You know, I had assumed that "Waveform" = "WAV", but that's a really good point.

As for the mp3 return, it's a pretty basic service to offer. Not everybody knows how to do the conversion themselves, and it's possible that a mastering house might have access to better-sounding codecs.

[quote][B][SIZE=3]still need help
[/SIZE][/B]
still need official help recording my mix tape
I dont need flauging people nor wanna be engineers
'm not asking for much record mike mix
is it realyy that hard up here?
email me only if you are serious
i rap sing write
i'm close to [B][anchor city][/B]
dont just respond to me to make ya self feel good

lets get it asap[/quote]

This poster has been going at it for about 2 weeks now, or at least I assume so: there's never any contact info beyond the CL proxy email and no names are ever mentioned. But every few days another post goes up with similar pleas for help with the mixtape.

I'm not really a "rap guy", but I responded to the first ad myself, just to see what was up. Not only did I not get a response, but I'm assuming he's referring to guys like me in the "wannabe" comment (I am always upfront about my part-timer status because it can affect deadlines). 100 points to the first person who correctly guesses how much money this guy was offering in the first ad, too...

Here's the funny thing: it's definitely not "that hard up" in my area. My records show 23 distinct advertisers of services in a single week on CL, and that's just limiting things to studios/engineers posting on CL. I don't advertise, and I still found his ad and responded.

The lesson here is to present yourself much better than this guy so people take you seriously, and then maybe think of finding collaborators like a job-interview process. At some point, you just have to go with your best prospective hire. If none of the applicant's are what you were hoping for, then it's entirely possible you haven't made the position desirable enough to find somebody good.

[quote][B][SIZE=3]**Are you the best RAPPER or SINGER ALIVE? RECORD YOUR NEXT HIT HERE**[/SIZE][/B]


WELCOME TO [B][name redacted][/B] WHERE NOTHING BUT STARS RECORD! WE HAVE THE HOTTEST RECORDING BOOTH WHERE YOU CAN LAY DOWN YOUR VOCALS OR SPIT A HOT SIXTEEN! WITH AMAZING PARAPHERNALIA SO YOUR RECORD WILL BE NOTHING BUT THE BEST, HOTTEST, CRAZIEST RECORD OUT! AND WHEN YOU FINISH ENJOY OUR WONDERFUL LOUNGE. SIT BACK...RELAX AND LISTEN TO YOUR MUSIC! THIS IS JUST PERFECT AND WITH DEALS LIKE A 6 HOUR RECORDING BLOCK FOR $250.00!!! SMH RIDICULOUS! FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT [B][site redacted][/B] or contact us at [B][phone redacted][/B] [/quote]

Okay, all caps? Check.

[I]Except in the title where you could probably get away with it[/I]? Check.

Hype language that borders on absurd and meaningless? Check.

But I think my favorite parts of this ad are the subtleties. Like how "NOTHING BUT STARS RECORD". Are they turning people away left and right? Do they realize that they're referring to their clientele as "nothing" rather than "nobody"?

Is there really a difference between "LAY DOWN YOUR VOCALS" and "SPIT A HOT SIXTEEN"? Doesn't that difference imply that you can either finish your tracks or just do 16 bars of it? To me, that just reads as "Come on down to our studio, where you can finish your work or not! We'll take your money either way!"

The hype language is more forgivable, but there's just something funny to me about promising that each client will have the "THE BEST, HOTTEST, CRAZIEST RECORD OUT": it kind of implies that each project is better than the last one, which in turn kind of implies that they've never done their best because they keep improving. I know that in reality this is kind of how it [I]does[/I] work, but it's not really an idea you want to pervade your advertising hype.

But the [I]best[/I] part of this ad, for me, is referring to your equipment as "PARAPHERNALIA." While they do get some points for the obvious spell-check, [I]nobody[/I] (or "nothing" as the case may be with these guys) uses "paraphernalia" to talk about recording equipment.

I hear that word, and I don't think you're providing me with great mics and awesome acoustics. I think you're trying to sell me bongs.

[QUOTE=Moseph;18559723]
I hear that word, and I don't think you're providing me with great mics and awesome acoustics. I think you're trying to sell me bongs.[/QUOTE]

Hah, exactly what I was thinking

[quote] [SIZE=3][B]§§§§§§ Set it Up Right! (free)[/B][/SIZE]
It's gotta work first!
Need someone to setup/troubleshoot your computer audio recording system?

I have been in the music sound and recording business for more than 25 years, and love setting up well-running systems! [/quote]


Had to share this one. Look at that second line!

Newsflash: [I]everybody[/I] loves setting up a well-running system. You go through the steps, the stuff works like you'd expect it to, all the blinking lights go on/off as expected. It's a pretty satisfying experience.

It's when things [I]don't[/I] go 100% according to plan when people get frustrated. That's when they want and/or need help.

I can't fault this guy for offering to help folks out for free, but at the same time this is a hilarious mistake to me.

[quote]Ask for the cell if you have no email.[/quote]Rest of the ad is okay, but they only give an email address for contact.

See the problem here? If we don't have email, how are we supposed to "Ask for the cell"?

That's kind of like selling software that, once installed, will teach you how to install software. The poster kind of shot himself in the foot with that one.

[QUOTE=Moseph;18686359]Rest of the ad is okay, but they only give an email address for contact.

See the problem here? If we don't have email, how are we supposed to "Ask for the cell"?

That's kind of like selling software that, once installed, will teach you how to install software. The poster kind of shot himself in the foot with that one.[/QUOTE]

I find it such a turn-off when people only list an email address. I love to be able to pick up the phone and sort things out in 5 minutes rather than the multiple day back and forth that goes with emailing.

While I normally agree with you, I'm very much an e-mail person. I feel that I can articulate points and details much better in e-mail. Phone is faster, true, but e-mail can be fast as well, considering everybody has smart phones with e-mail access nowadays.

And another good thing with emailing is that I can just setup a template and shoot it out to 10 different people by making some slight changes. I gotta say that I find that nice.