UMG Leaves Tiktok Then Fills Dog Rat’s Order!

Over two months ago, in a moment of weakness I went for a promotional deal from Universal Music Group on a Deutsche Grammophon CD set. Eleven discs for $35, plus shipping.

https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/brahms-complete-chamber-music-4304

I waited for the order to be shipped. And waited. And waited. The shipping date kept being moved out by three days. Queries to customer support seemed to be answered by AI bots. This went on and on until I finally requested the order be canceled and my money refunded.

UMG came back with an offer from, I assume, a human being. They would refund the $12 shipping charge, and take about $7.50 off the purchase price and, somewhat to my surprise, they did. Yet the order remained unfilled for almost another month.

Universal Music Group issued a $12.14 USD refund
Universal Music Group issued a $7.43 USD refund

A few days ago the package was shipped at last. It should be here today.

The timing of my order being shipped coincides with Universal Music Group’s announcement that it is pulling everything off of TikTok. Obviously, my order was delayed because of the ongoing negotiations.

An Open Letter to the Artist and Songwriter Community
Why We Must Call Time Out on TikTok

https://www.universalmusic.com/an-open-letter-to-the-artist-and-songwriter-community-why-we-must-call-time-out-on-tiktok/

As soon as the impasse with TikTok was reached they were able to turn their attention to me. “Why hasn’t this order for the respected and influential blogger Dog Rat been filled yet? Get on it immediately or he’ll rip us online and we’ll never be able to sell another Classical release!”

PHP PHEW!

More than two years after finally getting this site stabilized, I continue to be nervous whenever any change is made to the layers of software sitting below WordPress.

Yesterday, as required by the hosting service, I updated the version of PHP that WordPress runs on, from release 8.0 to 8.2, and………… a miracle. Nothing bad happened.

Headline Answers Its Own Question

Inflation’s Down and the Economy’s Strong. So Why Isn’t the Fed Cutting Rates?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/inflation-s-down-and-the-economy-s-strong-so-why-isn-t-the-fed-cutting-rates/ar-BB1hjHty

Inflation has been dampened and unemployment is low. Yay! The Fed’s two mandates have been achieved, and that’s why the Fed isn’t cutting rates.

But there is, of course, a “but.” Raising interest rates, back to where I think they should be, has exposed problems caused by the decade of zero interest rates and free money. Problems that have been compounded in the aftermath of the pandemic. The reality is simple and profound.

THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY IS BASED ON DEBT

If the Fed starts to lower rates before mid-year, it will be for one practical reason — to help commercial real estate developers and investors refinance their debts. The side benefit would be to boost residential real estate, but doing that risks increasing inflation, so I don’t see the Fed acting too soon. I’m sure they’re closely watching China’s real estate crisis.

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/30/1227554424/evergrande-china-real-estate-economy-property-collapse

P.S. In today’s NYTimes:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/business/economy/fed-interest-rates.html