Dear Loyal Friends.
It is with my deepest regrets that I do this. But from now on this will be an Informational Blog only. There will be no downloads anymore. I have been finding my shares all over the Internet and people are taking credit for all my hard work. Some people are even making CD-R's and selling them. If they want to do this, they will have to find another source. Every single one of my shares has been found on other sites and I have randomly downloaded some of them and they are the exact same files I had done byte for byte.
I haven't been very active because of health issues. I will leave my blog up, but again even if a link is shown for downloading, it won't be active I can't go through and edit every post.
I will try to post more records I have collected, but it will just be the artwork and information about the records. This way people can try to find these albums and will have the information so they will know what to look for.
I am very very sorry for having to do this as I know there are some of you who are very grateful for all I have done these past few years and brought back a lot of fond memories for you. I thank you for all your support. I hope you all understand.
If you can't find a particular record, please leave me a message and I will try to point you in the right direction.
Again, I am very regretful that I have to do this and I thank you all again for your support.
Sincerely,
Susan
1 week ago
70 comments:
Susan, I believe that you are making a mistake by taking that so personally. I have watched posts being re-posted within few hours on russian sites, and there was no human involved - this is a robot or system doing automatically.
I don't understand how that works, but I am a follower of Lounge Legends and know what he posted when. His stuff is out there almost immediately, with even the same text, and mirrored many times on other pages, done so by automatic systems.
I have not followed your posts, but I am almost sure this was the same. I cannot imagine that a person would take your rips, copy and paste your text and pretend it was his own doing on his own blog? That would be too embarrassing, I believe.
Maybe you can give dl links to people who personally ask you? Like in an email? So you would know who you gave the links to. I don't think the mirror automats are able to do that (yet). So you would know you are dealing with humans.
This comment had to be made in 2 comments because of a 4096 character limit
Actually, I am not making a mistake. First of all, in my more recent posts, the title of the post had nothing to do with a record or artist and in the post, I didn't talk about the record at all.
Secondly, the file names I created weren't anything to do with the name of the record. It was just random numbers and letters. I have found the names of the file changed from what I had named it to what it actually was and when I downloaded it, it was exactly what I had created.
The file dates were exact, the file size were the same byte for byte. And a few places, the person stated it was from their own personal collection.
If it is from their own personal collection, then why would there be a scratch, click or pop in the exact same space on their record album as in mine?, and then why would the artwork have the same crease or tear in the exact same spot as what I had scanned?
The person who downloaded it just renamed it and the put it on their site. But the file again is exactly the same size byte for byte.
Also, my blog is set not to allow search engines to find it so most of the people who have been here had to find out about it from someone else.
There were a few recent "Private Shares" done with someone I thought I could trust, but those too also ended up on other sites. And it was only shared with this one person via an email as an attachment and not uploaded anywhere. So the only way it ended up in Cyberspace was because of this person.
When I confronted them, they threatened to report my blog and post all the links anywhere they could.
As for doing links via personal emails. I have no way of knowing who these people could be. Just in the past month there were over 1,600 people who visited my blog.
Though I can't tell what they may have downloaded and none of them left any comments to thank me for my hard work, so they are just looking to get "Free Music" and don't care where they get it.
I do know too that though my blog is set so it doesn't show up in search engines, there are other blogs who follow me and that is also a way people could find my blog.
Back when I first started, I had occasionally searched for the shares I had done and sure enough, I found a few blogs and other sites with my files.
This one blogger when I emailed them admitted that they did get it from my blog and there was nothing I could do about it.
I know that once something is in cyberspace, it is there forever, but from now on I won't be the initial source.
I am very sorry about this as it was a lot of hard work, but too, I've had a couple DMCA complaints for just one post and I deleted the post but still got another complaint a few days later and it was identical word for word as the first one and I was warned by Google that they might cancel my account and if that happens I wouldn't be able to read some emails.
Then too as I've mentioned a few times in other comments, the DMCA complaints come from somewhere in the UK and their personally identifying information is omitted so you can't even address your accusers.
My blogs get reported, but there are blogs out there that share brand new CD's and even leaked CD's before they are officially released by the record companies and they aren't being bothered by the DMCA people.
All my shares had been out of print for 40+ years and not available on CD.
If someone wants to email me about an album, at the very least, I could try and point them in a direction where they could get the album. Or they can search other blogs as I'm sure being what I have shared is all over cyberspace now that someone will have them.
Once again I apologize to the few loyal supporters who actually left comments thanking me for all I have done, but the ratio of comments isn't even close to the number of visitors or number of downloads that were done.
Also as I said in the actual post. If I do post an album it would just be the artwork and record information so people could try and find it and know what to look for.
Regrettably, it has to be this way.
Susan
Susan, I am very sorry to hear this.
All the very best to you,
-Craig
Thanks Craig,
I appreciate it.
All the best to you too.
Susan
Much that I hate this, I understand and appreciate your point of view. My best to you and thanks for a lot of GREAT work!
You're welcome PDMan and I thank you for your support.
Susan
I'm seriously thinking of going the direction a couple of music sharing sites, and offering downloads for $1.00 or $2.00 each. Some may say that's stealing money from the original artists, but that's BS and we all know it. If they're so concerned about someone making pennies off from their work then why don't they start re-releasing this music themselves.
Sorry you've had to take this step, but I for one know all to well how it feels.
Dave W.
Thanks Dave,
Most of the artist's I had shared are long since deceased and they received their royalties when the records were originally released and sold some 40+ years ago. Then too, the record companies made money.
And you're right. If they want to make money on these, the reissue them on CD or even vinyl again. I know some people have written the record companies directly asking the to release these albums and they are told it isn't worth the cost as they don't think there would be enough people who would buy them so they could make a profit. But we know there is an interest in these albums (of course a lot of people want free music wherever they can get it)
Susan
I'm so sorry! I've loved many of your posts and saved them in my private posts.
It's incredible to think people would claim your work as their own. I suppose in some way it's a compliment on the high quality of your work!
dear susan:
so sorry. why do bad things happen to good people? maybe life is really not fair sometimes. but thank you so much for sharing your christmas music treasures to us. we won't forget you, specially everytime we play the christmas music you lovingly shared. thank you so much susan. may the baby Jesus bless you always.
ronnie
Anonymous, it bothered me that they were claiming it was their work and they would have people commenting on their sites thanking them for sharing these albums as they have been looking for them for years.
Then too, it was taking away traffic from my blog. Just in the last week, the traffic to my blogs dropped over 55% and I was getting over 300 visitors a day.
Over the last 4 months, the traffic had decreased almost 80% so the 55% is actually more people not visiting my blog becuase the people who were using my shares would email all their friends and so on and have them go to their site. Only the loyal visitors would still come here.
A lot of people don't realize this, but an album usually is about 30 minutes of music including both sides and it would take at least an hour to rip each song and clean up all the noise, clicks etc., so it would sound as good as possible.
On some songs, I would have to go in and manually edit the clicks as each one had a different noise level and sound frequency so it would take even longer than if I just let the software clean the whole track as that would sometimes make the music sound tinny. So by editing each click I could adjust the settings to get it to sound right.
So you can see why I get upset when someone else take credit for all my hard work.
If there were a way to protect the file so it couldn't be changed, I would've put some sort of copy protection in it like the do with DVD's. I would've put something in the MP3 data stating that this was created by Christmas Forever Favorite Christmas Records and if you got if from someplace else, they were not the one who created it.
I know in DVD's that have been copied and sold on eBay that when you go to play it, a message is on the screen but you can still see the movie, but the message says something that this is a illegal copy and if you see this message you could contact whomever it says because if you bought this DVD believing it was the original you paid for something you didn't get and that you should report the vendor as they are not selling the actual DVD but a pirated copy.
I had bought a couple "Brand-New Factory Sealed" DVD's from someone on eBay and when I got them, yes they were sealed in shrink wrap, but they had computer printed labels on the DVD themselves and the label inside the clear plastic on the outside of the case was also printed on regular printer paper and when I played the DVD's I got the message on the screen stating that if I saw this message it was a pirated copy.
When I went to get my money back, the vendor was no longer on eBay but thanks to buyer protection, I got my money back, but couldn't leave negative feedback for the vendor because they no longer were listed on eBay.
Susan
Ronnie,
Sorry, I didn't see your comment before the anonymous one. I apologize and I thank you for your support. I think you still have my email address so we can stay in touch that way if you would like.
I don't know what I will post here in the future, but it will just be for informational purposes. I can't be the source for other people to abuse my shares and take credit for them and also take away traffic from my blog. I know I haven't been very active here recently,but I have serious back trouble and it has been very painful to sit at the computer and try to rip an album.
I hope you were able to get everything you wanted before I deleted all the files becuase now they are on sites all over the world so I'm sure people will still be able to find what they are looking for.
Again, it was a very tough decision but it had to be made and there was a certain person who threatened to report my blog and also reshare all my links on their blog and it isn't worth getting another DMCA complaint and have Google cancel my account as I also have an email account with Google for some people to contact me and if my account was to get canceled, they couldn't contact me anymore.
Again, feel free to email me so we can at least stay in touch. I thank you again for your loyal support.
Susan
Susan,
I just recently started my own Christmas music blog and have enjoyed following yours. I understand and appreciate where you are coming from and hope that you continue to share your views and information if not your songs on the site.
Christmas Chris,
I appreciate your comments and I wish you the best with your blog. I'm still finding my post on other peoples blogs all over the world some are in foreign language, but the artwork and music are identical to what I created and they are claiming they are their own rips.
So I just can't be their supplier anymore. I do all the hard work and they take the credit for it and also take away traffic from my blog.
Susan
Noooooooooooooo!!!!!
I just today discovered this site through a search that linked me from another blog. I was searching for a Singer Christmas album w/ Donna Reed and found your site.
Any chance you reconsider or provide a way to access your collection? I would be willing to pay. Sorry I was late to the party
Hi Fezziwig,
Everyone one of my post has been found on other websites all over the world. If you email me at chrstmsforever@gmail.com I'll see if I can point you in the right direction to get help for this album.
Susan
I too have experienced my files on other sites as if it was their own.
My external hard drive (will about 80% of my music) died and I have been trying to find the lost files. Just the other day I saw some of my pictures (no mp3s) of an album I ripped and posted, but the blogger gave my blog credit and a link, that was nice.
I know what it takes to create this files and really appreciate all your work.
Thanks!
bongolong
You're welcome Bongolong. Sorry about your hard drive crashing. The straw that broke the camels back, is the # of visitors to my blog were maybe 10 - 15 a month, but the number of downloads of my files were up to 400 or more on most of my shares so people were posting my links on their sites and taking away traffic from my blog. Then too taking credit for my hard work by claiming that they did them from their own personal collection, when I know for a fact they came from mine. Then I'm the one who gets the DMCA complaints so I am no longer going to be their source. It just isn't worth it. The majority of people were just coming here to get any free music that they could and didn't care what went in to putting it all together. I'm not saying that everyone was like this as there were people who genuinely appreciated what I had done here. But now people will have to look elsewhere. I hope you can find the files you lost by searching other sites.
Susan
Surely giving away Christmas music is not stealing. It's the Christian thing to do.
It's probably some evil record store owners and Ebay sellers who have these items and think they should make money just because they might need to buy something or other. They have their nerve. They probably get record labels to file DMCAs.
Or God knows the greedy record labels may be about to re-issue the material and don't want competition.
Whatever it is, these "accusers" have their nerve and just because a DMCA is a legal document, it doesn't mean it's God's will.
Jesus does not blog so others must do his bidding. PS, no "German Witch in Amerika" should leave any comments at all. She is clearly a heathen and also doesn't respect being in AMERICA.
It is terrible that you are not given credit for your hard work.
You are being a Christian and these people are being...well...we all know what types would connive and plot and steal and take what does not belong to them.
Just remember Wink Martindale, who told us: "think of the lepers our saviour cleansed, and that nine of the ten didn't even thank him."
And remember Dave, who posted that we are NOT stealing from the original artists. That's a fact. "It's BS and we all know it (although I think Dave should watch his language). Who knows the music business better than he does? Who is in a better position to explain how and when a record label chooses to re-issue something?
Lord save us all from stupidity, foolishness, sloth, false pride, and idle hands!
Anonymous,
I thank you for your comments. It is a shame that the people are this way. I do feel that I was ministering to most people and they truly appreciated all the work I had done, but there were more people who only cared about getting "Free Music"
But the ones who took my hard work and posted it on their blogs and other sites who are now getting credit from people thanking them instead of me.
And even some people actually putting my shares on CD-R's and selling them (which is illegal) but they get away with it.
I just can't do this anymore. I'm the one who gets in trouble with the DMCA and not them and that isn't right.
I have not asked anyting in return for what I have shared and again what I have shared is long out of print.
Some stuff I have you can't even find on eBay and I had plans of posting more, but being people are taking them for their own personal gain I am not going to do that anymore.
It is true that I am not stealing from the record companies or artists and some of the artists are deceased so they couldn't possibly receive royalties from the record companies.
As I have already stated, the record companies and artists already made their money from these when they were first released some 40 - 50 years ago and being you can't buy them from the record companies today, how can we be stealing from them?
I know a few people who have personal contacts with record company executives but I am not at liberty to say who they are and even they have tried to get the record companies to re-issue these albums but their response is that they don't feel there is enough market for them to do so, but if they were to look at all the blogs, they would see that people do want this music.
Especially the Christmas music from the 1940's to early 1970's as that is the music a lot of us grew up listening to and in the 1970s' the music changed.
The artist's today don't put the work into it the way they did back then.
And most of this Christmas music here, you don't hear on the radio.
I do feel bad for the loyal visitors who truly appreciated what I had done these last few years. At least for now the information about these albums is still on my site, but I'm sure people can find them on other blogs and other Internet sites or at the very least, if they want to try and find the actual vinyl, they will know what to look for.
Susan
Maybe you can make your blog private and only those who have invitation or your followers can access. your posts are great.
Thanks thaunadogg,
But that wouldn't work because everything I have already posted is one other blogs and Internet sites. Also, I wouldn't know who I could and couldn't trust.
There are only a few who have commented regularly, but there have been a lot of anonymous comments too so I have no way of knowing who they are. Also the ration of comments to the number of visitors is like 12:100 and this isn't counting the download ratio. So, it's best I just leave the blog as it is.
Again I have no way of really knowing who anyone is and even the regular visitors could have posted the links elsewhere on the Internet as well as the anonymous visitors.
I have I think 38 followers, but before all my links started showing up on other blog's and Internet sites, there were at least 200 downloads of all my files, but then when I found that everything was someplace else, I checked the number of visitors here in 1 month and it was about 12 but the number of downloads for the 1 month were over 400 for almost every item I posted. So again, being they were using my direct links, I would be the one to get in trouble with the DMCA and I don't need that. Therefore all the files have been deleted and the file hosting account has been canceled.
Yes, the links may still be in the posts, but they will take you to an invalid page and I don't have the time go to in and edit every post to remove the link. And since they don't work anyways, it's not worth the time.
I'm sure anyone can find these albums elsewhere as they are all over the place on the Internet, they are basically there forever and someone will get them from another site and then post them elsewhere and then someone else will get them from there and pass them on so I am not going to be doing any more sharing.
I spent hours and hours on each album to get them to sound as good as possible and having other people take my work and claim it as theirs just isn't right so I haven't the desire to do this anymore.
I am grateful to the loyal supporters and also grateful that I could help bring back fond memories. But now that has been ruined by all the people who stole my work and posted it elsewhere.
Susan
Susan,
I also greatly appreciated your work and I also despise the weasels who stole it! Why they couldn't acknowledge that you were the one who did the work I'll never understand. They're just weasels and they'll always BE weasels!
I can only hope that they'll get what's coming to 'em in the end.
Mike
Thanks Mike, I still feel bad because there were quite a few people who truly appreciated what I did here and for these idiots to ruin it, well, they've made their beds and now they have to sleep in them. I honestly felt I was ministering to some of the people here and keeping the Spirit of Christmas alive 365 days a years, but it isn't worth getting any more DMCA complaints or getting my account canceled. I have health issues to deal with and don't need these people causing trouble. It isn't only me they are hurting but others too. In the end they will have to answer to God.
I tried to keep this going as long as I could but again everything I posted can be found elsewhere on the Internet if one wants to look for it.
Susan
Sorry for the troubles you've been having here. It never ceases to amaze me the ballsyness of some people ... in fact I bet some of the complaints may have come from the people who stole your work to sell on CD-R to eliminate competition ... the mind boggles.
Posting cover art & liner notes will still be very much welcomed & appreciated by me and I'm sure many other true fans of the genre. You can also let us know what you think of the album if you have the time ... sometimes an attractive cover hides tunage that isn't really worth the effort to track down (varient of you can't judge a book by it's cover).
I've said it before, I'm saying it now and I'll say it again each December ... Thanks! ... your posts have helped brighten the season and bring back fond memories of friends & family from seasons past.
Blue
Thanks Blue,
I appreciate your comments. It is a possibility that the people filing the DMCA complaints are the ones making CD-R's, but I really have no way of knowing as and personally identifying information from the complainant is omitted and the process for file a counter claim with Google is next to impossible to do.
Google doesn't even answer general question emails.
I would like to continue to post album artwork and information about the album but may have to do something to protect myself there too. But I can't get into details about that.
It would be nice if people could get the music I posted but with so many people "Stealing" from me and then I get the DMCA complaints that isn't right.
Again, there wasn't any personal gain for me other than the satisfaction that I was helping other people remember Christmas music from a different era and bringing back fond memories. But then the people who were taking my shares for their own personal gain just isn't right.
I just haven't had the time to do much here except respond to comments lately due to health issues and the weather we've been having just adds to them.
Again, I thank you for your support.
Susan
Now come on!!! since this is Christmas music are you gonna give up his birthday???
be brave like he ws on the cross
you are giving up on him. don't give up on the birthday boy on Dec. 256th. find a forum? another blogs? at least let us faithful be there for you as we are for him
cuzpat?
You say you are a faithful follower, but this is the first I've heard from you since I started this blog over 3 years ago. I don't recall any other comments from you.
I just can't take the risk of getting fined or something for stuff that was downloaded and as I've stated so many times in previous comments, all the things I shared are somewhere else on the Internet.
But I am not going to be the main source anymore as it is I whom the DMCA people come after and it isn't worth it.
Starting a new blog, the same thing will happen because, again, as I have stated in comments. There are usually 200 downloads but only a few people that would comment and thank me.
Then the # of visitors to my site dropped considerably, but the number of downloads of the files increased buy several hundred.
Which means they weren't getting the links from visiting my blog but getting them from other people who basically stole them from me by posting the direct download links from my blog and then others downloading them and reposting them on their blogs stating they are the one who created the share.
I am not giving up on celebrating Jesus' birthday as I listen to my Christmas music daily.
But I can't risk Google canceling my account as I as use them for email and if I get anymore DMCA complaints they will delete my blogs and cancel my account so there will be no file sharing on my blogs.
And again if you do a search on the Internet I'm sure you will find what I have posted being everything has been posted all over the Internet and on other blog's. It may take some time as some links get reported and deleted, but someone else reposts them.
As for the faithful, I had 38 followers but only a few of them actually commented and then a lot of the comments were anonymous.
Some of the comments were links to pornographic sites and a lot were in a foreign language, and with over 200 people at one point downloading, it's obvious that most of them where only here to get "Free Music" and they don't care about the hard work that went it to creating these shares.
As for everyone who thinks I am making a mistake, you have to remember, I'm the one taking the risks, not you.
Though the RIAA made a ruling that anything prior to February 1972 was left up to individual States to enforce Copyright, but anything after that was up to the RIAA and then the DMCA complaints don't even come from the USA and basically everything I posted was from before 1972.
If I were to start up a new blog, I would have to make it private and by invitation only, and then I really don't know who I could trust as the only people I could invite are the ones who were following me or commented and left a way to contact them.
But then I have to worry about anyone of them passing on the links to other people so the whole process would start all over again.
So my blog's are going to stay the way they are and if I do any new posts, it will only be information about the album so if a person was trying to find the actual vinyl themselves, they would know what to look for. And I am not going to create a new blog.
I am very sorry, but this is the way it has to be. And I would appreciate everyone understanding and not trying to get me to change my mind.
Please, just be thankful for the music you were able to get before all the trouble started with the DMCA and people posting everything elsewhere on the Internet.
Thank you.
Susan
Sorry you feel this way for CHRIST sake.
maybe you are tired?
i post music on you tube for free. i don't care about thank you. my thanks is that the music is not forgotton
i own that to all gene, the teens. the middle age. the old folk. it was there for me for free.; or when i went to the store. so why not now!!??
sorry, but i have no feeling for those on ego.....if you want to prove me wrong. do so. i would be happy and so would others. the world is not about us. but about the future and what they learn
so with deep regret... i love my coountry and music and Christmas
so fight for Jesus! or fight for ???...got to be a winner there somewhere?
cuzpat, Again, you claim you are "one of the faithful", but you turn around and take his name in vain?
Yes, I am tired!!!. Tired of comments such as yours. You sound like all you are only interested in is getting Free Music and not caring how you go about getting it. And now because you can't get it from me you have to complain
Also it's not that I care about getting thanks for what I have done, but what bothers me is that when other people take my work and post it as their own and then they get thanked for it when they had nothing to do with creating it. Or they make money buy Creating CD-R's of my hard work. That just isn't right.
I do appreciate the positive comments of genuine appreciation from people who grew up with this music and it brings back the memories of Christmas with their families when they were young and now they can create those same memories with their own families.
I am not on a ego trip and again by your taking the Lord's name in vain, it shows your true colors.
Again, it is I who am taking the initial risk and getting the DMCA Complaints and I can not afford to have to pay fines like that one lady had to several years ago for sharing some songs on Napster or something.
Most music sharing is illegal and if you look at all the blogs that are no longer around you will see that they are all eventually going to be reported and taken down. Or just no longer monitored.
I've seen several videos of a lot of songs posted on YouTube taken down.
For instance on my non-Christmas record blog,I had a couple of Sandy Posey videos that someone posted and I just embedded the code into my post. I am not the uploader and every month or so I go back to check the post's and when I click to view the video, I get a message that the video was removed due to copyright violation.
I do not have the resources to fight the record companies who claim to be losing money by illegal music file sharing and if you can't understand that, that is your problem.
It isn't a matter of supporting Jesus.
If you want to get technical. being music sharing is basically illegal, "Though Shalt Not Steal" and by sharing music illegally, it is stealing from the record companies and artists.
I don't need your rude comments and it is obvious again that you never commented before until you found out that I am not going to share any music anymore and that proves to me again that all you are interested in is getting free music.
Also by publicly bragging here about your sharing music on YouTube, I would guess it's just a matter of time before the DMCA finds your posts on YouTube as it's obvious they've been monitoring my blog for a long time and since I removed all the files I haven't received any more complaints.
I love God/Jesus and my Country too. But I am not going to risk having to pay severe fines for sharing any music.
When I first started my blog, I knew of at least 300 and at least half of them are gone now because of the DMCA complaints.
You seem to be the only person along with Any middle-aged German Witch in America who is complaining and doesn't understand why I had to stop sharing.
It doesn't mean that I don't love Jesus any less or don't believe in him, but I certainly wouldn't take his name in vain or try and use it to manipulate someone to do what they want so they can get Free Music again.
Any more RUDE or SARCASTIC comments from you and I will change them to having to be approved by me before they can be posted and if you say anything like you've already said, I won't allow the comment.
I'm sure there are regular "true loyal followers who would agree with me.
Susan
Wow. I just found this place an it is already a great loss. Sad to see it...especially aftwer making your hard work available to all.
> If there were a way to protect
> the file so it couldn't be
> changed, I would've put some
> sort of copy protection in it
I realize this may be a moot point now but it seems to me that these are lazy folks stripping content and repackaging andthey don't spend time looking for anything. Couldn't one create a zip of song files, artwork, as well as some creative graphic and text files to zip with the rest? Those extra files could be your website's header, some navigation to the original site and an explanation of how said zip might be somewhere other than where the originator parked it?
Anyway, sorry to see you frustrated and the hard work/connections going away. Regardless of the few who spoil it for everyone, know that you helped a lot of folks get exposed to music they might not otherwise have benefitted from. Kudos.
Anonymous,
I thank you for your comments and apologize that you found my blog too late, but I'm sure if you search the Internet hard enough you will find everything there someplace. and if you find a site but the link is dead. Someone else will repost it so I can almost guarantee that you will find everything that I had posted.
When I first found out that my links were all over the Internet. I least 3 different sites had all of what I had shared. But now on a quick search only a few come up so you may have to search several pages to find everything. Again I apologize but I thank you for commenting.
Susan
I think cuzpat first needs to learn how to type in plain English before they make such rude and stupid comments. If Susan chooses to take down her download links that is her choice. You all will just have to go get your freebies somewhere else. Either that or pay for the music like she had to do.
Dave
Well said Dave, And I thank you. Yes, I did have to pay for my music. Just for the True Value Happy Holidays, several of them were $20.00 each and factory sealed and I was torn about opening them.
Other records too weren't cheap.
I thank you for your support.
Susan
Susan,
I appreciate all the work you have done. You have saved me the work of digitizing many of my old records. Please keep posting as an informational blog cause you are a wealth of information.
Thanks,
Ron
Hi Ron,
I thank you for your support. When/If I get time, I will try to list information about other albums.
I have some other issues that I have to work on though so for now, all I am able to do is respond to comments. And as you can see some of them haven't been very supportive and that is discouraging because this isn't what this blog was about, but these people took advantage of a good thing and now that they can't get anything from me they aren't happy.
Other's have been truly grateful for what I had done over the last 3 years for them.
Thanks again.
Susan
Hi Susan
Just an FYI for you and the readers that bongobells is closing it's doors in a few days. The sharity bloodbath continues.
Blue
Thanks for the info Blue. Alas, another blog fades away into cyberspace because of certain people.
Susan
Hey Susan
Sorry, I forgot to also note in the last comment that Cheerful Earful has already shut down and been removed from blogger. He used to have some prety interesting stuff come Yuletide.
Blue
Thanks again Blue,
Being I am not posting anything. I don't usually go to blogger unless I receive an email that someone has left a comment.
I just noticed that he posted did a post 3 weeks ago. It's such a shame that they go after the little guy, but let other people continue to post current CD release and even leaked CD's before the record companies officially release them.
Again too. The DMCA people are in the UK and I don't see how they would have Copyright Ownership of every record company in the USA and should leave this up to the RIAA.
But Google has to "protect themselves" if they receive a complaint. They don't have to verify that the complaint is legitimate or anything. It is assumed that the complaint was done in "Good Faith" that Copyright has been violated.
Then if you want to challenge it, the links Google give you aren't really helpful.
Then if you try to email Google for anything, they ignore you.
Oh well, another great blog gone because of certain people who can't keep a good thing to themselves.
Susan
dear susan:
thanks for all the christmas music treasures you were able to share with us. we shall be grateful always as we listen to them throughout the year. thank God for the joy that christmas music brings. take care always.
ronnie
You're welcome Ronnie and I thank you for your support. Sadly, more and more blogs are getting shut down because of people claiming to be the copyright owner, so the blogger's are either deleting their blog's or removing any links and not posting anything new. They are just leaving them up for informational purposes only.
At least you have the music you've gotten from some of the blog's out there that you can listen too whenever you want.
Susan
I fully understand your predicament, Susan. This has also happened to me & my posts. But I still feel that there are honest people out there for whom music is a soulful experience. I shall try & continue my blogs for as long as possible, but it seems that the blog police are increasing their crack downs. All of the best & may you go from strength to strength! Best of luck & keep well & thanks for everything you have shared with us!
Hi Peet,
You're welcome.
Thank you for your comment. I heard from a few different people that they think the DMCA complaints are actually being made by Hallmark Records in the UK, nothing to with Hallmark Card.
Hallmark Records releases poop quality CD's and I can't say if they are licensed or not to release these albums, but I have heard from some people who have purchased their CD's that it sounds as if they found an album in the trash and it was all scratched and they decided to use that for their CD.
Getting back to the people who think it is Hallmark Records in the UK is that if a blogger posts an album that they want to release on CD that people being able to download it for free would cut into their profits so they report any blogs they can.
Again, this is just things I have heard from various sources.
There have been a few DMCA complaints that I've seen that came from a Movie Studio or Record company in the USA and I believe it specifies that they are a Movie Studio or Record Company, but the majority of them are just from the UK and nothing to identify who the complainer is.
Also just in the last couple weeks, at least 4 blog's I know of have shut down because of the DMCA people and again, you can't even address your accusers and Google doesn't answer emails and they aren't much help in filing a counter claim which would probably involve hiring an attorney and it just isn't worth it.
I wish you the best in all your endeavors too.
Susan
The internet is a wonderful thing because people like us can take our love of Christmas past and share it with people that we may otherwise never meet.
But it can also be a bad thing because people without a lot to do in their lives get to ruin what joy other people have.
I hope you can continue to encourage people to go out an collect these albums, tell your tips on finding them, equipment, etc.
Hi Robby,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, the Internet can be a wonderful place and at the same time be a bad place because there are people out there who's only mission in life is try to ruin something such as our blog's or they spend their entire life trying to hack into computers and spread virus's etc., all around the world. I can think of much better ways of using my time.
In many ways, I almost with we were still in the "Dial-Up" era where all there was were BBS places you could connect to to download files and stuff because the average person wouldn't want to spend money on making International phone calls to try and ruin someones computer. But with Wireless and other High Speed connections, they can do whatever from all over the world.
I just hope that eventually it backfires on them and they get a virus that wipes out their computer or I-Phone or other device that they use to access the Internet. Then maybe they will think twice before trying things again.
I haven't really been able to discuss any record finds or talk much about music because I've had computer problems myself and basically all I have been able to do is respond to comments.
It was nice to hear from you.
Hope things are well with you.
Take care.
Susan
Hmmm, I'm not sure that anonymous comment even makes any sense.
Hi Robby,
I deleted that anonymous comment and I'm going to change the comments to "Approved" before they can be posted. That person was probably one of the people who reported my blog in the first place.
Take care.
Susan
Personaly myself i just cant get what theese bloggers who rip off your posts get out of it,i had the same thing happen to me with my blog (they even posted a picture of a boxset i uploaded which was took on my living room carpet ;) ) .they must be pretty sad individuals.when my posts were ripped off i considered giving up,but i missed posting stuff so i carried on.anyway whatever you do in the blog world,best of luck :)
Thanks Darnall 42,
I do miss posting. If there was a way to password protect the individual file attributes. I would then put something in the metadata that this was ripped off from my blog and this person is taking credit for something they didn't do.
But I am not certain about doing that. Then too, I thought about Water Marking the artwork. But people use that on their I-Pods, etc., and they wouldn't want the watermark to show up.
But I would like to do some type of "Copy Protection" thing to make it so hard for another person to remove it and post it on their blog and try and take credit for it that it wouldn't be worth the effort for them.
I know I can password protect the compressed file itself, but that wouldn't fix the problem.
Susan
Hi I love this blog I'm from Spain (Catalonia). I also have a blog
is: pelis-judit.blogspot.com
I'm trying to get ahold of you about listing some christmas ringtones here. You say to "Contact me", but I can't find your contact info anywhere.
The site is afree ringtone website, Brinked.com
Merry Christmas... i appreciate your post... Godbless =)
Susan, i am sorry to bother you but i really need a link to download the Geoff Love 'Christmas with Love' album. My mother who is 78 years old bless her, had the album in the 70s and it became the soundtrack to our Christmas. I've searched high and low for this album without success. Please help if you can. I'm not interested in using your work and efforts for any other reason as i too have morals. Thank you for giving us a wonderful website by the way.
Sorry folks for not responding to comments sooner. I have been busy moving and hadn't been checking my Blog.
Brandon, I don't have any way of creating Ring Tones. Also, this was a blog of my own personal Christmas Albums and if you read the reasons for not posting anymore links anymore because I don't need any trouble from the DMCA folks who you can't even find out who they are so you can file a counter claim. Maybe I will post album information, when I get time, but I can't post any links because I don't want this blog to get cancelled but if I just post the information about the albums I have, that could be helpful to people looking for these albums. But again, I don't need any trouble from the DMCA people. If you have been following any Christmas Record blogs, you will find that they are no longer in existence because of the DMCA complaints. It's not worth risking fines and/or imprisonment. Even though the albums I have shared fall under the RIAA rules about Copyright Infringement for anything prior to February 1972. That enforcement is left up to the individual States.
Letter from Santa, I thank you and God Bless you too.
Babyhead, I have posted contact information under the "About Me" section of my Profile. If you email me, I will see if I can help you find this album.
Susan,
I agree wholeheartedly with your decision.
The first blow for me: I saw a street vendor in NYC selling a very professionally-made CD that I know was made from a special lounge blog comp that took a blogger a long time to compile -- I recognized the custom artwork (they'd stolen the artwork, too).
So, yes, there are "Takers" who take advantage of other people's good work.
Then, I downloaded an LP that turned out to be something I had uploaded for a PRIVATE music blog -- my initials were still in the "Genre" tag!
So, there will still be people who don't play by the rules, even at a Private music blog.
It's very disheartening, and it has made me less inclined to share neat music that I've located.
Another blogger told me that it's the "nature of the beast," but I just think it's awful.
If you should ever start again, here are some things other people have been doing:
--Put your blog address in the Genre tag of the mp3 where you would usually put the type of music. The lazy ones often overlook that when they re-upload other people's files.
--Put a .txt file in the album folder. The filename of the .txt file is the name of the music blog, and inside is: This LP is from [name of blog], etc.
--Password Protect all files -- The PW is the name of the blog that uploaded it. This stops people who have downloaded it from services like Filestube.com (they won't be able to open it).
--Don't use the name of the LP on the file folders, or as the description when you upload it. File search services like Filestube can't locate it if you disguise it.
--When someone uses your upload link, take it down, re-up it, and post the new link in the blog comments for that post with an explanation of what happened.
Even if the bandwith stealers come to the blog looking for the new link, many will have second thoughts after they've found they've been caught.
Those are some that I can remember off the top of my head, and if you're thinking that it seems to be too much to do when all you wanted to was share music with likeminded people, you're absolutely right.
And then how often has an LP been downloaded hundreds of times, but all you've gotten were a few Thank Yous?
The only alternative many music bloggers have found is to go private. If you ever decide to do that, send me an invite.
I say Thank You and I don't re-up other people's work.
Hi KL from NYc,
Thank you for your comment. I have tried to find a way to password protect the file atributes so if I were to put in the Meta Data for the MP3 that if you didn't receive this from my blog(and I would insert the name) than the person or place you received it from is not the original creator of the file, but I can't find a way to password protect them. You can make them "Read Only" so if someone went in using WinAmp and tried to change the information it wouldn't work, but then all they would have to do it change the file attribute and uncheck the "Hidden" box and then they could change the information using WinAmp. I have searched far and wide for a program to password protect the files so they couldn't be changed and then people would know who actually created the files and could give credit where credit is due instead of to someone else who had nothing to do with the creation of the share but taking the credit for it. I wouldn't give the password to anyone so they couldn't change it to upload it to another site and in doing so people who downloaded it would know it wasn't from the person who uploaded it to that site.
Or like with WMA files from some of the pay sites for files, you have to pay for the license or the song won't play being most media players check on the Internet automatically for the license to play the songs.
If I could come up with a way of copy protecting the shares I've done I might reconsider adding to this blog, but until that, I can't do much else for now.
Susan
Mr. Keep Calm,
I didn't allow your comment, the reason is I am not really doing anything with this blog anymore, and this was for Traditional Christmas Music from the 1950's and 1960's and the Christmas Standards from that era. I have nothing personal against your style of music, but tthe Contemporay Christmas music of today just doesn't have the same effect on people who truly appreciate the music from a different time period when the words were sung with feeling and from the heart. Today, most artists just sing the songs without emotion and they often stretch out the words using several syllables for a single syllable word instead of singing them they way they were intended to be sung.
Also, this isn't a blog for free advertising for someone elses site. Especially when my blog is basically dead so even if someone was to reciprocate and list mine on their site, it wouldn't do them any good being there is nothing to download.
Susan
There comes a time but once a year
A time to share our hopes and fears
A time to put all things aside
And share the love you keep inside
Let the affectation begin because it’s Christmas time…
Hi Susan:
I’ve just started a new blog on American Christmas songs and wanted to introduce myself. I’m an author and I’ve just finished a book on Christmas songs for the University Press of Florida (Fall 2013).
Right now I’m pretty ambitious, logging in three entries a week, though that will taper off after the beginning of the year (though I’ll maintain at least an entry a week). My twin focus revolves around American Christmas songs and cultural history.
I look forward to catching the new posts on Christmas Forever this season.
Happy Holidays!
Ronnie
Ronald D. Lankford, Jr.
www.americanchristmassongs.com
rdlankfordjr@live.com
Hello Ronnie,
Unfortunately, I haven't done much with my blog and not sure what I am going to do. I can't risk sharing anything because of he DMCA people and other people taking my shares and posting them on their own sites and taking credit for creating them. I have had a major tragic event in my life and haven't gotten over it and don't believe that I will ever fully get over it. I just occasionally post something like the recent passing of Andy Williams. But that is about it. I thank you for letting me know about your blog. Maybe sometime in the future, I will post some artwork and track listings for some other Christmas albums I have and some are rare, but there will not be any sharing, it will be just for informational purposes.
Susan,
I just really stumbled onto your blog while looking up information about the old Firestone Records collection. I have 2 sets of the records so I can make CDs for my family from them. I think we only had 2 while growing up, but they are all nice. I have had them for a few years now but have finally gotten around to completing them all onto CD. Cleaning up the audio is easy enough for me, but the artwork is the harder part. I don't just stitch the 4 (or more) scans together, I clean up the rub marks and discoloration etc. extensively. I want pristine mini LP covers when I print them. lol What I am making from these are mini LPs in tiny cardboard sleeves just like the albums themselves.
I finally got to the artwork last month so tonight I am copying the LPs to my Mac for further cleaning and then tracking and making of each CD. I am still deciding which way to present them onto a CD. I am considering reproductions of the original LP labels printed directly onto the discs (I haven't used labels since 2002?). But I am tempted to use my Verbatim Digital Vinyl CD-Rs to make truly neat looking mini LPs. I actually have sourced printable versions so I can print tiny LP labels onto them. lol A bit anal I know, but, they will be a neat presentation no matter which way I go.
Anyway, I share this with you because I don't want anything from you! Amazing, I know. But from what I have read it seems so many just want want want whatever you post and don't offer you much of anything in return for your trouble. I don't blog and I won't be posting my files (audio or artwork) anywhere online. If I post an image it will certainly have something printed on it which will destroy the chance of anyone else using it for much of anything but reference.
I'm sorry you haven't felt well enough to enjoy your own blog. But if I may offer you a chance to check out another site which may help you with what you do (or did do). There is a site out there that offers rare audio tracks from a famous British band once a week. They have it encoded in Flash (or something like it) so you can't access the actual file to download it, but can listen to it. So, you sorta can, if you know how, record it as you listen. But at one track a week, it's really a snail's pace of gathering tracks. lol So maybe you could consider something along those lines if you ever decided to try it again? Not giving the whole LP away is what I am getting at.
Volume 3 is done so I need to break out volume 4 and see which copy looks cleaner. BRB! lol I actually got 2 copies of each from eBay in which one set each had the inner paper sleeve! So mostly those albums are nearly pristine! I'd say that was rare.
OK, volume 4 is doing just fine.
Not sure if you mentioned this in your blog or not (going to go back and read it after I send this) but some people ask about these Firestone albums a lot. They want to know if they are on CD? Well, the answer is, Julie Andrews album IS on CD. The Julie Andrews Christmas Album conducted by André Previn IS the same recordings! They actually have 2 less tracks on the Firestone LPs. But, if you get volume 4 it has a couple songs from Julie which are not on her album. BONUS TRACKS! lol She does actually sing The Bells of Christmas on volume 4 & volume 5.
Well, I have gone on enough. I wish you a merry and happy Xmas. Thanks for the joy you've brought so many others - whether you got credit or not - you still achieved your goal.
Leo
Just listened to The Bells of Christmas - by Julie Andrews. The version on Volume 4 of Firestone Records Christmas Collection. Volume 5 is all Julie, but she sang 3 or 4 tracks here on volume 4. A totally different arrangement than what she released on volume 5! Nice to hear it differently. Glad it wasn't the same track. IN fact, volume 4 boasts : Featuring The Bells of Christmas" on the cover as does volume 5! lol
Hope you're enjoying your Christmas! -Leo
Anonymous the Firestone Series that looked like a Christmas Package wrapped with a red ribbon and bow, there were 7 Volumes in all. Volume 1 was only released in MONO and Volumes 2-6 were released in MONO and Stereo and Volume 7 was only released in Stereo, so there were actually there were 12 records. I have all 12 of them.
In later years, Firestone came out with a few other release, but the record companies also released them on their own, so the "Firestone" logo was on a sticker on the shrink wrap and not on the actual jacket. I can't remember all of the titles off the top of my head, but the original 7 Volume set was some of the best Compilation Albums of their time.
I have tried to clean up the artwork, but if the jacket it white, but there are dirty smudges on it, the color isn't pure white so I can't just use a specific shade of white because other parts are darker or lighter and would be noticeable. But I try to clean it up where possible.
Though I have had all 12 records of for years, I see them all the time in thrift stores, some are in bad shape and some aren't too bad. Good luck with your cleaning up the music and artwork.
Susan,
I am rather good with photoshop so cleaning these things up isn't too hard. Time consuming, but not really hard. lol As for the different colors/shades of white (or any other color) there are a couple tools you might try in Photoshop/Photoshop Elements. It's called Healing Brush. It's the best tool ever! Basically what it offers is the chance to pick a spot on your image that's clean or nearly perfect/perfect and "sample it", then you take your brush and paint on spots that aren't so great and it's the exact texture, color and all because you are painting a portion of the image you have. Not too hard to learn. There are two ways to use it, one is to replace the image the other is called normal which sorta blends the image which works well with really off-toned images.
Another thing to try is to use Replace Color under the adjustments section in PS. I have use this in many versions of PS so it's going to be there. Anyway, what that does is allows you to adjust the any color by first sampling the image, then changing the lightness, saturation or hue. You also get to change how much of the similar colors get effected by this change with a slider. Works great when getting the red (or off white) to be the color tone yo prefer. For example, you can take the yellowed white areas and brighten them up and make them white without changing the rest of the image. It's one of the easiest tools in PS to use.
I don't know many other programs but they probably all have similar toolsets to compete. lol
Well, my albums are coming out nicely so far. Should make for a nice present. I hope you have a Happy Xmas!
Be well!
The hard part, is if you are trying to whiten the area where there is lettering. In normal size, the letter looks like it is solid black, but when you zoom in, it is multiple shades, and then when you try and whiten around the letters, the letters get messed up. But I have gotten in as close as I am able to and unless you look closely, it doesn't look too bad, but the letters do have more yellowing around them than the corrected white as if it was just opened and hadn't had a chance to yellow or get dirty.
Susan, I know what you are talking about, but like I said, they use a slider which allows you to determine how much of a given "sampled" color gets effected. So you can pick one tone of white and only effect it from 1-200, then choose a new sample of white tone and change that. When you are done, you can then sample the letter color (say black) and you can change any off black tones.
There are other methods you can use in Photoshop as well which help. For one you can use layers so you can select the letters and make a new layer from them so no matter what you do to the layer under them, they don't get touched at all. Layers are unlimited, so you could use a different layer for each letter.
I wish I could post some of my work here so you could see it. Even the worst covers only took a few hours tops. It's really a matter of using the right tools for what you want to accomplish without altering other things beyond being able to restore them. lol For instance I just restored 3 covers the last couple days and I had to fix lettering which had been rubbed to begin showing white. If you find the same letter elsewhere, then you can use a healing brush to copy the good letter over the worn letter. If not, then you can still use the healing brush to sample elsewhere from another letter to grab the same color/texture etc. and fill in the worn out letter.
Some techniques are more time-consuming than others, but there is usually a perfect took for every situation you may encounter. Removing cat hairs are easy too! lol Just use some shears! ;-)
I have actually been able to copy an paste a letter or two that was in better condition on a space where I had to correct the color around it.
I just have to make sure I don't select too much of the surrounding area of the letter and then I have to make sure that I line it up as close as possible.
There have also been sections where I would take a large section of the color as long as there wasn't any typing or logo or anything and would copy and paste that too. I usually scan at 300 DPI but that makes an album cover over 1MB in size as a JPG.
So if I was to scan at a much higher DPI, it would be a lot easier for editing, but the file cover would be several MB in size so 300 DPI seems to work OK for me so it someone wants to read the finer print, they can zoom in and it will be clear enough to read but if I did the scans at 100 DPI, all the zooming in would do is blur the image.
I'm sure there are other editing programs out there I could try, but what I have used so far works fairly well.
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