EarthRocker
Senior Member
Please... No negative, pig-headed responses. This is simply me venting, and I've been dying to let it out for a while. But honestly, piss on the big three cymbal company's Artist Relations. The whole criteria of a drummer endorsing a product is so redundant, and I have a list a mile long as to why, but I'll only touch on the big ones...
Drum equipment price - anything worth buying is something out of arm's reach of a poor person. No matter how interested you are in drums, if you have a family, saving money for drum equipment is a failed effort. If you're bottom class, or even lower middle class, and you have a family, there's always gonna' be something you NEED to spend that cash on, as appose to drums.
Famous dudes - drummers like Travis Barker (just to name a FAMOUS drummer) gets his Zildjian stuff for free, like many other drummer celebs. Why? Barker has the cash to buy STOCK in Zildjian if he wants. Why are they giving him, and guys of similar fame, free cymbals? And it isn't just cymbal companies. Drums, sticks, whatever. They all do this.
More Price BS - Look how many famous drummers get free, or even highly discounted stuff. Did it ever occur to anyone, that these guys getting free rides are the reason cymbals and other equipment are so un-godly expensive? You have to pay five-hundred dollars for a Meinl Byzance cymbal, because twenty drummers get them for free, and probably want a new one every time it gets a stick mark. (figuratively speaking of course.)
So to gather everything together, I have to ask myself what companies are thinking... Why don't new and upcoming drummers, willing to be loyal to a product, get the discounts and the free stuff, and then the dudes who have an infinite supply of cash, have to pay?
I'm not saying EVERYONE should get free stuff. I'm just saying that there are a lot of drummers in my position, who have to settle for sub-standard equipment. And I speak for broke drummers everywhere when I say, if one company would give me free, or even a great discount on products, when I got famous, I would not only pay FULL PRICE to the company that helped me, but I would also remain loyal to this company until they done something to trash a good professional relationship.
So my point is, if any drum company reps. read this... STOP GIVING FAMOUS DRUMMERS FREE / DISCOUNTED CRAP.. Cut the new guys a break, and when they become somebody, I'm sure they'll give you all the business you could handle... And I think if companies took this approach, prices on equipment would go down, also.
Drum equipment price - anything worth buying is something out of arm's reach of a poor person. No matter how interested you are in drums, if you have a family, saving money for drum equipment is a failed effort. If you're bottom class, or even lower middle class, and you have a family, there's always gonna' be something you NEED to spend that cash on, as appose to drums.
Famous dudes - drummers like Travis Barker (just to name a FAMOUS drummer) gets his Zildjian stuff for free, like many other drummer celebs. Why? Barker has the cash to buy STOCK in Zildjian if he wants. Why are they giving him, and guys of similar fame, free cymbals? And it isn't just cymbal companies. Drums, sticks, whatever. They all do this.
More Price BS - Look how many famous drummers get free, or even highly discounted stuff. Did it ever occur to anyone, that these guys getting free rides are the reason cymbals and other equipment are so un-godly expensive? You have to pay five-hundred dollars for a Meinl Byzance cymbal, because twenty drummers get them for free, and probably want a new one every time it gets a stick mark. (figuratively speaking of course.)
So to gather everything together, I have to ask myself what companies are thinking... Why don't new and upcoming drummers, willing to be loyal to a product, get the discounts and the free stuff, and then the dudes who have an infinite supply of cash, have to pay?
I'm not saying EVERYONE should get free stuff. I'm just saying that there are a lot of drummers in my position, who have to settle for sub-standard equipment. And I speak for broke drummers everywhere when I say, if one company would give me free, or even a great discount on products, when I got famous, I would not only pay FULL PRICE to the company that helped me, but I would also remain loyal to this company until they done something to trash a good professional relationship.
So my point is, if any drum company reps. read this... STOP GIVING FAMOUS DRUMMERS FREE / DISCOUNTED CRAP.. Cut the new guys a break, and when they become somebody, I'm sure they'll give you all the business you could handle... And I think if companies took this approach, prices on equipment would go down, also.