Art Bell Quits Dark Matter

[MV/Liberace!]

He hasn't been there even 60 days yet, he signed a deal KNOWING all the conditions of the show, and then, has the gall to shit on his fans....AGAIN, and quits us........AGAIN. SCREW HIM up his drama queen, temper tantrum throwing ass. You don't sign a contract, constantly try to get your employer to change this or that, then make a demand that is nearly unprecedented for them, and quit. He is a child in a mans body.

contracts go both ways.  surely sirius/xm is contractually obligated to transmit art's show to listeners, and there is probably legal verbiage about reliability and whatnot.  if art can make a case that sirius/xm is in breach of contract in this regard, then he's legally justified in what he's chosen to do.  you can not deny there were considerable problems with the stream infrastructure provided by siriusxm. 

a guess, but when art mentioned the subscribers who dropped off because of it, he was probably referring largely to those who signed up for the free accounts but did not continue with a full subscription.

[HumanBeing]

I dunno, Art has to have some sense of the powder keg he threw a lit match into. Taking time to respond to his fans... in a not so timely fashion. It may well be a strategy. But I am really starting to consider he may well not be worth the investment.

Yeah if it is some sort of grand scheme game plan by Art I want no part of it.

[UrbanFool]

And now on top of it all they replay the Dick Hoagland interview. Talk about adding insult to injury!

THAT is sure the truth!

[analog kid]

But what sort of audience would he be able to pull in? And will it be acceptable to him? What platform would he use?

I don't want to hear an Art Bell podcast because I want it to be a live ordeal.

Seems like there would possibly be an air of being downgraded to that guy with a website, while Jorchy's getting paid to sit in a studio reading cue cards. Any revenue Art could pull in would be up to him to figure out the business models, which is a lot of work and trial and error.

[CoherentBlast]

The lack of comment on Art's site, other than that Sirius said no, is quite telling.
No.. "hey thanks for the ride gang, it was fun, wish ya the best, no farewells, no Dark Matter is over and done with."


Ironically, what AB may be doing to provide a free show to his most loyal fans now has those longtime fans cursing him and ranting.  Art has the financial means, and the balls, to do it HIS way.  Wouldn't all of you be happier to not pay SXM (those of you that are, wink).

I think with all the problems with the website, and still having limited control over a medium which makes you pay was getting to him. Art is a radio man, free waves for any person to catch and listen in. I think the better sound quality took away some romance for him and he has something in mind.

I would suggest to all post in this thread that you vent on sirius and not Art. All these posts im seeing are so negative and so quick to poke when he hasnt fully addressed this situation. For those with short patience, I say take a step back and humble, this is the time to see how important the fans are to him. At the end of the day, until we all hear the answer to the biggest questions, dont judge and REMAIN CALM!

@ART BELL... I really hope something is cooking, your fans are here for you, and albeit impatient, frustrated, and upset, don't let it work against you!  As a fellow engineer, I understand your quest for perfection, I just hope my gut feeling is correct, and you will get this sorted ASAP.. At least fill us in or provide some hope if there is in fact a reason to hang on to it

[coaster]

I don't know why people think its some strategy. Art asked Sirius, they said no. Art said Dark Matter was over. The end.

[williedee]

streaming audio for talk is very very cheap these days.

I can confirm this.
It would take some server horsepower to stream to thousands of listeners. I'd say if you were streaming 32kbps (perfectly fine for talk radio, what alex jones streams at), you could stream to 2700-2800 listeners per server. A dedicated server from a quality host could easily handle that load, and could be obtained for less than $70 per month, probably cheaper. With a cluster of 5 machines @ a total of $350 per month, that's 14000 slots.


Better yet they could use amazon's cloud (which they're already using for artbell.com), and pay for what they need, when they need it. Spool up a cluster of vms each night 30 minutes before the show, broadcast till the show is over, and shut them back down. 4 hours of streaming to 16800 listeners would use around 1100 gigabytes, which isn't bad at all. I don't know how much amazon charges for bulk network usage, but i can't imagine it'd be cost prohibitive.

[HumanBeing]

First, all my best to Seraphim's family. I'm sending my absolute best and most positive energy your way.

As for the current situation...

During the dark times after Art's last Coast episode on Halloween night, 2010, I was one of the biggest believers that sooner or later, Art would be back. And through all the false starts and dead ends, all the cryptic posts and promises that "staying tuned" would eventually be rewarded, and all the ridicule from the cynical here and elsewhere, my faith was ultimately affirmed by the announcement of Dark Matter's debut, and I have enjoyed the show for what it is.

But a lot can change in three years. Indeed, a lot can change in a month. Things that seemed so vitally important to me in mid-September of this year are...less important. Including whether Art Bell has quit for good, or not.

In other words, I no longer have quite the emotional or intellectual investment I once did in this topic.

So in the name of taking the bitter with the better....

Yes, whatever has happened, it sucks. It sucks doubly because it's sure to thrill Noory and crew. But whatever. Art's show on Sirius, whatever his true motivations for doing it, was never going to kill Coast. Hurt it, tip it, damage it, yes, but honestly it is its own worst enemy, and will only be destroyed by itself, from within.

Do I think there's more going on than we can see? Almost definitely. Is it a negotiating tactic? Possibly. Is Art just changing course, to reappear elsewhere, while we wait for the dust to settle? Maybe. Part of me hopes so. But I almost no longer care.

Has Art left us for good? Again, I don't know. I also almost don't care. (Not meant in a negative way: I'm not mad at him. I wish nothing but good for him and his family. But I'm just at a "whatever" point now.)

Regarding his FaceBook page, I believe that it's been deactivated, but not deleted. In other words, he can reactivate it at any time. Whether he will or not is another question, but not one I'm particularly concerned about at the moment.

I just see it as this: we got 28 new episodes, ending--in poetic symmetry--with a Halloween ghost show. We got to hear Art's voice live again. We got to hear at least part of the "real story" behind his retirement, which he'd long promised. And he showed that whatever his reasons for coming back to the radio, he is still a Master of the medium, in a way that his successors and imitators can never match. And as far as we can tell--aside from the free streaming and international listeners issue--he did this show on his terms, and hopefully, if it is over, ended it on his terms. And if he does it again, I would hope for the same.

Granted, I didn't pay for a Sirius subscription, so I can understand why those who did are frustrated and upset, though I'd still say...wait and see what might happen. But speaking strictly for myself, I have nothing to be upset about. And with the big collections that some members of this forum are working on, there will be plenty of classic Art to listen to, along with a little bit of new stuff, too.

In any case, I've spent an inordinate amount of time and energy thinking and posting about Art Bell. I'll still peek in and share thoughts...certainly I'll be looking for further developments in this situation. But for now, I've got a lot of living, and work, to do. Peace.

p.s. Wonder what Fort Rock would make of all this....

Very well said

But I'm still going to bitch about it for a while longer  hehe

[EarthAlien007]

Will you all please wait and hear the whole story!?
Sirius XP isn't the only game in town.

[jblank]

contracts go both ways.  surely sirius/xm is contractually obligated to transmit art's show to listeners, and there is probably legal verbiage about reliability and whatnot.  if art can make a case that sirius/xm is in breach of contract in this regard, then he's legally justified in what he's chosen to do.  you can not deny there were considerable problems with the stream infrastructure provided by siriusxm. 

a guess, but when art mentioned the subscribers who dropped off because of it, he was probably referring largely to those who signed up for the free accounts but did not continue with a full subscription.

Then work on the matter internally. Don't bring it out to the audience and don't shit on your loyal fans that you've shit on repeatedly, after not even two months.

[UnscreenedCaller]

let's be realistic.  it's not art's job to "give a shit" about us.  he's a man who is skilled at maintaining a listening audience for the purpose of presenting that listening audience with advertisements.  we sometimes get the true relationship between host and listener a little mixed up.  what's happening before your eyes at this moment is a matter of business.

I agree mv, up to the point where people forked over cash for subscriptions and radios. That's what bugs the shit out of me. No, he doesn't have to give a shit about us, but a twinge of conscience would be appropriate considering he's thinking of leaving the country to protect his finances if a shutdown occurs and those people who spent money for Sirius products are probably far less well off than he. Their choice, I know, but he sold it with the idea he'd stick around for awhile.

[Chine]

I'm also a sometimes-fan of Clyde's. Chine - do you remember what the date was when you were on his show? I wanna listen to it! The free podcasts of his shows are on iTunes.

He DOES cry a lot on that show. Good for him, with all the feelings and stuff.

I haven't looked for a ClydeGab thread here â€" if we don't have one, we should throw one in general discussion for the hell of it.

And ART: Damn, the man should at least come on BellGab and chat with us.

I was on the May 9 show, his guest was Matt Lande.

Not sure if there is a Clyde thread or where it would be posted under. Other Talk Radio, maybe.

[Zenof]

What the actual fuck.

Just got here and don't have the patience to read 22 pages. Is their any summing this up?

[SaucyRossy]

Yeah if it is some sort of grand scheme game plan by Art I want no part of it.

Right, so IF and when Art is doing a show for free on artbell.com with a reliable free app to listen on your phone you won't listen?

Everyone is freaking out but Art isn't going to do a show if his hardcore listeners can't listen to it reliably. He will just do his own stream. However, Sirius will find some sort of compromise is my guess.

[ChewMouse]

        I think I'll watch "The Night Porter" and then "Guyana:The Jim Jones Story"

I'll join you, but this time I'll bring my own damned Kool-Aid.

[nooryisawesome]

http://artbell.com/will-siriusxm-allow-free-streaming-of-live-show/

Its on the offical website now!
Dm is no more.

I'm off the ride and going home.

[McPhallus]

You don't sign a contract, constantly try to get your employer to change this or that, then make a demand that is nearly unprecedented for them, and quit. He is a child in a mans body.

I don't know the whole story, but I get the impression that they bent over backwards to please him, making all sorts of concessions.  His demand that they provide free content was probably just too much for them.  It's just not how they do business.  In the end, I think he was just too demanding.

[TumbleWeed]

        I think I'll watch "The Night Porter" and then "Guyana:The Jim Jones Story"

I was just going to make a Artville joke, all expence paid and all the koolaid you can drink.

[Art_s Farts]

 "The Wind No Longer Blows, in the End it was Without Direction. Long Live the Hot Air. 30"

[jblank]

What the actual fuck.

Just got here and don't have the patience to read 22 pages. Is their any summing this up?

Yeah, he fucked us again. He took his ball and went home like the child he is. That sums it up.

[analog kid]

        I think I'll watch "The Night Porter" and then "Guyana:The Jim Jones Story"

Checking to see if The Day After Tomorrow is on VOD...

[Eddie Coyle]

What the actual fuck.

Just got here and don't have the patience to read 22 pages. Is their any summing this up?

       You know that scene in Goodfellas, where De Niro is on the pay phone outside the diner? And he's told "he's gone...and there's nuthin' we could do about it!"        It's like that.

[HumanBeing]

I've just realized I have had this on repeat on the second monitor for the past hour haha


Stevie Ray Vaughan Texas Flood Live at the El Macambo

[nika01]

Yeah, he fucked us again. He took his ball and went home like the child he is. That sums it up.

I wish you would follow suit

[IcicleTrepan]

I keep thinking of the woman who called up on the first night of the show and was nearly in tears, saying Art Bell, don't you do that to us again! And yet, here we are once again.   

Me too   That poor lady.

[MV/Liberace!]

Then work on the matter internally. Don't bring it out to the audience and don't shit on your loyal fans that you've shit on repeatedly, after not even two months.

it was already made apparent to the audience by the fact that they couldn't listen to the show in a proper fashion, as evidenced by the incessant stream complaints.  if keeping it out of sight and out of mind was a concern, they should have fixed the issues.  they didn't.  show's over.

[Eddie Coyle]

Checking to see if The Day After Tomorrow is on VOD...

      The Day After, too.

[nooryisawesome]

I just got my wife into his show. Then he quits!!

[FallenSeraph]

What the actual fuck.

Just got here and don't have the patience to read 22 pages. Is their any summing this up?

Art posted this on his FB page this afternoon: "Sometimes when you are 'all in' you win, sometimes lose.
By mutual agreement, Dark Matter will no longer air as of tonight."

Then he deleted his Facebook account.

There's also an update on his site here: http://artbell.com/will-siriusxm-allow-free-streaming-of-live-show/

[MV/Liberace!]

I agree mv, up to the point where people forked over cash for subscriptions and radios. That's what bugs the shit out of me. No, he doesn't have to give a shit about us, but a twinge of conscience would be appropriate considering he's thinking of leaving the country to protect his finances if a shutdown occurs and those people who spent money for Sirius products are probably far less well off than he. Their choice, I know, but he sold it with the idea he'd stick around for awhile.

i do agree with you about the radios.  that really blows.  hard.