Reply To: Sample Logic / Pulse / APD Owner Sends Threatening Email to Users of a Free Code

[Peter DeLegge]

His LinkedIn profile shows that he is also CEO of Pulse. So, confirmed, Joe Trupiano owns Audio Plugin Deals, VSTBuzz, Pulse, MusicSoftwareDeals, and Sample Logic. I’m not sure why his sites hide his name.

There is a serious ethics problem here. Joe Trupiano, the CEO of both Sample Logic and Pulse, threatened anyone who used the free code could end up having their Pulse account deleted. He wrote that he was “in communication with Pulse” — but he’s the CEO / owner of Pulse and Sample Logic. So, why the deception?

A quote from his email shared above:

“We are currently in communication with Pulse regarding these unauthorized downloads. Please be advised that continued use of our products without proper licensing may result in further action, including the potential deactivation of your Pulse account.”

Now, here’s why the threat to delete people’s Pulse accounts is so problematic. It would mean that Mr. Trupiano would be blocking access to all downloads from the third-party developers who have contracted with him to distribute their sample libraries and plugins through Pulse. That is what he threatened to do in his correspondence. If I were a developer working with Pulse, that email and the threat he made would put an end to my relationship with Pulse. The idea that he could even threaten that is, itself, a huge problem.

Now, I’m not a Sample Logic customer, but I am a Pulse, Audio Plugin Deals, and VST Buzz customer — and in the affiliate program for APD (granted, I don’t bring in much revenue, but I trusted that the business enough to have the relationship — but this gives me pause). Clearly, this is the guy that Kirk Hunter told me he made an agreement with to distribute his libraries. Other developers have told me that they won’t work with him for various reasons, one because they claim that he did some less than ethical things with email lists.

In my case, I’ll continue in the APD program and posting deals unless the guy sees this and drops me (which is very possible after he sees my criticisms; FTR, I’ve only made around $25 all year, so it’s not like it brings in much money towards operating this site), but this is problematic — far beyond the posting of codes.

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