I often wonder why Magic isn’t considered a higher art form, to most people it is just a little above clowning (I like clowning!) Then I wonder why we don’t value it ourselves!
If Magic is a creative art to be valued then perhaps we should look at how other industries support their creative artists. How there is a respect amongst them.
Yep! $2000 a day, for a sample of a song. No one is going to mistake the two, but in music you cannot just 'borrow' from someone else and give it a tweak, or claim to be standing on the shoulders of giants. You need permission.
Earlier this year, Mark Mason released Quartet. A few weeks later it emerged as being the same gimmick as Travel by Jordan Victoria. The only real difference is that you get two gimmicks with Quartet.
How can anyone believe Quartet should be sold without Jordan Victoria’s blessing is a mystery to me, it is clearly Jordan’s intellectual property. Yet, the Magic community are just happy to have a nice new trick and don’t care about the creative artist. Murphy’s have restocked it (they also sold Travel) and every magic shop is happy to profit.
Until we change our ways and value Magic, no one else will.
I sold Quartet for a few weeks before removing it from the site and I feel terribly guilty about that. I would therefore like to offer anyone who has bought Quartet from me the opportunity to return it for a full refund.
I will then dispose of Quartet and a weight will be lifted from my conscience.
2 comments
Alex, your ethical approach to the magic business and your candid comments in this blog are most refreshing. I miss your old PropDog appearances but Monster Magic makes up for some of the loss and for that reason, it occurs to me that you might make the existence of this blog more prominent on your site? I’ve only just stumbled upon it but I spent a happy hour reading your comments. Indeed, had I known you were making such significant contributions to the blog’s content, I would have been on to it much earlier.
Magic is monopolised by a few companies so it is like a conglomerate. If x company benefits, everyone else would still get a peace of the cake whether directly or indirectly. That is why, suppliers don’t care if someone is stealing someone else’s idea. It has happened a lot