ScamAlert™!!!
MusicBizAdvice.com wants you and your money to be safe while you pursue your music
industry career! Following are some of the scams that are making the rounds of the music
industry...
SCAM:
You've been discovered":
In this scam,
you're emailed a letter saying you've been "discovered." The email contains a
link to a website of a "talent scout," whose scouting company claims to assist
musicians, models, and actors. After you've clicked around for awhile you find out there's
a $295.00 fee to be "discovered." This email is sent to independent
artists...err, or not! We found out about this scam from the owner of an independent
record label, who'd been emailed the link and told she'd been "discovered"--and
that the bogus company could shop her to independent labels!
FACT: Most of these scouting companies are just databases of resumes,
photos, and sound clips.
FACT: Music talent scouts don't work for "scouting companies".
They work for labels, agents, and managers.
FACT: Legitimate talent scouts aren't even called "talent
scouts" in the music industry. That's just slang the press used years ago to lump
together several job titles.
FACT: Music industry people looking for new talent aren't likely to use
such databases as a first resource for finding new talent--too many amateurs to wade
through.
BOTTOM LINE: Don't do it.
More
scams
Know
of a music or entertainment industry scam? Tell us about it. Send the details to
talktombadc@aol.com with "SCAM ALERT" in the
subject line. Include the company's name, web address, and contact information, along with
a brief description of the scam. We'll post as many as possible to keep it from happening to someone else. All
submissions are confidential. |
