Unofficial Podcast Dedicated To All Things Pearl Jam
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Episode 31 coming soon
Hey guys,
I just wanted to let everyone know that I am finishing up the next podcast and it'll be up soon. I had to find some music I had misplaced to finish up the "Our Favourite Shows" segment.
Look, there is a huge amount of controversy as to whether Burnlounge is a worthwhile business (just google it for arguments on both sides). I doubt anyone is going to convince you or me otherwise, at least not in postings on your blog.
My point was that this used to be a blog dedicated to Pearl Jam, and an excellent one at that. A place where you could feel the love you had for the band, and others could share in that experience. However, lately on your blog (and the PJ messageboards), it seems your emphasis has shifted to promoting your Burnpage. And one thing you can't deny is that the more recruits you get, the more money you yourself make. It just does not seem to jibe with the original spirit of the blog, or the band itself for that matter.
I guess time will tell who is right or wrong...let us know when you become a millionaire (seriously). And it is your blog and you of course can do whatever you want with it. Good Luck and be wary of any get rich quick schemes.
Hey, i'm having some real problems with my internet just now Mario, so you should probably tell the listeners it will be a week or two before they are able to download this weeks 'our favourite show'.
Murray
PS: Hope the new arrival is settling in nicely, and i meant to ask if you received the DVD i sent you?
OK , Carlos, first off, thank you for your kind words about this blog. I really do listen to everyonethat emails me and take into considerartion what they say, you included.
My problem with what you said in the last post is mainly how you said it. If you had just typed out what you did here, I think we could've had a better start to this debate.
Next, yes if you Google Burnlounge you will see alot of debate on whether Burnlounge is a scam or not. But if you notice when these posting on forums and articles on the negative side of the arguement, you will see that they are mostly posted from 2006. And to be quite honest, they had some vailidity to their concerns of the business. Burnlounge was a new business then. It's only been around since June of 2006. Up until now, Burnlounge has only sold music and with any new company, there will be bumps in the road. Just ask iTunes. They are in version 7.0 now? That means they are still working out the kinks in their software. At the beginning, retailers who started the business assumed there wouldn't be any problems and when there were, they decided to voice there opinions negatively on forums and blogs. This isn't the case now. Burnlounge has gotten through some of the problems that plague new businesses. That's not to say that future problems might not arise, but they have worked continuoisly to provide the best service they can. And on April 15, you will see the vast improvemnts.
Second, about my posting of Burnlounge news and happenings more as of late. I think you're right on that issue. I have posted maybe too much as of late and for that, I am sorry. You're right, this blog did begin to be about Pearl Jam and should stay focused on that. I promise in the future, it will. But I do reserve the right to mention anything I want on my blog and I will, to my discretion. Pearl Jam, as a band, has been a huge part of my life and will continue to be and I hope this blog will reflect it. But still, I will mention what else I am doing and this is and will be part of my life. Does it make me money? Yes. But let me tell you, it helps keep this blog and podcast going, which is why I got involved in the first place, to help with the costs that comes with hosting a blog and podcast. Blog-wise, I don't spend a dime, other that buying the domain "giventocast.com" but on the podcast side, it is NOT free. I have not asked for anyone to just send me money for nothing to help with this expense. The only thing I sold were T-Shirts and ultimitely, it cost me to make them. So I will continue to have Burnlounge as a sponsor of the podcast because without that income coming in, I wouldn't have been able to keep going. Lastly, you don't have to worry about me getting involved with "get rich quick" schemes. This isn't it. If I were you, I wouldn't just believe everything that people post on forums and blogs. You might want to consider the source. For example, when you type in Google, "Burnlounge Scam" this is the first address that comes up,
Go to it and see if what I am saying is not true. If you go through their site a bit more deeply, you will notice they are PRO iPod. Most of their ads are geared toward iPod. So it's in their best interest to find anything that could be wrong with Burnlounge because their advertisng money is coming from Apple or the like. Should anyone trust an trust what they say if they have a bias? Oh, and by the way, they don't even post anymore. They have retired their blog.
Anyway, we agree to disagree about Burnlounge but I value you as a listener and a viewer of my blog and I will not post as much about things other than Pearl jam but I will continue to talk about it.
Fair enough. Looking back I agree my original post was unduly negative. However, maybe you can address some issues and clear up some misconceptions:
1. Music downloaded from Burnlounge is only in the wma (windows media audio) format, thereby effectively leaving mac users and those who want to use the music on their ipod out in the cold (and in effect, eliminating a huge portion of your market).
2. What are the subscription fees to become a member? How much do you pay per month?
3. How much do you receive from every 99 cent song downloaded from your page? Are the reports of 5 cents per download accurate?
4. Have you ever made enough in one month from your page to cover your subscription costs?
5. Is Burnlounge multi-level marketing (MLM)?
6. If we pray hard enough for a PJ show in Texas, will it happen this year?
Let's answer each question which BTW, are very good ones.
1. Music downloaded from Burnlounge is only in the wma (windows media audio) format, thereby effectively leaving mac users and those who want to use the music on their ipod out in the cold (and in effect, eliminating a huge portion of your market).
This is true right now. Which isn't a bad thing. The reason behind this is so that when you download music in WMA and try to play it, it will search for the license toverifies it's legal purchase. iTunes does the same thing but they send their music in MP4 format that can only be played on iTunes players or iPod devices of which there are 3 as of now that play MP4's. Can you convert MP4's? Yes you can but not without special software. Did you know there are more than 115 different players, phones, and portable devices that play WMA format and only 3 devices that play MP4's? Also, once verified, the WMA's purchased from a Burnlounge store can be saved. burned and played in other PC's or players. MP4's can not. WMA can also be converted for free with the NEW BL2.0 coming out in April to be MP3's. As fas as Mac's go, if you can install Windows on a Mac and I know you can, you should be able to use Windows Media Player that will allow you to play these songs.
2. What are the subscription fees to become a member? How much do you pay per month? The Licence fees depend on what package you buy from FREE to $429.95 /yearly. After that I pay, $14.95/mth for back office software and Content Editor software. I do get alot more than just the right to owna store with the yearly fee. I get 10 download of new artists, I get Event Pass that allows me VIP access to Live Nation venues across the country or front of the line access to some House of Blues clubs, I receive Burnlounge Univerity, a 6 DVD disc that teaches about music and entertainment industry.
3. How much do you receive from every 99 cent song downloaded from your page? Are the reports of 5 cents per download accurate? Yes, it's true that I receive 5 cents for every 99 cent download but here's the where people think it's a scam. As of April 15, I will be earning a commission on music, movies and advertising revenue. As the year goes on, Burnlounge will include ringtones, eBooks, games, TV shows and more. Anything that can be downloded digitally and can be licensed will be able to purchased in Burnlounge stores. Now, with the intrduction of BurnPages, we will be able to give a FREE page to anyone that wants one and be able to generate money from advertisers. Just like My Space does right now, but Burnlounge share 60% of the money they receive in advertisments to their retailers(me). Let me give you an example, take the movie "300", how many TV commercials did you see the weeks and days before its release? Not many. At least not as many as some movies have spent in the past. Did you know they spent about 20 million dollars on online advertising, mainly on My Space. Now, if they had spent half of that money with Burnlounge $10 million, the retailer would have received $6 million of that. Divide 50,000 retailer (amount of retailer now) by $6 million. That's a $120 per retailer. Now, what if Burnlounge rotated ads like My Space does. Let's say 3 or 4 a month. An extra $300 to $500 extra revenue for the retailer, and that dosen't include bonuses, residual and product sells. Ican see that alone, music sales will be the lowest price margin for the retailer, but I am looking at the bigger picture.
4. Have you ever made enough in one month from your page to cover your subscription costs?
I am now. And so are others. In any business, it takes some time to start making money. If you match the overhead to start this business for one year as opposed to any other business, it would be far less of a financial investment. Total amount I will shell out for one year is around $800 in total. That's cheap. I know. I have invested thousands of dollars in my sign business and still find hard to make the ends meet. And love sign making. That's what keeps me going.
5. Is Burnlounge multi-level marketing (MLM)?
Yes, Burnlounge is a MLM. But most companies are. The compensation plan is different than others. (See compansation plan at www.yourburnteam.com - Step 2) for a detail explanation.
6. If we pray hard enough for a PJ show in Texas, will it happen this year? I hope so. And I do plan on doing the rounds at each Texas date, with the podcast hopefully there will be more than one.
Let me ask you one question of you Carlos, since I took the time to answer all your questions. Do me one favor. visit www.yourburnteam.com and go through Steps 1 and 2 and make up your own mind about this and if you still think it's a scam. Well, I don't think you will ever be convinced. Hope this helps
6 comments:
Look, there is a huge amount of controversy as to whether Burnlounge is a worthwhile business (just google it for arguments on both sides). I doubt anyone is going to convince you or me otherwise, at least not in postings on your blog.
My point was that this used to be a blog dedicated to Pearl Jam, and an excellent one at that. A place where you could feel the love you had for the band, and others could share in that experience. However, lately on your blog (and the PJ messageboards), it seems your emphasis has shifted to promoting your Burnpage. And one thing you can't deny is that the more recruits you get, the more money you yourself make. It just does not seem to jibe with the original spirit of the blog, or the band itself for that matter.
I guess time will tell who is right or wrong...let us know when you become a millionaire (seriously). And it is your blog and you of course can do whatever you want with it. Good Luck and be wary of any get rich quick schemes.
Hey, i'm having some real problems with my internet just now Mario, so you should probably tell the listeners it will be a week or two before they are able to download this weeks 'our favourite show'.
Murray
PS: Hope the new arrival is settling in nicely, and i meant to ask if you received the DVD i sent you?
OK , Carlos, first off, thank you for your kind words about this blog. I really do listen to everyonethat emails me and take into considerartion what they say, you included.
My problem with what you said in the last post is mainly how you said it. If you had just typed out what you did here, I think we could've had a better start to this debate.
Next, yes if you Google Burnlounge you will see alot of debate on whether Burnlounge is a scam or not. But if you notice when these posting on forums and articles on the negative side of the arguement, you will see that they are mostly posted from 2006. And to be quite honest, they had some vailidity to their concerns of the business.
Burnlounge was a new business then. It's only been around since June of 2006. Up until now, Burnlounge has only sold music and with any new company, there will be bumps in the road. Just ask iTunes. They are in version 7.0 now? That means they are still working out the kinks in their software.
At the beginning, retailers who started the business assumed there wouldn't be any problems and when there were, they decided to voice there opinions negatively on forums and blogs.
This isn't the case now. Burnlounge has gotten through some of the problems that plague new businesses. That's not to say that future problems might not arise, but they have worked continuoisly to provide the best service they can. And on April 15, you will see the vast improvemnts.
Second, about my posting of Burnlounge news and happenings more as of late. I think you're right on that issue. I have posted maybe too much as of late and for that, I am sorry. You're right, this blog did begin to be about Pearl Jam and should stay focused on that. I promise in the future, it will. But I do reserve the right to mention anything I want on my blog and I will, to my discretion. Pearl Jam, as a band, has been a huge part of my life and will continue to be and I hope this blog will reflect it. But still, I will mention what else I am doing and this is and will be part of my life.
Does it make me money? Yes. But let me tell you, it helps keep this blog and podcast going, which is why I got involved in the first place, to help with the costs that comes with hosting a blog and podcast. Blog-wise, I don't spend a dime, other that buying the domain "giventocast.com" but on the podcast side, it is NOT free. I have not asked for anyone to just send me money for nothing to help with this expense. The only thing I sold were T-Shirts and ultimitely, it cost me to make them.
So I will continue to have Burnlounge as a sponsor of the podcast because without that income coming in, I wouldn't have been able to keep going.
Lastly, you don't have to worry about me getting involved with "get rich quick" schemes. This isn't it. If I were you, I wouldn't just believe everything that people post on forums and blogs. You might want to consider the source. For example, when you type in Google, "Burnlounge Scam" this is the first address that comes up,
http://digitalmusic.weblogsinc.com/2006/07/19/burnlounge-still-ripping-consumers-off/
Go to it and see if what I am saying is not true. If you go through their site a bit more deeply, you will notice they are PRO iPod. Most of their ads are geared toward iPod. So it's in their best interest to find anything that could be wrong with Burnlounge because their advertisng money is coming from Apple or the like. Should anyone trust an trust what they say if they have a bias? Oh, and by the way, they don't even post anymore. They have retired their blog.
Anyway, we agree to disagree about Burnlounge but I value you as a listener and a viewer of my blog and I will not post as much about things other than Pearl jam but I will continue to talk about it.
Fair enough. Looking back I agree my original post was unduly negative. However, maybe you can address some issues and clear up some misconceptions:
1. Music downloaded from Burnlounge is only in the wma (windows media audio) format, thereby effectively leaving mac users and those who want to use the music on their ipod out in the cold (and in effect, eliminating a huge portion of your market).
2. What are the subscription fees to become a member? How much do you pay per month?
3. How much do you receive from every 99 cent song downloaded from your page? Are the reports of 5 cents per download accurate?
4. Have you ever made enough in one month from your page to cover your subscription costs?
5. Is Burnlounge multi-level marketing (MLM)?
6. If we pray hard enough for a PJ show in Texas, will it happen this year?
Let's answer each question which BTW, are very good ones.
1. Music downloaded from Burnlounge is only in the wma (windows media audio) format, thereby effectively leaving mac users and those who want to use the music on their ipod out in the cold (and in effect, eliminating a huge portion of your market).
This is true right now. Which isn't a bad thing. The reason behind this is so that when you download music in WMA and try to play it, it will search for the license toverifies it's legal purchase. iTunes does the same thing but they send their music in MP4 format that can only be played on iTunes players or iPod devices of which there are 3 as of now that play MP4's. Can you convert MP4's? Yes you can but not without special software. Did you know there are more than 115 different players, phones, and portable devices that play WMA format and only 3 devices that play MP4's? Also, once verified, the WMA's purchased from a Burnlounge store can be saved. burned and played in other PC's or players. MP4's can not. WMA can also be converted for free with the NEW BL2.0 coming out in April to be MP3's. As fas as Mac's go, if you can install Windows on a Mac and I know you can, you should be able to use Windows Media Player that will allow you to play these songs.
2. What are the subscription fees to become a member? How much do you pay per month?
The Licence fees depend on what package you buy from FREE to $429.95 /yearly. After that I pay, $14.95/mth for back office software and Content Editor software. I do get alot more than just the right to owna store with the yearly fee. I get 10 download of new artists, I get Event Pass that allows me VIP access to Live Nation venues across the country or front of the line access to some House of Blues clubs, I receive Burnlounge Univerity, a 6 DVD disc that teaches about music and entertainment industry.
3. How much do you receive from every 99 cent song downloaded from your page? Are the reports of 5 cents per download accurate?
Yes, it's true that I receive 5 cents for every 99 cent download but here's the where people think it's a scam. As of April 15, I will be earning a commission on music, movies and advertising revenue. As the year goes on, Burnlounge will include ringtones, eBooks, games, TV shows and more. Anything that can be downloded digitally and can be licensed will be able to purchased in Burnlounge stores. Now, with the intrduction of BurnPages, we will be able to give a FREE page to anyone that wants one and be able to generate money from advertisers. Just like My Space does right now, but Burnlounge share 60% of the money they receive in advertisments to their retailers(me). Let me give you an example, take the movie "300", how many TV commercials did you see the weeks and days before its release? Not many. At least not as many as some movies have spent in the past. Did you know they spent about 20 million dollars on online advertising, mainly on My Space.
Now, if they had spent half of that money with Burnlounge $10 million, the retailer would have received $6 million of that. Divide 50,000 retailer (amount of retailer now) by $6 million. That's a $120 per retailer. Now, what if Burnlounge rotated ads like My Space does. Let's say 3 or 4 a month. An extra $300 to $500 extra revenue for the retailer, and that dosen't include bonuses, residual and product sells.
Ican see that alone, music sales will be the lowest price margin for the retailer, but I am looking at the bigger picture.
4. Have you ever made enough in one month from your page to cover your subscription costs?
I am now. And so are others. In any business, it takes some time to start making money. If you match the overhead to start this business for one year as opposed to any other business, it would be far less of a financial investment. Total amount I will shell out for one year is around $800 in total. That's cheap. I know. I have invested thousands of dollars in my sign business and still find hard to make the ends meet. And love sign making. That's what keeps me going.
5. Is Burnlounge multi-level marketing (MLM)?
Yes, Burnlounge is a MLM. But most companies are. The compensation plan is different than others. (See compansation plan at www.yourburnteam.com - Step 2) for a detail explanation.
6. If we pray hard enough for a PJ show in Texas, will it happen this year?
I hope so. And I do plan on doing the rounds at each Texas date, with the podcast hopefully there will be more than one.
Let me ask you one question of you Carlos, since I took the time to answer all your questions. Do me one favor. visit www.yourburnteam.com and go through Steps 1 and 2 and make up your own mind about this and if you still think it's a scam. Well, I don't think you will ever be convinced. Hope this helps
Mario -
Keep on bloggin' in the free world.
Big ballin',
Krazee Eyez Killa
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