Hey everyone! I’m a longtime lurker and very infrequent poster, which means almost no one here knows me. But I feel compelled to share my thoughts here. I do hope you’ll spare a few moments to read them.
I don’t know what in the world this thread has become, but the barren wasteland we are left with is rather embarrassing, if I’m being honest.
So much useful information and insight has been shared on this site! Based on just this thread, though, I can’t help but cringe wondering what a new user would think this place is like.
But we do seem to do a thorough job beating our horses dead!
Up-front I’ll say I know I’m going to get roasted over this post. But it comes from an honest place. So please let my death be honorable, and may the beating avoid my face!
I have watched the videos and read all of the posts as they’ve been shared. I have deep compassion for ANYONE who has ever had to deal with any form of abuse. Particularly at a young age. For a handful of years, I had the pleasure of working with young people in the arts and, as I’m sure many of you know, a whole lot of emotion can come to the surface when you put your heart into your work. And we know that rings true at any age. For some, keeping close to their emotions is the well from which creativity springs. For others, a signed contract is enough to get things kickstarted!
There are a number of people here whose contributions I find invaluable. And some important folks have shared their stories in this thread. While I have no knowledge with which to weigh in on what has been said, I have respect for those who want something positive to come from what they may share.
I don’t know who works for whom or what might be listed on their CVs. It sounds like one might need a bunch of red string and thumbtacks to create a wall map. I don’t have the wall space and, as an avid fan of LOST (yes, we exist… and yes, that was a good ending!), I’ve spent more than enough time figuring out connections. My hope is that if anyone is indeed employed with a competitor of any company, they would use good judgement and have respect for the community when it comes to sharing info on here. It’s hard enough to find reliable voices to trust in the field, to say nothing of the influence some wield when it comes to how schmucks - like me - and regular users make buying decisions. With great power comes… well, y’know.
Context and nuance. Those two words are easy to type but challenging as hell to convey when writing online. Trickier still is making sure we try our best to figure those out when we read stories and comments, be they positive or negative.
I understand the frustration about Adachi. But friends, can we not entirely blame the company that the required version of some libraries are now being made unavailable? Many here complained that the company made money on the back of Adachi. If I was being attacked about profiting on someone’s work that ties-in with already discontinued products, I’d feel that I should stop the thing I’m taking flack over. I doubt we can all say we would disagree.
I am a customer of 8Dio and Soundpaint. And Spitfire. And OT. Annnd… you get the idea. I think many here can say we have invested a great deal of money into our kits. We also want to see good products come to market. Even better when it comes from companies we personally stand behind.
And you know what? I stand behind 8Dio and Soundpaint as companies. I have slowly gotten to know most of the team. Those are real people, musicians, working hard to put out the best products they can in an over-saturated market. I think they take great care of customers and, particularly thanks to Discord, there is almost always someone from the team around to answer a question or resolve an issue. I’ve dealt with a lot of companies about whom I wish I could say the same. I’ve personally not encountered other developers who will see interest in a niche library based on a community discussion, promise to create it, and deliver it a handful of weeks later. Or designers/programmers drop what they are doing to create mock-ups of the UI with a customer’s suggested feature added and then put it on the list for approval.
I also like many of their products. I think Soundpaint uses novel technology to extend and expand the capabilities of our tools to new levels. I am excited to see what comes of their engine now that legato has been added and it is matures into a proper platform.
I stand behind those team members who work hard not because they necessarily need a gig, but because they want to be proud of what they contribute to our world of VSTi libraries and usage of them in the creation of new musical works. If I worked there… well I’d never get hired as that skill set is beyond me. But IF I worked there, I’d be itching to share my experiences to add color to this “discussion.” But anyone who spoke up and identified themselves as working for 8Dio would likely be met with negative comments. Some would see it as unprofessional, even if they are just wanting to share their truth and experiences with the community.
I also stand behind Troels and Tawnia. I realize that after the hundreds of negative posts in this thread, my saying this may seem suspect or like I’m a shill. Believe me when I say I’ve read the comments and carefully considered the situation.
Do I think their responses to the onslaught of negative comments were worded in the best way? Probably not. These are people who own and oversee the development of music sample libraries! These are people who would have had to quite literally bet it all on themselves because they believed in each other and what they could do for the music community. I would expect to see them sharing information about their experiences and where things are now. Which is exactly how the statements read to me.
Neither 8Dio or Soundpaint employs a large staff. A larger company would have probably had a PR rep post on here in response to this thread. Some may have found that better, others not so much. Not having those additional positions presumably allows them to develop things like the Soundpaint software, release it for free, and have the ability to regularly release libraries for the app at prices around $20.
I may be in the minority, but I have more respect for owners who are showing up, interacting, and directly addressing what has been asked of them. That is harder than issuing a blanket statement. I know some expressed frustration that a specific question or two may not have been answered. All due respect, but they are only one party to a conversation. It isn’t hard to see where issues could arise. For example, providing an expanded answer could require disclosure of information THEY can’t divulge because it ties to another company or person not a part of this thread.
I can also imagine how they might also be reticent to share info that could be embarrassing for someone else, perhaps even refusing to do so because of it. I know I have taken that metaphorical bullet a few times. No one else was aware, and it simply looked like my own error. Choices are made based on a lot of factors, some aren’t always things to disclose. Context.
But the main reason I am sharing my truth here is that, based on my experiences, I’ve only seen honest and hard work from T&T. I can’t comment on something from a decade ago. I wasn’t around them.
And while I know we all want to fight for what we think is right, we also all know mistakes can happen in the best and worst of cases. I would have to know ALL aspects of a situation to be able to fairly judge the types of stories I’ve read here. But honestly? I’m a customer: It’s none of my dang business! Even if one of the people involved is the one sharing. There’s no way to really truly know a complete story, particularly any from years ago. And to what end? IF someone had a crap interaction with someone else, does that mean it is representative of them or their work today, the work of their team members, or… working down the line… what may be needed for a project?
Heaven knows I’ve made bad decisions before, and I wouldn’t want anyone to judge me solely from my worst days. And while my understanding of what has been alleged in this thread is that things have been, at best, blown out of proportion in some of the stories shared, I also know that for any bad experience there are dozens or hundreds of happy customers.
Finally, and yes a tangent for a moment; I want to applaud 8Dio for being loud and proud supporters of the LGBTQ community, and working hard to ensure their spaces like Discord remain safe for all users. I have seen comments from the owners on this subject, and some may think it doesn’t need to be mentioned. But it’s still important and not enough effort has really been made by several notable companies. My wife and I are proud allies in title and in action - in our own area of the US - but I am pleased that my money (ok, I have to be fair to the wife: our money!) goes to a company that takes a visible and meaningful stand on- and offline. This area and doing all we can to ensure more women get notable employment throughout the music industry and beyond are crucial to our continued mutual success as a universal community.
So with that massive vowel movement of a comment, I respectfully think we should stop with this circus. There have now been something like 20+ pages which is a whole lot of emotion aimed in one direction. The vast majority of comments now are not from those sharing but from folks picking up stories from others and taking them on as their own battle.
Like or don’t like them. That’s your choice. But let’s stop this back and forth and become civil again. Let’s give the time necessary to clean the blood stains out of the carpet?!
Let’s please not make this resource be Musicians Helping Musicians Destroy Musicians. That will only limit possibilities and opportunities for all of us.
Humbly,
Charlie
