So, do you remember my mantra EP? it was my first ever commercial release on a label, which was a big deal for me back then. For many of you it was the first track you heard from me. It blew up as soon as it came out and It was number 1 in the Beatport charts for entire 2 weeks, sharing the top 10 with Noisia incessant and many other big names that i looked up to.
That was 9 years ago and many might be shocked to know that I pretty much never got paid for this tune.
To be completely transparent, I did in fact receive 2 payments, 1 for about 600 euros and then another for 300 after the first 6 months of the song being out, but after that? absolutely nothing. 9 years of royalties have evaded me purely because mindtech records has disbanded and the only contact I had with the label owner was via facebook which he no longer uses. I tried to reach out through my distributor, through other people who worked with him but he became a ghost it seems. This experience greatly jaded my opinion of the music industry and sadly it was the beginning of many such experiences.
To this day the tracks remain online for sale, and that money is for sure going into the labels pockets. Unless you purchased the song within the first few months of it being out, I never received a penny from it. But I can't do anything about that without resorting to legal action and who knows how much money I'm actually owed, let alone if I can ever find the guy.
Recently, I began a journey of trying to gain control of my rights as an artist in the hopes of healing those wounds. I've been releasing singles on my own label since the beginning of the year and in light of that I decided the best thing I can do is re release the Mantra EP myself in the form of a complete VIP (variation in production).
I had already developed these VIPs for my own use in live sets but I've decided I will put them up on my Bandcamp for you all as 'pay what you want' (minimum 1 euro) with a humble request: if you have enjoyed any of those tracks or played them in the last 9 years, please think about supporting me with a purchase of this EP. If you want to pay more you can, and who knows maybe I can at least get something for one of my most recognisable works. I would additionally ask that everyone boycotts any mindtech records releases as the artists are definitely not getting paid.
I would also ask you to share this post in the hopes that it reaches as many people as possible.
Fuck Mindtech records.
I love you all and thanks for all the support over the years.
Big love,
Alex