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Hi,

Has anyone here paid for this Australian label subscription series? It is called PASSERIDAE SUBSCRIPTION SERIES (stunning line-up 100 only colored vinyls, hand made packaging, recycled....etc..here's the linkhttp://soundandfury.net.au/012.html).

Unfortunately only 2 singles were released from the series of 12:

I: MOONMILK / MY CAT IS AN ALIEN

II: ADRIAN KLUMPES / MACHINEFABRIEK.

They should have been ready since 2008... It's now been 2 years since the I paid for them and no sign of the records. I paid quite a lot of money, around GBP 100.

Since purchase, I sent several emails to the guy who runs the label, but had no reply messages... I have not received a refund, and he's not posting any other info about the next (remaining) records. I'm now pretty sure this is a trick and he won't complete the series at all.

Is anyone in the same situation? This should be a lesson - don't pay for something not released yet.

Paypal claim does not work either as the payment is older than 6 months. Does anyone have any other ideas about how I can reclaim the funds?

Adrian

adam who runs Sound & Fury is a pretty stand-up guy so i'm sure he's not intended to rip anyone off.

it sounds like its run into troubles like most of these subscription only things tend to do - hopefully he'll be able to get it back on track...

Hi Gareth,

Thanks for the reply.

I don't know him, he could be a stand-up guy, but the lack of response to all my attempts to get in touch suggests to me that he's not. 

I'm not absurd, and I realize that indie labels have difficulties in releasing stuff, but it has been 2 years, and I've not even had a heads up from the guy. I am very sympathetic to this business and I would have understood the delays if he'd kept me posted about this series. I suspect this project was too big for him, and he might not have had the funds to complete it. He spent the money paid on the advance orders, so now there are no money to reimburse the advance subscriptions. 

I'm going to attempt to get my money back through my bank. This is less about the amount paid now, but more about the principle of fairness to buyers. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one in this situation. I've invested in indie labels for many years now, and am aware of decline in sales, and the issues they're facing - this type of situation however is not going to warm people up to putting more money into records. I'm definitely going to be more cautious with what I'm buying, thanks to this guy.

Thanks

I also subscribed to this series back in the middle of 2008 and I'm also definitely a little frustrated by how longs its been. I haven't tried to contact Adam in a long time but when I did about a year ago when the series was begining to look pretty delayed he did respond and say he was doing his best to get it all out. He runs a good lable and isn't trying to cheat anyone. I've talked to some of the artists involved and they all submitted tracks for the series meaning it's certainly real. For someone involved in this music community, Adam certainly wouldn't get artists to contribute with the intention of never releasing these 7"s. If you try and get your money back, don't do it because you think you're being swindled, I'm really confident you're not. Adam said in a relatively recent interview with Foxy Digitalis that he was doing his very best to finish this series up as quickly as possible and include as many cool freebies to thank subscribers for being patient as he can afford to do. If you're patient, I'm fairly positive you'll be glad you held out once these start coming in.

"This should be a lesson - don't pay for something not released yet."

Last June I purchased some new Grouper vinyl from Twee Death. 

K responded to my emails with a variety of reasons for why my records were delayed, but the crux of the matter was that he had no money. And he didn't have to press the records, he simply had to mail them.

I was very frustrated by the situation, especially as we all know hw fast Liz's stuff sells. I was sure that I had missed out, been ripped off, end of story.

Last week I received my records, nine months after I had paid for them. I'm not saying the situation isn't disappointing, only that sometimes when people say they have money problems, they really do have money problems.

Hi Adrian,

Adam from sound&fury here. I completely understand your frustration regarding the series. If things had gone to plan, I would have released all the records by now. But unfortunately that's not the case (obviously). To be perfectly honest, I didn't sell nearly as many records as I'd hoped, meaning that the money I received from subscribers barely covered the cost of pressing the first two instalments. Therefore, I've been trying - with no success - to raise the necessary funds to press the remaining ten records. As a full-time student, this has proven exceedingly difficult.

You're right - this was a big project, perhaps too big. And if I had a chance to do it all again I wouldn't have undertaken something so ambitious. But I did, and no matter what, I will release all twelve volumes of the Passeridae series. As someone mentioned, most of the artists have already sent in their tracks; the fact that these songs are sitting on my hard-drive right now instead of being out there for the world to hear kills me. It really does. But until I win the lottery, or sell the few hundred 7"s currently sitting on my loungeroom floor, it's going to be difficult.

What email address have you been trying to contact me through? The only email address currently active is soundandfuryrecords-at-gmail.com - if you sent an email to any other address (anything at soundandfury.com.au, for example), I wouldn't have received it.

Let me assure you that I'm not trying to rip anybody off. All the money from subscribers went to pressing the Moonmilk/MCIAA and Klumpes/Machinefabriek records (which cost me well over AU$3,000 all up, much more than was raised by subscriptions). The label is running at an astronomical loss right now, and I'm doing everything I can to bring it back into the black.

Once I do finish the series - however long that takes - I think it will be time to pack up sound&fury for good. It's been a labour of love these past six years, but it's driven me to the poorhouse (not to mention the toll it's taken on my mental health). I'm not asking for sympathy - I made my bed, and now I'm lying in it. But I want it to be clear that I'm not sitting back in my palace, living large off a pile of ill-gotten funds. I've put everything into this label, and "frustrated" doesn't even come close to describing how its current state makes me feel.

If anybody has any further questions or concerns, please email me (soundandfuryrecords-at-gmail.com) and I'll be happy to answer them.

-Adam/S&F

Adam, thanks for the reply. It is good to have some news about the project, and be able to understand your situation. This was exactly what I was hoping to find out.

I still want to have the rest of the records - is there a realistic plan to issue the remaining 10, anything defined, timelines, funds? I'd like to know if I should hope for the whole series or console myself that it will never happen?

Thanks

Adrian

Even though it doesn't feel appropriate to notify people via this particular thread, I'm saddened to report that i received news on Wednesday that Adam Mills, who ran Sound & Fury had passed away at the start of the week.

Very sad news :(

oh no, I'm saddened to hear this news. what happened?

Very sad news indeed. Was it an illness or an accident, if that's an alright thing to ask? If the former, I feel awfully guilty for my pestering about the subscription series since obviously much more pressing things were preoccupying him. In any event, the world of experimental music has lost one of its very best proponents. Condolensced to those who knew him.

Unfortunately, I heard it was a suicide