Andrew (30:18)
We were trying to stall, literally, you know, having conversations of people saying, hey, you have some really, really generous listeners. They could be more generous. And then, you know, and we're like, how about we respect what. What the relationship that we have with them now. And anyway, so I don't know how much we've gotten into that in the past, but that was one of the reasons we did leave, because we're very protective of our listeners and our relationship. And I hope the listeners appreciate that, for whatever it's worth. And I start thinking about this more and more, and I tell Genevieve, I'm like, so our listeners who already have given us money for this record and to support us are going to get this little card, and it's going to say, the artist wants your email address. But we're not getting that email address. We already have it. Like, you supported us. Who's getting this email address? Who. Who had Teka? That's a chair company reference. But that's why I said, I'm going full chair company for people who don't know. Essentially, the plot of that very weird show on HBO is a man gets obsessed with trying to reach customer service for a chair company for reasons that you'll figure out if you watch it. And he gets very, very obsessive about it. And the name of one of the parent companies is Teca. And Genevieve said, yeah, you gotta call Teca. And I'm like, okay, we gotta. This is wrong. Like, the more I think about it, where. Who's collecting these email addresses? Why are they saying it's our choice to collect these email addresses when it's not. We're not seeing this. Where are they going? I just really started to irritate me. Even though you could opt out of it, I started thinking, you know, what we could do is we could put a letter along with the records when we send them out that say, if you try using the digital download card, it will ask you for your email address. That is not necessary. Just hit, no, thanks. I wanted to maybe let listeners know. I thought maybe we could talk about this on the show. And this is where I got real Tim Robinson. I said, well, what happens if we just Google drop card? Who is this company? Because I want to make something very clear that I don't think I've made clear. It's not Pirates Press that is collecting this information. Pirates Press has been an amazing company to work with. They're just partnered with this company called Drop Cards. And another thing that I noticed was even though John had already said to Pirates Press, yeah, we want this digital download option. Two days ago, we got a note from our contact at Pirates Press that said, do you guys really want this digital download option? Like, everybody else, just puts it on Spotify or YouTube. You could even monetize your tracks that way, you know, and we're not looking to monetize our tracks and we're just like, no, no, we like this card idea. And at the time, I didn't really realize kind of how antiquated it was or it would seem to Pirates Press. But I do think that that was my first indication that maybe we're just playing an old man's game here. They're like, do you really want this? We're like, yeah, we want this. So then John reaches out to Pirates Press, like, what's with this email thing? And they're like, we can't change that. It's not our company. It' it is what it is. And then last night, at some point, I look up drop cards. I'm like, maybe they have contact information. And so I'm clicking around like Tim Robinson and I. I mean, it's exactly like the TV show. I scroll to the bottom and I'm surprised they actually have a phone number and they have an email address and they also have that sort of automated, like, kind of, you know, kind of help FAQ sheet you can go to or something. But I'm like, there's actually a phone number. So I called last night, but it's after hours and it's like, you know, there's nobody to take your call. You can leave a general message or you. We can, you know, get into our phone tree if you know the extension of the person you're trying to reach. And I'm already like, I don't know who I'm trying to reach. And I already know if I reach anybody, they're not going to help me. Like, they're just not going to know what I'm talking about. Whatever. The other thing I noticed when I called this company was the phone number leads to a company and Drop Cards is not listed first. I can't remember what the name of the company is, but it's like, you've reached such and such and Home of Drop Cards. Or something along those lines. Seeming like drop cards are definitely sort of a second thought at this point, right? So I don't leave a message last night. And then this morning I got another note from John kind of responding to my critique on this thing. And he's like, yeah, it just kind of is what it is. I'm like, yeah, but then I'm like, I'm going to call them again before the show. And I'm like, I know this isn't going to do anything, but probably ramp Me up even more. Like, I'm going to probably get on the line with somebody who definitely doesn't care. Maybe they're at a call center. They're not even going to know what I'm talking about or what my complaint is. I'm never going to hear back from anybody. Well, I will say this for better or for worse, and maybe in this case, both. It was not like that at all. I feel like I might have talked to somebody who runs the company because I have a feeling this is a very small company, and I'm mad that I never got his name. When I call the number, they're like, you know, press one for customer service. I'm like, all right, customer service, fine. So I hit one, and pretty quickly somebody picks up, and they're just like, hello. Or maybe they say the name of the company again. That is not drop cards. And I'm expect. I pause. I'm waiting for them to say, how can I help you? This phone call is being recorded for insurance. What did they say this call is being recorded for? Quality assurance or something. But there's none of that. It's like, I've just reached a dude, and he's like, hello? And I'm like, yeah. And then there's nothing more. I'm like, can you hear me? He's like, yeah, yeah, what's up? And I'm like, oh. I am an artist who is pairing up with a vinyl pressing company, and we're going to be using drop cards so that people can get the digital download of this. I don't identify myself ever in this, and he doesn't either. And we're going, but there is a screen that you have to click through that says the artist requests your email address, and we're the artists, and we definitely don't request that. So I'm wondering where that email, where those emails are being collected and how we can get around that screen, how we can skip that screen screen. It's like, oh, man. No, no, no, no, no, no. Like, we haven't. Like, we're. We're not even doing drop cards anymore. Like, this is just a legacy. We're here for support for our old customers. You must have teamed up with, like, somebody who used us in the past. We'll keep the, you know, we'll keep the customer support going, but we are. I'm going to be frank with you. We're not doing any updates. You can't change this screen. There's nothing we can do for you. And I'm like, okay, I Understand that. But let's answer the question. Why does it. I think I used the word lie or something along the lines of being dishonest. I said, well, why does it untruthfully say that the artist is requesting this and where is that information going? We don't want to ask our listeners to submit their personal information for something that we don't know where that's going. And it says that we're asking for it and we are not. And he kind of just repeats. He's like, listen, man. He literally said at one point, listen, man, you can use us or you can't or you don't have to. Like, we're just not making any changes to this thing. Like, honestly, we're just here to support it. Like, we did this like 15 years ago. Like, we're not really in that business anymore.
