As the owner of a popular Linkin Park fan site, and an active member of many Linkin Park online communities, including the official Linkin Park and Linkin Park Underground message boards, lately I have noticed and experienced a growing unhappiness in the service and customer support that Linkin Park fans have (not) been receiving from the two companies that Linkin Park contracts to provide us with merchandise, BandMerch, and the online pay-to-join fan club, LPUnderground, run by Sparkart, as well as Linkin Park’s record label, Warner Brothers. For those of you who are not familiar, BandMerch was started by Don Delson, the father of Brad Delson, the lead guitarist for the band. Originally created just for Linkin Park, it now serves dozens of different band’s merchandising needs. The Linkin Park Underground was created as the official fan club for Linkin Park, and is managed by the flash wizards at Sparkart.

This year, the trouble first started for many when Read the rest of this entry »