PrettyPartyFav0r

I am insane this album cycle because for the first time I have disposable income. I've preordered all the vinyl variants besides the standard. When the Spotify Exclusive LP sold out on the US site I asked a British family friend if one of his family members could provide a shipping address within the UK. His brother said yes and he'll ship the vinyl to me in the US when it arrives. 
 
It's all very conflicting because while it brings me joy, the environmental impact of vinyl production and general consumerism makes me sad. I hate how capitalistic the music industry is. I rarely buy things that are non-essentials, don't drive a car, don't own many clothes either (I have 3 pairs of jeans for pants), etc. I like to think it balances out. Still very privileged of me, I know.

I am insane this album cycle because for the first time I have disposable income. I've preordered all the vinyl variants besides the standard. When the Spotify Exclusive LP sold out on the US site I asked a British family friend if one of his family members could provide a shipping address within the UK. His brother said yes and he'll ship the vinyl to me in the US when it arrives. 
 
It's all very conflicting because while it brings me joy, the environmental impact of vinyl production and general consumerism makes me sad. I hate how capitalistic the music industry is. I rarely buy things that are non-essentials, don't drive a car, don't own many clothes either (I have 3 pairs of jeans for pants), etc. I like to think it balances out. Still very privileged of me, I know.

I am insane this album cycle because for the first time I have disposable income. I've preordered all the vinyl variants besides the standard. When the Spotify Exclusive LP sold out on the US site I asked a British family friend if one of his family members could provide a shipping address within the UK. His brother said yes and he'll ship the vinyl to me in the US when it arrives. 
 
It's all very conflicting because while it brings me joy, the environmental impact of vinyl production and general consumerism makes me sad. I hate how capitalistic the music industry is. I rarely buy things that are non-essentials, don't drive a car, don't own many clothes either (I have 3 pairs of jeans for pants), etc. I like to think it balances out. Still very privileged of me, I know.

I am insane this album cycle because for the first time I have disposable income. I've preordered all the vinyl variants besides the standard. When the Spotify Exclusive LP sold out on the US site I asked a British family friend if one of his family members could provide a shipping address within the UK. His brother said yes and he'll ship the vinyl to me in the US when it arrives. 
 
It's all very conflicting because while it brings me joy, the environmental impact of vinyl production and general consumerism makes me sad. I hate how capitalistic the music industry is. I rarely buy things that are non-essentials, don't drive a car, don't own many clothes either (I have 3 pairs of jeans for pants), etc. I like to think it balances out. Still very privileged of me, I know.

I am insane this album cycle because for the first time I have disposable income. I've preordered all the vinyl variants besides the standard. When the Spotify Exclusive LP sold out on the US site I asked a British family friend if one of his family members could provide a shipping address within the UK. His brother said yes and he'll ship the vinyl to me in the US when it arrives. 
 
It's all very conflicting because while it brings me joy, the environmental impact of vinyl production and general consumerism makes me sad. I hate how capitalistic the music industry is. I rarely buy things that are non-essentials, don't drive a car, don't own many clothes either (I have 3 pairs of jeans for pants), etc. I like to think it balances out. Still very privileged of me, I know.

I am insane this album cycle because for the first time I have disposable income. I've preordered all the vinyl variants besides the standard. When the Spotify Exclusive LP sold out on the US site I asked a British family friend if one of his family members could provide a shipping address within the UK. His brother said yes and he'll ship the vinyl to me in the US when it arrives. 
 
It's all very conflicting because while it brings me joy, the environmental impact of vinyl production and general consumerism makes me sad. I hate how capitalistic the music industry is. I rarely buy things that are non-essentials, don't drive a car, don't own many clothes either (I have 3 pairs of jeans for pants), etc. I like to think it balances out. Still very privileged of me, I know.

I think her decision to combine BLM protests with her personal history may just be perceived as such, too, even though I believe that's what artists do essentially but I get it

I think this is precisely @taco truck’s issue with the song though. Which is valid imo.

Ok if you think Lana does no wrong and is perfect you’re not going to agree at all so there is not point arguing.  However if you are critical thinker this is why I think that lyric is very tone-deaf and just bad lol. Basically after QFTC, “I’ve had lots of rapper boyfriends”, and her posting videos of her at a riot while showing peoples faces (which could get them arrested) it just feels ignorant. Her using it to create imagery in her song as a white woman about her relationship to a COP is just weird and wrong. I get it she was mostly just using it to set the time period and stuff like that but it just feels icky and totally takes me out of the song.

What is this bs? Slow death to all of them.

I haven't seen any Swifties on Twitter losing their shit over this crowdfunding situation and I'm surprised. When Midnights leaked they were all giving lectures about how listening to the leaked songs would break Taylor's heart. I guess it's being kept under wraps well enough?! It's pretty available if you look for even 5 minutes though. $3,000 is the quote for All the Girls, correct? I hang out on the Gaylor side of the community on Twitter so I likely wouldn't be exposed to that type of self-righteous Swiftie anyways. 

no

No. He never paid anyone back for the money he stole.
This guy is the Donald Trump of Lanaboards.

 

His profile omg! I'm cackling!
 
"About Me: I fucked up
Member Title: Fraudster
Interests: Scamming people
Favourite LDR Song: I'm indebted to you"
 
 
@@evilentity doing god's work!

I haven't seen any Swifties on Twitter losing their shit over this crowdfunding situation and I'm surprised. When Midnights leaked they were all giving lectures about how listening to the leaked songs would break Taylor's heart. I guess it's being kept under wraps well enough?! It's pretty available if you look for even 5 minutes though. $3,000 is the quote for All the Girls, correct? I hang out on the Gaylor side of the community on Twitter so I likely wouldn't be exposed to that type of self-righteous Swiftie anyways. 

I almost never post here these days, but I have to say that I cannot believe this petulant child has the audacity to come here and act so flippant - and adversarial towards a mod - after stealing and spending nearly 9,000 dollars. I think it's especially reprehensible considering how young some of the people who had their money stolen are.
 
I think if you were truly determined to pay people back, you'd stop spending money foolishly and work to earn back the 6,000 pounds. I don't know what the statute of limitations in this particular situation is, but I'd advise people here to not fall for this lip service and apology tour. If you want your money back, you need to take this to the authorities. This isn't a petite theft situation...it's 9,000 dollars scammed from children and young adults.

I've seen users here get banned for much less than what this asshole did.

Hold up how do you know this
 
And omfg I can’t believe I read all this ksksiksksks

JFC. I strongly encourage anyone scammed by @ to report him to the police, particularly if you live in the UK. I pray to Baphomet that the statute of limitations hasn't passed.

Damn. I found this thread almost a year later. Lana fans not on Lana Boards are losers and deserve nothing good in the world. I felt this way before and even more now. My truth is that gatekeeping is completely valid. If you haven't spent hours downloading & obsessing over unreleased tracks and organizing them by recording dates, or spent sleepless nights considering the enigma that was Lizzy Grant, or shared Google Docs/Spreadsheets about the lore, or know about u/Hotsummerlilac, etc. you don't deserve rights! 
 
I'm totally joking...
I'm editing to add that I know I sound insane and toxic and I'm really not.  I'm parodying myself as if I were a completely rabid fan, à la Swiftie Twitter user. The only part I'm serious about is that Lana fans who are not on Lana Boards are losers but that's sometimes. Not all the time. And that I believe in gatekeeping.

The amount of money put into this project converts to nearly 7.5k in USD.

You know what I would give to have had even a small fraction of that $7.5k when my cat was dying of cancer and I was barely scraping up enough money just to afford consultation appointments to find out what was wrong with her so I could have ended her suffering sooner?
 
You know what I would give to have had a fraction of that money just to have helped family members of mine afford treatments to help ease their agony and get them comfortable while they endured terminal illness?
 
And yet I have to see someone use that much money (that wasn't even theirs to use to begin with,) to pay off a Mac computer and a Netflix subscription, among other luxuries, and chalk up such irresponsible financial decisions as "essential to human existence." I think everyone continued to lead quality lives just fine without DVDs being shipped to their houses in 1998 and their favorite shows being streamed directly to their devices since 2007.
 
I thought the case of Ethan Couch would have been the first and last time I had to hear about the poppycock diagnosis of "affluenza"; clearly it is contagious and exists in various strains.
 
You know what I did when my Spotify Premium subscription was up and I couldn't afford to pay another month? I didn't renew it.
 
You know what I did when my PlayStation Plus subscription was up and I couldn't afford to pay for another month? I didn't renew it.
 
You know what I did when I quit my job in November under the false pretense that I had another job lined up, and couldn't afford Christmas gifts because I was unemployed? I didn't spend money I didn't have, and I told everyone not to worry about me for Christmas.

I especially did not use money given by people, who were customers expecting a product to be developed and distributed to them as promised, to pay off debts I racked up under my own accord.

As someone who suffers from depression, anxiety, and OCD, that open letter was absolutely cringeworthy to read, because I saw more investment in elaborate and outrageous excuses to justify irresponsibility, practically begging readers to say "Oh, I TOTALLY get that," than I saw investment in assuming full responsibility and remorse for letting one's personal issues cloud their judgment.

As the son of a business owner, and as a partner of a creative business, that open letter was absolutely cringeworthy to read, because under zero circumstances do you touch a single red cent of your customers' monies before you provide them absolutely 100% of your services. You do not touch a single red cent of your customers' monies before you provide them the quality product they paid for.

Putting the copyright legalities of the lyrics alone aside, as far as the use of pictures go, that money could have been used to pay artists to replicate photos or even contribute their own art for the project. I can already tag a handful of members on this forum who are talented and aspiring artists/graphic designers, and would have loved to contribute to this project for a small fee, or even for free, had they been asked or offered the opportunity.

He says he intends to refund everyone, but I have to chuckle at the advertising of snapbacks, as though his reputation as a seller has not been compromised in the slightest, and anyone who already lost money investing in the book, would be inclined to confidently put another dime into his business. Bite the bullet, try harder to find work, and actually earn the money that is going to be used to pay everyone back.

Even then, let's say that he gets a job where he is paid $9/hr. or better, and intends to put $200 aside out of each paycheck to pay off the debt his shenanigans caused him. If he is paid bi-weekly, he is only seeing a paycheck 26/52 weeks a year, which means that it would take him at least a year just to pay off $5.2k of what he owes everyone, adding on another 11.5 weeks to pay off the remaining $2.3k or so, if I am doing my math right.

With that kind of time-frame, I'd love to see how well he commits to this lofty attempt at redemption and compensation, as nice as the ideal sounds when you are looking at it through rose-colored glasses. It sounds like there is an overwhelming amount of customers to keep track of, and I'd be concerned that, eventually, he would lose track, and either forget people, or accidentally give people double or triple the amount they are owed.

I certainly hope he figures it out as soon as he puts his life, his values and his priorities in perspective, and I certainly hope everyone who invested in this failed project gets their money back, one way or another; and if the above theory is the most likely approach to each customer seeing their refund, they start thinking about if they are willing to wait that long, or intend to take other measures to get the refund they deserve. PayPal only handles claims within 180 days of the transaction so I wouldn't expect them to willingly rush to everyone's aid.

I also hope that the moderators have been considering how to possibly handle future situations like this, should another member attempt to use their fellow peers and their love for an artist to gain profit, and fail to carry out their obligation as a vendor/seller with the utmost integrity and consideration; and so it is not misunderstood (as I love and respect each of the mods here,) I am not saying "I hope" as a passive-aggressive jab. I am saying it as a genuine inquiry because as a fellow member here, the integrity of our community is just as important to me as I know it is to everyone else, no matter who was involved in this.

Underneath the layers of excuses and awkward attempts to persuade everyone into pity and understanding, this was still a scam like any other. Regardless of whether or not anyone involved could have used better judgment than to invest in a product, that didn't even at least make it past the prototype phase, friends and peers were manipulated by a member of our community, with whom they had entrusted a monetary investment. It is just as much of a display of poor character as it is when members here spread false rumors of unreleased music to garner attention, and not for the sake of a laugh or to make a point. We've had good members who have been banned for less and never got to explain themselves.

Good luck, guys.

tl;dr

#FirstWorldProblems
 
No, no, no. When you owe people money, you don't leave a shitty job unless and until you find another one.
 
Stop. Talking. You're making it so much worse.
The money you got was to produce the product and fulfill your obligations. AFTER doing that and ONLY THEN should you have spent any of the money on personal expenses.
 
It's really not. I don't have Netflix or cable or anything even though I could easily afford it. It's definitely not essential when you can't. Especially when you owe people money. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices in life, and this hardly even qualifies.
 
As you should. Tons of other people have lost money on your book too. Boo hoo.

As touching as your little family story is, unless it's a matter of life or death, it's just wrong to spend other people's money like that.
 
Yup.
 
As harsh as my tone may sound, I do understand what it's like to make dumb financial mistakes when you're young and the shame that goes with it. (I racked up so many parking tickets in college I got my car towed twice and wasted over a thousand dollars.) But you need to take ownership of them and the consequences. And hopefully learn from them.
 
Make it stop. You're gonna wear out your shovel on this hole you keep digging.
 
IT WASN'T YOUR MONEY TO SPEND ON GIFTS FOR PEOPLE.
 
IT WAS YOUR CHOICE TO QUIT YOUR JOB.
 
While I normally wouldn't recommend quitting school, this is the first faint hint of responsibility in your whole spiel.
 
Ummm...  
 
I (thankfully) didn't buy a book, and this should be up to the people who did, but if it were up to me, I think you should cut all expenses possible and just work your ass off to pay everyone back as soon as fucking possible. (I mean, even reprinting the lyrics might get you into trouble with copyright.) Chalk this up to a hard-earned life lesson. And then afterwards hopefully go back to school as soon as you're ready and able.

#EvilFinancialTips

On Facebook his job title is "self-employed" 
LMAO with all the money he STOLE 

Damn. I found this thread almost a year later. Lana fans not on Lana Boards are losers and deserve nothing good in the world. I felt this way before and even more now. My truth is that gatekeeping is completely valid. If you haven't spent hours downloading & obsessing over unreleased tracks and organizing them by recording dates, or spent sleepless nights considering the enigma that was Lizzy Grant, or shared Google Docs/Spreadsheets about the lore, or know about u/Hotsummerlilac, etc. you don't deserve rights! 
 
I'm totally joking...
I'm editing to add that I know I sound insane and toxic and I'm really not.  I'm parodying myself as if I were a completely rabid fan, à la Swiftie Twitter user. The only part I'm serious about is that Lana fans who are not on Lana Boards are losers but that's sometimes. Not all the time. And that I believe in gatekeeping.