Hey Everyone,
Couple of things....
First off.... Culprit.... thanks very much for the straight forward review. Your honesty is invaluable to us. General response... yes we ARE building this service and ALL of the input you guys put forth is more than helpful as we continue to evolve.
A few comments though....
1) We don't convert our clips to 29.970... completely by choice. One of the reasons we currently do 29.970 is that we receive masters in a wide variety of bit rates. And we receive on average sometimes over 600+ new videos... each month! We default to 29.970 because bumping files down to 24 frankly provides totally unacceptable and ugly results. Tons of problems in our view. Also, as a rule we do not accept any masters on DVD, or consumer grade AVI for that matter either. Hi-Res mov is our standard for ingest from the labels and we are serviced direct from them according to this criteria.
That said however, there are I know a few ferocious pro video geniuses on this board that we would love to work with to possibly find another way to look at this issue. We know you are out there, so please.... speak up!
2) Glad you like our audio. The saying around here is video is great, but people dance to music. We pride ourselves on an audio standard that our clients feel surpasses anything else they've experienced. It can never be too clean.
3) Pricing. Now I may piss a few people off with this, but here is the bottom line.... in light of what else of quality and quantity that is available to you... legally... we are actually priced comparably. You all have experienced a wide variety of "special experiences" from a host of questionable "suppliers." Stolen re-mixes. Identity theft. Wack looking/sounding clips and fat banners (gee, wonder why they need those?). "Services" disappearing (along with your money) and reappearing with different names, or not at all.... to name a few. You post about it here and elsewhere, so what I am saying should be of no surprise. And by your posts you already pretty much know who is legit, and who is not out there. But if you are looking for a "cost of a sandwich = all you can eat" option, you are not going to find that with any service that legitimately represents ALL of the record labels worth carrying.
And yes, it really is that simple....
We have paid substantial advances and royalties to secure the required licenses to bring you the largest selection of record labels available anywhere, and all of their top releases without delay. And just as every DJ/VJ has a fundamental right to be paid properly for their work, so do the people who put out the music. The artists and the labels. Free or dirt cheap usually means someone is getting ripped off. And just as you guys don't operate with a pair of iPods full of P2P mp3's for free drinks, we don't operate there either.
That said however, we ARE reviewing ways to change our pricing model to accommodate both the heavy users of music video, along with the casual users. So please watch for that very soon.
Now... A few things we have done since our recent launch....
We've begun servicing clients with a weekly "hot release" option. And the response has been incredible with a huge influx of new clients as now you do not have to wait for the "must have" clips to become available on the next month's releases. It means we can put out the latest releases.... when they drop... and when, if not before our clients need them.
We have made our "batch downloading" feature far more robust so that you can select multiple clips, hit download.... and walk away. The system will deliver them in their own folder, wherever you direct them.
As to download speeds, we have put in place an open pipe of 10.00 Mbps (not .10 or .60, but 10.00) open at any given time, 24 hours a day. If you are experiencing download delays, please alert us immediately as to your location and ISP provider. Generally we have been able to provide our clients with solutions to this problem on demand. And yes, generally when you call us, you get a human on the phone to help you and get you the results as fast as you need them.
These are just a few of the changes we have made to date... with many, many more to come with YOUR help and input. We mean it sincerely that your input on our service in this very short time we have been live has been absolutely invaluable.
Are we perfect yet? Nope. But I personally promise you... that as long as it's reasonably doable... and legal... we will do whatever it takes to get you what you need, how you need it, and when. You have the right to demand it. We have the obligation to deliver it.
My Sincere Best & Thanks,
Doug H.
www.vj-pro.com
