So ... not too surprised to read the following bits of news.
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/08/14/fulfilled-by-amazon-25-percent-cds-counterfeit/
25% of CDs ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ Are Counterfeit, Major Labels Say
Paul Resnikoff August 14, 2019
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents major labels Sony Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music, has made a stunning discovery. Per RIAA findings, 25 percent of CDs ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ are knock-offs.
“Alarmingly, 25% of the purchased CDs that were ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ were counterfeit,” the group flatly relayed.
Amazon’s ‘Fulfilled’ program allows third-party sellers to reach Amazon customers, with Amazon handling the shipping chores. “With Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you store your products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers, and we pick, pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products,” Amazon explains on its site. “FBA can help you scale your business and reach more customers.”
The 25% claim, which was made after RIAA placed a number of orders on Amazon, eBay, and additional online marketplaces, is accentuated by other alarming statistics.
16 percent of the CDs bought from eBay were found to be counterfeit, as were 11 percent of those bought from Amazon proper. The latter figure is especially shocking, as it indicates that more than 1 out of 10 items shipped by Amazon itself are fake. “A recent sample purchase program found 11% of new CDs offered for sale on Amazon were counterfeit, and 16% of new CDs sold on eBay were counterfeit,” the group relayed.
Also, 100 percent of the CD box sets bought by the RIAA — 40 boxsets on eBay, 32 on AliExpress — were found to be counterfeit.
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https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/08/15/amazon-response-counterfeit-cd/
Amazon Responds to Counterfeit CD Allegations: ‘Counterfeit Is an Age-Old Problem’
Paul Resnikoff August 15, 2019
Yesterday, an investigation by the Recording Industry Association of America found that that 25% of CDs ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ were counterfeit, with 100% of box sets determined to be fake.
“Alarmingly, 25% of the purchased CDs that were ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ were counterfeit,” the RIAA relayed (more details on the group’s investigation here).
Now, Amazon is officially responding in a lengthy statement issued to Digital Music News. The company did not directly address the specific findings of the RIAA’s sting operation, but pointed to broader steps to combat counterfeit products.
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2 comments:
On the one hand the RIAA has a history of exaggerating threats and I would take their figures with a slight pinch of salt.
On the other Amazon clearly have a problem with fakes, more so on items on which there is likely to be a co-mingled inventory (with some counterfeiters deliberately triggering returns to get hold of genuine items, in addition to using it as a means of selling counterfeit items)
Though I remember buying classical CDs from the amazon marketplace 15 years ago and regularly receiving remaindered stock - so things were never rosy.
yeah ... it's hard to feel like there's a team to root for here on this one.
In the U.S. for remaindered stock it's probably better to go with berkshirerecordoutlet. The delivery time is longer but the prices are lower and I don't recall ever getting a counterfeit from them. I found a copy of Davitt Moroney's magnificent box set of William Byrd's keyboard music that way and an old historical recording of Bartok's 2nd violin concerto, too.
In one respect, though, things are cooler now for guitarists than they were twenty and thirty years ago. We've got more options than just the same cycles of Ponce sonatas and Sor studies and Giuliani sonatas (which is not to say I don't like those). The Matiegka box set is out so folks who want to hear Bohemian classical guitar music can get the Brilliant Classics box set and Matiegka's sonatas are fun.
And it's possible for folks in the US to hear a couple of recordings of the solo guitar music (10 string guitar) of Maurice Ohana.
As ever-same as someone like Norman Lebrecht can make classical music seem at SlippedDisc for classical guitarists it would be hard to think of a better time to be living than right now.
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