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Areadeath Records Rip Off

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:19 pm
by jnfernal
It's with great sadness that I declare as follows:

My brother Filippo worked for Areadeath for some years now. Until now a lot of CD, Box Set and re-releases have been produced and distributed all over the world bringing success and positive reviews for Areadeath on the international collector's circle

Unfortunately Wang never paid my brother for the job he has done during the years: he has never seen a single Dollar and - on the contrary, while Wang was counting the money for the selling of the CD's my brother had to pay by his own hands royalties and copyright for each band. He has never been thanked nor even paid a single dollar for his great job. Not only: every cost for royalties and purchasing of rights has to be beared by my brother. We only received 1 free copy for each CD he produced. While Wang was making money, my brother had to bear any cost....he lost thousand of euros and he has never been paid a single cent nor been thanked. In last months Wang simply ignored any request, any email, any question and bands who complained for delay never received any answer from Wang. He's the boss....nobody should bother him. He has to think to money only: any other problem should be forwarded to his minions because it's their duty.

In last times a lot of band complained with Areadeath for delays...my brother had to suffer this situation and Wang never replied (as he's the owner of the label he should keep contact with bands: he was too busy to count money to answer to bands so he preferred to forward any problem to my brother)

This lead to the end of collaboration: my brother spent years, blood, money and tears to make his dream come true and the result is 4 nervous breakdown in less than 3 months that lead him to a sort of vegetative state. I'm worried for him and his health as he lost all of his money and he has a lot of debts to pay because of delays with cd re-releases

Wang simply showed his total disinterest in personal situations. As any chinese boss he feels he has complete power and authority to decide wheter to pay or not his team mates.

Chinese economical system is based on slavery and workers are just bodies to exploit in the hands of greedy bosses. When you read of chinese economical miracle just stop and think for a while: for 1 person who makes money there are thousand who starve to death and are forced to work as modern slaves. Their only right is to remain silent.

Thanx Area death, thanx to led my brother to a vegetative state. Won't forget it.

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:34 pm
by MEXDefenderOfSteel
this information is among the worst i have read about rip offs on this forum....we should take notice about it!

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:39 pm
by ION BRITTON
That's very sad to hear. Hope your brother gets better as soon as possible. Needless to say that they won't see a single penny from me in the future.

Edit: I'm making this sticky so that everyone will know about their policies from now on.

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 7:13 pm
by Warepire
This is just horrible, I don't even know what to say. It is very sad that the Chinese system works like this :(
I will do my best to not support Areadeath and their inhuman treatment of employees.

I wish your brother a speedy recovery.

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 7:36 pm
by Helstar
I don't know what to say. I know Filippo since years and to hear the situation in which he's now is really sad.
I would like to help but I feel powerless too ... damn that idiot, I hope he pays for what he's done, in a way or another :evil:

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:53 pm
by jnfernal
I just hope he can come back to Italy in good shape and start new collaboration with more serious labels. It has been our dreams for years to reprint on CD old bands that we like. I hope he won't give up: just change place and change partners. I told him for years to part away but he was still convinced that - one day or the other - he could see some money after the great job he did. He spent more than 4000 US$ for the last releases (royalties, remastering, interviews...)and never seen one cent back. Just 1 free copy of each release. Of course when it's time to discuss these topics (costs, expenses) Wang disappears and he suddenly pops up again once it's time to sell and cash money for the product. I told him many times and he was still convinced that - sooner or later - he could get what he was promised. In 2007 Wang disappeared to Canada with all the money they got from the first releases...never seen that money anymore plus my brother spent 1 month in jail because there was an investigation about Wang's music shop in Peking. My brother was the only one in there and the police caught him. Needless to say that I had to pay for his release and every additional cost: 1 year of job in China spent in just one day to pay everything, but those thousand euros that my brother made for ADP never went back...Wang spent them in Canada for his own amusement. When Wang came back after few times he acted like nothing happened and kept on promises of sharing great success together....at one point it's also my brother's idiocy. I told him hundred of times to leave him. He loved too much this job to believe that it could bring just to his economical and personal disaster.

Anyway...the story is over now. Just hope that you may appreciate the good job behind every release made until now but there won't be any ADP re-release of old bands in the future except for those already planned: if they will ever be out one day, as we never got any more news about it. We both spent a great time behind each releases and we are proud of each one. There's our (well more his than mine) blood and sweat behind each one. It's a pity that everything ended in shit, but that's life.
Hope we can start again somewhere else, somewhere in time

Thanx to everybody and thanx for the great reviews we got during these last years. It was our life and our dream. Hope we did a good job.

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:14 pm
by The Sentinel
Sickening story. Unfortunately the whole world is filled with this kind of pus.

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:32 pm
by msp
Bloody hell, this is just horrendous.

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:08 pm
by daniel
Terrible, terrible :(

Stonewalling tactics in small metal circles are still on the same level as in big corporations. I don't really have much I can say, it kind of leaves you at a loss for words :/

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:28 pm
by humus
I've dealt with your brother some years ago and he seemed like a nice guy. And ofcourse this is a horrible story to read.
But I need to ask...why did he continue his work when he received no money for years? Was there some kind of contract? And if that is the case, couldn't you try to deal with through the justice system?

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:33 pm
by rumblefist
I always told him that he should run his own stuff by himself when he told me all these situations months ago...
And when he told me foreigners had their bank accounts controlled or something even more revolted i was because all the money that was supposed to be shared with Fil just entered in Wang account and always found excuses not to pay him what was agreed before...

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:04 pm
by jnfernal
Yes......that was another part of the sad story. All the money were forced to finish in Wang's account because China allows foreigners to open a bank account only if they have hundred thousand of dollars. I.e.: only rich people can have a bank account in China.

In the meantime FOAD Records wrote to me complaining that they haven't received the SABBAT Box Set they paid for....it was a coproduction and Wang simply disappeared. The Box Set is on sale somewhere but the coproducer FOAD have never received any news or email from Wang, nor even a single copy of the Box Set (that is already on sale on ADP website). Needless to say that every cost beared by ADP was paid by me and my brother.... fuck Wang, fuck China.....what a bunch of desperate nut brained criminals

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:11 pm
by jnfernal
Needless to say that I find simply pathetic that I have to pay to purchase a copy of tyhe last releases that we have already paid till every cent: Aftermath Box Set and Sabbat box set.

Not only we paid till the very last cent to produce it but now I have also to pay (including delivery cost) to get a copy of each as Filippo didn't even received his usual free copy.....this is China, men......when a chinese approaches you and smiles, don't think they're kind and gentle, don't be fooled by their kind manners. It's just a way to cheat you and use you for their own purposes.

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 6:43 pm
by emperor.zola
damn chinese.... :evil:

Now I can say bye bye to the Dissection CD by ADP either... Fucking wang!

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 6:34 am
by jnfernal
We'll try to see if Aftermath, Stone Vengeance and other planned projects can be carried out with another famous italian label....we'll see, nothing is sure yet