Screen test for indies - Making Contact

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Screen test for indies By ANNA FIORENTINO, Portland Press Herald Writer

" A few months ago, singer-songwriter Emilia Dahlin received a phone call from a stranger offering her $15,000 to promote her music - no strings attached."

:o Wow, can you imagine her surprise! As so many artists, bands, songwriters know, something like this is soooo rare. Usually it's "the dark side" of the music business with the scammers, so a legit-out-of-the-blue-real-chance-of-a-lifetime story is pretty cool for a change.

Of course, the old agage of "if it sounds too good to be true it probably is" line is a good measuring rod, but how does one not get taken?

How do you know if a contact is who they say they are? You can start by checking the person's credentials. In this technology driven day and age if a business or business person doesn't have a legitimate web site, with contact details that checkout should send a siren off. You can check their domain registry too. A business email, not a generic email is another phat red flag for me. Do a web search on the business and see if the results come back are positive or negative. Many times someone may post in a forum somewhere a music scam/Spam question. If they ask for money from the artist, big alarm, what else...?

Anyone have a great "out of the blue" or "war story' to tell? Share your story and litmus test ideas.
 
I was contacted by a representative of Grip Magazine. They poured it on thick about their distribution and the many industry leaders who have personal subscsriptions to their magazine - as a means of searching for the best indie and unsigned artists.

It really sounded good - till they said that a full page add only costs $1500. They even went so far as to say that they are on the shelves of Wal-Mart, Target, and Sam Goody and others . . .

Me: "Really? Wow! I'm in Walmart right now. Im gonna go look for you guys in the magazine area. I think I might have to pay for this add because . . . "

GripMagazineSolicitor: "Well we're not in every Wal Mart. Just select ones. But if we are not in the one you at, let me know and I will get it there."

Me: Well I dont see you. How else can I get a copy?

GripMagazineSolicitor: What's your mailing address? We can have a copy to you by tomorrow."

I gave em a mailing address -- havent heard from them or seen the magazine . . . its been 7 whole days since that phone call . . . .
 
gullyjewelz said:
I was contacted by a representative of Grip Magazine. They poured it on thick about their distribution and the many industry leaders who have personal subscsriptions to their magazine - as a means of searching for the best indie and unsigned artists.

It really sounded good - till they said that a full page add only costs $1500. They even went so far as to say that they are on the shelves of Wal-Mart, Target, and Sam Goody and others . . .

Me: "Really? Wow! I'm in Walmart right now. Im gonna go look for you guys in the magazine area. I think I might have to pay for this add because . . . "

GripMagazineSolicitor: "Well we're not in every Wal Mart. Just select ones. But if we are not in the one you at, let me know and I will get it there."

Me: Well I dont see you. How else can I get a copy?

GripMagazineSolicitor: What's your mailing address? We can have a copy to you by tomorrow."

I gave em a mailing address -- havent heard from them or seen the magazine . . . its been 7 whole days since that phone call . . . .

Smart man! Sounds like you dodged a scam!

Since I had a song copyrighted, I received solicitations from AmeRecord and HillTop Records...both huge scams.

The best thing to do is always check out their business/who they are on the Internet. Ask for references or people that they've represented, and contact those people.
 
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