Sample Logic announces ARPOLOGY

[kbaccki]

What's unique about this product?

Nothing, as far as I can see.

There's a countdown clock for the release. It's got that going for it. Other than that... yeah... the new "cinema queues" are starting to sound like the old D50-anything, "Roland Organ Demo Patch", "Orchestral Hits" of any flavor, and "Korg Overreverberrated Steel Pipes and Anvils Patch" of the last generation... yes... fantastic... a deep impact, a taiko ensemble in odd time, a pinch of wobble bass for newsk00l flavor, and throw in a hang drum for good measure... ... mix, master, demo ... NEXT!!!

[dsan@mail.com]

Something to dream about, but mainly for the pros

Intro price at $299 (regular price $399) puts it out of reach for most punters.

I think the trouble many users experienced with the recent Musicans Friend/Sample Logic sale, where licenses didn't work, makes one think twice before putting money in here.

I think the quality of SL product may be worth the price, but like you Numanoid, I think their price structures puts their product out of reach for the most of us.

This could be intentional so that their product remains pro use only. Look at the endorsements on the product page

I bought their original libraries but haven't afforded anything since.

Happy Musiking!
dsan

[sample logic]

To all Sample Logic customers:

I have received numerous emails and forum threads from Sample Logic customers who are upset about Fanfare not authorizing with the serial number they received from Guitar Center and or Musician’s Friend. After reading every one of these emails and threads, I have some observations and conclusions to share with you all.

First, let me give you the background on an unfortunate situation that has ended our working relationship with GC/MF. A few years ago our distributor sold a large bulk of boxed Fanfare and Rumble products to GC/MF in order to clear out our entire boxed inventory. This was the last of our physical products as we went completely digital after that. At that time, serial numbers were included in each box by our fulfillment company and once a serial number had been put in a box Sample Logic no longer possessed the number nor had any access to them.

A few years later in late 2013, MF/GC decided to liquidate their remaining boxed inventory of Fanfare and Rumble at a steep discount (approximately 90% less than any other retail stores) without our permission, thus violating our industry standard retail store agreement. When this occurred we decided to end our working relationship with GC/MF and no longer supported them as an authorized dealer.

Since then, there has been an unforeseen issue with GC/MF Fanfare serial numbers registrations not working. Being that the serial numbers are in the original, we believe it is possible that someone who had access to the GC/MF remaining Fanfare boxed inventory had been opening boxes, copying serials, and reselling them. We cannot be 100% sure of this, so one other rare possibility is that the serials were some how corrupted. This therefore, is the reason why many customers have received error messages when trying to authorize their clearance copy of Fanfare from GC/MF stating that their serial has already been authorized. The standard policy for any problems with boxed units is for the retail store to handle the issue directly and in this case, GC/MF did nothing to resolve it, but rather blame Sample Logic for this incident publically, putting our company in a negative light. As these were unauthorized sales, we cannot issue them an additional serial to replace the compromised serial. It is not my intention to speak negatively about other companies, but I do feel it necessary to state the facts. We have worked hard for many years to build a strong and reliable reputation with our customers and feel it important to assure all of you that this is an isolated incident and we guarantee all of our products we sell and that are sold by any authorized Sample Logic dealers.

Secondly, there are some customers that believe Sample Logic deliberately resold serials that were originally sold to GC/MF to other customers. This is not the case. We have no record or manner of tracking which serials where built into those boxes so many years ago as they were fulfilled and distributed by a third party. Others have said that we are blocking authorizations of those serials. That too is not the case, as we have no way of doing so and would not do so given the opportunity. This is evident by the simple fact that GC/MF Rumble serials still work perfectly. We have reached out to GC/MF a number of times to stop selling the product, but received no response. Instead of them fixing the problem they decided to continue selling the product for months even after knowing most of the serials had been compromised. Fortunately, GC/MF has now finally removed Fanfare from their web store and are issuing refunds to all customers who purchased Fanfare.

Third, even though we made the right decision to end our relationship with GC/MF, we need to do a better job taking care of our customers. You have all trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these. We apologize for this unfortunate event and for disappointing some of you. We are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Sample Logic and will continue to do so. Moving forward, we are happy to work with anyone who was subject to the misfortunes of GC/MF’s liquidation sale of Fanfare to get them an authentic working copy. Sample Logic is not in the business of scandal and I sincerely hope this open explanation resolves all of your concerns. If you have any further questions or need assistance regarding this, please email me directly at joe@samplelogic.com


Joseph Trupiano
Sample Logic CEO

[hueynym]

What a sweet note Sample Logic posted to every thread that mentions their company. A MONTH LATER.

I call BULLHOCKEY.

(not that it matters, they've lost all my business and the business of anyone in the (film) world over whom my opinion holds sway)

[dsan@mail.com]

Well, I for one, find it impressive that Joe Trupiano, a well respected and trusted dev in the industry, took the time to make these statements.

Consider, if you will, there was likely a lot of research went into the legalities of these events; which in turn takes time to sort out.

I can't say if a month is too long to state "Customers, we will take care of you." That it came at all is quite impressive in my mind.

And NO....I do not work for them, in case this is your thought, I am a customer, having purchased their early libraries, A.I.R, The Elements and Synergy, and feel just due where due. (Haven't been able to afford anything since and quite disappointed in the pricing TBH).

Just an opposing view point is all.

Happy Musiking!
dsan

[bharris22]

I think the point about Halion 5 and MachFive is a good one. I can't imagine how good this would have to be to justify this price, let alone take a chance on dealing with SL again. MF came out of the issue smelling like a rose - SL, not so much, even after this "explanation" . . . .I can understand them being pissed at MF if the 90% discount violated their distributorship agreement, but there still seems to me no reason why they should not have made honest customers of MF whole while pursuing any legal rights they may have had against MF separately (especially if they no longer have a current relationship with them to worry about). It may be that these were "unauthorized sales" from the view of SL, but they were not unauthorized sales from the view of the customer - the statement that "As these were unauthorized sales, we cannot issue them an additional serial to replace the compromised serial" doesn't seem very honest - they could even make the license NFR under the circumstances.

[UncleAge]

I don't understand the point of view of people who think that SL has to stand behind unauthorized sales of their product. The fact that they are willing to make folks whole is a check in the plus column IMO.

I'm not a former or future customer of SL but I don't see giving GC/MF a pass on this at all. The point-of-sale is with GC/MF. IMO, they have the whole repsonsibility of making the end customer happy. They tried to be slick and dumped a bunch of product that they may have already figured out was suspect. I haven't read any complaints from folk that purchased it thru other channels. Maybe the lack of communication from GC/MF to SL was to allow an amount plausible deniability. Who knows?

And so my whole post won't be off topic... I don't see much that Arpology can do that I can't already do with Numerology. Unless I'm missing the point and the libraries are the main focus I don't see the appeal.

[BBFG#]

I don't understand the point of view of people who think that SL has to stand behind unauthorized sales of their product. The fact that they are willing to make folks whole is a check in the plus column IMO.

The problem lies with the idea of WHY they were unauthorized; which has only been addressed as a vague possibility of what SL states might of happened, but equally say they have no proof of that.
In that regard, it is the product developer's burden of proof and responsibility to substantiate those claims. But more importantly, to do what ever they can to mitigate the damage or suffer the damage to their entire line by refusing to.

MF/GC did whatever they could to mitigate the damage to the customer and even went the extra mile in giving house credits above the refund.

What has Sample Logic done but continue to liable without solid proof and blame the customer in a veiled accusation of collusion? And treat us as such.
Make us whole? Are they willing to authorize what we bought then? That is the only thing that would make us whole here. IMO, Saying they'll 'work with us' but not giving a public statement of exactly what they're offering really doesn't fix it.

[elassi]

Sad, but true - it is law (at least in my country) that illegitimate sales are void. You, as a customer, have no right to possess or own goods that are subject of void sales. If you can't get your money back - in this case from GC/MF - it is lost.

It may sound weird but the most common example behind this legal 'idea' sheds some light: you can't legally buy goods that are stolen. It is an illegitimate sale/purchase. According to this, all illegitimate sales/purchases are void.

[Shangsean]

Rumble is currently available at $29.99 from some retailers. I wonder if this will have the same problem.

[BBFG#]

Sad, but true - it is law (at least in my country) that illegitimate sales are void. You, as a customer, have no right to possess or own goods that are subject of void sales. If you can't get your money back - in this case from GC/MF - it is lost.

It may sound weird but the most common example behind this legal 'idea' sheds some light: you can't legally buy goods that are stolen. It is an illegitimate sale/purchase. According to this, all illegitimate sales/purchases are void.

The sale was presumed legitimate and in good faith though. Both from Sample Logic to MF/GC and MF/GC to the customer. So it comes down more to a fraud than a theft, and the fraud wasn't revealed until it bounced back onto Sample Logic. So they only then made the product illegitimate. For them to claim theft at those other points requires proof, which they have yet to show. So it becomes more likely than not that SL sold them batches that could not operate according to the sale. And then it's still their burden of proof to show they did not.

They've already stated there is no way for them to do that, therefore the responsibility lies solely on them to make good or show cause. In that regard MF/GC doing what they did, actually saved SL too.
So IMO, the next move is what they plan to do to salvage their reputation here.

[elassi]

The sale was presumed legitimate and in good faith though.

Unfortunately this doesn't make a difference. I know that it is hard to believe, but.... ;( And the example of 'theft' was... an example. There are much more situations/circumstances that make a deal 'illegitimate'.

If you follow the 'legal' route you'd have to wait if either MF/GC or SL sue each other and jump on the result - there'd be a 'guilty' party after all. From what I've read this won't happen. Therefore you'd have to sue yourself.

But MF already took action to calm the waves. A pretty good sign (at least to me) that they don't feel well with their own prior moves.

[BBFG#]

The sale was presumed legitimate and in good faith though.

Unfortunately this doesn't make a difference. I know that it is hard to believe, but.... ;( And the example of 'theft' was... an example. There are much more situations/circumstances that make a deal 'illegitimate'.

If you follow the 'legal' route you'd have to wait if either MF/GC or SL sue each other and jump on the result - there'd be a 'guilty' party after all. From what I've read this won't happen. Therefore you'd have to sue yourself.

But MF already took action to calm the waves. A pretty good sign (at least to me) that they don't feel well with their own prior moves.

They mitigated the problem since they were caught in the middle and it shows they didn't want to take it further, which could make the customer continue to be the victim. Sample Logic is the only thing left frustrating this, and have remained stubbornly resolute at doing nothing to find a workable solution for those that bought it and were then told we had to return i?, except offering it only at full price. And all the while continuing to blame the company that bought it from them.

[BBFG#]

Bottom line for me is, it is what it is, and I won't consider anything from them until I see them make a positive effort in repairing it for all of us.

[bharris22]

As one of the people who has been suspicious of Sample Logic's story and actions in this case, it is my obligation to report here that I sent an e-mail to Joe at SL following his statement above, and he responded (within 24 hours) offering a free serial number and download for Fanfare (I had sent him proof of purchase from MF). IMHO I do think that this is what they should have done from the beginning from a customer relations perspective (again, even if they had wanted to make the serial NFR that would have been fine), and hope that it is not too late to salvage their reputation.