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It's hard to believe that in just over one month, Fossil Records has gone from being the business end of a small progressive rock band, to a union of SIX progressive and instrumental rock and metal bands. Standing in the wings, another eight bands are in various stages of joining. Needless to say, all of us involved are very excited about the prospects! I wanted to send a letter out to every one of our members and prospective members to let you all know about where we stand, what we're doing, and where we hope to go. So here's that letter... WHERE WE STAND We are still working through the process of recruiting talented new members, manufacturing their CDs, and collecting any of their pre-manufactured merchandise that they wish to sell through us. Although under permanent construction, our website is officially available to the outside world (http://fossil.homepage.com). The site shows all of our members, their music, and provides an online store for purchases. It also provides the artist licensing agreement and distribution agreement for prospective members to see what Fossil is all about. WHAT WE'RE DOING -We are currently negotiating with "wholesalers" in order to get the absolute lowest price for all of the materials that go into our manufactured products. These materials would include CDs, jewel cases and trays, glossy inserts, labels and tray cards, etc. -We are negotiating with the UCC (Uniform Code Council) in order to get a more reasonable price for a UPC symbol (currently they want a minimum of $500). This UPC symbol would be applicable to the retail sale of any of our members' merchandise. -Collecting lists of radio, magazine, and internet related stations, websites, reviewers, etc. All avenues of advertising are being considered and all of our members are asked for their input into these endeavors. WHERE WE HOPE TO GO Ideally, we'd love to change the face of the music business - sure it's a lofty goal, but so was putting a man on the moon (or three men - but who's counting?). We have no desire to steal the work of artists, we have no aspirations of getting rich, we have no desire to be called a "label." We DO want to get our artists out there and recognized, we DO want our artists to make good money for their endeavors, and we DO want to be the foundation for a UNION of talented musicians. Most importantly, if you are a member or you are considering becoming a member make sure that you've gotten in touch with us and that we are all making progress towards getting your material on the website and available for sale. If you are undecided, please check out the Services page on the website and read the license and distribution agreements. We are always available for questions, comments, and criticisms and welcome everyone's participation in making this a fruitful endeavor. We do have a ways to go, but we're making progress. We do have a number of barriers to overcome, but with a united front we'll overcome them. We do have CDs to sell, so I'll quit jabbering... ;-) Sincerely, Gary W. Franklin |