September 13, 2002
How we released the statement: We decided to release the statement by e-mail and on message board because we have not been able to get zines and online sites to post the statement as news. Yes, going the message board way can be minefield, but we had no choice, the word needed to get to the kids.
Why anonymous sites?: Many people have asked why the statement is on anonymous geocitie sites, well the answer is, we are doing our best to make sure that the statement always remains online. Also, these sites are NOT anonymous, our band names are on the sites including a general e-mail address for the collective. The bands will reply to you if you mail them.
Personal attacks: We have tried not to name any names and personally attack anyone at Goodlife. We did name the owner of Goodlife and in the statement we explained why, if you send checks, pay money to Goodlife or sign contracts, you must do it all in the name of Edward and not Goodlife. We are sorry for the people who are/have been caught in the crossfire of this statement. There are employees at Goodlife who weren't involved in these wrong-doings and who will be affected by it. Sorry, it was not our intention to harm you. Maybe consider working somewhere else (FOR SOMEONE ELSE) ? However, some people at Goodlife do not feel the same way we do, several of us have been personally attacked publicly and on the Goodlife site, and more than just attacked, Goodlife is actually claiming that the bands on the statement know nothing about it. This could not be further from the truth. We will withstand these personal attacks if that's what it takes to bring out the truth and save just one band from going through the hell and disappointment we did.
Goodlife answers: Goodlife has posted some answers to our allegations on their site, in our opinion we feel that these answers are just proving all of our points.
1. When you own a record label demos that come into your label are NOT your personal collection, these are still under license by the bands who recorded the music. To do so is considered piracy; Music piracy: The general term referring to the illegal duplication and distribution of sound recordings, comprised of four specific forms: bootleg recordings, counterfeit recordings, pirate recordings and online piracy.
2. On bands and support, the label is obliged to fulfill their contract, period and for that matter so are the bands, we all did, we delivered our recordings, the label end was not met. Tour support, ask 100 Demons, Course of Action, Kindred, Morning Again, Broken Promises (just to name a few), about their tour support.
3. What about all the big sellers? Morning Again, Kindred, 100 Demons, Birthright, only a few bands are named by name and attacked, so many were left out. Goodlife chooses to attack a few and not all bands that have signed the statement, why?
4. Colorwax.com, well this is the cake, there is actually an ad out there (we are trying to find it again, if you have it please send it to us) it was mentioned by Goodlife in a mass mail that Goodlife or Edward sold all our colored and rare vinyl's to the guy at colorwax.com. They claim colorwax has nothing to do with goodlife yet they advertise it and most of the collection is GL collection. And how can this be his personal collection? How will we ever see any of our royalties on some of these vinyl's? Many of us were told these exact vinyl's were lost or sold out, and now they re-appear??? Again, another sneaky underhanded business trick from Goodlife.
5. There is more than a handful of bands that have recorded for Goodlife and the record is never released or heard about again. The label requests the band to go into the studio and hands them a very small budget and expects them to record in an extremely short amount of time. In the end the label says they do not like the recording and the band has literally lost that time, energy, and effort and the rights to the music. None of us could afford to buy the master recordings from Goodlife and we were not allowed by contract to go to another label. So basically, Goodlife killed our bands and the recordings are dead forever.
6. We highly doubt that without Goodlife Ferret, Trustkill and Tooth and Nail would not be able to sell their records in Europe. These are AMAZING labels that put out great music! We are sure there are other distros and labels out there in Europe that would love to treat these labels right!
Thank you: Lastly, we cannot answer to everything Goodlife will have to say on this statement, and we are not interested in entering a war of words with the label either. We are interested in exposing the truth and standing up against this oppression. We just wanted you all to know that this was not a 'one off thing', we are here, we are still fighting and we won't back down!
And THANK YOU to ALL of the people who have contacted us in anyway, give us their support, help distribute this statement, and even more to those who have added their names in support to the statement, we appreciate the support more than we could ever say!
Please help us get this message out, if you have a website please add a page with the statement. If you would like to make flyers from this statement and pass it out at shows in your area, PLEASE DO!!! Or just simply help us spread the links.
If you wish to contact any of the bands or the collective please do so. [email protected]
The content of this statement must not be changed or altered in any way unless given specific written permission by this collective.