Think you know the latest release date for Superwoman???

Think again!

Try sometime just before Christmas – MAYBE. 

Every month or so we discover a brand new "release date" for Paulini's second album Superwoman. The latest release date "appears" to be 28th August 2006 but no-one believes that stuff anymore. You might just as well say "The Easter Bunny is coming for dinner next week", it's got as much credibility. And as you'll see, that release date is, in fact,  completely wrong.

{mosimage}This has been going on, sometimes from month to month, since somewhere around March LAST YEAR. The album is starting to become a bit of a myth, a legend. And the worst of it is, there's never any "official" word from the "official" Sony/BMG world.

In all this confusion and frustration, Sony/BMG continue to hide behind their corporate skirts and refuse to answer any enquiries, polite or otherwise, from the media or from her fans with any real statements as to what is going on. But perhaps this inability to front-up to their actions on the part of Sony/BMG has a reason.

Recently  www.themusic.com.au  reported this interesting, though appalling bit of information:

 

Paulini's forthcoming album Superwoman still doesn't have a release date. Record company Sony BMG pulled it off the roster last month, saying that its lack of a date didn't mean the title has been cancelled. But the latest Bony[sic] release schedule, released last week, has product all the way out to 28th October (an as- yet-untitled longplayer from rapper Bow Wow, if you're interested) and Paulini doesn't get a look-in. [emphasis mine]

So this would mean, Sony/BMG don't have any intention of releasing Paulini's album, at least until the end of October this year, which would make the album….. oh … let me see….almost TWO YEARS OLD before we're even likely to get a future release date. 

It's been abundantly clear that poor Paulini has been as convinced as we were of each successive release date since early last year. So, given their release schedule, it appears Sony/BMG have been stringing Paulini along. For over a year!!!??? Come on fellas, no matter what excuses you have, they must be worn threadbare by now. Paulini should probably be quietly heading off to a good entertainment industry lawyer right about now. 

But don't go trying to get Sony/BMG to explain any of this, or even confirm or deny their own release schedule. Don't try to comment on this disgusting state of affairs at the "Official Sony/BMG Paulini forum" or even try to ask polite questions. The moderators over there are working overtime to try and keep things under wraps and perform the Sony/BMG version of "damage control". Posts are disappearing almost before they hit the website, there must be some very tired "delete" fingers in their world. And are these posts in breach of the stated forum rules?? You know the ones about not being racist, defamatory, pornogrpahic etc…???

 Well see for yourself. Here's an example of a post deemed so offensive by the Sony/BMG moderators that it deserved almost immediate deletion:

From "funkiboi"

A couple of online cd retail sites that had Superwoman listed for release on different dates – 3/7/06, 10/7/06, 30/6/06…..now all have the SAME release date. Wait for it……… 28th August 2006!! However neither Sanity or HMV have Superwoman listed AT ALL.
You've got to be kidding me??! Surely this can't be true – SONY/BMG are ruining poor Paulini's career. SHAME SHAME SHAME on SONY/BMG

All the subsequent replies asking Sony/BMG for an explanation and expressing disbelief and shock at this continual delaying of her album were also deleted. Several innocuous threads were also deleted if they contained anything remotely critical of Sony/BMG or if they stated the new release date for the album.

But wait there's more. When members returned to find most of their posts deleted, they naturally posted new messages commenting on the extreme censorship in the forum. These were all also, deleted in less than an hour.

Here's some examples of the posts once again deemed so highly offensive and in breach of the rules that they deserved to be deleted:

From "Pete"

Funkibois and my threads were deleted courtesy of Sony …. You're too precious Sony/BMG … none of what was wtitten on those threads was objectionable; profane; defamatory and now you've deleted those threads peoples right to make up their own minds about those threads have been denied

  And this one from "Tigerize" – hardly rates Sony/BMG getting their knickers in a knot over:

Hahahahahahaha

The topic about the topics that disappeared has disappeared
Hahahahahahaha
This place is really baaaaad.

 And this one from "Joanna"

perhaps theres a nether world for dispearing threads along with their sock cousins 

Perhaps Sony/BMG dont like sock jokes. 

And another from "Pete"

Chorus sung to "Freedom Come"
Threads They Come,

Threads They Go

Threads Never Stay Long

Threads Movin' Along

 Um…. they don't like songs either???

Remember, all of these posts were deemed offensive enough to be deleted. Seriously, this is very petty stuff to be deleting posts of this nature from long term members of the forum. What is worrying them so much that they've resorted to this level of censorship? 

It's also widely known that Sony/BMG staff/mods have banned members for similar posts in the past. We're not talking about highly abusive, expletive-filled unreasonable posts. Paulini fans have been banned from her forum simply because they critised Sony/BMG or asked them to explain what they were doing to Paulini's release dates.

It seems Sony/BMG have not only forgotten about the solo career of one of their best artists, Paulini, they've also forgotten some of the fundamental rights of living in a democratic country – and they've forgotten how to behave like normal social human beings.

It's hard to feel positive about knowing the future of someone as beautiful, talented, warm-hearted and trusting as Paulini lies precariously in the hands of people who are behaving like this.

Perhaps we're being unfair to Sony/BMG. Perhaps somehow all the media, her fans, people from her forum, music retailers and everyone else have just gotten the wrong information and the wrong end of the proverbial stick. But I doubt it. And in any case. Sony/BMG have gone so far into an almost paranoid cloister – how are we to think anything else. 

And perhaps someone needs to explain to Sony/BMG that you don't silence criticism by deleting it, you don't control damage by pretending none exists. And just because you delete things you dont like to hear from your forum doesnt mean it all automatically gets deleted from the entire universe.

Guys, the delete button only works for your website.

Meanwhile, in a wierd twist, over in the UK, Superwoman has been available since April 15th. And now Aussies who've grown sick of waiting for Sony/BMG to pull their finger out, have begun ordering it from the UK. You can order it online but you have to get it delivered to a UK address. But if you know someone in the UK they can then send it to you and the CD will arrive at your place within days. It's been done!!

So, if you're not particularly interested in waiting until some time way way into the future (in a galaxy far far away) for Sony/BMG to come up with a release date in Australia, post a message here in the comments below, or in the Forum (the one attached to this site)  or send us an email (see the contact section). If you want to order it from the UK we can help you work out how.{moscomment}