as I often used to visit the EW forums at Northern Sound Source.
My username was Brahms & Liszt (English Cockney rhyming slang for someone who's had a few drinks
In the course of a thread discussing the respective merits of EWQL Silver and GPO, I happened to mention that although I preferred Silver, GPO outsold it significantly. I happen to know this because I have friends in the music retail business, but I supposed it was common knowledge anyway.
Imagine my surprise when Doug Rogers immediately posted in the thread demanding to know how I had come by this information! I replied that I had a few friends in the industry and supposed that would be the end of it.
But no. Nick Phoenix also posted in the thread frothing and raving because I'd dared disclose such "sensitive" information, and the next time I logged into SouldsOnline, there was a charming little private message waiting from Doug:
"With reference to the GPO vs Silver sales comment you posted on our forum I need to know your real name, your real email address and who you work for.
"Please respond as soon as you get this".
Those who find this as incredible as I did may view the original message here in IE's .mht format:
http://rapidshare.de/files/1813879/PM.zip.html (http://rapidshare.de/files/1813879/PM.zip.html)
I replied that I'm a self-employed English writer with friends in the retail music business and that was as much as he needed to know.
When I logged into the SoundsOnline forum today my account and all my posts had been deleted.
This is incredibly ironic, as Nick and Doug have made several self-congratulatory posts about the wonderful "Freedom Of Speech" on the new SoundsOnline forum and how this differs from Northern Sound Source.
How strange, then, that in all my years of posting at Northern Sound Source, I've never had a single problem, while SoundsOnline's paranoid, fascist behaviour has led to my being banned in the first week.
I would advise anyone who reads SoundsOnline's many threads slandering other boards to ask themselves just what it is that they're all so afraid of.
Only a handful of people have been attracted to SoundsOnline's new forum - all the posts are from the same half-dozen regulars bickering amongst themselves.
What a contrast to the thriving forum EW enjoyed when they were part of a popular respected board like Northern Sound Source!
No doubt they're now regretting their foolhardiness in severing such an invaluable connection.
Whatever, I shan't be going back there - not even to laugh at their blatant puffs and self-promotion.
My advice is to give these paranoid control-freaks a wide berth.
