Are you "Aiding and Abetting"?

[asimmd]

I object to these petty criminals spoiling it for the rest of us.

I believe they are the reason we don't see backing tracks from
Robbo and Waffles anymore,and Hank's Master Tracks promised to be
special,now it's the best idea we will never have.

Ho Hum

Alan

[noelford]

I buy and sell on eBay frequently, Tom. It's not eBay that we are complaining about here, just the small group of parasites who take advantage of any such resource to cheat and steal.

[stratmantd]

I'm utterly gobsmacked that anyone would consider £15 too much to pay for a dozen professionally produced, high quality backing tracks. Their value to a guitarist who doesn't play in a live band is a lot more than the price of, say, a couple of bottles of average wine!

I would definitely consider £15 too much to pay for backing tracks. That's the same price as a proper album. No matter how well played/produced they will always be an inferior version of the originals but missing the melody.

I can remember the Top Of The Pops albums of the late 60s/early 70s which were professionally produced, high quality versions of current pop songs. They were recorded by well established and respected session men including singers like Tony Rivers but were never a substitute for the real thing and their price showed that.

I'm utterly gobsmacked that anyone would consider paying the same for backing tracks recorded by people other than the original musicians.

£8 for The Shadows Greatest Hits, £15 for backing tracks of the same album made by someone else, no thanks.

You are right, I have never bought any backing tracks and never would. I don't play lead guitar and don't aspire to. If I want to play along with a Shadows number I will play along to the real thing.

I very much doubt that I am "one of the few" who never bought any BTs, one of the majority I would suspect, unless there are BTs with the rhythm, bass, keyboards or drums missing. Please don't assume that everyone wants to be Hank.

[noelford]

Tom, yes, you can buy BTs with ANY instrument removed, are you not aware of that?

Please don't assume that everyone wants to be Hank.

Where on Earth did that come from? It's you who are making assumptions because this topic is about copyright theft and nothing to do with who plays what.

And, how can to compare cover versions with BTs. Do you honestly not understand the difference?

As for playing along with the 'real thing', that must be a bit like turning up to play with your live band and have someone else join in, playing your part (whether it be lead, rhythm, bass or drums).

Backing tracks have played a huge part in improving my playing. They got me back into playing after a long gap because they changed solitary guitar playing into the equivalent of playing with a full band again. This, in turn, has brought me back into live performance playing.

The value of BTs? Priceless!

[stratmantd]

If the BT is made from the original tapes with whatever instrument omitted then I would call it a genuine backing track. Anyone else doing the recording is a cover with an instrument missing. You can still play along with it but it still a "cover" especially if the musicians are trying to produce something which sounds like the real thing.

No, I did not know that you could get backing tracks with ANY instrument missing because I have never looked at purchasing backing tracks.

As far as intellectual property is concerned, whose? The songs' authors? The original artist (they are after all being copied) or the creators of the tracks for their idea of making the recordings in the first place? As long as those people producing these tracks have paid all the dues to allow them to make money from them, then fine, carry on. However, I still think that charging the same as an album from an established mainstream artist is unjustifiable which was what my original comment was about.

We will never agree about this issue so there is no point going on about it. I just hope that everyone is consistent in their condemnation of these "parasites" and would be just as vocal about someone selling fake designer clothes.

[Martin Page]

I was happy to pay £36 for the first three UB Hanks - and the first two, I had to get from Australia. At the time this was pure gold. The first one I bought at £15 was UB Hank 4, which I thought was a real bargain. In fact the UB Hank CDs are probably the main reason that this website actually exists...

Regards, Martin.

[roninnes]

Anyone who sells "fake" or "genuine replicas" of anything should be classed as a parasite as they are knowing selling goods which are not the genuine article but indeed a lookalike copy, often very poorly made.
I do not remember anyone who creates backing tracks taking such a stand, indeed the opposite, they openly state they have created a product which enables the musician to play along and learn their part.
As to the cost, one has to balance the volume pressed by a major label as opposed to the limited number pressed by the creator of the BT's. Obviously the major label has a cost per unit that permits lower price at point of purchase. One also has to consider the time put into creating such an item, usually in the spare time.
The only backing tracks I have ever bought were Dave Robinson's "So you want to be a drummer" and they were fine. I think that is what they were called.


Ron

[chas]

I would definitely consider £15 too much to pay for backing tracks. That's the same price as a proper album. No matter how well played/produced they will always be an inferior version of the originals but missing the melody.

I know we all have different opinions, but I don't think you can compare bt's with a normal album - they're not aimed at the same market. Whilst a normal album is aimed at the general public, bt's of the instrumental type (e.g. Shadows etc.) are normally made by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, and not to make money in any meaningful way....although, making profit is certainly the aim of the 'rip off' pirate merchants.

Chas.

[noelford]

I just hope that everyone is consistent in their condemnation of these "parasites" and would be just as vocal about someone selling fake designer clothes.

Tom, since 1975 I've earned my living as a freelance cartoonist. I've enjoyed the success of being widely published but that success has brought with it similar problems to those experienced by the guys who make these BTs – being ripped off and illegally published. I've successfully sued a few of them but sometimes that's not an option. Suing an Egyptian magazine for stealing your work for a front cover is, sadly, not a realistic option. So yes, damn right I class these parasites alongside all the others who seek to make easy money from someone else's hard work.

[Tab]

When comparing the price of the BTs to original albums, you fail to take in that this is a niche market which sells only in the 100s not 1000s like the originals.

The cost of producing such BT CDs is, therefore, relatively expensive with a lot of time and dedication behind them. They should be protected.

An item is only as valuable as the demand for it and most, yes, most of us are prepared to pay for the work that goes into them.

If not interested in playing to BTs and, therefore, not interested in buying them - the argument is fruitless.