People trying to scam you!

So my band played at a battle of the bands last night and we won. No big deal we didn't go into it with the mindset of we got this, but more of the we just want to play. We go on to a final round in the next few months. Well after the show this guy comes up to us and is telling us he works as a talent scout for Empire Records. Tells us that he is going to tell his boss about us, and how the studio/label has recorded big names like White chapel, Panic At The Disco!, and more. and we are all playing along like he is a real talent scout, but we have a pretty good idea he is a fake. reasons beng
1. No business cards, or anything to show us his connection with "Empire Records"
2. He said they have a location in New York and Washington, yet there is no info on either
3. His sister came up and talked to him while talking to us (what talent agent would bring friends and a sister to a show)
4. Empire Records is a movie, I've never heard of that label let alone a studio. and the only empire records I could find is in the UK
5. He was telling us about the studio saying they have top of the line gear. And told me the amp the studio likes to use a B2r with a 810. The B2r is no where near top of the line.

Anyone else have people who try to scam you/ tell you that they are someone they are not like this?

 

Right thats what we though, If Empire Records is so big then why would a Talent Agent not introduce himself, not have cards or even a name for us, and disappear after the show.

pretty fishy

 

Not even in the slightest lol

 

Yeah we actually play venues like that, its not such a bad deal sometimes. Some venues hand us tickets and say sell what you can and keep so much profit of every ticket sold. and some say you have to sell 10 or 20 then anything after that's yours. The Pike Room in Pontiac Michigan makes you sell 20, and The Crofoot in Pontiac Michigan (Same Owner) makes you sell 50. Now you cant play the Crofoot unless you've played the pike room "x" amount of times and proved yourself. But when we play the pike room we usually walk away with $600 and one time we walked away with $1000 and free studio time for selling so much and that doesn't include what we make in merch. So I really like that deal. where we play a place closer to home and we bring double the people and only make $50 and they charge $10 to get in to see 6 bands. Now that's a scam, we should be making a lot more then that.

 

Its not so much a scam as pretending to be someone you're not. I mean he was asking for a CD to give to his boss. Which you could tell he wanted for free. We obviously didn't give it to him. But its just why act like some high up person, and not just be a fan or music lover or whatever you want. No need to try to make yourself sound cooler, because it just makes you sound dumb.

 

True, that it does work on some people. But it doesnt make it right. Getting that free CD or whatever is hurting that band that is trying to just cover gas costs or whatever.

and no we don't normally give out free CD's. We have 2 tracks up for free download and the rest is on our CD. I mean we gave a free CD to the guy who Recorded/Mixed/Mastered our stuff and one to a friend who has really helped us. But other than that no, we all purchased the CD from the band.

 

Right, one we knew what label PATD and the other bands he threw around was on, I have a friend whose band is signed to Fueled by Ramen or rather was and just left.

This guy was just name throwing. And the business cards weren't the red flag as much as he wouldn't give us his name, or some form of contact. and yeah Empire Records doesn't exist i've looked everywhere just to see where he got the name from

Like you said why ask for a CD just type in the bands name on google. We have music on Spotify, iTunes, Youtube, Google Play, and so many more. There is no need to request they give you a CD.

 

Yeah I'm not saying make someone angry over a CD. and for sure make friends with sound guys. Last night I spent a good hour talking to the sound guy and it paid off. He offered us recording time at his studio in Detroit, and a spot on a music fest he put on called Dirt Fest, its here in Michigan. A lot of big names play. But we don't just hand out CD's after every show. If someone really digs the music and we see them coming to shows we will throw them a shirt or something. I mean there are those individuals who giving a free CD to is justifiable. But as a band, we aren't trying to go broke.

for us a CD purchase can really help us out we drive between 45min to 2:30hrs for a show, because of where we live. We don't sell our stuff for that much either. our CD's are $4, they are professionally made and the recordings are very good quality.

And what I mean by we pay for them, is we put in the time to produce them, and shelled out money for the recordings or whatever we needed. I mean we pay $200 for 100 CD's printed and in cases not sleeves. and that's a good deal.