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Thursday, January 26th

Joel Madden and BurnLounge

As I was reading Joel Maddens blog (I know, I know) I stumbled upon BurnLounge, which seems to be some pay-to-download competitor to the iTunes Music Store. Joel is pumping it pretty big, saying,

“check out my new online music store. register to get music, or open your own store.”

And,

“i’ve been working hard on my music store, its awesome. its so rad to find something you love like music and be able to do it more than just a hobby. all you kids with a pc should check it out. downloading music was never this much fun.”

Note the, “all you kids with a pc” part. None of the music purchased through BurnLounge can be played on an iPod. According to the FAQ:

“Before transferring your BurnLounge music to your portable audio device, make sure that your device is approved for Windows media.”

But according to this 2004 Blender article (it’s old, I know!) Joel actually has an iPod, so poor Joel can’t even listen to anything from his own store. And his girlfriend, Hilary Duff, can’t either, since she has an iPod, too.

So is this some sly marketing or has Joel really given up the iPod? And how “fun” can this downloading be if (according to the FAQ) you’re not even allowed to put the song file on another computer? We need answers!

Written by Seth Werkheiser
> Gossip, Music | 3:19 pm |

226 Responses to “Joel Madden and BurnLounge”

On 01/26/06 3:41 PM, Wesley Johnson said:

i love to click on the links. THEY ARE SO RAD AND FUN!
On 01/26/06 3:55 PM, Seth Werkheiser said:

FOR REALZ! ClIcKiNG linx was never so much fun!!!
On 01/26/06 5:42 PM, The 1/3 said:

[insert useless opinion here]
On 01/26/06 6:54 PM, Sean Cannon said:

yOu aLL SuX!!!!!11!11!!!! gOoD ShaRLottE RuLz!!!1!!!11one!!!!!!!111!!!!!!
On 01/26/06 7:10 PM, Seth Werkheiser said:

See what I mean here on Buzzgrinder? I pour a good 15 minutes into this post and it gets 4 comments. I post an album cover and it gets like 50. hahah
On 01/26/06 7:57 PM, Sean Cannon said:

no
On 01/26/06 7:57 PM, Sean Cannon said:

seth
On 01/26/06 7:57 PM, Sean Cannon said:

you
On 01/26/06 7:58 PM, Sean Cannon said:

are
On 01/26/06 7:58 PM, Sean Cannon said:

wrong
On 01/26/06 7:58 PM, Sean Cannon said:

.
On 01/26/06 7:59 PM, Sean Cannon said:

There
On 01/26/06 7:59 PM, Sean Cannon said:

happen
On 01/26/06 7:59 PM, Sean Cannon said:

to
On 01/26/06 8:00 PM, Sean Cannon said:

be
On 01/26/06 8:00 PM, Sean Cannon said:

lots
On 01/26/06 8:00 PM, Sean Cannon said:

of
On 01/26/06 8:01 PM, Sean Cannon said:

comments
On 01/26/06 8:01 PM, Sean Cannon said:

on
On 01/26/06 8:01 PM, Sean Cannon said:

your
On 01/26/06 8:01 PM, Sean Cannon said:

posts
On 01/26/06 8:19 PM, Seth Werkheiser said:

Good Charolette RULEZ!!!
On 01/26/06 11:57 PM, Thad said:

My friend saw a chic getting the Good Charlotte logo on her arm, I about died laughing after hearing that, but not because I laughed so much, but because as he told me this I was being stabbed with a rusty screwdriver by an angry homeless man.
On 01/27/06 12:15 AM, buddy said:

wierd i got a tattoo of a homeless man stabbinh someone with a rusty screwdriver.
On 01/27/06 9:05 AM, Seth Werkheiser said:

I got a tattoo of someone gettting a tattoo of a homeless man stabing someone with a rusty screwdriver. Weirdness.
On 01/27/06 10:53 AM, FilteringCraig said:

I didn’t get a tattoo at all.

But seriously, this is interesting because I want to know what the angle is for Burnlounge. there has to be an angle. I just can’t figure it out yet.
On 01/27/06 11:31 AM, alan said:

I have a heart-oh-gram the size of a dinner plate on my chest.
On 01/27/06 12:35 PM, Dan Diemer said:

i’m confused….up till this point he’s just been doing music as a hobby?

i wish my hobbies paid that well.
On 01/27/06 2:21 PM, Jay said:

Madden ‘06!
On 01/28/06 3:39 AM, joshUA said:

this one time i didnt get a tattoo of duff on my chest cos madden offered to pulverize me but im actually making this all up cos who ever heard of sharlotte beatn up a kid who has chuck taylors on with a johnny cupcake shirt and is full of tax exempt moolah
the end
On 02/6/06 4:53 PM, Wills said:

This is a great MLM offer because it is so new. There are only 15,000 registered users in the Burnlounge teams, and about one third of them are in Columbia, SC.

I work for a Law Firm in Columbia, and I joined a burnlounge team because it is made up of some of the most reputable and successful people in this city. If you’re not familiar with Columbia, trust me it is quaint so professional people all know eachother.

If anyone is interested in joining our team and expanding to other markets, we would be more than happy to instruct you on how to go about doing it. Trust me there is a lot of revenue potential out there. I have signed up four friends, and my team has grown to 128 people…do the math.

Visit my team at burnlounge.com/ryandigital

soon to be burnlounge.com/wills
On 02/6/06 4:54 PM, Wesley Johnson said:

no
On 02/7/06 9:28 AM, Seth Werkheiser said:

Considering I’m not even allowed to look at the site because I don’t use IE is silly. Even if I could join, Wills, the music won’t play on my iPod… pooey
On 02/7/06 12:42 PM, Wills said:

I use Mozilla to look at the site everyday…just click go to site anyway. This will be fixed once we are out of the beta stage.

As far as not being able to use it on an IPod, that is not true either. Simply load the music from the download directory into your itunes library and it converts into AAC or Ipod format so you can load it.

Granted it is one more step than ITunes, but at least Steve Jobbs isn’t getting one bit of my money. If you become a “Mogul” and buy your own music you get a small percentage back every song. Again this would take about 8,000 songs or so to make your investment back but once other people are in your team all of their sales apply towards your revenue as well.

It is classic MLM and this is the ground floor. It is a good deal.
On 02/13/06 3:14 PM, Not a BurnLounge fan said:

It is classic MLM and this is the ground floor. It is a good deal.

No, this is exactly why it’s a horrible deal. I’ve been to a few “informational” meetings, and the focus was set primarily on recruiting team members, not about the product. In fact, the moderator got a little peaved that I kept asking about the music, as it was quite clear what her agenda was.

The golden rule in MLM, is, and has always been: If the product takes a back seat to recruitment, run! Burnlounge will be just like Janglefish…all the $$$ will be made in recruitment, and after 18 months the lower half of the pyramid will be left holding the bag. Shameless.
On 02/15/06 4:19 PM, jaimie said:

Thanks for summing up the program so nicely. I haven’t joined though ALL my friends are convinced they’re going to be millionaires, and I’m going to be left feeling sorry I didn’t join up, but you’re right. EVERYONE is TOTALLY focused on the pyramid part of this program, and NOT the product. I didn’t know what I didn’t like about this whole new business opportunity until I read your post. Thanks!
On 02/15/06 8:39 PM, Seth Werkheiser said:

Excellent, excellent - great comments here. MLM is horrible, since exponential growth is near impossible.
On 02/20/06 3:13 PM, Ed Schultz said:

Burnlounge will soon become a house hold name. Songs downloaded from Burnlounge can be played on an apple IPOD, it just takes a few extra steps……
(1)do a Burnlounge download (save!!) to windows media player and let the song play for at least 10 seconds in order to acquire the license, (2) burn the song(s) to a CD and (3) rip the song(s) on the CD into the Itunes software and load on to the apple IPOD as you normally do. My daughter has placed quite a few burnlounge downloads on her apple IPOD.

Got questions about Burnlounge?? ask me at edbo@alltel.net or go to http://www.burnlounge.com/edsmusicdownloads or http://www.edsmusicdownloads.com Cheers!!!
On 02/20/06 9:58 PM, Jon Shell said:

Songs downloaded from Burnlounge can be played on an apple IPOD, it just takes a few extra steps……
(1)do a Burnlounge download (save!!) to windows media player and let the song play for at least 10 seconds in order to acquire the license, (2) burn the song(s) to a CD and (3) rip the song(s) on the CD into the Itunes software and load on to the apple IPOD as you normally do. My daughter has placed quite a few burnlounge downloads on her apple IPOD.

yeah, that sure is a few. so how is this better than iTunes? i just don’t see it.
On 02/25/06 2:57 AM, Mat said:

Yep classic MLM. You treat it like a business you get paid like a business you treat it like a hobby it pays you like a hobby.
On 02/25/06 10:00 PM, Amanda said:

I LOVE GOOD CHARLOTTE. AND I think ou are all STUPID!!!!!
On 02/25/06 10:01 PM, Amanda said:

I LOVE JOEL!
On 02/25/06 10:01 PM, Amanda said:

I LOVE BENJI!
On 02/25/06 10:03 PM, Amanda said:

AND I Agree with sean cannon. CUSE GC ROX!!!!!!!
On 02/25/06 10:07 PM, Amanda said:

And just so people know I only came here becuse I was looking for stuff about GOOD CHARLOTTE even Know I all ready know all most everything about them. I guess Im just bored.
On 02/25/06 10:09 PM, Amanda said:

Even know I dont care what u people think. but like I said Im bored
On 02/25/06 10:24 PM, mikey said:

keep on commenting please…
On 03/1/06 1:44 PM, kevin said:

i know a bit about burnlounge. as a person at a record label- i find it to be an excellent and unique concept for selling music and getting artists paid better than the iTunes model. THAT is why its better than iTunes– because the artists make more money. Also, there is a funciton of the site that allows music lovers to share information about what they like with other users. its more community oriented, and that’s how independent artists get their music heard, through word of mouth.

the MLM part is even logical and looks like a good way to go. It really just comes down to being about creative marketing of the concept. The reason it has that smelly MLM everyone-gets-rich feel is that of course it is going to attract people who know their way around sales how-to books and spew that kind of stuff. Just because someone speaks to you at a seminar with some hearltess drivel about getting rich, doesn’t mean that the guys who conceived the concept intended them to feed it to you that way.

I’m signing up today.
On 03/1/06 2:43 PM, carl jr. said:

what label are you at? don’t be so vague and maybe we’ll believe you
On 03/1/06 2:49 PM, Jay said:

BurnLounge is really a global diet pill pyramid scheme!
On 03/1/06 3:17 PM, Sean Cannon said:

oh no, i just want everyone to know that i don’t really think that “yOu aLL SuX!!!!!11!11!!!! gOoD ShaRLottE RuLz!!!1!!!11one!!!!!!!111!!!!!!” i’m pretty sure that you all know that, but someone did happen to make the mistake of not recognizing satire.
On 03/1/06 3:19 PM, Wesley Johnson said:

the spam diet OHHHHH
On 03/1/06 6:28 PM, Seth Werkheiser said:

No idea what he said, but right on.
On 03/2/06 7:49 PM, uhiuhi said:

yeah cause dat grown ass man crew be runnin dat shit in austin…
On 03/2/06 10:49 PM, Ed S said:

WELL SAID KEVIN (on march 1)….

Burnlounge… A Geometric Shape?

Hmmmmmm, why would the likes of 4 major labels (Sony/BMG, Universal, EMI and Warner Music Group as well as hundreds of independent labels) get involved in a geometric shape?? :)

Rock and Roll

http://www.edsmusicdownload.com
On 03/6/06 10:58 PM, Brad said:

If anyone knows anything about distribution and music, then they will understand why BurnLounge is going to be HUGE!! The artists, labels and fans love it and get it. Get paid to promote music, how cool is that? This model will create massive sales of units. It’s a new form of retail. Pyramid scheme? Hardly!! Why are the major labels involved then? This company has it all and will dominate the market place. All busineses are built in a pyramid. Most people don’t realize this, just think about it. Why support Itunes? They don’t give back to the consumer, BurnLounge does! Some of the biggest bands in the world are in BurnLounge. Stop wasting your time and Get In!!
On 03/7/06 12:24 PM, Carl said:

You are also forgeting movies, tv shows, equipment and sporting events. This will be one of the best things for all music fans and indy artist. I dont know what meeting some people are going to but the music has never taking a back seat. And dont forget that you build your team big so that you can sell more music. Interested go to http://www.burnlounge.com/melaniehall
On 03/7/06 1:43 PM, uhiuhi said:

I want to see the burnloungers start throwing down with each other. Ed…you better tell Carl to back da fuck up off of yo koolaid.
On 03/7/06 2:00 PM, Seth Werkheiser said:

yea, there’s only so many Buzzgrinder readers you can reach here! haha
On 03/7/06 6:21 PM, Ed S said:

uhiuhi: Burnlounge is all about teamwork and leadership. Burnloungers are all working together to change the music world as we know it today!

Come on guys, have an open mind and give burnlounge a look, it has changed my life and it could change yours……

If you have ever dreamed at being in the right place at the right time, Congratulations, Burnlounge has arrived.

Kevin, Brad, Carl…….10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition, we have lift off, Burnlounge is climbing high!!!!

Seth, I think you are under-estimating the power of Buzzgrinder!!

Rock and Roll and Yeeeeeeehaw.

http://www.edsmusicdownloads.com
On 03/7/06 8:11 PM, Ken said:

Why is everyone getting down on Burnlounge? Burnlounge music can be played on any MP3 player except the IPOD!(Except the 1 extra step) Ask your self why can’t ITunes music be played on any other MP3 Player? Can you say MONOPOLIZE? It not going to work now that all the artist, labels, fans and the world see what Mr. Jobbs is trying to do!
On 03/7/06 8:31 PM, JOT said:

Why are some of you so hostile about Burnlounge?
On 03/7/06 11:05 PM, Brad said:

http://www.BurnMusicHere.com
On 03/8/06 6:18 AM, Ed S said:

brad, carl…

check out my “lead capture page” at http://www.edsmusicdownloads.com (burnlounge) and let me know if you want some help in doing this…

edbo@alltel.net
On 03/8/06 8:36 AM, Jon Shell said:

ahem… “MONOPOLIZE.”
On 03/8/06 9:00 AM, Wesley Johnson said:

Why are some of you so hostile about Burnlounge?

because their are about 70 comments on this thread and the majority of them are commercials for peoples personal stores
On 03/8/06 9:01 AM, Wesley Johnson said:

do any of yall watch laguna beach?
On 03/8/06 9:43 AM, Jeremie said:

i’ve never seen so many canned responses in my life, seth can you just delete this as some sort of comment spamming/advertising, not a single pro burnlounge post looks legit.

….and post 69 lmao
On 03/8/06 11:25 AM, uhiuhi said:

Laguna Beach? Like hells yeahs!!!!11!!!
On 03/8/06 11:28 AM, uhiuhi said:

ok ed…ill join your ranks…but first…

…you must cut down the biggest tree in the forest with…

…a herring!!!
On 03/8/06 5:55 PM, Heywood Jablowme said:

Ummm…have you turds ever heard of peer to peer progs like limewire or bittorrent. Why would I, or anyone I know pay for music when we can get it for free.

“you can’t bypass the system when we created it.”
On 03/10/06 8:26 PM, Craigger White said:

“This will be one of the best things for all music fans and indy artist. I dont know what meeting some people are going to but the music has never taking a back seat.”

Very interesting sentences. And it’s spelled “indie,” shitbag.
On 03/15/06 7:55 PM, df said:

you can download music from my website to an ipod by first saving it to cd then uploading from cd to your ipod
On 03/15/06 11:02 PM, uhiuhi said:

so we’ve heard…

df, i recommend finding another vagina, this ones already been stretched by ed, ken, kevin, brad, and carl…
On 03/17/06 4:39 PM, Crusher said:

The revolution is here and it is Burn Lounge. Let the people who dont get it yet talk, cause thats all they ever will be doing while we are changing the way the world downloads music, tv shows, ring tones, and how fans support the real artists, who are out there, playing music for themselves and not because someone is telling them what to play.

I get to do all that AND make money, new friends, and be on the cutting edge of the music industry? Hmmm…

Anyone who gets it; Rock N Roll! Come check out my site
Anyone who wants to get it; come on! Be a part of the revolution!

http://www.burnlounge.com/digitaldownloaddepot
On 03/18/06 8:50 PM, O'Malley said:

Are you guys selling music or just the opportunity to sell music? How much much music have you sold? You plan to get rich making a nickel per song from your friends? And $0.02 per song from their friends? Do the math.

Lots of interesting burnlounge info here: http://burnlounge.proboards92.com/index.cgi
On 03/19/06 8:11 PM, MoJo said:

Yo heywood….cause you are a stinkin rotten theif.yA lOSER
On 03/20/06 10:54 AM, cool guy said:

i hate joel madden
On 03/23/06 2:44 PM, Anna said:

i hate cool guy
On 03/23/06 2:44 PM, Anna said:

i love Joel Madden!
On 03/23/06 2:45 PM, Anna said:

i love every1 in GC!
On 03/26/06 6:37 PM, Tracy Goguen said:

Hi omg i love joel u r soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo HOT
On 03/27/06 12:43 PM, Brad said:

This model is all about setting up points of distribution and selling music and not stealing it! There are over 17,000 Burnlounge retailer’s across the country. This means we all are selling music we love and getting paid for it. Then you show a friend or someone this concept and the GET IN, and you make overrides on that as well. Itunes doens’t pay you or anyone, BurnLounge does. So those of you who want music for free, I can show you how you can “get it for free legally” and get paid at the same time! Now are you interested? Call 1800-242-0363 Ext. 2876. You will be glad you did.
On 03/27/06 9:17 PM, AO said:

To O’Malley who asked if anyone had sold any music. I would like to know the same thing. I signed up for burnlounge, but the only person who has bought any music from my site is me. I’m not ready to jump the burnlounge ship yet, but some of the concerns and comments I’ve read on this thread are things that I’ve thought of too. Only time will tell.
On 04/3/06 3:37 PM, Anthony said:

It only costs about $30 to $450 to join. If you can’t risk that, then you’re probably not the type of person who takes business risks anyway.
BurnLounge may or may not work out. But if it does, the payout could be great, so long as you put work into it. It’s not a get-rich scam. Also, it’s not MLM because you can easily make more money then the people above you.
Name me one successful company that does not structure their salesforce in a network marketing, multi-level marketing, or pyramid type of structure. Microsoft does it through it’s partners. And so does your favorite Apple company.
If you don’t want to make money in this business, then it’s simple…don’t get in. I’ll be happy to share with you more on how it can be done whether you sign in on my store or someone elses. http://www.ShopNBurn.com or email at Sales@ShopNBurn.com.
On 04/3/06 4:25 PM, Wesley Johnson said:

burnlounge is like a music industry dingleberry!
On 04/4/06 5:18 PM, don said:

Thanks for the informative post. I was trying to find out the scoop on these guys. I think I’d rather be making music and art than recruiting people to sell it through some kind of scheme.
Regards,
Don
On 04/5/06 5:34 AM, joe merk said:

I am an independent music artist, I have 3 CD`S that I have recorded. I am also an Apple user ( Logic ) for recording.
I have a burnlounge store, Why? Because $444.90 is alot less expensive than what it was going to cost to have my CD`s produced and have the whole package ready for sale. I have had my store for just over two weeks and I have already made my money back. I`m not trying to get rich. I just found it a great way to distribute my music. If I make money Great! If not, I haven`t lost anything, and I had a good time.
I guess Ted Nugent, Gene Simmons, Bon Jovi, Tony Stewart, Dale Jr, Jeff Gordon, and Rusty Wallace are all idiots for getting involved.
Y`know I really like Apple. But so what! Apple has lost to microsoft before, and it could happen again.
One more thing, Someone better tell those billion dollar companies like MaryKaye, Shakley, Avon, etc… that they are a scam and they can`t sustain their growth because the math just doesn`t work.
Those who say it can`t be done should get out of the way of those that are doing it!
thanks for letting me spew!
joe
On 04/8/06 9:15 AM, kris said:

hey ur da coolest 2 eva hit this earth!!!….lol…..buh byee
On 04/8/06 9:16 AM, kris said:

joel is like the best guy u’ll eva (my friend told me that….lol….
On 04/8/06 9:19 AM, kris said:

:):):):):):):):):):)
On 04/8/06 2:37 PM, Crockett said:

Wow, that’s some interesting reading folks. Diversity is what makes America great. Some thoughts on what I’ve read here and learned as a new burnlounger…During beta mode .9 the software developed by the Burnlounge executives (read http://www.yourburnteam.com to see that the most powerful names in music and business in the last 10-20 years have modeled this company)is simply amazing.
The push right now is for retailers over music, no denying that. Why? The basic concept of Burnlounge is to develop a worldwide distribution network. The negative comments above simply tell me these folks haven’t read anything about the company (small minds make small money). The public launch for Burnlounge Worldwide will happen in June in Las Vegas. Between now and then, the push is to set up as many distributorships as possible. When the public announcement is made, version 1.0 will be released. Watch for it, it will be everywhere. MTV, Rolling Stone magazine, etc. Billboard magazine did a piece on Burnlounge board members BEFORE it even opened the doors, just on the power of the board members and the BILLIONS of dollars they have made for their respective companies in the past. Version 2.0 will be released sometime this Fall ‘06. Pyramids are illegal, it refers to “frontloading” product, whether the rep sells it or not doesn’t matter. MLM is simply a distribution method. Great post regarding all business being MLM. WalMart has a corporate headquarters, then they have distributorships all over the place, they’re called “stores”. Sorry couldn’t resist overstating the obvious. Burnlounge never “frontloads” any product, the user gets it when they want it by clicking download now. BonFire IM is another segment of Burnlounge, developed souly to stimulate like minded chat groups who like similar music, and give them a forum to share with each other. The core of the business is music lovers sharing music. Read about the company before dealing out random uninformed comments folks. If you consider yourself intelligent with a meaningful post, then be educated on what you are commenting on. Otherwise it’s no better than a little kid saying he hates broccoli cause it looks funny, puhleeze! This is the Microsoft version of ITunes. Bill Gates himself owns a Burnlounge store, not as owner of the company, but as a retailer like the rest of us. He seems fairly smart about money and business, I consider that a strong validation!

More on the focus of retailers over product early on: If you read the business plan thouroughly as I have (hey, I was skeptical too, but open minded and willing to investigate), you’ll find that bonuses are only earned with SALES OF PRODUCT quotas being met by your entire team-every month! Alex Arnold is an advocate of the music, the artists, and the fans.

Artist like the one above love it too. Why? They can submit their CD to Burnlounge and within 2 weeks it will be approved and released for sale on all Burnlounge stores, now over 20,000 strong and growing daily. More? The artist gets 70% of the money for each sale, not 5-10% or whatever the record companies would normally pay out. And like he mentioned above, they don’t have to print CDs, reduced overhead. Again geared toward promoting the artists! They are focusing on niche genres, international music, out of print, hard to find, etc. Keeping good music from dissappearing and promoting good music that otherwise will get little or zero press.

Imagine having your band doing gigs and instead of printing CDs and hauling them around, you just pass out cards with your store link on it and give them to your fans to download from your store. AND, they can get their friends to download the music too, without having to find your CDs at a gig.

The motto of Burnlounge is “Music for the people, by the people”. Remember 8 tracks? Cassette tapes? Where are they now? History, like CDs DVD’s will be very soon. Digital is where the world is going-The Digital Age. Alex Arnold and his team are simply visionaries, check their bios for yourself on http://www.yourburnteam.com! They were visionaries 20 years ago and have made their companies Billions leading people to those visions. Alex is speaking at HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL on the coming Digital Age. Think the folks at Harvard invited him for shits and giggles? No, he is a world renowned business genius. Any of you take a company from $20 million a year to $20 million a MONTH? He did. Successful people follow other successful people. Why do rich people keep getting richer? Cause they follow success with an open mind and NEVER pass on a sound opportunity. Now he’s spearheaded a company that instead of spending $50 million a year on advertising, lets the “people on the streets” keep that money while promoting the concept. I like that idea personally.

For the meeting folks who didn’t feel good about the speaker:great post #48 above: “Just because someone speaks to you at a seminar with some hearltess drivel about getting rich, doesn’t mean that the guys who conceived the concept intended them to feed it to you that way.” Couldn’t be said better. Be real people. Yes there are folks who will always focus on money instead of the business. Get 100 people in a room and you’ll have 100 different dispositions on as many subjects. The bottom line here is what Burnlounge ask all prospects to do. Learn the background of the board members, read the mission statement and business plan of the company (not just the money making side but all of it), learn the future growth plans for the company (again all of it, not just the money part) AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF WITH ALL INFO BEING CONSIDERED. Don’t ever let someone else “talk you into” Burnlounge or any business investment for that matter. That’s idiotic! Read, learn, evaluate, and decide for yourself. Don’t think it’s for you? Cool, don’t join. Want to sit around and try to poke holes into it? You’re wasting your own time. Burnlounge will be worldwide, 50 countries in 20 months. OUTSIDE predictions from market analists on Burnlounge are predicting that within ONE year, these 20,000+ retailers will grow to be 5 MILLION+ retailers. Um, yeah, those first 20,000 will be rich, including me thankfully. Wonder where the folks who got into Amway during the first 6 months are about now? Sitting on their private island somewhere in the tropics I imagine. See I thought Amway was dried up years ago, but in reality they did something like $40 Billion with a B in worldwide revenue last year. These board members of Burnlounge have all the resources in the world, literally, at their disposal. Growth is not a question here, it is happening now and will continue to happen. Join or don’t join, the choice is yours.

Just make some effort in posting an informed message at least, all I’m hearing here is “I think broccoli sucks cause it looks funny!”

And yes, it won’t hurt my feelings at all if you visit my store for music and all things digital in the very near future, or to join my team. http://www.burnlounge.com/crockettdigital

Have a nice day!
On 04/10/06 8:30 AM, velyta said:

aguante gc gc gc gc gc gc gc gc gc g c gc gc gc gc gc
On 04/10/06 8:31 AM, velyta said:

i love joel madden the best
On 04/10/06 11:56 AM, Wesley Johnson said:

man thatd dude typed a lot of crap
On 04/10/06 12:00 PM, Wesley Johnson said:

wow. i just typed burnlounge in to google and we are the third or fourth result. also, typing joel madden in to google, we are the third or fourth from the bottom on the second page.
On 04/11/06 7:41 AM, Jordan said:

They are focusing on niche genres, international music, out of print, hard to find, etc. Keeping good music from dissappearing and promoting good music that otherwise will get little or zero press.

well if that’s what they are doing we should all just download “soul seek” and get hard to find, out of print, good music on our own FOR FREE!!!
On 04/12/06 3:40 AM, KC said:

OK there’s one MAJOR flaw to burnlouge….every proponent talks about BL being a way to distribute music worldwide. In fact Brad a couple of dozen posts up said there were 17,000 ’stores’ nationwide. As if the term nationwide or worldwide even applies in cyberspace….

It’s all about exposure. the more BL is in your face, the more apt someone is gonna buy from it. They could be selling anything but music is like selling candy to babies. I’ll be hard pressed to find ANY indie artists on most BL stores.

of course the majors are in on it….they’re the only ones guaranteed $$$, .70 to be exact. As an indy, you’re only guaranteed .50/sale. now if a major is entitled to .70 just because they have a back catalogue, where’s that .20 that the indy artist is supposed to be getting? I would guess burnlounge, Looks like burnlounge is a label now as well.

At the end of the day, sadly, like the REAL music industry, it’s all about hustling. It’s not about music at all. the focus is on everything but the music, meaning there’s a bunch of disposable product out there. Good luck Burnloungers, I hope you all burn.
On 04/13/06 1:22 AM, John Green said:

Stay away!!

http://www.indiemusician.com/music_business/2006/02/burnlounge_ponz.html has info you will find helpful.
On 04/13/06 7:29 AM, kuskus said:

i lovvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee buzzgrinder
On 04/14/06 10:08 PM, Crockett said:

#100 reference link is nothing less than cynical opinion mixed with a few compliments to Burnlounge. Don’t believe in uber succesful people (BL board) being able to do it again? Alex Arnold is simply working on building his THIRD Billion dollar company. Believe in nothing and you get nothing. You probably think it’s going to rain every day when you wake up. Don’t rain on our parade, we’re makin’ money whether you agree with it or believe it or not. While you type your cynycisms, we’re cashing our checks. Your loss. History will tell…
On 04/15/06 1:45 AM, uhiuhi said:

#102…haha…dumbass…are you cashing checks now…huh? huh? eheh didn’t think so. You’d be better off selling yourself on the streets…
On 04/15/06 11:14 AM, Northland » Burnlounge.com Review said:

[…] I was a bit shocked to find a blog post saying the site sticks to WMA files and does not sell files that are compatible with iPods. If that is true, then the setup slaps a huge limitation on who would buy the files. I recently bought a basic MP3 player, and I bought a Sandisk one so that it would be easy to use on my Linux machines. It plays WMA files, but I realize that 98% of the other music fans are out there buying iPods. […]
On 04/15/06 7:32 PM, Cowboybill said:

This has been a very interesting read. I would just add a couple of points. Starting with the last post.

The 98% of other fans out there buying IPODs only represent a small portion of the “youth” group, and they are buying IPODS because of a very successful advertising campaign as well as it being the first in the game. Remember, the IPOD is just a piece of equipment. When 8tracks first came out (yeah I know most of you don’t know what that is) they were the very popular for a while. Then they got replaced with something else. Same thing when CDs replaced records (those round plastic things with grooves). Post #72 above by some skank thief named Heywood said why should he pay for music when he can get it free?

Again, only a small portion of the world has gone digital at this point, mostly the young. The young usually lead the rest of the world in changes in music format. But don’t be deceived, the rest of the world is going to come along too. And when they do, they are not going to be satisfied with ripping off artists with P2P ripoff programs that cheat the artist and come with all kinds of problems like trojans and viruses. They are going to want to feel secure in their purchase. And they are going to want it SIMPLE.

There is going to be a lot of money made in the coming digital revolution. There is no reason to let it all be made by big companies like Apple. Burn Lounge seems to offer a way for the little guy to get in on the action.

No I have not joined BL yet. I’ve been looking into it for the last couple of days since I got my first invitation to look at it. Now I can’t wait to sign up. There are several levels of participation. Not everyone is destined to be a mogul. Some might want to participate at the fan level to promote their favortie band, others might want to build a team under them to help them earn FREE LEGAL music, and some will want to look at the business opportunity which is a little more pricey, but nothing compared to the cost of other business oportunities. (I realize that does not apply to most of the skeptics on this thread)

Take a clue from the actual artist who posted up above. It will help artists distribute their music in a way that was not POSSIBLE before.

Too bad I don’t have a BL site to refer you to yet. But you can look at my goats on my URL.
On 04/17/06 11:23 AM, Triniti said:

Hello all Im a producer and Engineer in Atlanta Ga
I work with SLAMJAMZ RECORDS/PUBLIC ENEMY
I am also a burnlounge Retailer.
the reason ppl are so skeptical is because they what I call linear income ppl they only understand this way of making money these type of ppl in most cases work for someone else untill retierment. If they do get their own busines its all based on what they do.
Now so many time I hear ppl say oh thats a pyramid let me ask you what is a pyramid structure.
Did you know that the place where you work is a true pyramid in the fact that you will never earn more than the CEO of that company.
Where in burnlounge everyone has the same options to make money in the same way. 1 + 1 = 1 no matter who adds it up!
Now ppl are so consumed with Itunes and most of the ppl that speak of Itunes dont own an ipod and the ones that do dont like it much because of the upgrading process or repair cost.What about all the other music that cannot work on the ipod.
Somone said they could go use limeware and get the music for free
ok sure but can you place that music on an ipod? Sure you can just as you can with music from BL
it does require and extra step. this not the Fault of Burnlounge or anyone else but apple. Now everyone Glorifies apple so what I did for a certain Artist I said ok I went to Itunes I got one song from them and right after I asked them can you tell me how much you made right now .
They said no
I said well if you was in BL you would have made at least 50 cents and you would know it right now and be paid in a week! Also Apple faces so many other issues that alot of folks dont know.
Burnlounge is real and not a scam
I have everyone on my team from regular everyday ppl from superstars
I think the ones that speak bad of burnlounge do not understand it
But the reality is this..Because of BL I have no clock to punch
I wake up and money is in the bank literaly alot of times from me doing nothing (someone sold music)Check this I even bought music from a friend of mine her music is on burnlounge “Eclectic Colors of R and I was not looking to make money off getting her music I just wanted it
and I ended up making 50 cents from buying her music. She made her cut and I even got a cut that was cool
Well I laugh cause most ppl dont know that Bill Gates went to Steven Spielberg for an investment for MS and was turned down and probly for skeptical reasons and well now he kicks himself..I bet he feels reall dumb right now!
Well My partners are Rick Dees and Carson Daily and A slew of other succesfull ppl.If you dont see it thats fine. There will be those that become rich from the sales of Entertainment downloads and those that watch it happen and help us get more weathy so Hey its on you Join us. You have a choice you can buy from someone or buy from yourself the choice is yours.
http://www.zellymusic.com
http://www.slamjamz.com
On 04/18/06 8:38 PM, Dmitry said:

Hi
To write the letter, it is necessary …
On 04/20/06 7:49 AM, Crockett said:

I thought ingnorance was bliss, the ignorant here seem angry, lol. Poor uhiuhi #103, dialogue of a 12 yr old, we appreciate your efforts to hang with the adults. But you shouldn’t call others dumbass, unless you are looking in the mirror. I already stated the money is coming in, Reading Is Fundamental. 5 weeks, just over $4000 uhiuhi. Yes, we are CASHING OUR CHECKS WEEKLY, RIGHT NOW. IS THIS CLEAR ENOUGH FOR YOU? IF NOT GET YOUR PARENTS TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND. Sorry, I’m new to working with special needs folks. Honk Honk, the short bus is there to pick you up for school uhiuhi, don’t miss it, you need all the help you can get. PS-try not to insult others just because you don’t understand something. Off to the bank sucka…
On 04/20/06 9:02 AM, Wesley Johnson said:

i know we get great google results off of this but this thread is screaming for deletion so more important things stay active
On 04/20/06 10:25 AM, uhiuhi said:

yes please
On 04/20/06 6:17 PM, uhiuhi said:

So basically you only download from burnlounge if you’re cool and rebelious like Joel Madden? ‘Cause itunes is sooo conforming to society’s standards…
On 04/22/06 3:55 AM, Mark said:

Check out the site and watch the commercial. It’s a no brainer to get in while it’s young. This is the next EXCEL!

http://www.burnlounge.com/2mmusic

More information:

Voice On Demand - 620-294-1200 ext #1
Rick Dees Validation Call - 877-284-5749

If you have questions, submit them through my store.
On 04/22/06 8:57 PM, Paije said:

do u have sumfin agenst Joel Madden?!?!?!?! geez, he was juz bein nice & u had 2 go & be a dickweed & say shit ’bout him!!! fux sake! he is a hot, nice, sweet person-and he is in the BEST band in the wurld!!! plus he & benji are rock gods, and they r fuckin sxc!!!! if u dont lyk his music or woteva, then maybe u should crawl back in2 the hole u came out of & listen 2 ur pop or hip hop or woteva shit it is dat u listen 2!!!!!
urs sincerely,
Joel Madden FAN!!
On 04/23/06 6:43 AM, Andy said:

During the past few weeks I’ve been approached by more than a few clients regarding the BurnLounge site. Then a friend of the family asked me to look into this business and let them know what I thought. I even went in to listen to her boss give a sales pitch to me. I kept asking him how it wasn’t really a pyramid scheme as it focused on making him money by making me a Mogul (with the ‘university package’). He couldn’t give an answer.

BurnLounge is focused entirely on making money from recruiting distributors. If you were focused on making money by selling music, that would be different. Definitely a scam, and no, I sincerely doubt anyone with a Mogul account is going to admit to that because it’s in their best interest to promote their so-called business (of recruiting more distributors).

I considered BurnLounge only in the sense that I might sell this to other musicians. That would be a valuable service, if those musicians were able to upload their art and music to a wide audience with little hassle. I believe that’s not currently the case. Second to that, of course, would be selling the music. But you’d have to sell roughly 3,000 songs per month to break even - not considering other fees associated, and taxes. When you’re encouraging your friends (ie, you’re ‘network’) to become ‘music mogules’ how do you suppose you’re going to all sell 3,000 songs per month or more?

When you read what other folks have to say about BurnLounge, you can pretty much group them into two categories: Folks who are pointing out the obvious, and folks who are trying to sell you on becoming a distributor. Check the URL they are promoting.

Also, consider the massive fees BurnLounge is going to have to pay for bandwidth, maintenance, programming, legal fees, etc. You’re looking at a minimum of $500/mo per server from Rackspace, and that only gives you like 20GB/mo traffic. They’ll have to add quite a few servers and will use up quite a bit of bandwidth when they go ‘public’. Those costs add up quite a bit, and that’s also why iTunes just breaks even. They make money off the iPods, not the iTunes (but someday they will make money directly from iTunes).

Also, I read through BurnLounge’s agreement/contract. They basically state that you can’t advertise your so-called store in any other way than they spell out. I’ve seen lots of advertisements on myspace, but they don’t really conform to what I’ve seen on BurnLounge’s agreement. The only thing you’re really selling is mogul packages, not music.

Ugh, it’s a stupid pyramid scheme. Don’t act now, supplies aren’t limited, experts don’t agree, it won’t change your life, it’s not easy, it’s not fast, it’s not incredible, it’s not once in a lifetime: It’s a great scam to sucker suckers into suckering other suckers. -sucksucksucksucksucksucksuck-
On 04/23/06 6:22 PM, velu said:

i love gc and joel madde
On 04/24/06 9:17 PM, Katie said:

I think the main point here should be…

The artist gets TONS more money from the sales of their music when it’s bought through Burnlounge than the would through any record company or iTunes. Yes, it’s true.
On 04/24/06 10:20 PM, Wesley Johnson said: