Metal Twitter knows all. No sooner did the news that Amazon—global merchandise-pusher, worker-abused, and all-around corporate giant—had apparently launched a Bandcamp page hit, than a chorus of skeptical heshers (first spotted by our own Jeff Treppel) arrived to call bullshit. The page's off-brand Amazon logos and bizarre lineup of offerings looks suspect as is, but then when one applies some logic, the scam seems even more transparent. Without getting into the financial aspect, Amazon has its own streaming music service. It's also safe to assume that, if it ever did decide to nab some indie cred by hooking up with Bandcamp, posting albums by Korpiklaani and Burzum wouldn't be its first move—nor would it be dumb enough to post a description lauding Disturbed as a "unique and valuable" band.
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A moment's glance will tell you that the page is a fraud, but that itself brings up the question of, why? Why the hell would someone go to such lengths to fleece the tiny smattering of metalheads who might actually be dumb enough to fall for its ruse? As far as scams go, it's pretty weak—and people are already catching on. One enterprising metalhead went so far as to contact Amazon itself—and actually got a response.
A couple of people seem to have fallen for it, but hopefully they'll be the last. Bandcamp is already home to an insane amount of quality independent bands and labels, and is an amazing discovery tool for longtime fans as well as curious newcomers. It's shitty to see something like this pop up and take time and money away from the real-deal bands—and I'm pretty sure that Iron Maiden's people won't be too happy to see the band's latest album up there.Let's make sure this dick doesn't make a single red cent more off of well-meaning (if gullible) metal fans, okay?
We've reached out to the owner of the Amazon Bandcamp page as well as Bandcamp itself, and will update the story if we recieve a response.UPDATE:We recieved this response from the owner of the "Amazon Bandcamp" page:"We produce vinyl discs, we Russian fan site, and our prices are cheaper."UPDATE II:Bandcamp responded within an hour of our message, and let us know that this page is being taken down.
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A couple of people seem to have fallen for it, but hopefully they'll be the last. Bandcamp is already home to an insane amount of quality independent bands and labels, and is an amazing discovery tool for longtime fans as well as curious newcomers. It's shitty to see something like this pop up and take time and money away from the real-deal bands—and I'm pretty sure that Iron Maiden's people won't be too happy to see the band's latest album up there.Let's make sure this dick doesn't make a single red cent more off of well-meaning (if gullible) metal fans, okay?