Introducing your first douchebag bootlegger: Leonel Perez of Perfect Prog Magazine

[kellsco]

they were just a few little short vids anyway

So being a little bit of a thief/lair is ok?

i have to pay for server expenses, design, updates and everything and i do it just to promote progmetal to the fans

Well that sure beats out anything that Glenn or Shane have to pay for, or do, to promote progmetal. You are the man.

if progpowerusa dont want that, thats ok

ProgPower USA does in fact want that. It's called the official PP DVD and can be yours for the low price of $38. Oh wait....you have all those costs mentioned above. Nevermind.

BTW i only upload vids from the showcase because there was not restriction about cameras that day

Did Shane not speak s l o w enough for you when he busted you and pulled you off the floor for taping? Would a picture in crayon have helped? If you didn't know about the camara ban going in, you sure knew about it going out. And please help us to understand how this would explain the "few little short vids" of bands from past ProgPowers up on your site...that were NOT at the showcases?

About the redemption cd i brought at the venue and i didnt knew it was not for sale yet!

You are into Prog you say? Yet you don't even know the street date of the new release from one of the best Prog bands around today.

Leonel

 

[Iced Dog]

Nice thread...premium slab of drama

*finishes popcorn*

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

Nice thread...premium slab of drama

*finishes popcorn*

Get a fresh bucket bitch, because I ain't done!

 

[Stingray11214]

Get a fresh bucket bitch, because I ain't done!

Oh, Jeez! Amerikan Pentti rides again!

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

Oh, Jeez! Amerikan Pentti rides again!

How in the hell do you know me as that? Who ARE you?! AHAHAHA

 

[Kaosaur]

MySpace.com Blogs - Amerikan Pentti MySpace Blog
Read the Amerikan Pentti blog on MySpace.com.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=66778782&blogID=456195572

Well, Google knows you at least.

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

MySpace.com Blogs - Amerikan Pentti MySpace Blog
Read the Amerikan Pentti blog on MySpace.com.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=66778782&blogID=456195572

Well, Google knows you at least.

Remind me to punch you next time we are at steak and shake together... haha

 

[Stingray11214]

How in the hell do you know me as that? Who ARE you?! AHAHAHA

I read your blog during the T/D/F fiasco. The guys in T/D/F called you that, and your blog was pure entertainment.

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

I read your blog during the T/D/F fiasco. The guys in T/D/F called you that, and your blog was pure entertainment.

Thanks, haha, I had to eventually take it down, as a peace offering, but I still have it saved in a word document, gonna go read it now! haha

 

[Kaosaur]

T/D/F? This is too interesting not to enlighten us.

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

T/D/F? This is too interesting not to enlighten us.

The band To/Die/For, PM me your email and I'll email you my blog from that tour when I get home in about a half hour.

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

You've got mail my good man.

 

[ArkansasBuzzard]

Leonel,

All you did was three things: A) You burned yourself beyond recognition in this community, B) You burned PerfectProg beyond a crisp, C) You insulted a promoter who is probably one of the most respected in the US metal scene. I know that there is a cavalier mentality that goes throughout the music industry in Latin America. Ask any Mexican Mariachi band that plays the Karate Center in the South Bronx, and ask why they get $25-50 per show when 1000 people show up. It permeates throughout the Latin music scene where bootlegging gets the look away, artists are ripped off with merely a shrug, and promoters rob fans with bad sound and unsafe conditions. The problem is that once you cross the mainstream in North America, the rules change. Bootlegging can get you killed or sued, robbing artists and fans destroy reps (see Koshick, Jack), and unsafe conditions will get your venue closed.

You can spin this any way you want, but the truth of the matter is that you broke the rules and you tried to rub Glenn's face in it afterward. Not only did you discredit yourself, you discredited PerfectProg. Do you think ANY band will trust you to do the right thing? Do you think any American promoter will trust you? Do you think Lance King will trust you? Bottom line, you destroyed yourself north of the border. It will take a long time, if ever, for you to regain that trust again.

Now THAT was extremely well said. Bravo.

-Buzz

 

[sh0kr0k]

Hey Amerikan Pentti, you had to know I L-O-Led at "official distributor of my foot in your ass"! Nice touch ;-)

pprog - everyone makes mistakes, but everyone also has a chance to redeem themselves and apologize sincerely. That's the socially courteous thing to do in the U.S., and it is very important. It is also important to REALLY feel sorry for those wrong actions and TRULY be apologetic.

Maybe this is different than in Mexico, but you need to learn this if you want to work with people from other countries. You should have known you were doing something wrong when Shane told you to stop. You should have known it was wrong to post the videos. You should not have lied about deleting the videos. And you should not come here and say that you were treated poorly. You have no reason to defend your actions because you were/are very wrong. Why do you say "I apologize" then say something bad about how you were treated? How DARE you say "if I was asked nicely to take them down..." - YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE RECORDED THE VIDEOS IN THE FIRST PLACE!! So that is why you were not asked nicely! If someone steals your wallet you don't nicely ask the thief for it to be returned! Also, the thief doesn't say, "well you didn't ask nicely, so I'm not going to give it back!" That is pathetic and stupid - and you know it!

I wanted to be nice and explain things to you, but after writing all of this, I'm too angry at you to be nice. You need to learn some manners. If you could present yourself professionally, maybe people will take you seriously and believe you a little more.

Also please note, I'm sensitive to using certain speech/grammar/words with people whose second language is English, but I want you to know that I "dumbed down" my post a lot more - just for you - since you can't understand basic sentences like "NO VIDEO RECORDING!"

If you think you were treated bad at the showcase, through e-mail, or on this thread, then you should not come to any ProgPower event again. You will be treated REAL BAD!

Do not talk about Nightmare Records again. You should have thought about the consequences to your video-recording before you ruined PerfectProg. How can you help the bands when everyone hates you? You angered the biggest person in prog/power for the U.S. - and all of his friends (which is at least 1,200 dedicated fans of the festival) - dumb move! Your stupid actions were very unprofessional! Shame on you! You have HURT the bands just because you "can't help myself to make a little recording"...

I'm finished with you... but (secretly) I hope you will reply so we continue to show you no respect - just like you did to Glenn, Shane, and the rest of us!

If you don't understand what we have said, here are pictures to show you:

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

Basically what she is trying to say is,

"Bitch, you just got served..."

 

[Kaosaur]

Next time this sorta thing happens I gotta make sure to tag my post with "In Before the Bandwagon". Heh.

It's seriously deserved though.

 

[sh0kr0k]

Next time this sorta thing happens I gotta make sure to tag my post with "In Before the Bandwagon". Heh.

It's seriously deserved though.

Shaddap you! ;-) Glenn said he'd leave the thread open so we can all give the guy a piece of our mind. He's still being dragged through the town square. Though I prefer the image of him sitting in stocks, covered with rotten tomatoes and being hissed at.

 

[TENTH DREAMER DECEIVER]

I never understood that logic myself. That and the I'll buy a t-shirt and a ticket but not the actual cd itself. Hmm... depending where one lives, a cd is typically between $15 & $22. But a ticket can be anywhere between $30 & $300 and t-shirts $25 to $50.

Now, what the guy did was obviously wrong. But I'd be really curious to know how many people who have jumped the "against the rules" bandwagon have also illegally downloaded music & movies from torrents? I don't do it because I believe not paying for music devalues it. Also, I have a job and I set a music spending budget. Be it iTunes or cds I enjoy my music knowing that it is a result of honest labour.

To repeat, the guy's actions were wrong and he will probably never attend another PP. At the same time I listened to a guy in the Sabaton signing lineup who proudly declared that downloading was necessary in today's economy. You can afford a plane ticket, accommodation, beer money, t-shirt money but not take a chance on a cd? So what if it sucks? That might make you better appreciate the next brilliant one.

His logic for helping bands out is similar to 'well I ripped and uploaded to a torrent their album to spread the word about them because I think they are such a great band.'

And even if that helps the band get exposure, it doesn't make it your right to do so.

 

[Kaosaur]

the download argument is old and tired.

That said: I hardly ever do blind buys anymore. I almost always get burned. This was true on two-thirds of my blind-buys this year at the fest as well. I'd say downloading is necessary to save yourself from the embarrassment of a string of crappy purchases and a waste of money (and to avoid the SHITTY secondary market). Last CD I downloaded? The Animals As Leaders selftitled. The upside? Before the first track was even over I had ordered the CD AND THE TSHIRT. Could I have gotten that from the MySpace? Yes... ...but sometimes you only get a 30 second sample of one song or something shitty like that when it could take a few songs for the album to grab you. A lot of new artists are "giving back" by releasing their own material for free and finding alternate revenue streams. It's trending strongly in that direction as well. You simply CAN'T make it as a new artist without taking the current market conditions (anti-DRM, prevalent downloading) into account.

Does that harm other people involved in release and distribution? I'd say the jury is still out on if it's direct impact or not. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes though as the entire business seems to be moving out of their control right before their eyes (long term, anyway).

Edit: and before anybody gets all up in my shit that I might have offended anyone in particular here, prog/power metal is practically a cottage industry at this point and can thus be partially isolated from market factors. That's why (note: making a big assumption here) companies like Nightmare Records and Laser's Edge seem to be doing so much better than SPV, InsideOut, etc. I'm just stating my point of view as a consumer.


I guess my point is that it's really apples to oranges what you're saying here. Bootlegging is done for personal gain to promote one's own activities (as is done in this case). This would be more similar to the scene release groups and torrent sites themselves (which by and large suck, tbh). The more proper comparison would be of the CD downloaders to the people actually viewing these bootlegged concert videos on the website. I see nothing wrong with going after people who take credit for their theft (afterall, they're basically asking for it) in either case, but I'm not going to shed a tear and scold myself for getting on the bandwagon here because I download CDs before I buy them.

 

[Exploding Ned]

Leonel... I know that there is a cavalier mentality that goes throughout the music industry in Latin America... It permeates throughout the Latin music scene where bootlegging gets the look away, artists are ripped off with merely a shrug, and promoters rob fans with bad sound and unsafe conditions....

And at the risk of sounding extremely politically incorrect, I give this post a loud AMEN. Never will forget Earl Root talking about Aesma Daeva playing Mexico, and the signing afterward. He said something like one in two discs he signed were a bootleg/burn/whatever, and that - of course - they actually had the stones to put that in front of the band to sign. (to me, the ultimate insult) And it doesn't stop there. I've seen plenty of bootleg band patches and t-shirts worn by these guys. In fact, they taunt me for charging what I charge for shirts etc., shirts I pay full licensing fees for every time. Shirts they expect me to charge them $10 for. I'm not talking about the entire Latin American population, so don't start in on me being prejudice. The jerkoffs of that group simply don't think they have to follow the rules... that bootlegging is no problem - that getting the item dirt cheap is just fine. That's pure bullshit... thievery... whatever you want to call it. If a person doesn't support the artist by purchasing the legit CD, shirt, DVD etc., they are complete assholes.