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latininxtc
Advanced Member
United States
7,307 posts
Joined: Feb, 2006
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 Posted - 2012/04/10 : 06:43:50
Just saw this on FB such sad news! :(
Hardbeats Download Closing For Business April 30th 2012.
Explanation:
After starting life as the nuenergy.co.uk store in 1998, we are saddened to announce the closure of our more recently developed digital store www.hardbeatsdownload.com. The closure is directly linked to huge ongoing development problems that have been occurring in the background. Our regular customers will know that we have been promising WAV downloads since summer 2010 and will also know that at the start of 2009, we launched a whole new build of our store software. The main focus of this new build was to fix previous deep-rooted bugs and to simplify our system so we could offer regular upgrades to cope with the changing environment for digital sales. Unfortunately, the new system was also plagued with an undercurrent of errors and flaws that have inhibited us so much that our planned upgrade to sell WAVs has never come to light. Since the launch we have tirelessly worked and communicated back and forth with our developers to try and iron out these problems and progress past them, but after a timeline of false promises and extended deadlines we are now at the stage where we feel we have exhausted all of our efforts. Faced with the choice of investing even more energy and finances into starting from the ground up or closing completely, we feel that only one of those options is possible for us which is why we are announcing we will be shutting down www.hardbeatsdownload.com at the end of this month.
Positive Focus:
For the remainder of this month we would like to celebrate the great things the store and its partner labels have achieved alongside each other. The store has had a big hand in representing the Nu Energy Collective as a record label and has become the home of Freeform music to people across the globe. The Freeform movement has taken a new and exciting turn this turn this year with the Hard Beats Collective launching new labels like Stamina, Watchtower, A-Tech and many more to the fold. This movement has been so successful that the very first 'I Love Hard Beats' event in London was so busy it looked like a well-respected long running night! The artists and labels of the Hard Beats Collective are all working extremely hard to represent the underground sounds of rave and they will continue to do so by selling their music through all the other renowned download stores such as Track It Down, Juno, Beatport, i-Tunes and many more. So lets remember the past with a smile and embrace the future with a positive outlook. You can join the Hardbeats Collective on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/hardbeatscollective
Last Chance:
For many years, our store has been an exclusive place to pick up particular CDs, T-Shirts and Freeformation DVDs. We have now reduced the price of our remaining stock, which is guaranteed to be sold out by the time we go offline. Please feel free to browse these sections of our store if you would like to get your hands on a rare and collectable item. You will all be pleased to know that the majority of our download products should be available through other stores, but be sure to purchase anything you know youre after from us ahead of our closure to ensure it makes your collection. Dont forget also that we still have nearly 1000 titles of back catalogue vinyl for sale at knockdown prices, including some very rare pieces please check us out at http://www.discogs.com/user/NuEnergy
Suppliers:
If you are a supplier to Hardbeats Download we will account to you in full any outstanding royalties in the week following the 30th April. If you do not receive a contact email in this timeframe and believe you are owed royalties then please do not hesitate to get in touch, using either support[AT]hardbeatsdownload[DOT]com or on +44 (0) 7941162103.
Thanks:
So our final word to you is a huge thank you message to all of our customers and suppliers who have enabled us to keep supplying music for 16 years. It has been a huge rollercoaster ride from our end to which we are grateful for the experience of. Please help us to get our farewell message out there and share this news piece with people you know will appreciate the link.
Thank you - Kevin and Alex.
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,241 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2012/04/10 : 08:09:03
Wow, they don't blame piracy on this one?
Anyways, I was about to say that the website is horrible to use for actually buying stuff, but they said they where covering that and (tried to) fixed that. It's always nice to have your own website scripts, but wouldn't it be cheaper (in the early run) to begin with a premade shopping system?
Ever since they got screwed (?) by the original webhost they used till 2004-05, the site has mayor problems with their design & store. It's sad that it didn't work out, even after the 2nd update, and if I was working with webdesign & webprogramming (which I hopefully don't, since I suck at the design part), I would've gladly helped out for free or very cheap.
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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rafferty
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
669 posts
Joined: Feb, 2012
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Posted - 2012/04/10 : 08:15:34
Sad news, I must admit I've always used trackitdown for downloads after having problems when downloading on some of the other hardcore sites.
Also because I much prefer WAV files. Once you use WAV, you'll never go back to mp3s. WAVS are louder, clearer and way more bassy. You really notice the difference when you play back to back with a dj that uses sketchy mp3 formats. Any site that does'nt convert to WAV will stuggle to find loads of buyers in this day and age.
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Let's ditch the candy & go back to the gym & streetwear at raves :)
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,241 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2012/04/10 : 10:11:59
quote:
Originally posted by rafferty:
Sad news, I must admit I've always used trackitdown for downloads after having problems when downloading on some of the other hardcore sites.
Also because I much prefer WAV files. Once you use WAV, you'll never go back to mp3s. WAVS are louder, clearer and way more bassy. You really notice the difference when you play back to back with a dj that uses sketchy mp3 formats. Any site that does'nt convert to WAV will stuggle to find loads of buyers in this day and age.
tbh i cant hear the difference between wav & 320kb on my PC system, but i also prefer storing files in wav/flac for future use except for CD rips, since I still got the disc, i wont need more than 320kb on the computer :P
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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Edited by - Samination on 2012/04/10 10:14:54 |
latininxtc
Advanced Member
United States
7,307 posts
Joined: Feb, 2006
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Posted - 2012/04/10 : 14:48:56
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
quote:
Originally posted by rafferty:
Sad news, I must admit I've always used trackitdown for downloads after having problems when downloading on some of the other hardcore sites.
Also because I much prefer WAV files. Once you use WAV, you'll never go back to mp3s. WAVS are louder, clearer and way more bassy. You really notice the difference when you play back to back with a dj that uses sketchy mp3 formats. Any site that does'nt convert to WAV will stuggle to find loads of buyers in this day and age.
tbh i cant hear the difference between wav & 320kb on my PC system, but i also prefer storing files in wav/flac for future use except for CD rips, since I still got the disc, i wont need more than 320kb on the computer :P
I can hear the difference clearly on my computer. But as much as I would love to buy all-WAV tracks, they cost more than 320kbps. And I'm one to always look for deals on tracks. Usually when TID and Beatport have promotions, I used to shell out big bucks and buy hundreds of dollars worth of tracks at a time. If I can't find it anywhere else, then I always love coming to HBD. And usually also order/pre-order my CDs from here as well. Loved that they were able to keep your tracks downloadable for up to 3 downloads, and customer service at HBD was great. I will greatly miss the site. And sadly I am still jobless and broke atm so I wouldn't be able to support the site as much as I had hoped.
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,241 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2012/04/10 : 15:08:46
I never used beatport. they are alwys overpriced and almost NEVER take any procentage of when buying full releases (who'd want to pay 10 EUR for something that only costed 4.95 EUR as a vinyl?). Anyways, I don't know if they have changed, but what do they over that TID and Juno doesn't do for european users?
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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latininxtc
Advanced Member
United States
7,307 posts
Joined: Feb, 2006
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Posted - 2012/04/10 : 15:22:50
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
I never used beatport. they are alwys overpriced and almost NEVER take any procentage of when buying full releases (who'd want to pay 10 EUR for something that only costed 4.95 EUR as a vinyl?). Anyways, I don't know if they have changed, but what do they over that TID and Juno doesn't do for european users?
No clue as I do not give a damn what they do to the Euros seeing as how I'm in the US and I don't get charged any VAT taxes 
The price I see is the price I pay, unless if there's a fee for using paypal like HBD does. And yea I agree no discounts for full releases makes no sense at Beatport, hence why I buy those full album releases at HBD most of the time.
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Dys7
Advanced Member
United States
1,231 posts
Joined: Nov, 2011
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Posted - 2012/04/10 : 16:49:46
Arent American bought tunes twice as expensive though?
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The above comment was likely written when I was *literally* 13, so please don't judge me too hard.
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Check out my cheesy fiddlings here:
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,241 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2012/04/10 : 19:01:14
quote:
Originally posted by latininxtc:
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
I never used beatport. they are alwys overpriced and almost NEVER take any procentage of when buying full releases (who'd want to pay 10 EUR for something that only costed 4.95 EUR as a vinyl?). Anyways, I don't know if they have changed, but what do they over that TID and Juno doesn't do for european users?
No clue as I do not give a damn what they do to the Euros seeing as how I'm in the US and I don't get charged any VAT taxes
The price I see is the price I pay, unless if there's a fee for using paypal like HBD does. And yea I agree no discounts for full releases makes no sense at Beatport, hence why I buy those full album releases at HBD most of the time.
I used Euro as an example since I couldn't make any brittish pound signs :P
and yes, it's only US and UK that did not have VAT tax added
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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latininxtc
Advanced Member
United States
7,307 posts
Joined: Feb, 2006
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Posted - 2012/04/10 : 22:03:51
quote:
Originally posted by Dys7:
Arent American bought tunes twice as expensive though?
depending on the currency exchange rate yes it can be. But if ever you noticed if you buy tracks on beatport they have a VAT tax line, we don't get charged that. apparently ppl in Europe do, so any savings they get from the prices in the US are made up for on that VAT tax. Speaking of which, how much percentage is that tax?
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lurker
Average Member
United States
187 posts
Joined: Dec, 2011
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Posted - 2012/04/11 : 23:59:21
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
Wow, they don't blame piracy on this one?
Anyways, I was about to say that the website is horrible to use for actually buying stuff, but they said they where covering that and (tried to) fixed that. It's always nice to have your own website scripts, but wouldn't it be cheaper (in the early run) to begin with a premade shopping system?
I believe I made this my personal pet peeve during USH's last few months, heh.
See, there exists a site called Bandcamp. They let you sell or even give away digital releases in whatever format you like, as well as whatever other music-related things you can come up with. 15% of revenues (which falls to 10% once you sell a lot more) seems like a small price to pay for a service like the one they offer, unless all you're doing is releasing one really limited edition CD every few months, in which case you can just get away with PayPal and a front page like Thumpa does.
Maybe I shouldn't hype the site so much since I'm not a producer, but from a customer's viewpoint it seems like a really good service.
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,241 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2012/04/12 : 06:28:48
quote:
Originally posted by lurker:
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
Wow, they don't blame piracy on this one?
Anyways, I was about to say that the website is horrible to use for actually buying stuff, but they said they where covering that and (tried to) fixed that. It's always nice to have your own website scripts, but wouldn't it be cheaper (in the early run) to begin with a premade shopping system?
I believe I made this my personal pet peeve during USH's last few months, heh.
See, there exists a site called Bandcamp. They let you sell or even give away digital releases in whatever format you like, as well as whatever other music-related things you can come up with. 15% of revenues (which falls to 10% once you sell a lot more) seems like a small price to pay for a service like the one they offer, unless all you're doing is releasing one really limited edition CD every few months, in which case you can just get away with PayPal and a front page like Thumpa does.
Maybe I shouldn't hype the site so much since I'm not a producer, but from a customer's viewpoint it seems like a really good service.
Bandcamp seems nice for artists who wish to push their own tracks, but for a store that had as much as NEC/HBS had? I was mostly referring to php/asp scripts they could use for a store themselfs
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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silver
Admin
Japan
12,579 posts
Joined: Feb, 2001
894 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2012/04/13 : 02:51:03
Hmmm surprised by this, kind of crappy to be honest. There are alot of fly by night developers on the internet, big promises, crap delivery and excuses.... not cool.
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,241 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2012/04/13 : 07:18:15
quote:
Originally posted by silver:
Hmmm surprised by this, kind of crappy to be honest. There are alot of fly by night developers on the internet, big promises, crap delivery and excuses.... not cool.
you can still do alot remotly too
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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Lilley
Advanced Member
Australia
3,740 posts
Joined: Jul, 2006
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Posted - 2012/04/16 : 06:57:09
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
tbh i cant hear the difference between wav & 320kb on my PC system, but i also prefer storing files in wav/flac for future use except for CD rips, since I still got the disc, i wont need more than 320kb on the computer :P
Unless using a really really rubbish encoder, no one can. People who say otherwise are kidding themselves.
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nearly in line....
.....strange continuity problems
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Edited by - Lilley on 2012/04/16 06:58:30 |
latininxtc
Advanced Member
United States
7,307 posts
Joined: Feb, 2006
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Posted - 2012/04/21 : 16:59:07
So I just got my tax refund and I will have $$$ to be able to make a few purchases on here! Can anyone tell me what are some exclusive content available to hardbeats (merchandise, tracks, labels, etc.) that I can't find anywhere else? I want to make those a priority for my purchases.
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