Vinyl Me Please (store, exclusives, swaps, etc)

Kyuuji said:
How much profit has VMP made in part from black culture and black artists?

I'd imagine not an insignificant amount. Expecting a statement isn't some out there thing considering what's going on. I'll message them asking whether they're planning to release a statement and/or donation to related causes.
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They're an almost entirely white company that has streams dedicated entirely to RHH and jazz/soul/blues. Im with @Teeeee, if you are willing to use their art to turn a profit you have a moral imperitive to, at the very least, address the situation.
 
Rahawk2 said:
Well I sure hope they don’t take the side of the looters and terrorist that are burning my city down.
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As opposed to the side ramming protestors with vehicles, bursting the eyeballs of civilians and journalists with rubber rounds to the face, shooting at people in their homes & on their porches and macing children? You know, the people actually employing the tactics of terrorists against unarmed crowds.

They should absolutely put out a statement denouncing police brutality and in support of the black community. Especially when they’re content to lean on black culture and pay ‘honour’ to it through sales in their store.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
At the same time, these statements from brands are almost entirely shifting-with-the-wind PR and utterly devoid of meaning. Do we really need to hear some platitudes from the dude who said if it doesn't make him money, he doesn't want it?
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I see where people are coming from that want a statement, but I'm with you 100%. Corporate PR is bullshit in the best of times. In times like these, it is hard to see it as more genuine than any of their workshopped marketing PR, which makes it meaningless to me.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
At the same time, these statements from brands are almost entirely shifting-with-the-wind PR and utterly devoid of meaning. Do we really need to hear some platitudes from the dude who said if it doesn't make him money, he doesn't want it?
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I hear that, and don't disagree.

But I think we are past that now. I think we're in a full blown revolution now. And now is the time to show a united front. To speak out that what is happening to black people is not ok.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
At the same time, these statements from brands are almost entirely shifting-with-the-wind PR and utterly devoid of meaning. Do we really need to hear some platitudes from the dude who said if it doesn't make him money, he doesn't want it?
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Which is why I’d personally rather continue to see donations toward causes instead of just images or words and asked as much in my message. If you’re profiting from black culture you can absolutely afford to donate to the black community in a time of crisis.
 
Joe Mac said:
They're an almost entirely white company that has streams dedicated entirely to RHH and jazz/soul/blues. Im with @Teeeee, if you are willing to use their art to turn a profit you have a moral imperitive to, at the very least, address the situation.
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It could really just go without saying that racism and murdering unarmed people is wrong, but maybe they’ll put it in writing for you guys. I just automatically assume most people think that stuff is wrong and don’t need my inbox cluttered with every company’s official response .
 
Kyuuji said:
Which is why I’d personally rather continue to see donations toward causes instead of just images or words and asked as much in my message. If you’re profiting from black culture you can absolutely afford to donate to it in a time of crisis.
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"For every RHH track that we have - we will donate $5 towards the NAACP"

"Send us your donation receipts and we'll match them up to $250,000"

(But then I just giggled to myself imagining them trying to figure that out with their "new and improved" system)

"We believe that Black Lives Matter. We also believe that now is the time for action. Any purchases from the store this week will be matched by a donation to the [insert appropriate cause here]"

Please note: I do not know if those $ amounts are reasonable or what. It was just an example.
 
Rahawk2 said:
It could really just go without saying that racism and murdering unarmed people is wrong, but maybe they’ll put it in writing for you guys. I just automatically assume most people think that stuff is wrong and don’t need my inbox cluttered with every company’s official response .
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Not empty platitudes but a genuine empathy towards the fact that black art has touched their lives and inspired them and that’s why they have their RHH and classics streams and that they consider the community to have been subject to institutional prejudice and that that they intend to stand alongside them by supporting their cause and their political pressure groups in a way such as that @Teeeee mentioned.

I don’t think they’re capable of it, but that’s what I’d like to think I’d do in the situation.
 
Kyuuji said:
As opposed to the side ramming protestors with vehicles, bursting the eyeballs of civilians and journalists with rubber rounds to the face, shooting at people in their homes & on their porches and macing children? You know, the people actually employing the tactics of terrorists against unarmed crowds.

They should absolutely put out a statement denouncing police brutality and in support of the black community. Especially when they’re content to lean on black culture and pay ‘honour’ to it through sales in their store.
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From what I’m seeing it’s mostly white kids that are coming in and doing most of the damage. They ride in from the burbs just looking to be part of the action and come in fuck up neighborhoods they have no business being in and slink back off to the safety of the burbs leaving us here to clean up the mess. How is breaking the windows of a black owned barber or looting a drug store going to help with police brutality.
 
Teeeee said:
Thanks Nathan. I hope you don't get even more slack for wading into this though.

I do think their silence is disgusting. I am not sure about the empathy. But I think it shows they are more worried about what Matt F. says about making money - if it doesn't, he doesn't want to do it. I would like them to prove me wrong and do something. They have thousands of members. They are an influencer in this industry. They need to speak up.

Every single person and entity needs to stand together against this. Silence = complacency.
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Mmmmmm they do have thousands of members and really should speak up on the issue! Like you said, they are an influencer in this industry! They need to be courageous and make a statement!

And yes I agree, we should all stand together against this. Now is the time as like you just said, it’s like a revolution! The stand and push from everyone needs to happen! If I was in the U.S. I think I would actually be on the streets showing my support for the black community. I can’t say for sure but I feel like I would be showing my support in person there!
 
Rahawk2 said:
From what I’m seeing it’s mostly white kids that are coming in and doing most of the damage. They ride in from the burbs just looking to be part of the action and come in fuck up neighborhoods they have no business being in and slink back off to the safety of the burbs leaving us here to clean up the mess. How is breaking the windows of a black owned barber or looting a drug store going to help with police brutality.
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So why the aversion to VMP putting out a statement or making a donation then. If it’s just white people attempting to obscure a valid message around police brutality and murder what’s the issue in VMP showing support to the black community and their grievances and pain?
 
NathanRicaud said:
So what would it look like, in a statement/written form, if VMP took if they were to take the side of the looters and terrorists? 🤔
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“Here’s a list of top 10 albums to Loot to!” And it would be all VMP albums they can’t sell. Or maybe “Come loot our sale section!” And it just has the Joey Dosik album in it....
 
Can't really toot your own horn in uncovering a lost album by a group that called themselves The Nat Turner Rebellion without putting a bit of that money where your mouth is, IMO.

It's not just that VMP profits off of black artists, it's that the art itself is revolutionary. Archie Shepp...Wells Fargo...Ayalew Mesfin...if you're going to amplify messages about thwarting oppression, you'd better be ready to take some hits if you don't actually help to thwart oppression.
 
Joe Mac said:
Not empty platitudes but a genuine empathy towards the fact that black art has touched their lives and inspired them and that’s why they have their RHH and classics streams and that they consider the community to have been subject to institutional prejudice and that that they intend to stand alongside them by supporting their cause and their political pressure groups in a way such as that @Teeeee mentioned.

I don’t think they’re capable of it, but that’s what I’d like to think I’d do in the situation.
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I hope you guys get what you’re looking for, Just be prepared if they let their one black writer they have write it will probably not make any sense. His ramblings are usually pretty incoherent.
 
Rahawk2 said:
From what I’m seeing it’s mostly white kids that are coming in and doing most of the damage. They ride in from the burbs just looking to be part of the action and come in fuck up neighborhoods they have no business being in and slink back off to the safety of the burbs leaving us here to clean up the mess. How is breaking the windows of a black owned barber or looting a drug store going to help with police brutality.
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There has also been a lot of issues, it seems, with anarchists and other groups infiltrating these protests and then burning and looting to push their own causes. They aren’t there to protest the atrocities of what’s happening to black Americans every day.
 
VMP definitely should publish at least a statement showing support for the black community. It's about showing protest against police brutality and racism.
I agree it's very weird they haven't done so already.
 
Kyuuji said:
So why the aversion to VMP putting out a statement or making a donation then. If it’s just white people attempting to obscure a valid message around police brutality and murder what’s the issue in VMP showing support to the black community and their grievances and pain?
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I have no aversion to them making a statement or donation, hell I hope they donate to helping rebuild the cities these looters are destroying . Especially since I live in the middle of one of them.
 
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