sorry to burst your bubble, but the internet is not "real" therefore, it really makes no difference if a few hundred or even a few thousand people post their negative opinions online. in terms of marketing, the customer reviews may be helpful to some individuals, but overall it's generally a matter of spitting in the wind.
in this day and age, when we live in the "blogosphere", not only is the internet the greates resource for information in history, it's also become the biggest dumping ground for worthless garbage ever conceived by man. nobody really cares about our opinions, and point of fact nobody should.
we're just drops in the bucket and while a single negative review, or negative feedback may cause a ripple effect, it's also just as likely to brand the reviewer as a pariah by those who simply don't care about their plight, or find it funny. it's an aspect of human nature to want to be vindicated, but it's also a very necessary aspect of human nature to ignore the troubles of another individual in deference to one's own troubles.
posting your complaints here may help to make you feel better, but don't fool yourself into think that it makes any difference to anyone but yourself.
as the owner of an independent record label, i've struggled with many of those who post illegal downloads online while hiding behind this "philosophy" that what they are doing somehow "helps" the artists and their labels by "promoting" the music. many of my fellow label owners and artists are just as exasperated by it as i am, but like me they simply lack the funds or psychological energy to litigate these people into oblivion. it's an uphill battle, and one which will ultimately result in fewer albums being released for financial reasons, which means we'll be vindicated in the end while our businesses suffer and the pirates will have no more new music to post.
at least, that's one possible outcome...
the point is, we've made a conscious choice to ignore the internet for the simple fact that it's not "real" and the opinions that exist within it do not dictate our reasons for producing music. by the same token, the manufacturers of $30,000 hifi systems will not cease operations because a certain element of the population believes that the idea of paying for music, or charging money for music, is "So last century" and the dealers will not cease operations because of a few dissatisfied customers airing their complaints in online forums.
you may as well break out the torches and storm the castle tower.
