Does Everyone Seem to Prey off Musicians?

Recently, a great deal of articles, posts, and YouTube videos are hitting the internet talking about the future of the music industry. Everyone agrees the music industry of yesterday is not the same today or ever will be. It is hard to sell records, albums or even CDs given all the various online platforms available today. There are so many and as easy it is to mention them, why bother since anyone can Google them themselves. And that is exactly where the problem comes in for today's musician... where do they go to showcase their music, who do they talk to that will help them, inspire them, support them, or better yet, who can they trust? And who really believes only selling music will help someone become rich, or even make a living?

One self-proclaimed pundit made the statement, in referencing musicians who are “avoiding these labels”,

“…there are all these different companies trying to help them, but in our case today that we’re going to be talking about, actually take advantage of them.”

So what does he do? Reads off what anyone can find on the internet that he believes supports his claims to be a scam, without any actual research through interviews with musicians or anyone within the company... it's only his “humble” opinion.

I have no problem with someone investigating companies and/or individuals participating in scrupleless activities - that is what makes a free marketplace work. But when someone begins to go down the road smearing or defaming anyone or company, based on their own perception or bias, without any definitive facts supporting the claims, that person leaves themselves open to being brought to account for their motive(s). In most cases, if not all, when someone takes on the act of slandering anyone or company, they usually have an ulterior motive which is to sell their own product or services; and the best way to do that is to have people think they are the good guy by making others look bad. A pretty good article was written by Michael Pascoe in 2012 titled “Bad news sells, good news buried”. He should know, he has written thousands.

“Feeling a little guilty about all those scary headlines, I now try to devote a greater percentage of my time to trying to keep perspective about what’s really the state of play, as opposed to what sounds the most sensational.” 

It is not the intent of this piece to pick anyone apart, but hopefully impart a bit of wisdom for those who truly are looking for solutions but have found themselves coming to an abrupt halt after viewing or reading something negative on the internet about the company they are investigating or evaluating.

Now that word “evaluate”... it is an exceptionally important word. No matter who you are, or industry of interest, never pursue anything by yourself! Anyone who has ever succeeded in anything never did it by themselves, plus they fully and completely investigated the company and all aspects of their activities before engaging into a relationship with them.

A little additional help for musicians, I thought the article "20 Tips on Networking in Music Industry" written by Vinny Ribas, author of "CEO Secrets", to actually be a very good educational piece that certainly could be applied in other businesses besides the music industry. His first paragraph sets the tone:

“There is no denying that whether you are a band, singer or an individual musician, you need the help of other people to have a successful music career. It doesn't matter if you can play every instrument, sing all of the vocal parts and make great recordings all by yourself in your own studio. You still need fans to buy your music, people to book you, people to show up at your gigs, and maybe people to help with the business and legal sides of your business.”

Perhaps his book "CEO Secrets" may be a good book everyone should have as part of their arsenal and educational library. Musicians can certainly benefit from experiences of others... and isn't that what a partnership should be all about?

So, does everyone seem to prey off of musicians? I don’t believe so! But there certainly are despicable individuals out there preying off people gullible enough to believe in their skewed observations. I would certainly be wary if not fully distrustful of anyone claiming themselves as being “A Scam Buster”, especially if their site could be filled with “scam” programs being sold by a master scammer themselves. Always ask… what's the ulterior motive? I am all for cleaning up business, but not by someone who may be the very culprit they are supposedly exposing.