DJ/MC SHARKEY + KEV NRG BAN LIVE RECORDINGS

[DJ-FATTMAN]

IT GUTTING, NEVER WILL WE SEE OR HEAR A DJ/MC SHARKEY OR DJ KEVIN ENERGY ON A TAPE AGAIN.

SHARKEY STATEMENT

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS ANYONE NOW ALLOWED TO RECORD ME

THIS IS A WORLDWIDE BAN ON ANY ILLEGAL RECORINGS OF ANY EVENT OR SET OF ANY DESCRIPTION

This decision must be adhered from now on under any circumstances whatsoever!!

Toleration from my publishers has now become defunct

I am sorry I have had to make this decision but I must protect my copyright and this is now out of my hands.

Any person(s) caught making illegal copies of any recording part or full as D.J Sharkey, M.C Sharkey, and any productions relating to Jonathan Kneath including Bonkerz or any label that I have recorded on past or present without official contracted permission is leading themselves open to prosecution.

There will be no recording of me at live events simple as that. My music is copyrighted by law. Promoters only pay me to play at parties not to record me. React have paid for the exclusive mix rights to record me for mix albums and now have me exclusively signed as an artist. I am currently writing an album and playing some of those bits out. I do not want these recordings going out. I am also currently in negotiation for a live album and do not want the P.A recorded either unless its for a official licensed C.D where publishing is paid to the writer of the material

I have asked the permission of all the artists I play to perform their records out at live events. They send me the C.D's and vinyl giving me the permission to play them. It is the promoter’s responsibility to ask the label owners permission to record these sets and license them accordingly. Permission is the name of the game and this is all the clarification need. I will not let anyone record me unless they have written permission of every record I am going to play before I go on. This is the only way I can legally make sure I am not allowing unlicensed C.D's/Tapes/Recordings manufactured in my name.

SO now it will prove impossible to record most D.J's as they do not know what they are playing until they get there, and unless that promoter can speak to all of the publishers and get their written consent then and there I am not interested.


That’s all


It would be good of people to ask the respective labels if its o.k. To use their tracks in low quality Mp3's to upload on the net. It is manners and you are recording their choons think about it, it is polite. Just coz you brought it doesn’t mean you own the right to put it on the net. The record is protected, and if you read the small print you cannot record it anyway legally. I am sure most labels wouldn’t mind if you asked them. Its up to each labels discretion. I am sure asking is all people want. We don’t want to stop things. We just want the permission asked to record our material while we play out. I am sure most labels would not get hardcore with you. I cannot speak for them I don’t know. I just want my sets to be safe and not open to piracy.

Last year I got told by Jon Doe that official recordings of my sets were out on a live C.D. After careful detective work between us. We both found out that these C.D's were being produced at a mass level with both of our names and various other mainstream dance artists were also being totally ripped off. There were no M.C's on my set and it was difficult to find out which promoter had sold this recording on. With other events that have recently come to light I have found that I have had to take drastic action to stop these illegal recordings. I cannot say that ok you can record me and you cant record me to other promoters. As that is not fair on anyone and I cannot always find out where the recording comes from

The only way I can stamp this problem out is by banning every promoter from recording me in any shape or form unless permission has been granted from each individual artist/label that I represent within my sets. Its sad as this affects everyone within the scene, and is something we as a scene must face up to. I do not enjoy telling promoters this, but I must act now immediately. We have all been mulling this over quite heavily and it’s been difficult for all concerned to come this decision. I cannot speak for everyone else but its not a good position to be put in. I do not like being so militant, as I am sure the other D.J's that have come to this decision do not like either. But people must realise that its not been an easy one for any of us to make

I'll clarify once again


I have permission to play this material at any event, but I do not have the permission to record. NEITHER DO THE PROMOERS!!!

All the individual artists on these mixes are no not rock stars. They are your scenes creators. Most of it is original work, and regardless of whether they are Robbie Williams or Sharkey or Brisk or Scott Brown or whoever is still given consent for their recording, which is copyrighted under law (all my tracks are!!), and afforded the same rights as Mr Williams is. Just coz its Sharkey is he worth less just coz he is a hardcore jock? Is hardcore really worth nothing? The manners to be asked to be recorded so his latest album does not get wrecked with being illegally recorded and out when I am just near the end of completion. I would be devastated. This cannot happen as it’s happened now within our scene and I feel truly sorry and gutted for the artists concerned. And oh yeah guess what I have an album next...what would you do??


I do not want to get embroiled in any heated discussion on this issue. This was made to let all aware that this will not be happening. I have taken the good and right and just decision on something I think will help benefit the scene in the long run. Ensuring that valuable production work is not mistreated and future productions are not jeopardised. So that the scene I love stays healthy.

Please don’t doubt this decision as it has been a hard one and I only have the scene in mind when I am making it. We must ensure the safety of future productions

for me this issue is now closed


Peace

Jon

[DJ-FATTMAN]

KEVIN ENERGY'S STATEMENT

I Think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions here and also taking things the wrong way -
This issue is not just about money.

Big Companies like ******** CANT release live DJ mix CD's unless the material is licensed from the labels. So - YES they can still release these compilations BUT in a legal way like all other CD compilations are released.
One non financial issue is:
******** did not have my permission to release my set from NYE as I knew I was playing forthcoming material from forthcoming react albums that have been licensed to react on an Exclusive basis. These are great tracks that had a good responce from CD on my set. I would not have played these if it was being recorded. (I had a contract with ********* that said no recording)

**If ******* asked me before hand I would have arranged a deal with them and planned my set differenty so that it contained material that was fine for them to re-produce. - That's all it takes.

Now they are comprimising future album projects. As well as this they don't have the courtisy to even credit the artists by putting a tracklisting on the CD. - wrong!!!!!!!!!

financially:
*********** are making 100% profit from the sale of other peoples music. There is room here for the correct profit shares to go to everybody involved as it should do with such a project.

As DJ's we have allowed tape packs to pass by over the years as the sales are lower, the music quality is lower, and it doesn't comprimise future legal projects as much. This new CD pack is well over the line.

Cd packs from live events can still happen but MUST be legal and above board.

Promotional DJ mixes are not a problem to me. I am happy and feel proud if music from my labels has been chosen to be on a mix from an up and comming, who is trying to get work or simply sharing a latest mix with friends. I don't mind released material being on low rate online mixes but would like to think people don't offer full legnth downloads of high quality mp3's as this comes into the napsta catagory and is also wrong.


I have deleted the company's name but ask yourself who has just brought out a cd pack from nye?

FOR EVERY 1 WHO DOESNT KNOW WHO THIS IS, WE CAN ALL THANK SLAMMIN VINYL

[DJ-FATTMAN]

SCOTT BROWN'S STATEMENT

I've been reading the comments over the past few days and the one thing I notice about every one of your comments is that regardless of your point of view, you all love and cherish the hardcore scene (I see this to be a good thing). There's been some ridiculous points of view, some excellent ones. I'm going to give you my point of view, I believe it to be right, you might disagree, but this is the way it is:

1) Tape packs / CD packs / Unauthorised recordings are 100% illegal. No 2 ways about it. Take the producers and Dj's out of the picture for a moment. MCPS, Lawyers and Publishers have been on the back of guys like Slammin for years looking for money (I believe Slammin at one point DID pay off MCPS, they know themselves it's not legal). Mechanical copyrights ALWAYS have to be paid, whether it's a tune played in Macdonalds, on the radio, or (believe it or not) in a nightclub. There are NO EXCEPTIONS. This isn't a decision made by me or any record label. It's the law and one which MCPS, ASCAP, BUMA/STEMRA and the likes uphold to the maximum level. They can impose heavy fines or close you down for copyright infringement.

2) Don't think for one minute the scene DEPENDS on tape packs. This is probably the only country in the world which has tape packs in the hardcore scene. Currently, the biggest hardcore scene is Holland, NEVER a tape pack or illegal recording in sight. Tape packs have been in a thorn in producers sides for years BUT I concede that they have been helpful in some aspects, such as promotion. However, I firmly believe that the scene would still have grown had they never been here in the first place.

3) A blanket ban on live recording isn't going to happen either. If a promoter wants to record a set for sale, all it takes is an agreement between the parties. God sake guys, we're talking 16 to 20% of retail price going to producers / labels. Is that REALLY going to put Organisers out of business or force ticket prices up? And who's to say Bonkers wouldn't do a legally recorded and licensed, live edition with proper TV advertising and mass-market appeal in the future?

4) Many comments about tape packs being used as promotion and without them we're being greedy and 'shooting ourselves in the foot'. We have this amazing thing called the INTERNET which is a great tool for advertising (I get 3-500 hits a day, god knows what USH gets). I also write for M8 magazine, Brisk writes for Mixmag, we also have Ravin Eye and countless worldwide web sites with news and clips of our new music. Don't forget, I was NEVER featured on English tape packs (to the best of my knowledge) until 99/00 and I've been doing the same thing since 1991. Rest assured, my position in the scene has not been handed to me by illegally recorded 'promotion'.

5) Keeping new dj's out. I've never heard so much nonsense in my life. I have never knowingly tried to stop someone coming through the ranks. I give my cd's to around 4 or 5 trusted individuals as 5 of my unreleased tracks appeared on Kazaa after a bulk mail-out a few years ago. That said, I still give my CD's out to non 'superstar' Dj's. Steve Uplift, Dj Storm and a few others have recently had CD's from me. You tell me I'm not helping new dj's and I'll throw it straight back at you. The white label thing has always been the same, it's nothing to do with top Dj's or labels shutting out newcomers. It's just the way it is, I had to deal with it when I was a newcomer, you should too.

6) The biggest threat to our scene is when companies like React and Ministry STOP making compilations like Bonkers. Lets get things into perspective, tape packs / cd packs sell in the region (I'm guessing) of 1000 to 5000 units. Bonkers & Ministry sell 30-40k (and rising). The last time React decided to stop Bonkers, the scene fell to bits. What do you think they'd say to this latest CD pack featuring ALL the dj's playing a lot of new tracks from the forthcoming BONKERS album. What's to stop them from saying 'sod this, I'm not putting 80 grand into something which was already done illegally 2 months ago'. When Bonkers stopped previously, producers old and new stopped making hardcore as there was no money left in the scene. Did the tape-packs bring us back? No. Hard work in the studio did. Now that Bonkers is back, more and more producers are making music and getting the chance to make money from it. What are the tape packs doing for new producers (free promotion maybe, but making them money - I'd really have to question that).

7) The biggest promotion for unreleased material is, believe it or not, NIGHT CLUBS and EVENTS. Not illegal recordings. I play 3-4 gigs every weekend as does every DJ. That's a lot of promotion, even if there are only 500 at every gig. You work it out, I guess I play to around 100,000 people every year.

I've read many comments about hardcore tracks using stolen samples then being featured on tape packs. Are we being hypocritical? Perhaps to some extent. Would you rather Eminem or the Bloodhound gang sue Slammin? This argument isn't about that, that's for another time. It's about the infringement of copyright which is automatically embodied on ANY recorded material. It's also about the infringement of every Dj's moral rights as an artist or producer. Go read up on Publishing and MCPS, check out how many infractions take place on illegal recordings. The artists and Dj's don't need to take action against companies like Slammin'. MCPS have more power to shut them down then anyone. Do you, as a raver, REALLY want to risk this happening, just so you can keep your precious tape packs?

There's a simple solution to Cd packs/Tape packs in which everyone is happy, everyone is fairly accounted to, everyone makes money. It's called a LICENSE AGREEMENT. It takes 5 minutes to fill one out. Legally recorded live sets can be as entertaining as Illegal ones, and guess what - YOU WON'T EVEN KNOW THE DIFFERENCE! (Apart from the fact we won't all be on here shouting about it, but then you'd find something else to whinge about, such as me getting a hair-cut or Dougals monstrous dress sense).

I'm very proud of my work, I'm proud of the scene I've helped build and I'm equally proud that so many of you feel strongly either for or against the tape packs. It shows you have the same passion about the hardcore scene as I and so many others do.

In the meantime, answer the poll. I'm curious to see the broad picture.

Take it easy

Scott Brown

[kendallhead]

HOW ANNOYIN'!

[DJ-FATTMAN]

NOW THIS MEANS THAT WHEN I PLAY A FREEFORM SET @ THE GIGS, I AM NOT ALLOWED BY LAW TO USE ANY OF SHARKEYS RECORDS PLUS I AM NOT ALLOWED TO PRODUCE DEMO'S WITH ANY OF HIS TRACKS ON THEM.

TOTALLY GUTTED, ALL THE MONEY I HAV SPENT ON HIS TUNES CAUSE THEY R WICKED AND I CANT PLAY NE OF THEM TO A CROWD

[kendallhead]

Thas without swearing ****!£$*****^&£("!~@~?><X****

TOTAL CRAP MAN! I feel 4 u m8! All his tunes r stonkin.

R u gonna av 2 choose ur records agen now?

GOOD LUCK DUDE!

[DJ-FATTMAN]

NA NO NEED M8, I AM NOT PLAYIN FREEFORM @ THE NXT GIG, ALSO I DONT KNOW WOT TUNES I AM GONNA B PLAYING UNTIL I AM BEHIND THE DECKS @ THE GIGS. THAT WAY THEN I CAN CHOOSE WOT TO PLAY WHEN I C THE CROWDS REACTION TO THE LAST RECORD.

ALSO I HAV NOW GOT IN CONTACT WITH JON 2C IF I CAN GET LIENCED TO PLAY HIS TUNES. KEEP YR FINGERS CROSSED 4 ME

[kendallhead]

YEA DUDE I WILL!

GOOD LUCK AGAIN M8!