• GMTC & Free Dvd Offer Temporarily Closed

    in Latest News

    The Gospel Music Training Center and free dvd offer reopens this Wednesday, December 10, 2008 @ 6pm pacific / 9pm eastern.

    After being closed for 2 weeks, we’re now ready to sell out the remaining 124 free courses and membership slots we have available.

    If you want to increase your chances of getting one of these courses, you’ll want to listen to this entire audio update below. It has all the details you’ll need to know for Wednesday…

    Make sure to bookmark http://www.gospelmusictraining.com. Check the site daily for new updates.

    Here’s a letter I drafted up. I want my dedicated blog readers to see it first. I’ll probably be sending it out to the entire mailing list next week…

    —————–

    Hi,

    First off, let me start by thanking everyone who was on their computers on Wednesday.

    I’m both thankful, embarrassed, and disappointed at the same time.

    Thankful to all the many people who followed my instructions to the “T” (like in the e-mail from a concerned student I pasted below) and were looking forward to getting started.

    Embarrassed because our system totally failed everyone. Immediately at 10 minutes before launch (when the backdoor link went up), it crashed. Not only did it crash, but it continued to crash for several hours. Over 1,000 people were trying to access it at one time and what ended up happening is… NOBODY got in. Then, when it finally came back up 20 minutes later, the same thing happened. This continued pretty much all day.

    We’ve been at this a long time and we were assured everything would be fine. I’ve launched over 20 products in the past 8 years. But it was something about this launch… we never had that many people coming at the same “second” (YES, second) and I guess the database just couldn’t keep up. So yes, I’m very embarrassed and I ask for your apologies.

    I’m dissapointed because while hundreds got in, many were turned away and straight out disgusted by what was going on. Like this e-mail:

    [Name withheld] Posted on: 26 Nov 2008 09:16 AM
    =================================================

    What a HUGE disappointment! Despite having followed your instructions to the letter it proved impossible to get in. For 30-40 times I got either an SQL error (several kinds) or a “too many connections” message.

    Could you not anticipate the number of people who were likely to try, and have your system configured to handle them intelligently? Now all that you have done is alienate a load of people quite unnecessarily.

    So what will you do to compensate????

    Regards [Name withheld]

    =================================================

    So rather than send another e-mail and have the same problem potentially happen again, I have the best web hosting company in the world (rackspace.com) building me a monster server from the ground up. I’ve temporarily closed the website. I’m not taking any new members until I make sure it doesn’t crash again.

    I plan on opening it back up on next Wednesday, December 10, 2008. This time, I PROMISE to not have these same issues or I will GIVE you free membership for 3 months! I’m putting my money where my mouth is. Rackspace.com has assured me that what I have being built can hold 10,000 people at the same second and I feel 100% confident this time. I host my main website with rackspace and as you could see, hearandplay.com NEVER went down that day… it was only the new Gospel Music Training Center site that had the issues.

    And as the e-mail said… “What will I do to compensate?”

    Well… here’s the thing.

    Due to these problems, the super consistent students who stayed online nearly all day trying to get in eventually got in… but this was several hours later. Those who left towards the beginning of the day pretty much never came back. Some got in “between” the crashes but then received error pages after putting in their details. It was a complete mess. I’m not going to cover up anything. A MESS.

    Some thought they had “missed it” when, in actuality, it was the server that couldn’t support everyone at once.

    So it was a big disaster. Some got in, but most were basically turned away. Point blank. My fault totally.

    But like I said, I’m thankful for the 551 students that got in before I temporarily closed the site. They have already began learning from the training center (and their free dvds are on their way).

    Here’s what some have said:

    “Great Lesson! I’m sure to be busy with this one all the way up to Christmas :-)! Anyway, as I watched, I just kept thinking this is beautiful (the whole monthly training sessions thing)… I absolutely love hear and play.”
    Laketa – on Nov 26, 2008

    “WON-DER-FUL! This has been a long time coming. Thank you for allowing the Lord to use you. I will gladly be a member for a long time. I am currently paying for monthly lessons but I may have to re-think that. JG I’m glad you took the time off because you came back with exactly what I needed. Blessings to you and the family!”
    Tanya – on Nov 26, 2008

    “I’m am LOVING this!! I am absolutely over the moon that I got into the Training Center! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!”
    nickij – on Nov 27, 2008

    =================================================

    So if you’re still willing to give the club a try, here’s what I’m going to do…

    (If you made it in, don’t worry… you’re automatically getting this).

    In addition to the “Christmas Keys” Volume One 3-hour digital download version I’m extending, you’re also going to get one of my best courses ever produced… “GospelKeys 202 – Mastering Worship Chords.” It’s 5 hours long and I’m willing to throw the digital download in there for free. That’s 2 digitally downloadable dvds ($93 in additional courses) PLUS the free dvd and bonus mystery disc I’m sending in the mail.

    I messed up with the whole server problems and I’ll pay for it. So to the person who sent me the aforementioned e-mail… that is what I’ll do to compensate.

    With my additional shipment of 75 courses (that second batch I mentioned in my 5th video came in on Wednesday)… and the 49 I have left from the original batch of 600 — that leaves me with a good 124 free dvds to work with.

    And let me tell you… had we not had those issues on Wednesday, all of these would have been GONE. That is the main reason we had the server problems. Over 1,000 people were headed towards the order form at once. The website was up… it was the order form database that went down (i.e. “too many server connections”). That is why I feel so bad. Everyone went at once and what ended up happening is NO ONE got in because it all went down… I mean the server just shut down.

    But this won’t happen on Wednesday (December 10). If it does, I will GIVE YOU 3 months of membership for free, no questions asked.

    So this is the official relaunch to close the final seats in the club for now…

    ———————————————
    Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2008
    Time: 6pm pacific / 9pm eastern (This time, I’ll do it at night when most people aren’t at work)

    Link: https://www.hearandplay.com/pro.html (the site isn’t up… but if you want updates, you can get on the “waiting” list).

    ———————————————

    Thanks for your understanding. I really appreciate it!

    And to those of you who were disappointed, I ask for you to reconsider. I know my extra perks can never make up for the frustration you may have experienced (I know how it can be to really want something and do everything you can to get it… and it being taken away from you for no reason) — but come Wednesday, I’d love to make it up to ya!

    All the best,

    Jermaine Griggs
    Ph: 1-877-856-4187

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    Hi, I'm Jermaine Griggs, founder of this site. We teach people how to express themselves through the language of music. Just as you talk and listen freely, music can be enjoyed and played in the same way... if you know the rules of the "language!" I started this site at 17 years old in August 2000 and more than a decade later, we've helped literally millions of musicians along the way. Enjoy!




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