Sony Discos, Orfeon, Capitol EMI-Latina, BMG Bertlesmann De Mexico, Fonovisa, WEA, Elektra, CD Projects, Wal-Mart I spend over $4,000 for NO GOOD CDs and NO GOOD "INSULTATED" CD CASES! Discrimination against Latino listeners! New York New York

I enjoy Mexican music and now that the borders have effectively been sealed and a passport is required to go to Mexico, I don't think I will be able to go back there very soon, especially with the narcotrafficantes that are supposed to be kidnapping and beheading Americans --that is if they don't shoot them outright.

WHICH MEANS THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GO BACK TO MEXICO AND REPLACE THESE ITEMS IN MY CD Collections --many of which are NO LONGER available in the US!

I did NOT buy these CDs in flea markets, out of the trunks of somebody's car or some shady operators selling out of a garage. I bought many of them at WAL-MART and several music stores like Tu Musica, Mundo Latino and there was sales tax paid.

What brings this to mind is that I accumulated a TERRIFIC collection of MARIACHI music featuring the GREATEST ARTISTS that Mexico has to offer -- both the old CLASSICS and the NEW mariachis and a few other genres as well.

I accumulated this collection on CDs starting in 1995 and recently finished acquiring them in 2000, after which, I had over 2,000 and at $20 or even $15 each over a few years amounts to $20,000 and that is NOT CHUMP CHANGE.

OR MAYBE IT IS TO THE CORRUPT PEOPLE WHO MANUFACTURE AND SELL THESE DEFECTIVE CDs.

WHICH MAY EXPLAIN WHY THESE RECORDING STUDIOS AND PLACES THAT MANUFACTURE THESE SORRY CHEAP (EXPLETIVE DELETEDS) ARE IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE AND I PERSONALLY HOPE THAT THEY ALL GO BROKE! AS IN CHAPTER 13 SO NO MORE PEOPLE WILL BE VICTIMIZED like I was!

When I realized that I would not be able to take my CDs with me, I went and bought what was represented to me as well-insulated, protective CD cases made by CD Projects, whose phone number is 1-000-676-8634 and whose website id www.cdprojects.com. These were the black-colored ones designed to hold four CDs on the page and they were suppoed to hold 96 CDs total.I BOUGHT THEM AT WAL-MART! I put my CDs in there after making sure they were wiped down clean and they were in GREAT shape!

THEN, they were put in climate-controlled storage. I went and got them out permanently and took them home and they were unopened there for a year.
I opened them up last week and I was in for a most UNPLEASANT SURPRISE!

I noticed that on the outsides of the plastic envelope where the CD is supposed to be kept was some sort of substance that was grayish in color and appeared to be some sort of dry mould --not powdery, just slimy looking. When I tried to wash it off with alcohol, it was slick in texture and did not come off of the plastic.

I then noticed that my CDs had a milky color around the edges and had what looked like somebody had taken an ice pick and put a series of small holes on them OR there was a pattern on the side of the CD that the laser reads that looks like what happens when you take a felt tip pen and leave it on a tissue!

When I put the CD on my state of the art CD player, the sound was still as crisp and beautiful as if I had been in the recording studio myself BUT THEN THE CD began to SKIP And it began to make SPITTING NOISES AND THEN IT SHUT DOWN THE CD PLAYER AND REFUSED TO PLAY AT ALL! SURPRISED AND AFRAID THAT I HAD JUST TOSSED $20,000 DOWN THE SEWER, I started auditing my CD collection only to find that ABOUT TWO-THIRD OF THEM ARE UNPLAYABLE and did exactly what I have described when I put them in the CD player!

THE WORST CASES APPEAR TO BE IN THE CDs copyrighted 1995-1999 and they are on the FONOVISA ( Now owned by UNIVISION), Bertlesmann de Mexico SA DE CV ( aka RCA), Elektra, WEA Manufacturing Co., Asylum Records, Orfeon,AND THE VERY WORST OFFENDERS CAPITAL EMI and SONY DISCOS!

THE ARTISTS WHO ARE ON THESE LABELS AND WONDER WHY THEY ARE NOT SELLING ANYMORE CDs OR THE PEOPLE WHO REPRESENT CERTAIN ARTISTS' ESTATES MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW THAT WHEN PEOPLE FIND OUT ABOUT HOW FAST THESE CDs LITERALLY ROT -- EVEN WHEN KEPT IN VAULT-LIKE CLIMATE=CONTROLLED CONDITIONS:

These artists are:
Vicente Fernandez
Alejandro Fernandez
Grupo Mazz,
Placid Domingo
Jorge Negrete
Jose Alfredo Jimenez
Juan Gabriel
Rocio Durcal
Pepe Aguilar
Antonio Aguilar
Javier Solis
Lola Beltran
Selena
Lot Trio ( The grou0p fromColombia)
Pedro Infant
AND TOO MANY OTHERS TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION...

IF YOU LIKE MEXICAN MUSIC AND IT WAS PUT ON CD, CHANCES ARE YOU BOUGHT CDs THAT WILL ROT LIKE MINE DID!

DO NOT BUY THESE CDs until these RECORDING COMPANIES DO SOMETHING ABOUT THEIR QUALITY CONTROL ON THE BLANK CDs WHICH IS RATHER BAD RIGHT NOW.

I AM CONTEMPLATING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST THESE COMPANIES.

ALL THEY WANTED TO DO IS MAKE A FAST PROFIT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE GOOD WILL OF THE ARTISTS TO THEIR FANS AND TO THE PUBLIC THAT GETS STUCK BUYING THIS CRAP!

Not only that, I notice that on all of the CDs, it says that they were manufactured in NEW YORK,NEW YORK so maybe the Record companies had better check these guys and see how much they are getting F***ed over by substitutions of inferior CD blanks.

How am I so sure that these BIG SHOT RECORDING COMPANY EXECUTIVES DIDN'T ORDER THESE CHEAP CD BLANKS TO STUFF MORE MONEY IN THEIR POCKETS! COCAINE AND DRUGS AREN'T CHEAP SO THEY HAVE TO CUT CORNERS SOMEWHERE!

I WISH I COULD AFFORD TO HAVE THIS SUBSTANCE IN THESE CD STORAGE CONTAINERS CHEMICALLY ANALYZED! THEY WERE APPARENTLY MADE IN CHINA AND MIGHT BE MADE OF OR TREATED WITH CONTAMINATED CHEMICALS OR MATERIALS.

I ALSO BLAME WAL-MART FOR SELLING THIS (EXPLETIVE DELETED!) ! I AM OUT OVER $20,000 !

Admittedly, these CDs were accumulated over a 10 year period or longer but when you pay $20 to $15 each YOU ARE MAKING A MAJOR INVESTMENT AND YOU WANT YOUR CDs to LAST A WHILE!

THEY SHOULD NOT LOOK LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN STABBED WITH ICEPICKS on the back of the emulsion!!!!! AND THIS IS WHEN THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN PLAYED -- JUST OUT OF THE CONTAINER! THIS IS A RIP-OFF, A VERY CRUEL AND CALCULATED RIP-OFF!

SO I AM NOT BUYING ANY MORE CDs. PERIOD! AND I AM JUST GOING TO LISTEN TO THE SONGS ON THE AIR AND NOT BUY THEM AND I WANT TO ENCOURAGE EVERYONE ELSE WHO LIKE MUSIC IN SPANISH NOT TO BUY THIS STUFF EITHER! IT LOOKS LIKE DISCRIMINATION DIRECTED AGAINST PERSONS WHO LIKE MUSIC IN SPANISH! DO NOT BUY CDs FROM WAL-MART OR ANYWHERE ELSE UNTIL WE HAVE A GUARANTEE OF QUALITY CONTROL!

Joe
Somewhere in, Texas
U.S.A.

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