Music Industry Sharks – How to Spot the Many Rogues in the Music Business

There are a ton of people who claim to be music marketing experts, music advertising experts, and social media experts. Yes, literally millions and thousands. When it comes to marketing and advertising your music, you have a wide variety of good options. RIGHT? Wrong, tons of options yes, but how many of them are really worth it? Not many!

For some reason, unscrupulous “wanna-bees” take advantage of musicians. I don’t know why, maybe they think they are easy to play. Maybe they don’t like musicians or, even worse, they don’t like music. (WOW) Many of these people are or were musicians, or maybe an intern somewhere in the music business, or really love music. They believe this entitles them to claim to be music marketing experts or, worse yet, music publicists, which requires many years of music industry experience and the accumulation of thousands of music media contacts, and to advertise the best product. or possible service. that will accelerate your musical career.

Well, this is what I have to say about it: I have been a musician myself, although a long time ago back then there were still a lot of scammers in the music industry. I have experienced the deep pain of being screwed over by unscrupulous people who claim to be my savior in the music business. The internet and leveling the playing field for indie music has opened up a plethora of opportunities for these sharks and scammers to work up their game. The only way my band succeeded was pure luck: we found the right honest people.

Here is a checklist to seriously consider when choosing your best publicist or marketing service:

Check your credentials and follow this checklist

They have a laudable online presence?

Do they have hundreds of testimonials? Or, as I like to call them TRUSTIMONIALS – Check your references!

How many “HONEST” years of experience do they have? Look at this

Have you written hundreds of articles on music marketing?

Do they belong to many high-profile music industry organizations?

Does the prospective marketer or advertiser answer all of your questions?

Or do they subtly evade them?

Will they tell you with whom and where they will promote your music?

ie their affiliations with the music media, or are they telling you to wait and see?

Have you seen proven samples of his work?

Will they give you what they promise in writing?

Before making a decision, consider

INTEGRITY – HONESTY – TRANSPARENCY

Aside from doing great work that really helps you with your career, these are probably the three most important elements to consider.

If any or all of the above credential checks are not in the positive category —

BEWARE, YOU MAY BE SCAMMED

Being lucky enough to discover the right people for our project back then, I’m not saying it’s impossible to do. I’m just saying that it’s incredibly important, especially these days, to do your homework and due diligence before shelling out your hard-earned money. Most independent musicians are on a shoestring budget and every penny means something to them. Take the time to possibly consult with a reputable music industry consultant. Most will be able to know a scam when they see one.

So to all the unscrupulous sharks waiting to pounce on the next unsuspecting musician, I’m sorry to write this article, but you need to be exposed. Therefore, I am not very sorry. It’s people like you who give the music business, honest publicists and music sellers a bad name. What a shame! I love my Indies and all the musicians and artists and it hurts me to see them being taken advantage of. Try another niche, perhaps people who need marketing help selling rockets or industrial products and services. BUT – Leave our music niche alone!