Members korgan Posted October 29, 2012 Members Share Posted October 29, 2012 Hey guys, haven't been around in a while (years maybe?) but I'm looking to you all for help and insight. My buddy just told me about a record deal that was offered to his band and asked for my opinion. I told him it sounded sketchy and he agreed, but tell me your take. FYI, this is all information that a label rep told my friend and his band mates in a meeting. He told them to feel free to look them up, check them out, call references, etc. That said... The company is an indie label (2 artists currently signed, just starting out, local), and they offer a "one stop shop" sort of deal. Recording, post production, photo shooting, website design/maintenance, booking/management, artist development, promotion, and digital distribution. That seems askew to me, however slightly. Supposedly their engineer has a grammy, but the studio equipment listed on their website barely passes for a home studio (firepod, lots of M-Audio, etc.). That doesn't jell to me. Here's the biggie. They want the band to PAY THEM $250/month for their services. They want the band to sign a two year contract written by the label. They promise %100 of profits on CDs if the band pays them to have the CDs made. They only provide digital downloads as a part of the monthly fee. Also, it struck me as add that they didn't even pitch it as one fee that could be broken down into payments. They pitched as a monthly fee for their "services." Supposedly, if you break the contract early there is no penalty besides them "discontinuing services." The guy who runs the show says that he used to be signed with Capitol and that that was the way things were run. I'm calling shenanigans on that. I'm not super knowledgable here, but I feel like I've read and experienced enough to know when things smell funny. The really odd part here is that the guy provided them with references, and supposedly these guys work for Capital and Warner. I don't know if they're still current, or in what capacity they were involved with those companies. What's your take? It seems to me that they are trying to set themselves up to be able to capitalize if their artists go big, but to still make profit if they don't. Whether the artists are wasting their time or not, the label still makes money. I've never really heard of anything like this before, so maybe you can help me figure this out and help my friend. I told him to RUN AWAY, but that I'd look into it more for him. Discuss away, and thanks for any insight that you can provide! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted October 29, 2012 Moderators Share Posted October 29, 2012 We see these 'contracts' questioned here about once a year, and they are nothing but a way for some lazy bestids to separate musicians from their hard earned dough.Those 'deals' are popping up all over the country, and frankly, if the label is a real label, with distribution, then they should be taking the front end risk, and getting their money back the traditional way: slick accounting tricks when the money is coming in tell your friend to remember two adages: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is...and: there is a sucker born every minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarville Posted October 30, 2012 Members Share Posted October 30, 2012 Sounds like if they went busking in Tokyo with their CD's in hand, they'd be better off. Actually any city they'd be busking in sounds like a better deal. If they are good/very good have talk to the man here who lives in China, maybe he'd be a better choice. ( Napoli Stiletto, ) Never know. Never pay an upfront fee in the music/arts business, but people do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted October 30, 2012 Moderators Share Posted October 30, 2012 Sadly, Mr. Stiletto, aka Dr. Einstein, etc., is not available for discussion due, in no small part, to his being summarily banned from here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarville Posted October 30, 2012 Members Share Posted October 30, 2012 Originally Posted by daddymack Sadly, Mr. Stiletto, aka Dr. Einstein, etc., is not available for discussion due, in no small part, to his being summarily banned from here Wow! I didn't know that. I sent him over some stuff and he was very professional with me. How he presented himself here was not how he goes about with his business life. He'll probably be back, maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chevybusa Posted October 30, 2012 Members Share Posted October 30, 2012 You were right on when you told him to run away, it's obviously just a scam.....the guy that's trying to sell it is obviously full of {censored} and it lying through his teeth....the thing is there are people out there like that who know that there are all these delusional musos that are so desperate to "make it" that they'd jump right into this kind of thing and just totally get ripped off, andthey know they can make a quick buck off of them....it's really sad how many musos fall for this kind of {censored}.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members korgan Posted October 31, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2012 Well thanks for the input guys! It sounds like my thinking, and his, was pretty much spot on. Such a shame that people would try to do this to honest people, but I guess that's what the world is like. I'll make sure to tell him that you all backed up our thinking. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johnny-Boy Posted November 1, 2012 Members Share Posted November 1, 2012 RED ALERT!!! RUN!! And as fast as you can! SCAM!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members David Abraham Posted November 5, 2012 Members Share Posted November 5, 2012 Definitely in scam territory, though from my perspective many, many record deals are scams even at the major label level, but there is an abundant supply of aspiring artists who will fall for these at some point in their career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Surrealistic Posted November 5, 2012 Members Share Posted November 5, 2012 Originally Posted by David Abraham Definitely in scam territory, though from my perspective many, many record deals are scams even at the major label level ... I'm sure you're right but at least usually the money is (initially) going in the correct direction, i.e. from label to artist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.