Man in England convicted of selling counterfeit LPs

[bashman]

Interesting story from the Guardian newspaper today: "A businessman who made more than £1m selling fake vinyl records was caught after a fan of punk band the Clash complained that the sound quality of an LP he had bought was not as sharp as it should have been." For six years, the 55-year-old man charged up to £35 for albums from bands ranging from the Beatles to Pink Floyd, Nirvana and Amy Winehouse.

Read the full story at https://www.theguardian.com/music/2...om-fake-vinyl-records-caught-out-by-clash-fan

In this case, the Clash lived up to their moniker as "the only band that matters."

 

[merdy]

I'm gonna to play police and thieves,loud and then Sandinista.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2...om-fake-vinyl-records-caught-out-by-clash-fan

 

[tnsilver]

a fan of punk band the Clash complained that the sound quality of an LP he had bought was not as sharp as it should have been

Long live the king! If they'd arrest all the sellers with records I complain about - there would be almost no one left to buy from...

 

[infullview]

Dumb question, how were these "counterfeits" made ? Did they take originals and create a plates from them and then press new vinyl?

 

[merdy]

A friend sent me this picture a long time ago
Now please don't get any ideas

 

[elvi]

Admins. Can we move this/copy this to music forum?
Lots of Discog users there...

( I assume these are out of Russia.. lots of counterfeit products moved through the rus-fed )

 

[gkimeng]

Counterfeits are probably made using conventional mastering and pressing equipment. They're counterfeit because the audio is pirated, probably off a CD or streaming service, and the packaging is copied. Audio quality can vary from utter garbage to pretty close to the real thing.

 

[war2thegrave]

A friend sent me this picture a long time ago
Now please don't get any ideas View attachment 2849977

A single tiny air bubble in either step would
probably tear the diamond right off the cantilever.

 

[Greenie]

I was contacted by trading standards fraud office after buying a record off ebay about 18months ago. He requested photos of sleeve and vinyl to assist him in tracking a seller with many complaints of fake vinyl selling.

Nice to actually have some action taken. Better than the total ignore offered by a certain auction site after I repeatedly reported pirate CDs on sale, the seller and his bad quality goods continued regardless.

 

[oldman54]

I had a fake Mick Jagger tape, back in the day. I have a bbking live at the regal reissue. The lp is good but the cover is crap. Looks like they took pictures of an original one. The back is b/w and looks like crap.

 

[infullview]

Back in the late 70's I purchased what I thought was a legit copy of Stevei Wonder's "Inner Visions" album. It had the same cover art and information on it, but the color was a little washed out. Didn't think much of it at the time, but when I got it home and put it on the table it sounded like shit. All kinds of surface noise, tics and pops - even though the vinyl looked pristine. Here's the thing though, I got the pirated copy from a reputable music store. They took it back and refunded my money, and they were the ones who told me it probably came from Mexico. It was probably the distributor who was dishonest. The record companies had a lot of connections with organized crime back in the day.

 

[TerryMarmite]

Buying extremely popular new reissues on ebay seems sketchy anyway. It's been known for years that some of the Euro/Russian jazz counterfeits sound a bit weak maybe due to originating from a CD. Some of them actually sound amazing however.

Wonder if this guy knew what he was selling. Possibly an honest mistake.

 

[rmeade]

The New Rock 'N' Roll Pirates!
I seem to recall that Britian had a foundational role in pirate radio; Well the pirates are Back!! Where is Philip Seymore Hoffman when you need him? I don't think that original pirate radio sound quality was that good, anyway. Free Radio! Free CDs and Free Vinyl! Wahoo!

Not sure that artists would be happy will all of this.