UK band buys own album from eBay

[21C]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking/...?oneclick=true

The lead singer of UK band The Darkness has bought his own album for $769 from an eBay seller in Sydney, and he's not very happy about it.

Justin Hawkins found the album One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back listed on eBay at the end of last month, even though it is not due for release until November 28.

The music industry is coming under increasing financial pressure from online pirates who distribute illegal copies of music on the internet, often prior to an album's official release.

In 2003, tracks from Radiohead's album Hail to the Thief found their way online two months before the official release date, and illegal downloads of the tracks were subsequently played on JJJ radio.

In a UK interview with BBC news, Hawkins said: "I've bought our own album back off this character who's selling it on eBay.

"It cost me £350 ($A769) and it's going to be a tenner when it's in the shops - with artwork."

He said a small number of advance copies had been sent to music reviewers and recording industry officials, and because the CD had been encoded, would lead them straight to the original recipient. Once he had tracked them down, "that person is going to go down," Hawkins told the BBC.

He is considering either some sort of legal intervention on whoever initially distributed it, or may seek to ban the source from receiving material from the band's record label in future.

While selling advance copies of CDs is not against its own auction rules, eBay Australia said it worked closely with law enforcement and government agencies to address any wrongdoing and help them bring alleged offenders to justice.

"The ability of The Darkness to find and purchase the CD demonstrates that eBay is a highly transparent marketplace and attempts to commit wrongdoing on eBay can be more easily dealt with than many other more forms of wrongdoing," the company said.

The auction ran from October 22 to 27, with the winning bid from a buyer called 'turbogunhawk', who registered on the UK auction site on October 26 2005. The seller has been registered on eBay Australia since August in 1999 and the album location was listed as "Sydney, NSW Australia".

Despite Hawkins' resentment at having to buy back his own CD, the buyer feedback from' turbogunhawk' at the completion of the transaction read: "The CD is fabulous and it made it to my house in one piece...". The seller was equally positive, rating 'turbogunhawk' as "a buyer of the highest integrity......".

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....tem=4783706383

[Draft Dodger]

the really story here is that other people were actually bidding for that crap.

[AlexB]

Still can;t work out if they're taking the piss or not: come on their latest 'hit' single is called 'One Way Ticket To Hell And Back'

...Ummmm - isn't that a return then?

[thrym]

Its a setup...

Do you think $750 would have bought them as much as a single 2"x3" ad in some Brit mag...this way its going to be in dozens of newspapers with stories reaching more people than probably even know who they are...

Some well spent money don't you think?