Major SA music label attacks Deeper.co.za

It was due to start in South Africa sooner than later. The labels are following the paranoid ramblings of their overseas counterparts stating that sites like deeper.co.za and afrobeat.co.za are detrimental to the growth of the industry. Read dan's post from www.afrobeat.co.za/forums/index.php :


Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 3:35 pm Post subject: attack on the deeper.co.za website

hey all, Obviously i cannot go into detail, but a major label in SA has just sent me a cease and desist letter, stating that "you are killing our "legit" business and you have no rights to have those mixes available for download." Deeper.co.za's aim is not to kill any part of the local music business, but rather to highlight the talent the country has. Yes, we do offer mixes, yes we do go through around 2 terabyts of bandwidth a month BUT we do not go out of our way to annoy any labels or artists (the majority of the time, we are on a first name basis with the artists and labels) I'll keep everyone updated on how this works out Daniel Supporter of SA house and SA music http://deeper.co.za

Well Dan we hope this nonsense blows over soon. The industry and how people approach it is changing , how people make money in this business is changing. What we do, I believe, does not hurt, but in fact enhances the house music industry . We are spreading and promoting SA music further than ever before. Dan can attest to this, I receive emails from the US, UK, Japan etc all commenting on music they have heard from SA online and their excitement about it. How can this be bad? Reaching a bigger market than before? When the channels of distribution improve, SA house music will be sold to a bigger market than ever before!!! Isn't this exciting channel we call the net something record labels in SA should embrace not reject. They should try to view opportunties in the new market, not limitations.

How about approaching guys like dan, not with cease and desist letters, but with new mp3 content for his mixes and links on how to purchase the material online after they have heard it in a mix on deeper.co.za? Many a time I have heard tracks in a mp3 mix and I shoot off to a store to buy the album or single. I may have never heard these tracks before if it wasnt for these mixes. If I have bought three albums in the last month from hearing tracks by an artist or group on an online mix how is this bad for the label ?

More to think about on my side on this issue...any comments feel free.

Peace