July and (here in the U.K.) we're still waiting for the sunshine. We've had one or two warm days but there is still no sign of that "long glorious" summer that we had been promised…

I want to take a moment, this month, to talk about "theft" - specifically the illegal copying of Square Dance music. I find myself caught between two "schools of thought" on this subject.

First, I know for a fact that callers do not have it in their nature to steal records. I know this because, for many years I have been selling Sting and Snow records at almost every place where I am calling a dance or festival; wherever it is logistically possible. Usually, I place a display of records on a table (or two) and leave it for callers to make their selections and then seek me out to pay for their purchases. This relies heavily on "trust" and I am reasonably certain that no caller has EVER taken a record and not paid me for it. This leads me to the conclusion that callers are entirely honest, which - whilst hardly surprising - is very re-assuring!

Second, there are the facts and figures, which - in simple terms - do not add up; the actual sales of music are very low - even when you add together all the media types, the total numbers sold are quite small. By analysis, it is actually quite easy to see where the music is being sold; it is possible to put together a list of every caller who has paid for a copy of the music for any title that is released - I know who they are and where they live. This information gives a very clear picture of the number of units that have been sold in each sales region - and these numbers are quite small. The anomaly is that there would appear to be a greater number of callers using the music than the number of units that have been purchased!

This is a fundamental contradiction; if nobody is "stealing" the music, how can it be that there are more copies of the music in use than are being sold?

Recently it occurred to me that - whilst callers would not "take" something that they had not paid for - perhaps some might "give" something (to a friend or colleague), without realising that they were, in effect, "stealing" by such an action; this worries me as it seems that perhaps some callers are acting illegally as a consequence of their good intentions - let me explain further:

From time to time I have worked with other callers who have offered me music, as a gesture of friendship. This usually happens when I comment on a piece of music that they had used, saying that "I must get a copy of that" (meaning that I intend to purchase a copy), to find that they have offered to "give" me a copy of the music that they have… Such an action might not feel like stealing - but it is! This leads me to ask the question: "Is it possible that callers are "stealing" without realising it, as a consequence of their desire to be friendly"?

I really do not know what the full story is. I do know that there seem to be more copies of music in use than have been paid for and I do know that callers are good people. This leads me to believe that there has to be an honest misunderstanding responsible for the mathematical anomaly. I do not wish to accuse any caller of acting unethically, I have no proof of that - and have no desire to initiate a "witch-hunt" by suggesting that producers publish a list of who has paid for each record, although we have the data. However, there is a fundamental mystery that exists and it could be born from a desire to be helpful, which is resulting in "accidental theft"; maybe I am wrong but it is a very strange situation…

Now for the other news:

BEST SELLER LISTING (positions on the May 2008 listing)
No.3 - Scooby Doo, Where Are You? - SIR 113
No.7 - You Were Made For Me - SIR 361

NEW RELEASES (July 2008):
Not Ready To Make Nice - SIR 609 - vocal by: Jack Borgström
Moonglow / Starshine - SNW 512 - Double Instrumental Patter

NEW CD RELEASES - also available on MP3 & Vinyl (in most cases) / (July 2008):
I've Gotta Get A Message To You - SIR 102 - Vocal by Robert Björk
A Teenager In Love - SIR 330 - Vocal by Paul Bristow
Kitt / Kaboodle - SNW 506 - Double Instrumental Patter

INDIVIDUAL RECORD HISTORIES including ALL THE ADDITIONAL LYRICS:
To find these, just click on the book symbol next to the title on the Catalogue, Future Releases or Latest Releases pages, this month's record histories features our newest singing call release: Not Ready To Make Nice.

If you want to hear how these top-selling recordings sound, just click on the musical note symbol.

Go Squareful! - Paul Bristow (Owner and Producer Sting and Snow Records)