http://richardsinclairsongs.bandcamp.com/music" rel="nofollow - http://richardsinclairsongs.bandcamp.com/music

It's one thing to offer a subscription program on Bandcamp and then flood your page with bottom-of-the-barrel junk ranging from terrible quality live recordings, playback sessions and decades-old interviews, but then his page also charges money for content created by other people - presumably without their knowledge or consent - be it covers of songs from bands he was in (regardless of whether he actually wrote or even played on those songs), songs containing samples of music he played on, and even entire audio tracks ripped from YouTubers reviewing Caravan or Hatfield albums. There's already a question to be asked about whether it's good conduct to be the only member of a band to profit off of recordings made by that band, but to try and make a quick buck off of music of which he had no involvement at all in its production, made by completely different people playing songs he didn't write is just disgraceful in my opinion. For the sake of his own reputation I really hope this page is operated by some manager type person and not by Mr. Sinclair himself.

It is interesting that in the prog community (whatever that means), a debate developed for and against those releases. Personally, I'm on Mr. Richard Sinclair's side. I think that he is morally justified in releasing all those bootlegs. He also has legal standing under Italian law because Mr. Sinclair is settled in Italy, and these are now Italian editions; legally speaking, he is doing nothing wrong.

Also, it begs the question: why should it be net-label pocket money if any of that work would eventually be released on a net label when Mr. Sinclair could independently release it all on Bandcamp and receive a portion of the proceeds?

Regarding the quality, anyone can assess whether the album lives up to their audiophile criteria by listening to the full release on the Bandcamp page. Ultimately, in the liner notes, Mr. Sinclair himself frequently cautions about the recording's poor quality, stating that it is only recommended for enthusiasts, or highlights the sound quality on certain recordings; for instance, this recording from 1974 has rather good sound quality:

you are a cisgender heterosexual

Hey Mirakaze.  Yes you're right, Richard's BandCamp page was not created by him, it was created by me, Robert Carlberg, a "manager type person" -- with Richard's consent.  He is still limited to an iPhone due to there being no internet connection in his home in Martina Franca, Italy, so he's not as involved as I wish he was.

I take your suggestions seriously and with consideration, my friend.  It's true I've put up a lot of content where Richard does not play, and I've been a little nervous about that. In most cases I've gotten the permission of the people responsible, but even when I haven't been able to, nobody has complained (yet). I do try to provide links to the original content creator, and to places where readers can buy the content if it's for sale. YouTube content is offered online for free anyway.  Richard did ask specifically that I not post Hatfield, Caravan or Camel original recordings because they're still on the market.

Most other stuff, like all the Voiceprint and HTD and similar CDs are out of print now, and/or the record companies are out of business, and royalties paid to Richard have dropped to zero.  It is his feeling that if it's something he's created, and the company he contracted with to sell it is no more, then the rights to sell it revert back to him. Are any of these companies going to hire lawyers to contest the €20 or 30 he's made?  They haven't yet.

And then there's bootlegs.  Nobody from a band bootlegged make a farthing, so they're fair game. I have been busy finding the best versions online (which as you note, usually aren't very good) then cutting them into tracks, EQing and normalizing and removing noise and glitches, and then putting up the best version I can offer. It's better that Richard derives an income from his life's work than some yahoo who sells a miserable sounding dub of a dub of a dub, full of misinformation and wrong titles (which happens a lot).

I've put up the interviews I've found on YT as free downloads, because they're informational, not entertainment. I suspect most people would listen ONCE for free online, and not bother downloading it. By the way, the ratio of PLAYS to PURCHASES hovers right around 100:1 for everything, so Richard's page is more of a library than a bookstore. Most of the cover versions I've put up for a single Euro, because I don't want to be in the position of giving away somebody else's hard work... but at the same time these people are offering the videos free on YouTube or SoundCloud without paying any licensing fee to the composer. Downloads of these are essentially zero, naturally, since they're "informational". But I like highlighting the wonderful creativity of Richard's many young fans all across the globe.

I've contacted musicians and friends Richard has recommended, to try to get them to share memories and tapes.  Mostly everybody has been very eager.

Former bandmembers not sharing in the revenue? Dave is the only living bandmate from Hatfield, and he's given his consent.  I haven't heard from Pye one way or the other, but I've been careful to respect his copyrights. Andy Ward and Andy Latimer are all in.

My goal has been to tell the story of Richard's career, from 1963 to present. He's been involved in a lot of bands, a lot of musicians have covered his songs, and he's played a lot of "guest appearances." He is "the voice of Canterbury" so I figure his BC page should be sort of a Canterbury Scene cheering section. I can picture a listener spending an afternoon (or two...) browsing the vast Canterbury legacy documented there, good, bad, weird and otherwise. By reading his words and watching his interviews and listening to his music, you can get a pretty good feel for Richard himself, who is a singular presence.

Is a lot of it "bottom-of-the-barrel"?  Yes it is!  Richard has "boxes and boxes" of unreleased tapes (hopefully not moldy yet) but without any way to digitize them and send to me, I'm operating all on my own with what I can find online, what his friends will send me, and what he himself sent me 30 years ago. I'm trying to pave the way for the day, hopefully soon(?), when Richard can start sending me new files to post.  He's promised 2024 is the year he gets organized.

Another word in my defense. If you've ever talked to Rich in person or on a videocall (which he LOVES) you know that he is a whirlwind, a kaleidoscope of activity. His mind leaps from puns to anecdotes to singing lyrics to whimsy to serious, all in one sentence. To some extent, the BandCamp I've created for him reflects his personality, intentionally.

So honestly, I value your advice. Should I drop the price to $0 on everything where he does not play?  Is $10 too much for albums/concerts where he DOES play? Should I drop the interviews, or the cover versions, or the tracks where Richard is merely a paid sideman?

I get precious little direction from Richard.  I'm not even sure how much of the site he's seen. I know he's getting contacted by fans and musicians from all over the world, and he's made €3000 from 33,000 listeners over 238 albums. He's just happy to see his music getting out in the world again.

The details are up to us.

No apology req'd.  In fact I'm happy for ANY feedback, TBH.

If you have any suggestions... or ideas... or tapes... or photos...

For instance. When I first started the thing I was putting everything in strict chronological order--it was logical and easy.  However as the count rose to a hundred albums it became clear, from the daily stats of what people looked at, that stuff at the top of the page got the lion's share of views.  So I started putting new stuff--regardless of recording date--at the top of the page.  The result is a horrible mish-mash of new & old all mixed together.  I'm not happy with it, but can't figure out what to do about it.

Maybe after a month at the top, stuff should be shuffled down into chrono order.  I dunno, what do you think?

Also, one of the advantages of BandCamp is that you can go in and change anything at anytime.  I've had several bootlegs where a better copy turns up later -- should I move it to the top of the page?  Leave it in the middle? I've used descriptors like "remastered" or "new master" to try to let folks know...

but again, no clear best answer.

Former bandmembers not sharing in the revenue? Dave is the only living bandmate from Hatfield, and he's given his consent.

I stand corrected.  The esteemed Mr Stewart himself has let me know he does NOT give his consent, and asked me to correct my post from 13½ months ago.

We are still going back and forth about what rights he has as a performer on an uncopyrighted audience recording.

The only sad thing about it all is that due to some ideas about the commercial viability (or ownership) of a kitchen frying pan, a lot of folks do one of the saddest things about the actual music ... hide it and not show it to anyone ... and then who is to gain? The mice?

I do think that good manners and appreciation for the music, would be more important, and even if your take (or anyone else's) is way too small, it is likely to be more than having it hidden and not shown anywhere, No?

It's just sad that in my older days, I get to see something like this come to fruition ... the material that inspired me for so long, all of a sudden is not important ... and has to be hidden and not heard anywhere, good or bad, bootleg via cassette (olden days) or via smartphone these days. I have never heard anyone complaint in the Grateful Dead folks ... and they have only gotten bigger, and better known because of it ... instead of hoping for a payday in the sky that will never come.

Some of us here in the American West Coast, will never get to see these folks, and enjoy their work or have a chance to say hello ... and while something like the pages mentioned above are unusual, in the end, I feel like I met Richard, and he made sure that I enjoyed things ... while others did not do so. One can only hope that much from any artist ... and I can only hope that things come around and well for everyone ... so at the very least we can all fall away from this earthly address with a smile ... we did our best for the music and the art form.

Now back to one of my favorite albums ... Caravan of Dreams ... and end up having fun blowing bubbles ... 

(Edit later) ... reminds me of the Frank Zappa vault, where thousands and thousands of tapes were saved in his lifetime, and no one will ever hear it ... it just seems like such a waste. And I bet some work that is better than what we have heard is still buried ... sorry Mr. Stewart ... hopefully it will all come together, somehow.

I will only say I hope Dave Stewart, my favorite keyboardist in the whole world, rethinks his position about Rich & I offering the Hatfield ROIOs in the best possible condition for a reasonable price.  I mean, they're going to be out there regardless.

It has all been done with the utmost love & respect.

Yeah, Logan I kicked myself the first time for not saving my post before trying to upload it.  The second time was all on me...

The third attempt -- and my 4th attempt! -- I was smarter. 😳

And this post is now on its 2nd attempt.  Is this something you can fix???

Logan wrote: I might end up breaking the internet while I'm at it. That actually might not be such a bad thing,

Can we vote on that?

Yep.  Frank taped EVERYTHING.  To be fair, he did a series of "Beat The Boots" to take the wind out of the bootleggers, since he had soundboard recordings of everything.

And he mixed in particularly-successful solos from wherever they occurred when doing his "You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore" series. So his tapes did not entirely go to waste.

Hi,

However, when considering the quantity of the material, you can see it on the Alex Winter special, the amount is small ... and there is more. I, sincerely doubt that anyone in that family has the ability to listen to these things and find material that could be released. They were all brought up in the era of "song" and not "serious music" (per Frank), to appreciate what I imagine to be a good half of all those tapes.

Guy Guden in one of his blogs (all of them have been taken down, likely because it had some nasty history with the radio stations he was a part of!), specified that during an interview and then warm up for a show in Santa Barbara, that the band played almost 30 minutes non stop and little of it was recognizable material. And Steve Vai also specifies the greatest solo he ever heard ... which I'm not sure it has been released and appreciated like Steve did. I think that the stuff that Guy has is likely lost by now ... I screamed at him in the year 2000 to turn things into mp3 as the majority of the tapes likely won't last, and I was, at the time, able to save, over 300 hours of his show going back to 1974, and I gave him a copy of all the shows I had ... and at that time I had lost nearly 50 to 60 hours of shows, that were on cheaper cassettes like Radio Shack and such. Pretty much all the TDK and Maxell stuff survived.

I'm glad to see Richard show these tings, despite some folks not liking it ... I have never thought that music should be created, and played for a closet ... and as an artist and writer, I find that idea really sad, regardless of the situation. 

It's just a very sad situation all around, and my hope is that it all comes together and happy before the time comes when it can't be done anymore ... as we all get older, it is important that we learn that we need to go with a smile on our faces, and not a sad one, and while I do not wish to think anything bad about Mr. Stewart, I do think that sometimes, we can only hope that some things get the appreciation they deserve, and hopefully they will be remembered for a lot of their work, instead of so many artists disappearing and falling off the side of the road ... to nowhere, as Deke Leonard specified.

He then listed 63 albums to be removed, including compilations and tributes.

It'll take me a couple days to get this done, so if there are any Hatfield boots you've been curious about, now's the time.

HI,

Sad ... really sad and I can understand it, but find it sad that the fans are the ones that won't benefit from the music. I wish Mr. Stewart the best in his endeavors. 

Might as well wipe a lot of the olders stuff off the record ... no one is gonna hear it or enjoy it ... we can always hope the skeletons in the closet will dance to it, while hidden. Just sad ... really sad, when an agreement to how much and such could easily be reached. 

Hi,

I do think that Richard has to be more sensitive to the other folks he has played with in the past ... but there is one thing that kind of bothers me, which is likely the bad side of Canterbury ... I bet! ... there are too many individual folks with it, for their own everything, and there is way too much music buried because of it ... makes me wonder why bother playing if some folks don't want anyone to hear it ... wait 75 years so it goes to public domain? Seeing the BBC do this, and finally you can hear all of The Goons, and even earlier stuff like Michael Bentine ... is far out ... and so many other comedy things that I can't even figure out what to listen to ... but the 1970's? I don't think I will be around in 2045 ... or most of us here for it ... before we can hear so many of these things ... 

Somewhere, I am inclined to think that Richard Sinclair is not the only one that is out of order.

We will not hear it by then, I'm sure!

But, Richard, likely should have tried to get some kind of agreement, but when you have to do 4 or 5 of these in one band alone ... we have a problem ... and I am inclined to think that these folks are not into the music at al when they played it. They were, already, into their own trip, and that individuality "made" Canterbury stand out, but it is likely to show, now, why it died so fast, and so many of those folks disappeared and became teachers in various colleges. 

I, really, do not know what to think anymore. I like Richard, as I like so many of the other's works ... and I am really sad that one of my favorite families, is down to total destruction and killing the music, by relegating it to the closest closet with or without skeletons!