JOHNJOHNFM LLC
110925
Every release tells two stories: the one you hear, and the one that almost didn’t happen.
Since October 10th, my studio lights haven’t gone dark—writing, recording, filing patents, building the infrastructure behind THE AUDITION.
It nearly missed its cue.
For two years, I’ve relied on SoundOn Global for distribution. They were reliable until the one night they weren’t. After spending seven hours on uploads, metadata, design, and marketing, I waited for a crucial email that never came: “There’s been a delay.”
Midnight release CANCELED. Friends and followers waiting. Then, the same distributor went ahead and pushed the version after I had already requested it to be withdrawn!
A digital identity crisis in motion.
I called Avid. Their team moved fast; AvidPlay became the lifeboat. Meanwhile, SoundOn went silent, closing the ticket with a polite “Rate your experience” after some back-and-forth.
Thanks to SoundOn’s failure to cancel my release, there were now two releases racing towards the same platforms. One legit, and one not.
Apple’s metadata team caught the duplicates, preserved the right master, and saved the brand from aesthetic disaster. Lesson learned: technology only serves the craft when you’re awake at the wheel.
Despite the chaos, THE AUDITION landed on schedule. The irony fits: the song itself is about performance, the thin line between presentation and truth.