I'm not a musician, but a artist and gamedesigner, and I can guarantee that the entertainment industry is 1 big scam.. You are either a artist in it for the art, or the person that's scamming that artist.. The worst (and widest spread) scam is the good old "GETING PAID IN EXPOSURE"
@flamethrower82
4 жыл бұрын
rslash covers a LOT of those types of Reddit stories. Exposure doesn't pay the bills, bro! lmao
@jorgerisi8384
4 жыл бұрын
Jaja ! Here in Ottawa Canada are lots of that Scam !!! "GETING PAID IN EXPOSURE"
@tonioconni
4 жыл бұрын
Yeah most bands / artists get that a lot while starting out
@SavageGreywolf
4 жыл бұрын
If anyone ever offers to pay you in 'exposure' tie them up and drag them out to the desert and see how much they want 'exposure' out there
@mattgilbert7347
4 жыл бұрын
That's it. You've nailed it - and it's *everywhere* - not only entertainment. It's the "rentier economy" taken to the logical conclusion, extreme though that may be. Consider Social Media - what (or who) is the content? What can we say about the source of Value? Who generates the Value? The user. With all that "exposure" and "connection" (blah blah blah) that Facebook, Twitter, etc (I'm old, idk about the other ones) shoves down our throat as the "benefits" of Social Media, the bottom line is that without us they have nothing. No data. To borrow from Morrisey: "You are the Quarry". Good old Mozzer. Love, hate, indifferent - he's always good for a pithy one-liner.
@javierolmedo4927
Жыл бұрын
THANK YOU for calling out pay-to-play. They continue to prey on local musicians, even post-pandemic. Here’s a HUGE tip for musicians trying to play any P2P venue: do the job of the booker/agent yourself! Have your act together, show up respectfully and support other acts at the venue you’re trying to play. If you present yourself with a genuine/good attitude most venues will be happy to connect you with their mgmt/talent booker. I’ve been in Los Angeles since 2003 and have played most of the P2P venues, for free! Please pass this along to all your musician friends - P2P should be a thing of the past. #justsayno
@unfa00
4 жыл бұрын
Please make this a recurring series. Musicians need to know about this bullshit.
@bsodcat
4 жыл бұрын
unfa aye its unfa!
@jonytube
4 жыл бұрын
O kurwa it's unfa!
@alexdaguy9626
4 жыл бұрын
its unfa yay
@TruthAndMoreTruth
4 жыл бұрын
I'm a photographer. A band contacted me asking me to video a few shows, give them the raw footage, and I could get "credit" but no money and no materiel. Imagine the irony in that.
@majorlycunningham5439
4 жыл бұрын
TruthAndMoreTruth Welcome to the world of musicians where you get paid in ‘exposure’ lol
@DonaldMohrMusic
4 жыл бұрын
On Get Off My Lawn Records, we just do an even equity split with the photog, as if they were a member of the band
@flamethrower82
4 жыл бұрын
@QuadBlaster _ I love rslash and StoryTime. Many stories about that. If you want work done, PAY the person.
@artemirrlazaris7406
4 жыл бұрын
It's hard to say, if none has any money, and its just a friend collar, and their doing it to market for money, sometimes their are no contracts, but a pre contract of like, actual greeted revenue of based on work. So am suit video of a music thing shouldn't receive as much as perhaps the music and composition of the other 11 songs in an album. So, one could do like a revenue royalty meaning that the video is tied to the musician and you get x money from that revenue of that album, and subsequent future. its not being greedy, but there is a point of how much is too much and how much his too little. SO what we have is conflict created by money. Then there is the new artist with nothing and have nothing to offer other then their music. To perhaps a related family member with photography experience etc. If the means to not to get rich but in fairness, then a simple contract based on a percent of sales and a locking germination, meaning that the % of revenue is locked at 150k. From sales. But then again the artist is getting revenues, we ocudl go into the radio scams, it owed seem hollywood is the lure to trap, kill artist, i which controls the money supply and drains their spirit... and then sends them away... Life is about money... I mean most of how i think is.. if I have a home, a family... I would just create freely with other artist exploring this life was like that here, where simple works and logic made society simple and most artist are pretty intelligent, like they can be ordered about in a composition of music pretty easily, meaning, if your local dam needs labour, a logical society does it because its part of the comment and energy,y its the fluff of money that causes the problem, not the reality of works. So before the liar and the roaring lion on the earth, my community here, used to have cake walks na life was natural and simple, and enjoyable. I don't like the violence that has enter,d the clan wars, the undermining and the criminal gangs the garbage... yet the accuse and then laugh and these idiots don't know anything but are given great power by state and what not, its basically the whole earth is turning into a NORth korean state.
@danieljensen2626
4 жыл бұрын
It's kind of a cycle, beginner musicians don't get paid, so they can't pay anyone. Since they're beginners they don't realize that isn't how things are supposed to work.
@user-s1o3nr532
4 жыл бұрын
If you're starting out, one of the quickest lessons you need to learn is that you're perceived by almost everyone you come across in the industry as the customer and not as a person with a product to sell.
@PaulMcCaffreyfmac
4 жыл бұрын
Zappa said "retain your own accountant and be prepared to demand an audit of your record companys' books at a moment's notice". Wise man. Good advice. Apply it to everyone :-)
@rockmason9765
4 жыл бұрын
He also said "secure your own publishing".
@r4x2
4 жыл бұрын
Also, study accounting yourself if you want to become self-employed.
@petefaders
4 жыл бұрын
Warning to bands: My band was contacted by a legit manager. After a few weeks and about 4 hours accumulated on the phone talking about our plans, he hit us with a "budget" that he needs in order to actually do any of the things he got us excited about. I told him we're not about to pay you $1,500 dollars without seeing ANYTHING yet on your part. Do you still want to work with us? And that was that. Industry people are contacting bands and pumping them up with promises, then hitting them with a bill before any work. Beware.
@wizzardofwizzards
4 жыл бұрын
Even if a song has great potential, It takes roughly $1.2 to $1.5 million per song to go through the right promoters and corporate syndications and affiliations for the proper type of airplay. There are some exceptions but few. This is why most newer music sucks!
@replicantfrequency3510
4 жыл бұрын
Great video but i´m suprised that you didnt talk about the biggest scam that is as old as the music industry itself and that is signing with most major labels, my friends band got fucked over hard by one. At first they gave them a big advance (which is basicly a loan) than they took them to expensive dinners, overpriced recording studios and mixing/mastering enginers they even flew them to U.S to work on a song with a producer who did something with Rolling Stones, and also some really dumb shit like making music videos super expensive by getting a famous actor in there along with dancers and even a fkn camel for some reason. And then, when the band started making money, they started recouping all of those costs from the bands income and even though they had a number 1 hit on multiple radios in my country and toured extensively, they recieved only tiny fraction of money their music was making. Basicly they will bait you into sense that you "made it", then they have you work with people that labels know for inflated sums and lastly they will always set a absurdly high expectations on your music so even if you have milions of streams you anin´t getting shit beacuse the label expected hundred milion streams
@sseltrek1a2b
4 жыл бұрын
here's my example of the "pay for exposure scam"...in a band i was in, i was told that in order to play at a summer market i would need to supply the band's electricity, bandstand, and cover from the heat, and that we also wouldn't get paid to play the event...i was told that, "there would be over 10,000 people attending the market during it's weekend run, so the exposure would be huge for us", to which i replied, "not for the 2 hours we're going to be playing..."...my advice- never for play for free (unless it's a charity event, etc where you "want" to give your time...)...
@swancrunch
Жыл бұрын
if i had bigger balls, i'd agree to every "work for exposure" bullshit gig and then just sit on a stage with a sign "venue X paid us $0 to perform".
@MartinPEngebraaten
4 жыл бұрын
I was once in a Pay to play contest called Emergenza. We ended up not selling a single ticket because we eventually didn't want to support it. The Emergenza manager then went crazy on us telling us that we were not ment to be doing music and should instead become dentists etc. Pretty hilarious actually. The scammer got mad because 5 little teenagers scammed him
@Vantorea
4 жыл бұрын
Brilliant! x'D We took part in that too. At least it was a fun experience and we got some new friends even though it was pretty clear from the get go that it's a scam. Well, been there, done that, at least now we know to stay clear and warn others not to participate.
@GabeKubanda
4 жыл бұрын
haha, yeah Emergenza was a total scam. Ran into them back in the day.
@Misksound
2 жыл бұрын
Big up for calling out SXSW for this! I swear to god there are more intermediaries in the music industry than anywhere else. granted some people deserve their piece for the *incredible* work they do, but the majority are straight up snakes.
@goemon4
4 жыл бұрын
A part 2 would be dope, always been a fan of your industry rants (from the net neutrality video to the soundtrack to a vacant life post) so more are welcome Would love to hear a fleshed out retrospective of the 2007 post-sublight drama one day lol
@RJD18437
4 жыл бұрын
There’s a nirvana song about this! “Stay away” was originally “pay to play”
@rawselectmusic4395
4 жыл бұрын
Unless you're a musician of some stature, the entire music scene in Japan is built on the pay to play model. But rather than having a promoter organize the event, usually the band will work directly with the venue for an event. The band stuff here is particularly insidious, since unless your band is extremely popular, the amount of tickets you're meant to sell by decree of the venue is almost a guarantee at the end of the night that YOUR band is going to be paying the venue.
@cheaplightning
4 жыл бұрын
Sadly very true.
@NullStaticVoid
4 жыл бұрын
I know a few Japanese metal acts. They have told me horror stories about organized crime involvement in this scene. Such that I will not name any names for fear of retribution on them!
@InYourDreams-Andia
4 жыл бұрын
Japan is fcckd up on sooo many levels
@HenryJonesVictor
2 жыл бұрын
Absolutely. I remember being shocked to find out how things worked over there when I started having an interest in japanese music and searched around to find out what the hell an oneman was. Things might have been getting steadily worse in recent years, considering the number of established, successful japanese artists (mainly Visual Kei musicians) that are now starting KZitem channels.
@Merlincat007
Жыл бұрын
I've heard the same about venues in Los Angeles!
@ReinhardtBuhr
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the hard work you put into your videos, you will go far!
@Nightmoore
4 жыл бұрын
I didn't know about ANY of this stuff. I had heard of Taxi and even checked out their site, but just left because it sounded so complicated. This is awesome. Ben, give us the whole top 10. I'll share links to all of them.
@TwstedTV
4 жыл бұрын
I know tons of musicians who have had nightmare problems with TAXI company. By the time you get a single gig, its not fucking worth it, because you have paid into the site with so many fucking fee's that when you do get a gig and find out the pay & type of gig, all you can think about is fucking killing someone for taking all your time and money & giving you shitty jobs if you ever get one. Its best for people to go on bandcamp and sell their music through that, youll earn more money on that, than you ever will on TAXI website company. TAXI website are like sharks, they keep their pray around long enough, just to eat their soul away until there is nothing left.
@Mnnvint
4 жыл бұрын
@@TwstedTV Speaking of that, if Benn decides to make more videos and this topic (and I hope he does!) it would be good to highlight similar services that AREN'T exploitative: that are up-front about what they offer, don't demand exclusivity etc.
@dorsia6938
4 жыл бұрын
Part 2 would be awesome, getting these kinds of industry insights is really valuable for low level musicians.
@FilmmakerJ
4 жыл бұрын
Oh CRAP! That first scam is literally RAW Artists. God that is so effing messed up.
@dxtxzbunchanumbers
4 жыл бұрын
Not even a musician, but I'll drop a dime on two pay to play scammers in NYC: CBGB and Continental bar from 1990's onward. It's why I have zero nostalgia for those places after they closed; they were awful and predatory
@JoshuaDb_The_Witness
4 жыл бұрын
Daniel Taz I played CB's and the Continental several times between 03-06. Never paid to play, not once.
@dxtxzbunchanumbers
4 жыл бұрын
@@JoshuaDb_The_Witness I'm sure it was YMMV, and there was an actual booker who dealt with people who knew what they were doing. But a whole scene of (admittedly dumb and needy) kids from the outer boroughs that I hung out with got clipped playing both. Both venues had a lot of cultural cachet and could get away with it.
@crysstoll1191
4 жыл бұрын
I played cbgbs in ‘84, no money in either direction but i bet it got lame by the 90s
@user-lb8do4ew6k
4 жыл бұрын
@@JoshuaDb_The_Witness me too
@borisschmidtmusic3571
4 жыл бұрын
when i played Bluenote NYC, the consulate of my country paid for our trip from europe etc, paid the venue (for some imaginary promotion expenses). Bluenote took all the ticket sales and then also wanted % on our CD sales... needless to say i took my CDs back with me.
@RavenLuni
4 жыл бұрын
I remember pay to play getting gigs around Glasgow in the early 2000s. Literally every single venue was at it. I felt like I was the only one that thought it was bullshit - everyone else was just like 'thats the way it is'. The most we ever saw in the way of 'payment' was a case of beer between us.
@fleshtonegolem
4 жыл бұрын
#2 Lazy Publisher got me a few years ago. The red flags kept coming up and I kept digging only to find they had changed names 3 times over the last 10 years because they constantly ruin their own name. I got burned and I got obsessed with digging up dirt. I have so much documented information about how these guys operated. If you ever want to hear about it, let me know.
@santiagogibson8977
Жыл бұрын
Oh? Tell us more.
@TheBBG31
4 жыл бұрын
We need a part 2 to 1000. Thank you Ben
@AndrewSouthworth
4 жыл бұрын
Its crazy how many more scams there are out there haha, but this is a great resource for some pretty scummy ones. I made a video a couple months ago about shady Spotify playlist curators and 'pitching companies', and that was its own little rabbit hole. Even if some of them aren't necessarily scams, the way they operate can be very shady behind the scenes. Basically someone decides they're going to make a network with their own playlists, their friends playlists, and find other people with playlists online. Then they charge an artist to get on playlists with X numbers of followers, lets say $149 for 100k followers worth of playlists for example. Then to meet their target they either just pop your song on a bunch of somewhat close playlists that may or may not get good traffic, and if they struggle with their own playlists they reach out to their network and tell those people if they place it they get $5-$15 depending on the size of their playlist. Many services say that they just 'pitch' to these places, and people are payed to listen to the track and decide on placing it, but its all behind closed doors so likely they're just straight up sharing the cash to get on the playlists. Not saying all of these companies are shady by any means. But in 2019 I tested out a handful of them with very mixed results, even between repeat campaigns. Looking up the playlists on SpotOnTrack would often show that they would gain thousands of followers in a single day randomly, and then only grow very slowly in between those spikes. Then combining that knowledge with seeing almost no streams result from the playlist add, you can deduce that they're just growing their playlist with bots and then charging artists to get on the playlist. While the right playlist through these companies can totally make a song blow up on Spotify, even if they have totally legit playlists the placement often won't be fitting enough to actually give the song good performance. After all, they HAVE to get your song on X amount of follower playlists, so it's almost guaranteed that some of those placements will be crap. Anyways, thats my small rant haha. Be careful who you hire for music marketing, look up reviews and do small test promotions before you invest anything substantial.
@Mnnvint
4 жыл бұрын
As a USER of these services, I ask you to not buy playlist placement, ever! You're paying for spam. There is NO possible world in which this turns into a healthy business to the benefit of listeners and musicians who actually have something good.
@micahmoses3526
4 жыл бұрын
One scam I've seen pop up a lot recently, is someone claiming to be from def jam, and that you can perform in an American idol style contest to be on BET. They ask for a $1200 artist fee (how much was the stimulus check again?)
@MrCalebGames
4 жыл бұрын
Disgusting, I bet there are some poor souls who fall for it as well
@fireonmcginnis
4 жыл бұрын
So glad I clicked on this! I have always questioned Music X-Ray. It seems so great at first. I even got some positive responses from industry "professionals." 100's of dollars and 100's of submissions later I'm thinking "god, is my band really so bad that nobody has picked us for anything?" Signed, Scammed.
@ThomsenTower
4 жыл бұрын
Excellent and well argued. Just an amateur musician but, as a professional economist, I understand perfectly what you are talking about. Thanks!
@adastra123
3 жыл бұрын
I got a day job , took all my music offline. I can tell 'promoters' where to go now if they dont like my terms. I will also help out other musicians wherever I can and tip them off .
@OdinOfficialEmcee
4 жыл бұрын
I really want to see a part two, and three. Cover your whole original top 10 please!
@thesoundsmith
3 ай бұрын
Scamming a musician can be a very dangerous occupation. I was trained how to deal with a club owner who refuses to pay, and a LOT of the cats from the old days have similar stories. Hint - for the cost of one hour of a lawyer, you can get 4 street weapons OR two guys to help "remodel." Email scams are different, but only in that you have to find the perp. (True story - in 1968 I moved from the East Coast to San Francisco and told NOBODY where I was, as I didn't have an address yet, just a room in a transient hotel on Sutter. Third day, I got a phone call to my room from a musician who wanted me to play in his Vegas band, as his organist was leaving. How in HELL did he find me when *_I_* didn't know where I was? He said something in italian...) BTW, I declined the offer and found a room...
@spazkong
3 жыл бұрын
I have learned more from this channel in two days than from 22 years talking to record labels and promoters (probably scamming me)
@martyharwell692
4 жыл бұрын
I'd subscribed to a "pay-to-pitch" service for a bit, believing it to be legit at the outset. Was told how they had "dozens of experienced industry professionals" basically just salivating to plug my tunes for licensing. And yet it was always the same half dozen or so that replied to my submissions with pithy comments about how the submission didn't somehow "fit" the category at hand or was otherwise defective. The buggers never had the fracking spine to identify themselves by any designation other than a number -- like those "inspected by no. 5" slips of paper you find in a package of underwear. The final straw came when a submission called for a song "recorded in the '70s" and I sent a tune cut in November 1978. The analog studio master, which I'd recorded directly to my 15-IPS 2-track mastering deck at the time (think "Hotel California" level quality equipment), was rejected on the grounds of the "sonic attributes" not being from the '70s. I'd had the analog master digitized at Tape Vault Studio, part of the Hyde Street Studios complex in San Francisco (FKA "Wally Heider's"). Their "assessment" was actually a testament to the engineer's excellent skills per digitizing and remastering the original analog studio-grade recording -- "sonic attributes" indeed. So much for the "dozens of experienced industry professionals" touted in their marketing plugs. (Scope "No-Nonsense Woman" from OLD HIPPIES ANONYMOUS for audiophile specifics.) That I didn't resubscribe to their service is a given.
@Dustrauma
4 жыл бұрын
Yep. Try Hard Music Group. I got ripped back in the mid 2000s on Myspace. I was too young to know better. Forget the BBB or other clients' accounts to verify how "legit" they were. Non-refundable, nothing returned, NEVER again. The devil is truly in the details. Great video!!!
@ScubaSteveCanada
4 жыл бұрын
An often misquoted statement from Hunter S Thompson ... "“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.” Hunter S Thompson never actually said this about the music business, it was about the newspaper business that he used to work in ... but it does indeed apply to the music business.
@FakeGlasses
2 жыл бұрын
I have been subject to each of these three scams. Taxi is indeed the closest one, but I think you're ultimately right. The listings are bizarrely similar (many many many people are looking for a record deal for the 'next act' - again and again and again). But I did get one of my songs in a movie through it. Which was a thrill. Granted, it was a small indie movie that didn't pay enough $$ to make up for the annual fee. But it was a thrill to see my song in a pivotal scene of a movie full of recognizable actors on streaming platforms etc. The first two scams, the 'pay to promote' and the guy offering you 'hey a record deal!' were more easily spotted and thankfully I dodged those bullets. But yes, all three. I think you're right. And for us apparently gullible fools, plz yes make a part 2.
@AreaNeofob
4 жыл бұрын
I watched that jingle 10 times in a row because it's nice.
@rememberthisnameslut
3 жыл бұрын
And today I found out why theres so many sucky laid back vocal remixes of popular tracks on adverts. Thanks Benn
@BoomBubbleBustRepeat
4 жыл бұрын
I went to Musicians Institute for music business in 2003 and the leader of the business program was MADLY in love with Taxi. It was always a bit cultish with no real results backing anything.
@loveandparty4118
Жыл бұрын
I usually hear famous musicians saying that they have earned much less than they would have earned as an indie due to the corruption in the music industry. But getting a record deal is pretty much the only way to fame, though it drains so much money from the creator.
@therealgano
4 жыл бұрын
Was that you doing the animation in this? Really impressive
@BennJordan
4 жыл бұрын
Yup. Thanks!
@SuperLibu
4 жыл бұрын
@@BennJordan Man, is there anything you can't do? Watching your videos at this point is this weird mixture of really liking the content, but also feeling so inadequate seeing the amount of skills you have hahaha Keep up the great content!
@dorsia6938
4 жыл бұрын
@@BennJordan a video where you analyse how you got good at so many things would be cool. I know it sounds a bit silly but I would really love to hear some advice for people who struggle to make progress in different disciplines because they keep jumping back and forth.
@ruslanr.6171
4 жыл бұрын
@@dorsia6938 +1
@wickeddubz
4 жыл бұрын
@@dorsia6938 well, i can suggest 4 reasons. Benn is lefty. It means, that his mind works differently. Many lefties are genius by nature. Second one - he is generally smart and curious. Third one - he can stay focused on his goals. Fourth one - he has that sense of humor and level or irony and sarcasm (due to reason 2) that we all love.
@tarrasque419
4 жыл бұрын
In the early oughts, my band did one of those pay to play bullshit scams. We were from Detroit, the venue for this "industry showcase" was in NYC. From the very beginning I tried to explain to my lead guitar player that it was a total scam, just to get on the lineup for a 40min set was $1000. He so badly wanted to prove that he didn't fall for a scam that he actually paid the entire entry himself. As soon as we arrived at the shitty venue, it was 100% clear to all of us that it was complete bullshit. It was like underneath this hipster coffee shop, completely empty except for the other bands and the bartender/sound engineer (individual one in the same). Hands down the worst show I've ever been a part of. In retrospect I did have a lot of fun on the trip, we made a long weekend of it and enjoyed NYC afterwards. Point is these pay to play scams are so obvious, I don't understand how people fall for these in the first place.
@JoshSource
4 жыл бұрын
The more I learn about “all of this” the more savvy I realize I need to become. Please educate us!
@TobiasSample
2 жыл бұрын
I am not a musician, I’m just here because I really like the way you put your arguments together
@Squidaniel
4 жыл бұрын
“Band With A Mission”. Come to Nashville and do a showcase in front of big name industry folks. I did this when I was a kid. Learned my lesson. We nicknamed it “Scam With A Mission”
@gigo20
4 жыл бұрын
The scammy ad that played before this, oh man.
@philbillie
4 жыл бұрын
Actually, the P2P scam goes way back to the 80's when bands bought the tix from the club and had to sell the minimum just so as not to lose money.
@danielkeller6610
Жыл бұрын
Bro such a good video - but it seemed to end right when it really got rolling! I was ready for the next seven scams 😄 please create a part two! I know firsthand there are many more common scams aimed at musicians.
@KydaIndie
4 жыл бұрын
I’m so glad to be seeing this now, before I start releasing music
@prettycoolPJ
2 жыл бұрын
True shit. I was one of the Bellator "Pay to play" fighters, back in the mid 2000's. As a musician also, the whole pay to play setup was familiar, but since it was MMA, I didn't attribute the red flags I have seen previously in music. So I went with it and found out the hard way that I was scammed. Basically, we had to sell enough tickets, to get in the prelim room, to fight on a non-televised under card. THEN, if we won our bouts, we'd still have to sell more tickets to get to the actual fight card. The way it was presented to us wasn't as scammy as it sounds now, but in retrospect, it was some bullshit. The whole thing was a shit show and eventually, a lot of us ended up opting out of what we thought could be a career move. But ultimately it was the same shit, just different stage.
@JamesRamboPearce
3 жыл бұрын
Also, my least favourite is the ridiculous idea to pay for Playlists!! Some of them are utter garbage too!
@JJblunden
3 жыл бұрын
Benn I just want to say thank you so much for making informative videos like this! That's it, patreon here I come!
@VivaToddVegas
4 жыл бұрын
Bro... Pay-to-play has actually been around since at least the 80s, possibly earlier.
@DudeMannn
4 жыл бұрын
In the 1990s there was a music group called TLC that included the famous Left Eye. That group one year went on a worldwide tour all over the planet and they were selling millions of records back in the days when people bought records and didn't get it for free on the internet. This group made millions and millions of dollars and at the end of the tour they just got 50 thousand dollars each. Left Eye talked about it in an interview. Also many famous people get robbed by their quote agent, lawyer, accountant, promoter or manager. Sad.
@rauratm7772
4 жыл бұрын
yeah I saw that one too. but Dude Man, TLC's tour was probably one of the most expensive tours and musicians never ask how everything gets paid for. hotels, flights, security, food, clothing, stages, stage personnel, like if you are aware of the expenses then maybe you might avoid such low profits.
@Jobotubular
4 жыл бұрын
um, that was standard record industry practice. And probably still is.
@jptre
3 жыл бұрын
A part 2 would be very helpful. This is super important information for upcoming musicians to know!
@ElliottMichaels56
2 жыл бұрын
I once saw an ad in a weekly entertainment paper which read something to the extent of, "MUSICIANS NEEDED! Get your band and your songs heard by top music-industry professionals. Just submit your demo cassette and $149.95 to ..." Needless to say I did not respond to this ad. I wonder how many musicians did respond to the ad and what results they achieved. I also knew someone in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s named Ken "Wildman" Lerman, who claimed to be a "music agent." He agreed to represent me and my musical endeavors. After almost two years nothing came of Lerman's representation of me. So one evening I asked Lerman why nothing has happened. He proceeded to tell me that I hadn't agreed to pay him a hundred dollars up front for his services. Please ... I never agreed to pay Lerman up front. I agreed to pay Lerman five percent (5%) of whatever I earned through his efforts. He knew that and said he would help me. Pulling that shit is reprehensible. I don't pay for such services until they are rendered, and Lerman did nothing to be paid for. It all brings to mind the old saying, "A fool and his money are soon parted."
@allaboutaudioforallyouraud9966
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you my friend. My sons trying to build his name and you mentioned more then 3 points that he has fallen for. Very informative and well worth 17:56 . Thumbs up! Keep up the great work.
@nezmirage9565
4 жыл бұрын
ReverbNation is full of these kind of shifty scams.
@InterplainMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Yes it is, i get loads of bullshit emails saying it's your lucky day you have been selected from ReverbNation list for your area... Jango.com another bullshite site and also Tuncore.com they give you your earnings but take it off you to put your music back online..
@SmashinAdams
4 жыл бұрын
@@InterplainMusic - Can't forget CD Baby, who'll keep publishing your music, get paid & keep the profits even after you leave them. And then act as if they did nothing wrong.
@daltonwilliams2386
4 жыл бұрын
I bought into sonic bids because a fest said I had to have an EPK. Paid one year. Didn’t get the gig or any others from the site.
@rayzo1534
4 жыл бұрын
@@SmashinAdams Fuckers! and i was reading "useful" info on their site 2 days ago
@clivesaunders5576
4 жыл бұрын
avoid these fools at all cost hard core scam!
@klangstrum
3 жыл бұрын
Subscribed due to this video. Then realised I've been listening your music since 2009
@mikal
Жыл бұрын
Taxi is absolutely a Ess Cee Aye Em. I have my own funny story about them from years back. Run, don't walk... Away.
@ANDROMA-zx4uw
4 жыл бұрын
A lot of these scams work because they appeal to the musician’s ego that makes them think they are definitely “rock star” material. I think it’s important to keep yourself grounded in reality and understand how good you are and how much you need to improve - the success will naturally follow good music. I know I have a lot to improve anyway...
@zombiemachinery4868
4 жыл бұрын
"The success will naturally follow good music". That sounds absolutely cute but is too far from being the truth.
@Salsuero
4 жыл бұрын
A lot of these scams work because they appeal to the struggling nature of an artist and the desire to actually not struggle (financially) with your passion... giving them false hope because predation is a core feature of humanity, not a bug. Musicians work hard and get taken advantage of. Perhaps many have egos. But so do most doctors and lawyers. How many of them are GIVEN those egos by the people who seek them out? Yeah... some people just have egos. Doesn't mean they deserve to be taken advantage of. Success doesn't just "naturally" follow in the music industry. It's mostly fake and driven by corporate greed. It's quite often a popularity contest and/or a lottery of being in the right place at the right time. Many GREAT musicians are never even discovered. Many are and are taken for everything they have. No, it's not just the case that you work hard and you'll become a success... not in entertainment.
@zombiemachinery4868
4 жыл бұрын
@@Salsuero, preach!
@watchdemfools3420
4 жыл бұрын
when something first smells fihsy that's right. when you stay in the fish market so long, you can't smell the odor... wake up to the scams. good clip!
@denyel_
4 жыл бұрын
literally the first thought i had as soon as you mentioned the talent selling their own tickets was MMA! my cousin eventually went on to have a chance in the UFC with dana white personally calling him and getting him a passport in less than 3 hours, flight and guaranteed pay. he busted his ass selling tickets more than in the octagon. he got paid garbage and it was all 50% of his families money. that call really put the scam he’d been falling for in perspective.
@SabcatPrinting
4 жыл бұрын
i like this guy even more now. im not a fan of exploitation.
@duffharris9295
2 жыл бұрын
I’m a recording engineer and we get this scam all the time from a “producer” who wants to book multiple days of sessions and catering and car services, etc. he can’t talk on the phone or make it to the date because he’s “in the hospital”. Sometimes they’ll give you a bad or stolen card, or a bunk check and have you pay the car service or caterer with that money (this is him). Then of course the check doesn’t clear or the card charge is reversed. Another big one going around right now is getting forwarded emails from friends about someone giving away an expensive grand piano. They just need you to pay for the shipping… Such scumbags preying off musicians and recording engineers.
@MadelnMachines
4 жыл бұрын
The whole music industry is a scam. Devote all of your time to it, spend a fortune on gear, make no money (even if you do get signed). I think it's best as an expensive hobby. The people making money are those catering to musicians ie. Making and Retailing Gear / Software / Sample / Patches and Tutorials. Then there's the online music subscription services and retailers, venues, promoters and record labels. The actual creator of the music of like their sub minimum wage employee.
@AndrewSouthworth
4 жыл бұрын
There is money to be made, but most of the time it comes from a diverse pool of income sources. I don't do music full time but I do make a decent amount from it when you combine music streaming money, sample pack sales, KZitem adsense, and several other ways I monetize my work. Yes a lot of this is coming from stuff catering to musicians (sample packs, tutorials), but theirs nothing wrong with that. You can't really be JUST a music artist anymore and expect to make a good living. A lot of the artists I know who do JUST music to music consumers as a full time gig are selling merch, doing shows, selling sync / royalty free music and running social media pages / blogs with their own monetization methods. That path is a bit harder than also having products for music creators, but plenty of people are making it work.
@aMessvv
4 жыл бұрын
@@AndrewSouthworth Mate you're bang on. This is exactly it. To make a living of just writing music and sending of a song is, unfortunately, a dream in the current day. All of the things you mentioned above are exactly what you need to do to make some money from music related thing. Gonna check out your channel now ;)
@Mnnvint
4 жыл бұрын
Yeah. Especially for the digital stuff - I can say that as a software developer. Music software is obscenely overpriced, and often of terrible quality. Musicians seemingly put up with it to prove to themselves (or others) that they're "pro". Those developers want to be in the business of selling shovels to gold-diggers. With so many gold-diggers bidding up the price, often it's hard to find a shovel that's reasonably priced, even if all you want is to do some digging in your garden... It's probably that way for other things than music software, too, I just know less about it.
@NullStaticVoid
4 жыл бұрын
It is much the same for other creatives. You want to be an artist? Come to our ever expanding Art college (which may or may not be accredited as a real college). Go in debt for tens of thousands. Now spend the rest of your life hanging paintings in cafès. Want to be a writer, take my online course in how to write like the pros! It is really gross how these professions have devolved into hobbies that are preyed upon. Artists and musicians used to have a much better chance at making a living at what they do. But the cost of living has gone up so much, and original music especially has been devalued. I know many very talented people who are just putting out their own releases to a tiny worldwide fan base. Toiling in obscurity.
@DMSProduktions
4 жыл бұрын
@@aMessvv Off.
@BrandochGarage
4 жыл бұрын
great essay! Your number three scam there totally reminded me about a you-tube video I saw on gurus selling courses and the 'tricks' they use to get people to pay and keep them paying.
@DrewCreal
4 жыл бұрын
Taxi...we'll take YOU for a ride 😏
@MusicLandria
4 жыл бұрын
Just shared on our FB page. Thanks for taking the time to make this vid.
@paxolefeece6520
3 жыл бұрын
Here's one: "must-have plug-in".
@leslawrenson
4 жыл бұрын
The best cons are those that prey on the vanity of the victims. Willing lambs to the slaughter are we.
@biaseddnb7665
4 жыл бұрын
"By greedy dickheads who go to great lengths to scam them" Yes I know the ones, subbed just for the brutal honesty
@MikeStone3000
4 жыл бұрын
I’m really glad I saw this, because my curiousness was itching about how these music venues were trying to dig in the musicians’ pockets to get the money that they were rightfully earning. Now I see what’s really going on. 🤔
@seanisao3812
4 жыл бұрын
Jesus. As a visual artist primarily, your first scam point was sent to me via email. It *is* literally as you said. I ended up declining the offer I was sent, only to later find out they "skipped" my city anyway because of reasons outside my real concern (not enough artists, lack of venue support, etc). So, I think I dodged a bullet after all.
@bcornels
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much for this. Currently trying to get into the sync licensing stuff and it constantly reminds me how easily I could be scammed if I don't do my research. This will certainly help with that. Would love more details on what average or good sync deals actually do look like. Also, loving the new Flashbulb album, so many tasty jams.
@unseensounds
4 жыл бұрын
Well KZitem recommended strikes again! Amazing content, keep up the good work!
@IntangibleMan
2 жыл бұрын
don't train to win a fight. Lose time to promote the fight you didn't train for?! Hmmmmmmmm...Good Stuff Benn, always appriciated
@peppyp7323
4 жыл бұрын
i love the flavor of this type of video. / personality / transparency keep up the amazing work!
@briancase6180
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for this. Not that I would ever be drawn in to one of these scams, but it's really fun to hear a thorough explanation. ☺️ I agree: if someone sees value in your music rather than value in YOU, it will be obvious. Remember: something legitimate won't care about you, it will care about your music. If they aren't convinced by your music, you're not good enough yet.
@allan-shephard
4 жыл бұрын
Great vid. I watched a series of free webinars for one of these licencing people after a friend thought I might find it useful. Got to the part where they sell you their product and contract. Cue all the 'supporters' with positive testimonials in the private FB group. It's also happening with a bunch of contrepreneurs advertising their magical Amazon success formula. Same thing you see. Pitch you some basic marketing stuff, (while posing in front of a Lambo etc), tell you they earn $8billion a month, then proceed to sell you their $1000 plan. Anyway... subscribed to your channel now. :)
@theoneand0nly874
4 жыл бұрын
3 grams that target musicians. OG Kush, Blue Dream, Super Lemon Haze
@squirlmy
4 жыл бұрын
@scoot manke the original poster was trying to make a rhyme with "scams". "Strands" barely, or almost works, but "strains" is right out. Try to rhyme with "scams".
@daltonwilliams2386
4 жыл бұрын
One scam I got hit with. At Rocklahoma. My band could play but, every member has to buy a full pass at over $100 a person. Then we were told we had to rent camp site at the fest as well. Then we could play 20 minutes at the “proving ground”. This sounded odd. I called a friend in a bigger band that plays the fest nearly every year. He explains the scam. The people offering the gig have no relationship to the actual fest but are some people who rented a large plot of camp sites and put their own stage. Then got sponsors for the stage ie banners etc. so paying to play is the only what they can get anyone on the stage and falsely claim it’s a proving ground. The fest allows this to happen because it’s extra ticket sales and gives the audience more acts to see at no extra cost to the fest. Any one living in or around Oklahoma be aware. NO ONE AT ROCKLAHOMA ASKS ACTS TO PAY ANYTHING.
@STUDIO66music
4 жыл бұрын
Real great video and info 🙏🏼👏🏼
@ManontheBroadcast
4 жыл бұрын
#4: 'Pay to listen to your songs and give you feedback'.
@themorphicshields4219
3 ай бұрын
Benn is that great teacher I wish I had been able to learn from 40 years ago
@MrDebauch
4 жыл бұрын
i have definitely seen a few situations like that, but always told them to fuck off. and you would try to warn people you knew who were falling for that stuff but nobody would ever listen.
@j.dragon651
4 жыл бұрын
The worst is bar owners who don't want to pay you at the end of the gig and try to renegotiate the price. Anyone who counts on music to pay the bills is brave indeed.
@musaacbyisaac
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for making this video. I've been sketched out by Taxi every time someone mentions it. Glad to know it wouldn't really be used by any music supervisors.
@adamthompson2098
4 жыл бұрын
Great video with great info and advice! (Producer note: lower the camera to put your eyes on the upper third line. It'll look much more natural and pleasing to the eye. )
@timflatus
3 жыл бұрын
I get so many messages on Soundcloud from people threatening to blow up my music. I always thank them for their interest and take the opportunity to promote my latest album lol
@DruMarshallDrums
6 ай бұрын
I once played a battle of the bands where the organizer said “I don’t care if the Beatles played, if a local band brought more people, they would win.”
@davidlindblad8764
3 жыл бұрын
Hi, thank you for the videos! Love this stuff. However, I believe you swapped the definitions of Master and Sync licenses at around 7:50. Master refers to the recording and sync refers to the composition being synchronized in media. Nobody will probably read this, but For purposes of education, I thought I’d point it out if nobody else has.
@hatesitrick
4 жыл бұрын
Jenn Bordan
@sinane.y
4 жыл бұрын
Sony Toprano
@PalleSvensson
4 жыл бұрын
Ballian Judger
@SmokeTokeBroke2
Жыл бұрын
14:51 why does the conversation around taxi sound a lot like college scholarships? 😂 “sorry you just didn’t apply enough in the right area, thanks for playing”
@99tunesforyou_michelle_wright
4 жыл бұрын
Very insightful. I was on Music X-ray years ago listening to songs, but never paid them anything. Good to know the pay for play in general is not how the legitimate companies and big dogs do it.
@verlatenn
Ай бұрын
6:56 not the animations that every annoying business uses in advertisements 😭😭
@romanjones6124
4 жыл бұрын
Great video. Thank you. I was with TAXI for 2-3 years and none of my songs were forwarded. I got ticked when one of the 'feedbacks' critiqued something or other and it was then that I decided not to renew being that Joey Ramone really liked the song I had submitted. Ironically, I got one of my songs published and used by one of the major networks tv shows.
@LoonaStanGTNH
5 ай бұрын
I’m just a K-pop stan who’s curious about how the sausage is made and, after seeing a few of your videos through the algorithm, wants to know how much more messed up the music industry can get 😭
@MiloGiraldo-Soundtrack
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the info Benn, I've been seeing this kind of scams for a while and was worried because no one really addressed them
@manuboucheraudio4363
4 жыл бұрын
Top quality content! Those animations really bring the video to life.
@casualjuke
Жыл бұрын
Bonus: You make a track that consists of an endless loop for 5 min with some chords on top, heavily compressed, extremely saturated and mastered to perfection to -2lufs because fat wave is the best, then upload it on soundcloud to show a friend and possibly damage their hearing. Its then when you get spammed on dm's most likely bots say that the track is fire and you have to pay money for plays to get into playlists and such
@markdaly8169
4 жыл бұрын
Anytime anyone asks me if I want something I am going to question it.... As if I wasn't paranoid enough.... But no seriously this information could be gold for many unsuspecting individuals. Thanks Benn & I am signing up!
Пікірлер: 978