Bootlegged Video Game Soundtracks...

[skitch_84]

I originally was buying my soundtracks, though, because they are so expensive to import, few and far between, from sites like gamemusic.com and animenation.com. After a few months of satisfaction with the products I was receiving (amazing soundtracks such as Xenogears, Xenosaga, Wild Arms, and Chrono Cross), though still a little iffy on the prices I was paying, I went to google and typed in Video game soundtracks. Up popped a link to a website that said they sold OSTs. I went there and found the same soundtracks I had been paying $30 to $50 a piece for, with $8 to $20 price tags. I was in heaven. I went on a spending spree. Over the past 6 or 7 months I have bought about 30 or so soundtracks from this website and others like it. I just thought that nobody else knew about these smaller websites and were being ripped off.
Today I recieved a reply to a question I posted on these forums about the re-release of the Xenosaga OST and in the reply was a statement concerning the nature of the companies EverAnime and Ailon, both of which have been the manufacturers of the cheap, and what I thought legitimate, OSTs I have been buying. In reality these are companies that produce and sell very convincing bootlegs in which the original companies recieve no profit. I would like to apoligize to the legitimate game soundtrack companies for this... I truly didn't know that I was buying bootlegged discs. From now on I will only buy the real products. I apologize again.
If anyone else has been suckered into these cheap, yet convincing, rip-offs, please think about paying the extra money for the real thing and give the credit where the credit is due. Feel free to respond to this, I'm interested to know if anyone else has been stuped into believing they were getting "too good to be true" prices on legitimate products. Thanks for listening and I apologize one last time to the video game and video game music community for my ignorance. Now I know better...

[Missy]

Yeah search on eBay for just about any VG soundtrack and you'll see loads of buy it nows about $10...
I always knew there were bootlegs- I was lucky enough to discover this before I started collecting but I have to admit I have been conned more than once due to sellers being dishonest- usually on eBay. I always ask if the CD is a bootleg before I bid but the sellers just replied "this is the original". So I buy it, and low and behold- it's a bootleg. And they refuse to give a refund. But it isn't just the cheap ones that are bootlegs- I got a Chrono Cross soundtrack from www.anotherworld.co.uk for ú40 and it was a son may! I was furious, plus when you contact them to complain they choose to ignore you..

Basically the best way to shop for VG soundtracks is to before you buy it, ask the retailer/seller who the publisher is, and the catalog number. You can double check this on Chudah's website (http://www.chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/index.html) and therefore they can't really lie to you if it IS a bootleg. The most notorious bootleg manufacturers are everanime and son may, but there are many others. I could list the sellers on eBay which are terrible for bootleg sales too, but that might be classed as slander? :?:

If you see a VG soundtrack at a price that is 'too good to be true', chances are that it is!! You rarely get a real bargain on eBay unless it is someone who doesn't know what they're selling (I picked up an original rockman dash soundtrack for ú5 from someone who didn't really know what it was) but if you see one at that price just make damn sure it IS an original. Bootlegs are generally of much worse quality (packaging and printing is much worse, and the discs themselves are of worse quality usually), and even worse the game soundtrack companies aren't paid for their hard work.

It's a shame you got conned like that into buying bootlegs but at least you now know what to look for and I wish you the best of luck in the future. I hope I have helped =)

[skitch_84]

I appreciate the response Missy. I'm glad people are understanding about what happened. I'm one of those people who won't even make a burnt C.D. unless it is for myself of something I've already purchased and own (either for backup copy purposes or for personal mixes). I'm a total advocator of giving credit to the recording artists and true distributors for their products. The crazy thing is how well-done those bootlegs are, for example: the bootlegged Final Fantasy Piano Collections IV, V, and VI came with mini-booklets of the sheet music! I can understand why people, like me, never even suspect that they are getting illegitimate copies. Outside of SonMay, Everanime, Ailon ect. being printed on the packages I believe the products are the same as the original. Now at least I know to look out for those companies and to stay away from those websites I was buying them from. I know for certain that Gamemusic.com, Animenation.com, and of course Cocoebiz.com are all legitimate retailers of gamemusic soundtracks. Thanks for being honest guys!

[el jacko]

Yea, I got screwed twice on eBay for this very thing. And the second time I thought I was buying legit since the site guaranteed it.

Bleh, I only buy from Cocoebiz anymore anyways.

[Mikal Aganti]

In my ignorance I fell into the same trap. My original source of VG music came from Nintendo Power, but when they stopped publishing CDs, I tried eBay and was delightfully surprised to find so many CDs. I bought a few EverAnime discs and thought they were a cool company because they published VG music I couldn't find in the US. It was only later that I found out they were pirates. Since then I have bought the originals of most CDs (whichever I can find for a semi-reasonable price). Although the pirates look nice at first glance, comparing them side-by-side to the original usually reveals lower quality products (CD-R looking discs and poor print quality inserts & booklets).
To avoid bootlegs, follow Missy's advice to look up the catalogue number. The best place I've found to check is www.gmronline.com (Game Music Revolution). Always avoid catalogue numbers that have "GAME" or "GAM" within them; all legitimate CDs have the company or publisher in the catalogue number (SCDC=Scitron, CPCA=Capcom). Some sellers abreviate SonMay and EverAnime, so avoid CDs published by just "SM" or "EA".

[Lordwindowlicker]

I too fell into this trap, at a little store called Anime Pavilion. Now I avoid HK bootleg cds like the plague.
I hate how they've flooded ebay, how they're all you can find for the most part.
I've been looking up and down for a legit version of the Rurouni Kenshin movie soundtrack but to no avail... it's out of print in japan. Every copy I find on ebay is SM or EverAnime.
Depressing!
It's sad how people are making money off someone else's work.

[jedseven]

So many bootleg CDs spread around ebay, and many many anime shops.

Last month, I found a shop in Chinatown Melbourne (Australia) selling Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, X OSTs for AU$90(US$68) each!!!!! After I read an article about bootleg on Chuddha's Corner, I realized that those OSTs in the shop were all fake. Most of them made by Miya Records, and some made by SM.

Luckily, the price thay set was extremely high! Otherwise, I may have been bought them... How come, the price was twice times more expensive than original. I'm curious...do they know that those CDs are bootlegs.

[Fatigue]

So many bootleg CDs spread around ebay, and many many anime shops.

Last month, I found a shop in Chinatown Melbourne (Australia) selling Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, X OSTs for AU$90(US$68) each!!!!! After I read an article about bootleg on Chuddha's Corner, I realized that those OSTs in the shop were all fake. Most of them made by Miya Records, and some made by SM.

Luckily, the price thay set was extremely high! Otherwise, I may have been bought them... How come, the price was twice times more expensive than original. I'm curious...do they know that those CDs are bootlegs.

Hey, you live near me!!! :D :D :D

To tell you the truth, not many people, or shops, know about bootlegs and I can understand why. Sometimes bootlegs are incredibly heard to tell whether they are real or false, in fact, people only really find out about bootlegs when they learn about them. I bought a bootleg once, Xenosaga OST, and I quickly found out about it and bought real copy from here at CocoeBiz (now VGMWorld)

[Zenning]

Indeed, I bought many bootlegs back in the day unknowingly.

Of course, I no longer own any bootleg albums now, as I've replaced all of them with legitimate Japanese import copies.

Supposedly, Chinese officials are cracking down on merchandise bootlegged in China.

Heard that on the news, at least...Chinese authorities confiscated quite a mass of bootlegged goods from stores.

[Eriol]

Basically the best way to shop for VG soundtracks is to before you buy it, ask the retailer/seller who the publisher is, and the catalog number. You can double check this on Chudah's website (http://www.chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/index.html) and therefore they can't really lie to you if it IS a bootleg. The most notorious bootleg manufacturers are everanime and son may, but there are many others. I could list the sellers on eBay which are terrible for bootleg sales too, but that might be classed as slander? :?:

Chudah's Corner maintains a list of ebay sellers who have been known to sell albums published by "bootleg" labels.

Yes, there are actually retailers who sell bootlegged albums unknowingly. Unfortunately, most will not reconsider their stance, since they believe their (unscrupulous) distributors more than some person emailing them that they are selling bootlegged albums.


It seems that game soundtracks aren't that large of a business as compared with other albums in Japan. Japanese companies don't usually have the resources to go after bootleggers. Usually, only the big fish are caught.

Son May is an outfit in Taiwan, which did not sign the Berne Treaty. The treaty is an agreement by all signatories to follow international copyright law. So, in any country that doesn't follow international copyright law, such bootlegs are actually legal.