Lupe,
I know you probably get sick of seeing all of these posts on all of your pages, that is if you even have time to read them, but I would like to talk to you about your CD.
Pushing back the release date of your CD is a mistake.
The first thing that must be considered is who you are affecting with your decision.
You are not punishing the people who leaked your music trust me. Those are not your real fans. Your real fans are the ones who have been religiously awaiting the arrival of your new CD. The bootleggers and crooks are still going to be bootleggers and crooks at the end of the day.
The next thing you have to look at is why people bootleg your music.
You have fans that are some of the most hardcore, diehard, wait in line for days on end kinda fans i have ever seen. If it wasn't some crook who was stealing your music to make a buck, then it was some kid who literally just COULDN'T wait for your CD to come out. You could probably never realize the effect your music has on your FANS since you haven't seen it through our eyes. Everytime I listen to your music i feel like not only do i want to help support you, but i want to do something more. Ya know, not only do I want to join the club, but I want to hold an office. And once again, assuming the guy who took your music ISN'T some common crook, he is prolly just another one of your fans who just wants to help show you to one of their friends.
Finally you have to look at why you make your music.
Like you said in your letter, stealing your music would be comparable to stealing your child. I know you have caught a lot of grief about that statement, but I completely see where you are coming from with that one. For us as fans it is so obvious that your music is really like a kid to you. With the amount of personality you put into each track it may as well be your kid. And that is why people will never ever stop buying your music.
The big picture that you must realize is that people bootleg your music because they love you as an artist. Most people who bootleg your music do so because your music is amazing, not because it is not worth paying for, and to the people who think its not worth paying for (the real crooks and bootleggers) your pushing back the release of the album means nothing to them and they really aren't feeling the punishment. It is fans like me, the true fans whom, upon your request, did not even listen to "I'm Beaming" that are the ones who are really feeling the punishment. So to me it is unfair.
It's like sitting in class behaving, and being punished for the actions of one kid.
If any of this seems off-base or erroneous please just let me know.
Now Lupe, regardless of how everything goes down, I am still gonna be a huge fan. I am still gonna buy your CD, and you will still be the greatest of all time in my eyes, but on that note, please just do your real fans a favor and release the CD. If it helps any, I will buy your CD 10 times, to support what you are doing.
