Friday, January 15, 2010

nothinbutblue's YouTube Channel

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to put in my two cents on a situation involving a YouTube aquaintance of mine who goes by the user name "nothinbutblue".

If you're a big Lizzy/Lynott fan, and if you already have been reading my blog, you probably have some recollection of who he is. This user shared a few dozen EXTREMELY RARE Lizzy and Lynott tracks the last few months, including nearly all of the 1984/85 demos known to exist. Some were only snippets, (and I understand why that is) but even still, his efforts to make these tracks available to be heard by the public is very commendable. It's sad to think that some people (assholes) refuse to share these tracks because either:

A) These assholes are making money from them...or

B) These assholes are holding out (in vain) to get complete versions of certain other tracks from other equally idiotic assholes that 99.999% of all Lizzy collectors don't have yet. (Do you get why some of those were only snippets now?)

Of course, after about a month or so, a few certain people caught wind of what 'nothinbutblue' had done and decided to use the same tactics that once been used on me and successfully got him to remove all the tracks from YouTube.

I need to make a few points about this.

First off, I had spoken to 'nothinbutblue' before he posted anything on his channel. I'm not going to divulge what exactly was said as it's not right for me to just publish the contents of that message (although I have no problem doing so on my end), but I will say that he praised what I had done in posting other rare tracks and said that it was 'the right thing to do'. I feel the public needs to know this, and that 'nothinbutblue' isn't just jerking people around because he can. He just understands (as do I) the other factors you have to deal with when you post rare stuff on the internet. He took the tracks off YouTube because he felt it was the right thing for him to do. Understandable. I felt the right thing to do was to leave them up and weather the storm, risk alienation from 'the big boys' and become a pariah among other collectors of this material. Fine.

'nothinbutblue' did upload a new track late last night, and when asked about the other tracks, suggested that he would post material that would cause "less consternation". What?!

Basically, I understand the decision, but I don't agree with this mentality.

First, if it's the right thing to do (his words), then why is it okay to quit when a few people give you crap?

Also, with regards to these people who are causing consternation, do they really think people didn't make copies of the tracks from YouTube? I mean it's too late once they are up there. I can make a copy of any track I want from YouTube in the time it takes for the song to play through. It's not rocket science. It's called "audacity".

What happens if I were to take these tracks and post them on my YouTube channel? Are these people going to come after me? If they do, they aren't going to win. I won't give two shits about "their consternation". The only reason I haven't is that it puts "nothinbutblue" in a bad position.

Then again, he should of known this was coming. I'm sure he knew what I went through, and I warned him it would happen. Since I knew this, I took the liberty of copying every track he uploaded. I know others that did too. It's common sense if you're a big fan really; it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. My only problem is that it would of been better to post them as lossless someplace else to maintain highest possible quality. People are going to get them either way, so they might as well let certain people preserve them that way. Now all we have are high-quality lossy copies, and given this "consternation", I don't expect any to be reposted in better quality anytime soon.

Lastly, I wish some of these people who are upset about 'nothinbutblue''s work would crawl out of the shadows and identify themselves, rather than being the cowardly bitches that they are. Then again, if it's the same people who came after me, then it's no surprise.

2 comments:

  1. I also enjoyed the youtube clips posted by nothinbutblue. And also the ones you have posted, Ryan :) I guess that I would never get to hear these tracks if it wasn't for you guys. I also used Audacity to record the tracks but I would prefer proper lossless version so that future Lizzy/Lynott fans can get the chance to enjoy these tracks in the best possible quality.

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  2. Yeah, I agree 100% Soapman, but I wouldn't hold your breath...

    The real irony is that once upon a time, certain individuals bitched at me for posting tracks (even when most were lossless) because they feared distributing them would dilute the quality. I approached 'nothinbutblue' about possibly getting lossless copies of these so they could be posted in best possibly quality (knowing full well they would be posted at YT too, and people would make copies) and he turned me down. Well, now all we have are lossy copies and no alternative.

    But you can bet your ass that if I repost them or release them anywhere else, I'll get bitched at for spreading lossy copies of the tracks, despite the fact I tried to avoid it at all costs. It's those types of things that have sort of erked me the last couple years.

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