Who can you trust? Your distributor or the stores?

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 I really do wonder why they don’t remove unpublished copyrighted works, but hey, whatever their policies are, I no longer have to put up with their nonsense!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!

DON’T TRUST THE FALLEN ANGELS!

Reviews, advice and criticism are NOTHING but a personal opinion!

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!

My song lyrics on Musixmatch!

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! 

 

Writers, hands away from the Free Booklemur Spotlight!

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!

UPDATE: 21. July 2024

After this blog post and my tweet, 

my profile was finally taken down after 

4 months and several emails! Hallelujah!

 

The Fallen Angel Rishi Sunak on ITV’s This Morning!

On July the 3^rd 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!

 

#RespectIndieArtistsWork – Artists hands away from TIDAL!

As you know by now, I have taken down ALL my tracks, Lily Amis feat. Thir14een from ALL streaming platforms! It took a while, but finally, my songs are also unavailable on Spotify. While some of the music stores like Apple and Spotify don’t delete the artist profile, others have followed my request and deleted the artist profile as requested! 

Unfortunately, the only music store that doesn’t respect my wish is TIDAL. Despite e-mails back and forth, they are wasting my time by making excuses. I'm receiving emails saying to move forward with processing your request, we need to verify your identity!

Well, I have sent them everything to prove that I am who I am and yet, the artist profile is still online. As if this is not disrespectful enough, they also have listed another artist's music on my profile. I sent them emails regarding this issue months ago and nothing has changed!

Dear fellow indie artists, if you decide to release new music and want to offer your work for FREE on billion-dollar streaming platforms, that don’t respect your work, be aware that these companies have also ZERO respect for you as an artist!

If I could turn back time and tell myself two years ago, I would not release anything on any of these corrupt companies' platforms and promote their websites for free, bringing traffic and possible new subscribers and all for nothing!

My online petition #RespectIndieAristsWork is closed, but I will continue to warn other indie artists because I don’t want anyone to have the same awful experiences and waste their time, energy, and money! 

Remember my words: 

Don’t sell yourself short. 

Demand the respect you deserve!

Don't promote for billion dollar corrupt companies 

who show ZERO respect for you and your work!

UPDATE July 19th 2024:

After this blog post and many tweets, Tidal has finally

deleted my artist profile! FINALLY!

#RespectindieArtistsWork - The petition is closed!

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 ANGELS is 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!

Best wishes, Lily Amis

#RespectIndieArtistsWork - Self-Respect!

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 CEOs remained 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