Should You Pay to Play a Show? Scam Alert!
Wednesday August 27, 2008
Maybe you've seen news about this kicking around on MySpace (that's where I saw it). People have apparently gotten taken by this scam - please don't let it happen to you. It seems that someone is emailing artists on MySpace claiming to have just received "$50 million from Universal" and offering artists the chance to open for Lil Wayne and Jay-Z - in exchange for a "promoters (sic) fee" of $800. Upon replying to the message, artists were advised to wire $400 to cover part of the fee, which they did. And then, naturally, communication stopped.
Here's the thing, although there is such a thing as "buy-on," where an opening act pays for the chance to open up for a bigger name - Lil Wayne and Jay Z are great examples of tours where there might be a buy-on, these kinds of deals are negotiated between agents, labels and managers, almost always on a major label level. Buy-ons aren't common in indie music, and it would be highly unusual for major promoter to find you as an unsigned artist and suggest a buy-on. If for some reason it did happen, you should never, ever, EVER send anyone any money without contracts in place.
Although buy-ons happen, beyond those specific cases, don't pay people for a chance to play a show. You can play for free, you can end up out of pocket at the end of the night because you had to pay for travel, but you shouldn't pay to take the stage. Some people will try to get you to, but it's a frowned upon practice (and even illegal in some places) - I know, I know, some people do it. I say don't. And always, always, ALWAYS be cautious about people who approach you on MySpace with deals. It's far too easy for scenarios like this one to occur.
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Here's the thing, although there is such a thing as "buy-on," where an opening act pays for the chance to open up for a bigger name - Lil Wayne and Jay Z are great examples of tours where there might be a buy-on, these kinds of deals are negotiated between agents, labels and managers, almost always on a major label level. Buy-ons aren't common in indie music, and it would be highly unusual for major promoter to find you as an unsigned artist and suggest a buy-on. If for some reason it did happen, you should never, ever, EVER send anyone any money without contracts in place.
Although buy-ons happen, beyond those specific cases, don't pay people for a chance to play a show. You can play for free, you can end up out of pocket at the end of the night because you had to pay for travel, but you shouldn't pay to take the stage. Some people will try to get you to, but it's a frowned upon practice (and even illegal in some places) - I know, I know, some people do it. I say don't. And always, always, ALWAYS be cautious about people who approach you on MySpace with deals. It's far too easy for scenarios like this one to occur.
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