For more than 15 years now, there has been a dispute. It is about recognition, about “who was the first”, who copied. It is about own achievements and ideas, about ego, the understanding of history and the readiness for further development. It’s about desired control, own ideas, desires and disappointment.
And, of course, it’s also about business, business etics, money, greed and markets…
This whole ‘Hang® vs. Handpan / PANArt vs. HCU situation’ reminds me very much of something I was directly affected by and witnessed first hand in the 1990s:
Back then, the first organic farmers organized to run stores, mills and bakeries together to build the possibility of ethical distribution of high quality organic food. For years, we were ridiculed – and ignored by the so-called market….
But, it didn’t take very long and the “Organic market” was discovered by the big players as a future market. Within a few months, many organic communities died and were replaced by corporations, in which the former managers of Coca-Cola now generated the big profits with organic products, using tough “coca-cola methods”.
It was very unpleasant to see how a great idea turned in a very short time into a pure business with all the ugly downsides at many places.
But the question that arises is: Has the beautiful basic idea been destroyed by the developments towards pure business? Or is it just that it is no longer that present ? After all, certain “organic communes” have never ceased to exist and still offer the “basic spirit” of the 90s – and fill my fridge to this day. You can still decide for yourself which ideas and business practices you personally support !
The Handpan market experienced the same changes in the last years in my perception. The great market potential has been discovered and more and more unattractive manufacturing- and especially distribution methods have crept in on “Planet Handpan”. Also in this case it is not at all nice to observe these changes. Fortunately, the same is true here: You can still decide for yourself which ideas and business practices you personally support !
Speaking of support: As a Handpan lover you have several possibilities to support the free development of this great instrument. Three of these possibilities I would like to introduce to you:
1) Financial support of the HCU – to be able to continue the unfortunately necessary legal disputes in a high quality way:
https://gofund.me/e931f77e
2) Buy the new beautiful “Future Rust 3” realease, choose the purchase price and support the HCU with it (proceeds of the CD sale go to the HCU)
https://futurerust.bandcamp.com/album/future-rust-volume-3
3) If you are interested in the exciting history of the Handpan, check out the “Handpan Timeline Project“. This project is crowed-sourced and is always looking for people who are willing to contribute and work on it …
https://handpan-timeline.org
May the Handpans bring joy to many more generations of makers, players and listeners. These wonderful UFO’s have this potential of bringing us closer togehter – exactly what we need in times, where there is already too much dividing …
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