Stuck Mojo kick the industry where it hurts

The return of Atlanta metal pioneers Stuck Mojo has almost begun. Preorders have been opened for the brand new album Southern Born Killers, the first to feature new vocalist Lord Nelson. Guitarist, founder and all-round Mojo mastermind Rich Ward has literally poured the proverbial blood, sweat and tears into the new album, as well as considerable financial costs to himself. The album has been made with absolutely no record label support or funds and has seen Rich auction some of his most prized possesions in order to complete the disc.

In a bold reaction to the way Rich and his various bands over the years (including the Chris Jericho fronted Fozzy and Rich’s solo project The Duke) have been treated by record companies, Stuck Mojo have spread the entire new album across the internet for FREE. Every track can be downloaded in full from www.stuckmojomedia.com completely free of charge with the full blessing of the band to share the music with anyone and everyone and tell any and all that they too can download the new album for free.

In an open letter on www.stuckmojomedia.com Ward explains:

“My dreams came true in March of 1995. Stuck Mojo’s first release, Snappin’ Necks, could be found on the shelves of music stores all across the world. We had formed in 1989 so, after six years of counting change to buy bean burritos, sleeping in our rehearsal space and playing every small watering-hole that would have our southern-fried, rap-rock, funk-metal hybrid, we felt like we had finally made it. Well, as it turned out…not so much.

“Everything I have learned from being signed to four different record companies and from having licensed albums to over a dozen distributors around the world has brought me to a single conclusion. From now on we really should try to make and sell albums without them.

“Palm Records, after putting out the debut Fozzy album in October of 2000, disappeared off the face of the earth. Palm has never returned a phone call, paid us a cent of royalties or even attempted to send us a sales statement.

“Sonic Rendesvous, the Dutch label who released my Sick Speed record in 2002, delivered my first statement on schedule (didn’t include the check, but that’s nit-picking), but shortly thereafter disappeared and is still selling that album years after the contract has expired. To date I have still never received a cent from the sales of that album.

“When the process began to write and record the third Fozzy record, All That Remains, the decision was made to record (Rich) and finance (Jericho) the album ourselves. This would allow us 100% creative control with a maximum return on the financial investment. Well, once again….not so much. But I’ll get to that in a second. To get the album in shops, we licensed the album to a different distributor in each major market around the world. In Europe, it was distributed by SPV….and they still owe us money. In Canada, by Koch…..and they still owe us money. But, the award for the largest debt (in excess of $100,000) goes to our US distributor, SMD. At least all of these companies admit to owing us the money. I guess that’s the first step toward collecting on a debt owed for almost two years.

“I signed The Duke to Spitfire/Eagle Records for a two album deal. The debut album, My Kung Fu Is Good, was released in April of 2005 and, as stated in the contract, my first sales statement was due by September of that same year. As of today (12-10-06), I have still not received that first statement from Spitfire. So, as you can imagine, no royalties have been paid either.

“So where does that leave us? Well, walk into your local record shop and look at the price of your average CD. In most cases the band receives only pennies if any of the money that you paid for that CD. Plus, maybe you like the song you heard on the radio but, after purchasing the disc, the rest of the tracks suck. So you just dropped eighteen bucks on a shitty record that the band will never see any money from and now you’re really pissed. Keep in mind that even when the record labels do owe bands money, as in our case, they don’t always pay. So now you just download your favorite songs for free and tell everyone to get f’d and the record companies stand around wondering why album sales are in the tank.”

And so, Stuck Mojo ask this: if you wish to own a real copy of the new album, and enjoy it in the best possible sonic quality, you can now preorder one of the first pressing of just 1,000 copies from www.stuckmojomedia.com. This initial pressing comes with a 16-page booklet, including lyrics, and a bonus DVD featuring the brand new video for the song Open Season and a 20-minute documentary, and each one will be numbered and hand-signed by the whole band.

Rich lays it out in full:

1. The tracks on our new record, “Southern Born Killers,” will be posted at www.StuckMojo.us, as well as all over the internet for you to download, FOR FREE! You read that right! Download the songs, share them with your friends and, if you like what you hear, let potential new fans know where they too can get the songs for free.

   Why would we give the songs away for free? Well, we’ve been recording records for free for almost twelve years now anyway! Of course it wasn’t free to you, the fans. You thought you were supporting the band as you shelled out 16 bucks to a retail store which kept five or six of those dollars for a few inches of shelf space and the rest ended up at a record company in New York, Los Angeles, London or Germany. Yeah, I know, they have a staff to pay, rent, a light bill, advertising budgets, etc. I’m a confirmed capitalist and I want to see everyone that works hard succeed. But most of the guys that I know who play music for a living drive older, used cars, live in small apartments and eat microwave burritos three times a day. I’ve never once met a record label executive that drives a Toyota Corolla, sleeps on an air mattress and has to take medicine to control his chronic case of diarrhea from Taco Bell. And that’s saying something because I’ve met a lot of them! In fact, most of them have a fresh tan and a golf swing that wasn’t perfected just on the weekends. I’m through with them making money off my music.

2. If you like the songs and want to own a copy of the actual Southern Born Killers CD, then purchase it at www.StuckMojoMedia.com. This guarantees you the album at it’s highest possible audio quality as well as a full-color, 16 panel booklet, a bonus DVD featuring the new video for Open Season shot by British filmmaker Simon Evans and a 20 minute behind-the-scenes documentary.
3. This album was completely financed by the band. By purchasing Southern Born Killers directly, you can do so knowing the money will go directly to the creators of the music who will continue investing in another record, another video, another tour.
4. Lastly, if you don’t have the dollars to buy the record, then just enjoy the free downloads. Tell everyone to go to www.myspace.com/stuckinthemojo or www.StuckMojo.us and come see Stuck Mojo live when we are in your town or a town near you.

The album starts shipping on January 2, 2007 and orders will be processed in the order in which they are received. The cost is $15 USD within the continental United States (i.e. exlcluding Hawaii and Alaska) and $22 USD for the rest of the World, including shipping. ORDER HERE.

Watch the much talked-about video for Open Season below, courtesy of iFilm:

Official Stuck Mojo Website