Controversy

A Word About the Newsletter

You may have heard about the new Canadian anti-spam law that went into effect July 1.  It’s stupid and won’t work, yet anyone who has ever created an opt-in newsletter had to go through the rigmarole of making sure the law was followed.  Otherwise there’s a big, big fine.

The net result is that I’ve lost 50% of my email database, people who of their own volition and choice signed up in the first place.  But because they didn’t re-opt-in, they disappeared.  That might include you.

If you haven’t seen your Journal Musical Things newsletter this month, it’s because you need to sign up again.  Should you wish to get back on the list, you’ll need to go here to complete the process.

Sorry for the hassle, but this is our government at work, trying to protect us all against spam.  But have you noticed a decline in Nigerian scam letters?  Nope.  Me, neither.  None of this legislation will affect spammers outside Canada.  Meanwhile, it’s killing small businesses who have had to spend big dollars complying.

Please sign up again.  I won’t ever spam you nor will I use your personal data to do anything other than send you this newsletter. And you can unsubscribe anytime.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39149 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

3 thoughts on “A Word About the Newsletter

  • “Big dollars”? Is that the cost of sending out a single mailing to the people whose addresses you already have, or of having to have (or put) a mechanism in place to let people remove their names from that list more or less automatically? Who was running an opt-in list that didn’t already have that ability?

    Honestly, I wish companies would send a mailing out every five or ten years to say “Hey, are you still getting this? Do you want to keep doing so? Let us know!”… it would be a great kick in the housekeeping pants.

    Reply
  • A glass half full type might say they are happy to know that their mailing list is now comprised, to a high degree of accuracy, with nearly 100% of engaged readers – those who took the effort to sign back up because they actually want your content.

    But you don’t seem to feel that way. What exactly were you hoping to accomplish with the other 50% who don’t read your mass mailings and can’t be bothered to continue to receive them?

    A 50% response rate on sign-ups is probably way higher participation rate than the ratio of page views to comments, based on what I’ve observed – cheer up!

    Reply
  • Hi Alan

    I get a ton of email and a lot of it is spam so I’m not really against this. If I want emails from some one, I will re-up

    Big Jay

    Reply

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