODY else, even the elitists who hang out on WhiteDiscussion and think they’re better than you if you don’t hate on Ed every day (even if, as an intelligent human being, you already know the part he had in fucking things up)… does nobody at all want to just stop and ask “can the artist PLEASE just have some fucking INTEGRITY in his choices in how he treats his consumer??!!” NOT because the consumer “is entitled to it”…. But because IT’S JUST THE DECENT THING TO DO.

Let me say that again since I know this post will be cherry picked, taken out of context, and attacked.

THIS IS ABOUT BEING A DECENT PERSON, KEEPING PROMISES YOU MADE TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUPPORTED YOU, AND NOT RUBBING THEIR FAILURE TO DO IT ON YOUR UNREASONABLE TERMS IN THEIR FACES.

This. Is. About. Being. A. Decent. Person.

Wait, are you stuck on something I said above because I called you elitist, and now you’re all defensive, and are more concerned with arguing with me than just listening for a second and considering the fact that your point of view is biased and skewed? Did that last sentence that I just said set you off and distract you from the REAL issue? Well, then, let me say it just ONE more time.

This. Is. About. Being. A. Decent. Person.

In MY humble opinion, it’s not a decent thing to make a promise, break a promise, and then halfway keep the promise years later in a way that prevents the promise from being kept to the majority of people. And it’s not a decent thing to have a fan say “sorry, Chad, I missed out on the coolest fucking music release you’ve put out in over 15 years, but I love you guys and I’m a fan, and can I please enjoy this also” and reply with “I know, right?...isn’t it cool how exclusive this Dust thing is? So super exclusive, I love it. Wait, did you say something important? I wasn’t paying attention, you fucking loser.” (and yes, MORONS…I’m obviously NOT quoting Chad directly there, but am doing by best to articulate the perceived, and possibly true, MESSAGE that’s being delivered).

Does NOBODY think this is just fucked up?

Can ANYONE …anyone at all …just STOP trying to make themselves ‘right’ here long enough to see that fans who were promised something by the artist, and who had absolutely NO intention of ever ‘exploiting’ this music…. Just got dicked over by a selfish, thoughtless, and dumb decision?
Can CHAD just stop for a minute, and put himself in someone else’s shoes and think “gee, that’s kind of fucked up that a bunch of my fans who have supported me for decades just missed out.” Chad has claimed in interviews that he’s the biggest fan of this music. I know this isn’t about who’s a ‘real’ fan…. But wouldn’t a ‘real’ fan like Chad realize that there are loyal, honest, really cool fans who just got screwed over? Is he that out of touch? For all of you who have the songs, who are looking down on those who don’t, who CLAIM to be REAL fans…. Are you really a real fan if you can’t even feel for other people who support the music (and have no bad intentions) who missed out on this?

Is a Rick Astley video or dancing bananas or other nonsense the way you want to be about this?
That’s fine. And I realize that this post is nothing more than me getting a few things off my chest. And it won’t change the fact that people will distort what I say and make more ‘distracting’ arguments or go off on a tangent or any of that other nonsense. It certainly won’t make Chad like me or appreciate me as a fan or ever want to do anything for me. It won’t change his mind, trust me, I know this. This will NOT change his mind to keep Churchbox back in the vault now. But there’s one more thing that it won’t change. It won’t change the fact that real fans who supported the band both in 1994 AND in 2014 just got screwed over by a bad decision and a thoughtless choice.

This is sad and shameful, and while I’m about to go back to my life now, I can’t help but wonder why anyone at all would be okay with this.

fuck dude don't be so bitter, you could have been served breakfast in bed too