After my song release “Secret Angels”, the 14th track on my album Legacy4Humanity, I was going to name the follow-up and last song on the album “Secret Devils”. But in my heart, I didn’t like the idea of promoting the word DEVIL on my song cover and in my social promotions. So I changed the title from Secret Devils to Fallen Angels.
Fallen Angels are people with criminal, evil and negative energy who toy with other people’s lives and destinies by misusing their power and position or by misleading others with dishonesty, corruption and criminal activities.
Whether we like the idea or not, every one of us is surrounded by secret devils. They are here to teach us painful life lessons. We only grow through pain, disappointment and heartbreak.
In today’s shallow, superficial, selfish, ignorant, dishonest, disloyal and thoughtless society, people have more possibilities to toy with other people. Before the Internet, we only had to deal with the evil people in our circle. Nowadays thanks to social media, we have to deal with plenty of fallen Angels, who we never get to meet in person face to face. Thanks to all the social platforms, people create identities and profiles within minutes and claim to be someone that they're not.
Catfishing is a perfect and easy way for the secret devils to use other people's trust and cluelessness for their own benefit and profit!
This is one of the main reasons why I'm no longer on Facebook and have changed my Instagram settings to private. I’ve had enough of fake accounts and fake people who only wasted my time in the past. Once the trust is broken, you can't fix it! And trust is everything in life, but to secret devils TRUST is a holly word that destroys demons and devils like holly water!
Be aware of the Fallen Angels around you and don't give them a chance to toy with you as they wish. Sooner or later, they are caught and can't hide their evil side any longer! Secret Devils are not only the mighty-hungry, fame and fortune hunters in politics, governments and celebrities, they are often the ones close to us, and it takes some time until we finally see their true evil character and nasty personality!
Open your eyes, open your mind and protect yourself from the Fallen Angels!
Never
before has one of my song lyrics inspired me to write an entire book series. To
this date, my songs were inspired by my books. “The Stolen Years”, “The Three
of Us” and “SIMA” are inspired by my memoir "The Stolen Years in Zurich”. “The
Miracle of Music” is inspired by my book “Lennon, The Miracle of Music”.
But my
second Bonus track on the album Legacy4Humanity (15 tracks), “Fallen Angels”
has opened me to a magical and spiritual world. Recently I have been learning
so much about healing stones, protection scents and amulets. It is such an
exciting new world. I wish I had known about all these protection and self-care
possibilities years ago. Knowledge is mighty.
The song
title FALLEN ANGELS was actually supposed to be SECRET DEVILS. After my bonus
track release SECRET ANGELS, I thought Secret Devils would match perfectly. But
in my heart, I didn’t feel comfortable using the word devils on the cover and
in my promotions. There are enough evils around us daily. So there is no need
and desire to promote these dark souls at all!
Anyway, I
will be working on a new, exciting book series in the upcoming months while I’m
taking necessary actions against the secret devils in my life. Self-protection and
self-care are my priority!
It’s been months since I have taken
down ALL my audiobooks from audiobook stores, including Spotify. Why? Because I haven’t
seen any mentionable profit since my first audiobook release, Teddy & Lily
back in 2017. Also, I simply don’t trust these stores any more. I can’t believe how
time flies and how naïve I was to believe, that I would be able to make donations
to charities with the profit from my audiobooks! Ha ha!
Indie writers spend so much money for a
professional production, not realizing that we will NEVER make any profit. Everyone
else such as the narrators and recording studios is making a living except us
the writers.
It just doesn’t make sense any more. It’s
the same stupid game with music. Indie writers invest time and money in
audiobook production and have to put up with a corrupt system! Sooner or later,
all these companies will be removed for good because all they do is use indie author’s
work like the music stores do. We bring traffic to these billion-dollar companies’
platforms by promoting our work, and they get new subscribers! Who are the fools?
Unfortunately, we the indie writers!
While I have published my 10 audiobooks
ONLY on LilyAmisBooks.Bandcamp.com, I still discover online stores that have
listed my audiobooks. Some mention the product is no longer available. Some say
it’s been sold out. I really do wonder why they don’t remove unpublished
copyrighted works, but hey, whatever their policies are, I no longer have to put
up with their nonsense!
However, this week I discovered Teddy
& Lily and Bon Voyage on a Swedish audiobook store! As you can imagine
after my recent awful experience with my former corrupt distributor the Swedish
Company Amuse.io and Spotify, both Stockholm-based companies, I’m more than alert
when it comes to Swedish companies. I don’t trust them! Discovering my work
that had been taken down for months was a red flag! So I contacted the CEO and support
team by mail, contact form, and Instagram, and to my surprise for the very
first time within a day, I received an answer from the CEO, and my request was
taken seriously.
I received the following message:
“Thanks
for contacting us and informing us about the situation with
your books in our service. Our content department has replied to your
request via customer care. All books are disabled now, and we are investigating
why we did not get a takedown notification from Findaway that
normally automatically would disable the books.”
Opposed to the corrupt music
stores such as Tidal, Deezer, Audiomack, and my latest annoying experience with
the lyrics platform Musixmatch, I didn’t have to waste time on sending out
several emails back and forth until my request was respected and taken care of
right away! That’s how ALL stores should react when the copyright holder has a
problem!
And as you read, according to
the stores' feedback, my distributor didn’t do its job. It’s not the first time that I have
discovered my work in stores since my take-down request!
But I have to say, the way people behave and treat writers couldn't be more different than the way people treat artists! While writers work is being respected, the lack of respect and support with artists is shameful and beyond upsetting. It is simply unacceptable! These two worlds couldn't be more different!
So my takeaway from this experience
is: You can’t trust either your distributor or the stores! NONE OF THEM! When
you publish a work and use a distributor, you lose control over your
copyrighted work. That’s why make sure who you trust before you push the release/publish
button! It’s better to have your work listed in one single store than in many across
the globe and not knowing how much they actually sell!
After taking down my 15 tracks from ALL the corrupt streaming stores such as Spotify, Apple, Amazon, etc, I feel a sense of relief. Following what my former corrupt distributor the Swedish company Amuse.io made me go through in recent months, I was completely blocked and no longer able to promote and run campaigns for any of my releases the way I used to and the way I should!
I was afraid of ending up on an AI Playlist (BOTS) again without my knowledge and being treated like SHIT again by my new distributor for no reason.
But now that my music is ONLY available on LilyAmis.Bandcamp.com, YouTube, and social media, there is absolutely no reason to be afraid of running promotions. I'm no longer a clueless TARGET for corrupt digital marketers/playlist curators who only waste the artist's time and toy shamelessly with our reputation!
So in the recent week, I have been running campaigns on GROOVER again and have contacted music supervisors, labels, and mentors worldwide because I feel as if I have achieved everything possible in self-promotion regarding PR & Marketing as a PR specialist and indie lyricist.
I’m looking for serious and professional support regarding the MUSIC BUSINESS from like-minded, and have received different feedback for different tracks. Mostly positive, inspiring, and encouraging reviews, but also some indifferent ones, which is fine because people have different tastes in music.
One of the feedbacks though, that I have received for a song that I think has a strong message AND inventive, clever and original LYRIC in today’s coldhearted, unkind, and inhuman society “Tasteless Breakfast” has been so condescending, and non-constructive for me as an indie lyricist, that I have to share it publicly on my blog.
If I wasn’t self-confident about my journey as an indie writer, blogger, lyricist, Voice4Refugees, and Voice4Humanity, I would probably feel miserable and confused about this irritating, and contradictory feedback, but I don’t! Why? Because I smell the Fallen Angels from miles away! The more BS you experience and fight in life, the stronger you become and know exactly from which kind of negative energies you need to protect and distance yourself! Honestly, I just feel sorry for the lack of understanding of my meaningful lyrics from whoever I received the anonymous nameless feedback from the indie label company www.zoberecords.com owned by Alonzo Black, the CEO of the label who also claims to be a member of the “Grammys”. Whatever that means!!!
So here is the feedback that I have received for my song TASTELESS BREAKFAST, Lily Amis feat. Thir13een from zoberecords.com:
“This song was okay. The music production, beat/instrumentation, mixing, and mastering was okay. The song structure was nice. The lyrics were not the best but we understand where you were trying to go with this song. The message is good and if the listener chooses to appreciate that over the lyrics then cool but a lot of the lyrics was spent on food items which takes away from the track. The delivery was great so you selected a great artist to collaborate with! The vocals were on point.
Recommend considering your audience and what they want to hear when choosing your lyrics. Your goal is to capture your audience's attention and to keep it and make them want more. You seem to have potential and we feel you are capable of more.
However, although we don't currently have a slot available on our roster for you here at Zobe, we will be able to offer you an opportunity through one of our sub-labels who may be a better fit at this time. They will be able to work with you if there is mutual interest. This would give you the opportunity to still be distributed by us and obtain our publishing. Contact our sub-label via email @zoberecords.com and submit your music, bio, and links to them with the email header: "Upstart Records Artist Submission" for consideration and let them know that you were referred by Zobe Records. Hopefully we will be your connection to major label distribution. We wish you the best.
By the way, we’d also like to introduce to you our new music platform ZobeLab. Be sure to get on the wait-list to experience the Beta release of this new innovative music technology software application as soon as it comes out of development: LINK”
Summarized: My lyrics were not the best, but the listener understood where I was TRYING to go with this song. The message is good if the listener chooses to appreciate that over my lyrics. A lot of my lyrics were spent on food items, which takes away from the track.
What does this feedback say to me about the listener? Sadly, this person DIDN’T UNDERSTAND MY MESSAGE AT ALL. What do the food items in the lyrics represent? Clearly not the food itself, but the country where it comes from! Why else would I choose the title “Tasteless Breakfast” and design a cover with food items next to little country flags that represent the stupidity and incapability of our corrupt global world leaders?
Why did I open a fridge to prepare my breakfast? Because Tasteless Breakfast is an awareness song about the plight of refugees and homeless people who suffer from HUNGER and THIRST, lack of safety, compassion, caring, and support by our selfish and shallow society.
I guess only people with an empty fridge or NO fridge at all with an empty stomach and no shelter understand the deep and sarcastic message behind every single food item that I have listed and chosen intentionally one by one in my lyrics!
So my personal takeaway from this feedback is: Reviews, advice and criticism are NOTHING but a personal opinion by random people from different backgrounds, level of education, social class, and most importantly emotional intelligence! Don’t take reviews and feedback seriously, no matter who the person claims to be. No matter what kind of “BIG” names, they choose to level up their EGO to feel better about themselves and public image.
"Criticizing and putting others down doesn't make you bigger!" is a life lesson that unfortunately The Fallen Angels never understand!
As you can already guess, I have absolutely no interest and desire to collaborate with a company that doesn't understand and appreciate my language! I reject a possible collaboration wholeheartedly and fully confident!
Remember my motto from my #RespectIndieArtistsWork online petition: Don’t sell yourself short! Don’t put up with BS! You deserve more! Believe in yourself and your work, and just say no to BS!
As you know by now, my
music is no longer available on any streaming platform. After my awful
experience with my former Swedish distributor Amuse.io and my online petition
#RespectIndieArtistsWork at openpetion.org, I made a lot of changes! Serious
and extremely necessary changes!
Not only have I taken
down ALL my tracks from these corrupt streaming companies who offer our hard work
for FREE, but I also have deleted my Facebook, TikTok, and other social
profiles to spend less time on these useless and only time-consuming platforms.
And it was the best decision I made. I
wish I had done this years ago or never opened an account in the first place! But better late than never! We only learn and grow from our mistakes, naivety and let's face it stupidity!
Most of us, don’t realize
how much control Facebook has over us. We open accounts and set up profiles on
different platforms by using Facebook to log in quickly instead of using an email
address and a password. Not only are we giving FREE information about ourselves
to this billion-dollar spy organization, but we also end up being on several websites
that must be updated and taken care of regularly.
One of these must-have-websites
as a lyricist is Musixmatch!
According to Google, it
is the world’s leading music data company - where you can search, enjoy, and
share lyrics from any track, anywhere in the world to my surprise based in Bologna, Italy.
Unfortunately, I had
opened my account with Facebook, and now that I have deleted my FB profile, I no
longer can log in and update my information, change the banner, add new song lyrics, and disconnect the deleted
Social accounts!
So, I have contacted the
companies support team and asked for help. Several emails back and forth and no one
cares to give me access to my account!
This is what they wrote:
In order to protect the quality and security
of our verified artist’s content, we are now requiring that all free users
provide proof of identity within the tool - Please note that paid users'
accounts are reviewed manually, so this step will not be required for paid
plans.
Once the ID verification is completed, you
should be able now to add your lyrics, except for songs with a featuring artist
even if you are the primary artist, since at the moment maintenance on them is
still ongoing.
The team will be checking in this week to
help with any issues and provide you with additional updates if there are any.
I wrote back:
I never share my ID
online for security reasons and asked for another solution.
And that’s what they answered:
The old verification has been
removed. If you want to verify your artist profile with a
new account, Two easy steps are required:
1) Create an account on the Musixmatch site (or
use an account you already have)
2) Fill the form on our website once you’re logged in with your account
Well, I did that and because I'm no longer on
Spotify and Apple, I still have NO access to my artist profile and have received
the following message from Musixmatch:
Unfortunately, it's not possible to verify an
artist if you don't have a profile on Spotify and Apple Music
In other words, if you are not on Spotify or
Apple, you are not an artist. So you have no access to your artist profile! Great!
And that’s why I'm posting this on my blog to warn other artists and Lyricists:
Firstly, be careful how you sign up for
websites. Don’t always use Facebook because it is the easiest and fastest
way!
Also, as I wrote in my previous blog post, be
picky with the websites you choose to promote your work. Using FREE websites is
risky because you end up communicating with an unprofessional support team who couldn’t
care less about your problems and finding solutions!
I have asked Musixmatch support team to either
give me access to my profile or to DELETE my artist profile and song lyrics! Nothing has happened so far. So, I will
keep you posted!
UPDATE: After this blog post and my tweet, I have received the following message on Twitter and an email saying that my profile will be DELETED within 48 hours!
As expected, the page is still online and has not been taken down!!!!! More message back and forth were required until my request was finally respected!
When I started my journey as a part-time indie writer
back in 2004 and later as a full-time writer since 2014, I was overwhelmed by
all the websites that offer free promotions for independent writers. Like most authors,
I was excited to share my work wherever, whenever!
Today, ten years later, I realize something important. We
have a saying in German “Man kann nicht auf alle Hochzeiten tanzen!“ translation
„You can't dance at every wedding!” which means you can’t be everywhere! And
you know what? You shouldn’t be everywhere!
My recommendation to new writers is: Be picky with the
websites you promote your work. Make sure you read reviews about the company first
and know who to contact if you have problems with your profile. Why am I
sharing this post today?
Well, I want to warn you about the following company www.Booklemur.com based in the USA! Do not sign up for the FREE artist spotlight! Once you
are listed on their website, you can't get rid of your profile! You can't make
changes and updates, NOTHING!
This is their company philosophy:
BookLemur
was created by Press One Publishing (est. 1995). We love readers, authors, and
great books! We take pride in introducing our dedicated eBook audience to new
and existing, quality titles. That goes for traditional or indie authors. So
far thousands of people are receiving the daily alert email and thousands more
read the BookLemur Facebook Fan Page. We want to connect readers and authors.
Author Spotlight Pages will be promoted at the website, Facebook page, and in
daily alerts. There is no cost to authors for this program, if accepted.
Why should I
have an author spotlight page?
(1) Because you want to reach readers. (2) Your
page will be promoted throughout the BookLemur website. (3) Increase sales. (3)
We will randomly include author spotlight pages in each daily alert based on
subscriber preferences. (3) It's FREE. (4) Spotlight authors will be the first
to receive promotions for advertising discounts. (5) We will promote spotlight
pages from time to time on our Facebook fan page and Twitter feed.
What's the
catch? How can this be free?
There is no catch. It's free. The only condition
is that we must always have your permission to contact you via email. That's it.
FYI: Well, yes, there is a catch! A BIG ONE! Your profile is permanent and
no one cares to respond to your messages and requests!I have contacted Booklemur several times in recent
months. I used the contact form and Twitter but to this date, NO ONE has answered
and respected my request!
That’s why I'm sharing this post to warn other indie writers from naively sign up for such FREE websites.
Remember, nothing of good and high quality is FREE!
On July the 3rd 2024, Rishi Sunak, UK's now
Ex-Prime Minister was a guest on the sofa at THIS MORNING on ITV 1 hosted by the presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard.
Just the other
day, I mentioned his ridiculous Rwanda plans in my post Fallen Angels – Self-protection.
Now, a few days later, this Fallen Angel is nothing but the Ex-Prime Minister of
the United Kingdom. Thank God for that!
His interview was so awful that it was crystal clear to me that
NO ONE with a heart for humanity would vote for this cruel man. I’m so glad and
relieved that his awful and unlawful migration control plans were his final
downfall after only 18 months in his position at Nr. 10. Let me quote him word
by word and you see what I mean:
“If people come to our country illegally, they shouldn’t be
able to stay.. I just think that’s fair. This means we need a safe place to
REMOVE them, which we have: Flights to Rwanda!”
“You know where these people come from? They come from
Syria, Afghanistan, Iran. I don’t mind being the leader in Europe of solving
this problem, saying this is the way to do it!”
“I’m always very grateful for what this country has done for
my family. By welcome my grandparents here, two generations later, my grandparents
were little, here I am sitting here chatting to you, so I love my country, what
it does for my family, and I’m in this to make work my socks off to make that
same difference for everybody else!”
Only an arrogant, self-centred man living in self-denial with
obviously ZERO sense of respect for humanity with a heart of stone would talk as
cruel as he has on air. I don't want to know how he talks about humans in need off-air!!!
I would love to ask him face to face, what if the United
Kingdom didn’t welcome your grandparents and would treat them as awful as you
plan to treat foreigners and refugees? What if the United Kingdom had sent your
grandparents to Rwanda? Who would you be today? Where would you be today?
What if the United Kingdom would decide to remove you and your family to Rwanda (THE SAFE PLACE) now that your service is no longer needed? What future would your daughters have in this safe haven? Why don't you apply for a job in Rwanda where you can work your socks off to make a change?
What makes you think that it is OK to discriminate Muslim
countries by name and decide about their future and their next generation? Who
do you think you are? Who knows, maybe one of these desperate families now looking
for safety and a future in the United Kingdom is the UK’s next Prime Minister's
grandparents? Shame on you! Shame on your disgusting politic. Shame on your
inhumanity! May God save your heart of stone because you are a Fallen Angel!
We hope and pray that UK's new Prime Minister Mister Keir Starmer will put an end to your madness and STOP your inhuman, unlawful and criminal migration control plans ASAP! We hope that he will show the same moral values and respect to humans in need - despite religion and nationality - as he shows to his community, religion, tradition and family!
Ever since I saw this horrible interview, I can't get Rishi Sunaks discriminating words out of my head. I still can't believe that he had the audacity to speak so disgraceful about other humans because of their nationality and religion! This is beyond upsetting, it is revolting! I feel sick!
Inspired by evils in my life in the past and present and my recent awful experience with my corrupt music distributor I wrote the lyrics for FALLEN ANGELS to remind everyone that we all have enemies, secret devils around us who want to destroy us, but we have to raise our voice, stand up and fight for our right and respect.
People in power like Rishi Sunak, UK's Prime Minister with his ridiculous Rwanda plans with innocent refugees are an example of how heartless people misuse their power and toy with people's destiny with absolutely no shame and moral values. Right now we are witnessing many horrible and bloody crimes worldwide created by mighty-hungry and godless creatures, and we are completely helpless.
I call fraud and godless people, FALLEN ANGELS because they have a heart of stone and make awful and unlawful decisions and ruin people’s lives with their disgusting decisions and actions!
I have never been a big fan of Esotericism, the business of spirituality where people search for the meaning in life, because they don’t feel attracted to any religion and instead enter the esoteric world with fortune-tellers, spiritual healers, card reading, Astrology, Feng Shui, light healing and more!
And yet, I always say whatever makes you happy is fine. Whatever makes you a good, honest, loyal, and kind person is fine. Because there is nothing worse than people who believe in absolutely nothing! Atheists who don't believe in the existence of god or any gods have zero respect for anything or anyone, and you see it in their behaviour. Their lack of respect, kindness, empathy, humanity, caring, and compassion is shocking. To me, people with a heart of stone are FALLEN ANGELS or as I also call them SECRET DEVILS, and trust me I had plenty of those useless but soul-damaging creatures in my life!
So, the question is, how do you protect yourself from the FALLEN ANGELS? From the SECRET DEVILS? First, when I feel negative energy and vibes such as jealousy, greed or simply lying and cheating, I distance myself slowly but surely without argument. I don’t waste my time with arguing with devils. The saying that the eyes are the mirror of the soul is true. Eyes often say more than words! The way someone looks at you says everything about their white or dark soul.
And when you feel that certain people are not good for your peace of mind and soul, not only is distance and separation necessary but also a variety of protective stones, each with its own unique energy. Black tourmaline, obsidian, amber, and red jasper are some of the best protective stones against evil people. Amethyst, rose quartz, selenite, and fluorite, on the other hand, are ideal for warding off negative energies.
So whoever is causing you pain and sorrow, distance yourself and spoil your soul with the stones your heart and soul needs the most. Trust me, they help!
Ever since I have taken down my music from streaming platforms, I'm only listening to new music and discovering great artists on Bandcamp.com.
I wish I had known about this page much sooner. I have wasted so much time on Spotify by creating playlists and following indie artists. Unfortunately, no one will ever give me back the precious time that I have wasted on this useless and corrupt platform! Well, I guess it's better late than never, and we learn from our mistakes.
I will not only be listening to undiscovered great songs, but also downloading the music that I like and support the artists in this great community as much and as often as I can.
If you are not an active Bandcamp User yet, I highly recommend this platform. You can discover and support great indie artists worldwide! If you like my songs, please follow me and add my songs to your favourites. Thank you.
As you know, I have unpublished ALL my audiobooks in the recent months and taken them down from Spotify and all Audiobook stores and libraries! My lovely stories are now ONLY available on LilyAmisBooks.Bandcamp.com
Not only that, I have released Lily's Ambassadors and Lily's Botschafter as single stories as well. So, whether you choose to listen to all the three Ambassadors or only one, you will be listening to wonderful, funny, educational and inspiring stories written and narrated from the heart.
I hope you enjoy listening to Lovely, Lucie, Laila, Ludwig, Lennon and Leonardo's life stories. The female Ambassadors are available in English, narrated by the wonderful voice-over Sharda Laskowski in American English and the male Ambassadors are available in German, narrated by the incredible and professional German voice over, Dirk Jacobs!
Also, don't forget I have narrated my first Lily4Refugees Ambassador Lucky in both, English and German myself! :-)
Dear #RespectIndieArtistsWork petition Supporter, I’m
closing our petition a month earlier than planned, because as you know I have
already contacted Spotify CEO Daniel Ek with an open letter weeks ago and as
already expected I haven’t received any answer! No surprise!!!
I know there are more important serious issues and tragedies
in the world such as the ongoing Russian/Ukraine war, the Israel/Gaza war, and
several global and human crises. We are witnessing today’s history which is as
awful, unlawful, cruel, inhuman, and heartbreaking as World War II.
And yet we can’t change anything about it because our world
was and is a corrupt place run by incapable and mighty hungry world leaders
that benefit from other people's misery. Why else do we have so many refugees
around the world? Why else do we have so many people suffering from hunger and
homelessness? As long as the ones, who are in power to make a change, don’t
act, NOTHING will change for the better.
This harsh reality is, we have the exact same awful
situation with today’s corrupt music industry with its awful and disrespectful
treatment of indie artists. As long as indie artists allow and accept that
fraud companies (distributors and streaming stores worldwide) toy with them and
use their work for FREE, NOTHING will change for the better! As long as artists
tolerate these BS policies with no honesty, zero transparency, and fair
payment, nothing will change!
I made the best out of the mess that I have experienced with
my former corrupt distributor, the Swedish company Amuse.io. I shared
everything publicly to warn other artists. Everything in life happens for a
reason and to be honest, I’m glad that this happened to me. Because it was a
wake-up call! I was caught in the middle of a corrupt system for 2 years and
like most artists didn’t even realize the madness with a $3 payment for 1000
streaming. I still wonder who came up with this stupid concept! Nothing good in
life is free. Why should music be free? Why?
I’m ending this petition with the release of my song FALLEN ANGELS,
Lily Amis feat. Thir13een. This song is dedicated to all the corrupt companies
and evil people in power, who misuse their position and disrespect human
beings. Like a mafia, they steal from innocent, hopeful, and hard-working
people with no shame and regret. They toy with people's destinies and mental
health.
FALLEN ANGELSis an empowering track with a clear message
for everyone who has signed this petition. With this track release, I made a
final decision and have taken down ALL my tracks from ALL the steaming
platforms, including SPOTIFY!
Music has always been my sanctuary, and I don’t allow any
godless people to take away my joy for music. For my own peace of mind and
soul, from now on, my songs will only be available on LilyAmis.Bandcamp.com. And
I don’t have to be afraid to run promotions and campaigns and be afraid of AI
playlists any more! This is a silly game and I don’t have the time and energy
to play along. I distance myself from these hypocrites to feel the joy of music
again.
Thank you again for your amazing support. Please make sure
that you and your work are appreciated and respected, and don’t ever sell
yourself short! Demand the
respect you deserve!
It’s a done deal! I no longer have to ask myself, should I
stay or should I go? I LEFT FOR GOOD, and it feels great and right!
I was only waiting for the Tunecore sales report numbers from
March to May 2024! Here we go. This is a screenshot. In case you can't read it well, I had a profit of $0.45 in March, $0.19 in April and finally $0.01 in May! A total income of $0.66 in 3 months from over 150 STORES WORLDWIDE!!!!!!!
As already expected the numbers are beyond ridiculous. Despite
having three new song releases in the previous months, “Ping Pong & Puzzle”
in February, “HomeTown” in March, and “Bowling”
in April, I didn’t run any campaign because I was afraid of landing on an AI
playlist and be treated like shit again.
And my open letter to Tunecore and Spotify CEOsremained unanswered, as expected. To these mighty hungry fame and fortune hunters, indie-artists are NOTHING but naive and hopeful idiots! We are only good enough to promote their platforms for
FREE, but we are not good enough to receive an answer to a simple question!
So I have finally taken down my music from ALL The streaming
platforms after 2,5 years of wasting my precious time, money and energy, believing naively that
I was promoting my songs while instead, all I was doing was bringing traffic and
new subscribers to billion-dollar companies such as Amazon, Apple/iTunes, Spotify
& Co for FREE!
Nothing good in life is FREE! Why should we work and offer our work for FREE? If my previous corrupt distributor AMUSE.io didn’t treat me like shit
after 2 years of “partnership", I would probably continue this madness not
realizing the disgusting reality and questioning today’s corrupt music industry
with its awful, unlawful, and disrespectful treatment of indie artists worldwide!
What many artists don't understand and realize is how much time and effort they put into promotion, which is mainly to be added to playlists. Meanwhile, a bunch of corrupt companies located in Pakistan, Bangladesh & Co, have discovered our stupidity and offer Digital Marketing Services which as we know now is mostly if not mainly done with BOTS.
We land on fake playlists and get fake numbers and analytics. No real humans actually stream our music! As if all this is not crazy enough, we promote our work on our social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok & Co, hoping to get likes and comments, while NO ONE really cares. Because those who like, comment and look at our stories are not THE ones who stream or download our music, except MAYBE some friends and family members! And we end up being in a circle of nonsense, repeating the same mistake over and over again, release after release again. We are trapped in a hamster wheel and only spending money and making others rich, while we are struggling in silence!
These Fallen Angels have created a modern way of slavery by
making payments of 3 Dollars for 1000 streaming, which means 50 hours of
Entertainment is only worth $3! In what world is this OK? Even homeless beggars
on the street make more income a day. Toilet cleaner make more income!
I didn’t start my writing journey to make a profit, even though I need an income like anyone else. I started my writing journey after I was unemployed for a long period of time and desperately applying for jobs. Despite my degrees and diplomas in Marketing and PR, I never got a fair chance to get a contract in a proper agency.
So writing down my memoir was my self-therapy. Then I continued this path and published short stories (because of the expensive payment for editing and translation) and finally,
I found my way into songwriting. The power of words/lyrics is what excites me
the most. And being able to share stories close to my heart (thanks to the Internet)
is beyond magical and joyful.
BUT this doesn’t mean that I’m blind and stupid
and allow billion-dollar companies to take advantage of my hard and expensive work and treat
me like dirt with zero respect!
I don’t know how these companies continue their evil and shameful
policy with no consequences so far, but this is a nasty game. Sooner or later, Karma will hit
them back when they least expect it!!! Mark my words!
Not only have I taken down my music from Spotify, but I also
have deleted all my playlists and my free user account! I have ZERO interest in
being near or part of a godless circle of people in power with questionable company policies with NO moral
values and ZERO respect for other honest and hard-working human beings.
My advice to fellow indie artists:
Just learn to say NO
to BS!
Respect yourself!
Respect your precious short lifetime!
Respect your work!
Respect your expenses!
Respect your passion!
And PLEASE don’t allow anyone to toy with you,
your time and never ever sell yourself
short!
I shared my experience openly with my online petition #RespectIndieArtistsWork
to warn and protect clueless newcomers. Honesty, integrity, loyalty, and
transparency are my life motto and I will always demand the respect I deserve!
What about you?
MY MUSIC IN ONLY AVAILABLE ON LILYAMIS.BANDCAMP.COM
It’s been a
while since I had a Q&A blog guest. But this artist’s kindness and selfless support
made me write this blog post today. I like to introduce you to the lovely Hungarian
electronic music producer and DJ ThomAce Van Doom.
He fell in love with music at a very young age,
and for many years he played electronic music as a mobile DJ in the late 90s
and 2000s. Today he is a successful music producer and is making various genres
of music from trance to chill-wave. ThomAce enjoys sharing his knowledge with his daughter and is a cat lover!
What is so special about his music? He makes music
that is coming from his good heart and kind soul. You can listen to his tracks
on Spotify and YouTube, as well as on Bandcamp! If you like electronic music, you
will definitely find something for any mood.
Firstly, welcome to my blog. Tell me when did you
find your passion for music?
I don't
remember. Maybe I was 3, 4, 5? I just remember that I watched the full length
of Berliner Philharmoniker New Year's Eve Concert in the early of 80s through
the TV. From that time, I have fallen in love with music and since then I love many different genres of music.
ThomAce why should
people listen to your music?
People could
feel the emotions behind the stories that every single song transfers. Every song tells a secret story or part about my life, whether it was a nice or sad
part.
Tell me what kind of
legacy do you wish to leave with your creativity?
Kindness and
the proof that does not matter how many bad things happens to you, you can
always give a smile and 100s of smiles will be your reward.
And finally, what does
HUMANITY mean to you?
Humanity means
a lot. I mean, it is not just being responsible for animals around us, but
treat every other people as I would like they should treat me. What I give is
what I get. And when this is not happening, I can say to myself that at least I
was kind and I did everything what humanity means.
Thank you so much for being my blog guest. You are a wonderful human being. I wish you all the best and hope you can achieve all your goals and fulfil all your dreams with music.
Make sure you follow ThomAce on his socials, so
you don’t miss out on any new releases! He is working on new songs which will
be released soon. Stay tuned....
