Matt Maggiacomo

I have many things to say about the Mike Lombardo issue, but I’m going to focus on three major points that I’d like people to absorb.

1. Notice To All Internet Celebrities: if you ever post something knowing that your primary intention is to gain subscribers, followers, fans, whatever, then you’ve taken your first step toward dehumanizing your fanbase. Reaching more people is one thing; boosting your “numbers” is another thing entirely. People aren’t numbers. They are people. When a fanbase is dehumanized, less attention and effort is given to ensuring that all fans are safe. When safety and security is not a priority in a community, awful things can happen. I am not blaming the community or its celebrities for the alleged actions of one person. I am simply encouraging prominent YouTubers to think of themselves as community leaders and not self-promoters. Connect with and respect your audience. Treat them like family. They support your career and deserve your respect.

2. Notice To All Fans Of Internet Celebrities: You are the reason why these people are celebrities in the first place. Never forget that. You are their boss and you owe them nothing. You can turn the lights out on their career at any time. They may be talented and charming and attractive and admirable, but without your support they are just like anybody else. You give them the ability to distinguish themselves in a sea of aspiring artists and entertainers. Furthermore, you are part of an amazing network of young people with similar interests. Treat fellow fans as friends, build a consistent network of communication, respect each other and keep each other safe. Don’t let anyone stand between you and a friend in need. No one — regardless of their celebrity status — has ownership over you or any other fan. You should never feel pressured or obligated to engage in any activity you don’t want to engage in. Trust your community and your friends and continue to make it awesome. You are the reason wizard rock and Nerdfighteria exists and no one can take that away from you.

3. If you have experienced a situation where another person has put pressure on you to do something you don’t want to do — or even if you’re unsure and they continue to try to convince you to engage in this activity in such a manner that it makes you feel uncomfortable — please know that you are not alone and you can and should talk to somebody about it. A friend, a parent, a sibling, a school counselor, etc. There are people out there who want to help you. You are not alone.

Love,
Matt

I enjoy cooking. This week I’m on a spicy pepper kick and I came up with a couple recipes you may enjoy. Please note that both of these recipes are well-balanced, which means they’re not necessarily over-the-top spicy. The spiciness is utilized to enhance flavor profile, not injure myself or my wife. ;D

Habanero-Honey-Ginger-Orange-Garlic Marinade

(I’m currently marinating about a pound of chicken tenderloins in this mixture and I’ll be cooking it tonight. Will update with results. The marinade itself is DELICIOUS.)

Combine in a large bowl, in this order:

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons fresh ginger, chopped

1 fresh habanero pepper, chopped (include seeds)

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 tablespoons Joyce Chen Ginger and Garlic Stir Fry Oil

2 ounces white vinegar

4 ounces reduced sodium soy sauce

the juice of one half of a navel orange, freshly squeezed

Directions: Mix this until the sugar and honey are dissolved. Place whatever you’re marinating into the bowl and let it marinate for four hours. Yay!

Chili Lime Vinaigrette

(I used a Fresno chili pepper for this recipe. It’s very similar to a jalapeno pepper but it’s red. You could easily substitute in a jalapeno or even a habanero or whatever.)

Combine in a salad dressing bottle thingy, in this order:

2 large cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, chopped

1 Fresno chili pepper, chopped (include seeds)

3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (1 whole lime)

3 tablespoons extra light tasting olive oil

12 tablespoons white vinegar

Directions: Shake it up!

Last night, my wonderfully intelligent and principled friend Melissa Anelli posted a link to a story about how PayPal had pulled a fast one on Regretsy, subjecting them to multiple rounds of unnecessary processing fees and preventing them from carrying out a major charitable effort to help needy children. As I watched the internet explode in a wave of anti-PayPal sentiment, I couldn’t help but smile and get excited. I get excited whenever young people get pumped about any issue that involves helping poor people and sticking it to the man. 

This morning I woke up at 6:30am with a sudden realization: the entirety of my online income is tied up in PayPal.

In fact, I can easily offer myself and Lauren up as the ultimate demonstration of PayPal’s ubiquity. Here is a quick outline of our sources of online income and how payments are processed:

Lauren’s Storenvy: The place where she sells her Lauren Fairweather t-shirts and CDs. Storenvy processes all payments via PayPal.

My Storenvy: The place where I sell my Whomping Willows t-shirts and CDs. Again, Storenvy processes all payments via PayPal.

iTunes: Lauren and I both utilize services offered by Tunecore to get our music on iTunes. Tunecore delivers royalties one of two ways: By check or by PayPal. Checks are sent in 7 to 10 days and come with a $3 fee. We collect royalties from three different bands/accounts, so our total in fees would be $9/month or $108/year — or, in household economics terms, three months of electricity. A transfer to PayPal usually takes two days and for whatever reason PayPal does NOT charge a fee for this transaction. To summarize, PayPal is free and takes about one third to one fifth the time that a check takes to be delivered.

Etsy: Lauren has an Etsy shop that she utilizes to sell her Fairweather Friends plushies and other crafts. Etsy offers Lauren amazing branding solutions and a massive pre-existing network of fellow crafters. It is through this network that she befriended the independent metal-worker who made us our wedding rings! Etsy processes all of its payments via PayPal.

DFTBA Records: I’ve recently been signed to DFTBA Records. DFTBA currently uses PayPal to process all of its online transactions. 

We could potentially choose to boycott PayPal, but at the moment this would entail the following:

1. Deleting our Storenvy sites, the establishment of which has streamlined our entire process of selling and shipping merchandise and keeping track of inventory (seriously, Storenvy is an AMAZING service for bands with moderate internet sales, and it’s FREE).

2. Switch our Tunecore payment method to checks, thus accepting a $108/year increase in processing fees.

3. Delete Lauren’s Etsy shop and sell her crafts elsewhere, thus erasing months of work she’s done on branding and disconnecting herself from perhaps the largest existing network of crafters in the world.

4. Quitting DFTBA Records six days before the release of my new album.

The answer is NO. We’re not going to boycott PayPal. And we’re not going to encourage our entire fanbase to boycott PayPal, because in the process we’d be eliminating nearly all of our online income (which represents about 50% of our annual household income).

By deleting your PayPal account, you’re putting the cart before the horse. If you feel strongly about this issue, you should contact online services like Etsy, Storenvy, Bigcartel, etc. and encourage them to offer other payment methods. Some of these services are so big that they really should be accepting payments through a more premium service provider or creating their own systems for accepting credit cards. In the mean time, avoid PayPal when it’s absolutely possible, but continue to use it in those instances when there is no other option. Otherwise, you’re cutting yourself off from a lot of independent artists who truly need every individual order they receive.

Many independent artists like me and Lauren rely on free/cheap services like Storenvy and Etsy to brand, market, sell, and ship our homemade art. Without these services it’s very difficult to cut out and maintain a niche in incredibly crowded industries like music and crafting.

Love,
Matt