pay to have your song on promo cd?

eoin1981 · 10-09-2010 10:27AM #1

has anyone ever got an email/message from a 'record company'. they say they like your songs and want to promote them.

What they say they do is to put your song on a cd of 10 songs and send them to over 2000 music industry professionals and radio stations etc in UK and Ireland.

all you have to do is pay €500 to get on the cd but you only have to pay €100 up front to guarantee a place on the cd.

I've got a couple of mails through myspace about this in the last few years. has anybody ever actually gotten involved with this sort of thing?

I don't plan to but just wondering if anybody else has or heard of anybody that has?

Miguel_Sanchez · 10-09-2010 10:43AM

Moved to Bands/Musicians.

Savman · 10-09-2010 10:48AM

Scam.

maccored · 10-09-2010 11:22AM

mightnt necessarily be a scam (as in they may actually send off cds) - but its not any sort of value for money as well as most labels etc arent really interested in unsolicited cds.

judas101 · 10-09-2010 11:31AM

run away!

off.the.walls · 10-09-2010 12:49PM

Thats the complete opposite of the way it should be done you should be getting paid for having your stuff on the cd.

eoin1981 · 10-09-2010 01:29PM

off.the.walls wrote: »

Thats the complete opposite of the way it should be done you should be getting paid for having your stuff on the cd.

Or at least bands shouldn't be charged. especially as the 'record company' approaches the band in the first place.

off.the.walls · 10-09-2010 02:36PM

But if the Cd is being sold for profit that means that the whole issue of copywright is coming into effect meaning for each cd sold each artist is legally intitled to their share of the profits, unless they sign a contact saying they want no money from it.

eoin1981 · 10-09-2010 03:05PM

true
but they claim they don't sell them hence the 500 quid to 'cover the costs'.
its a scam either way.

pauliewallie · 10-09-2010 04:12PM

have had a few emails like that alright ... I never got involved ... just seemed like not a very good deal for me

off.the.walls · 11-09-2010 04:29PM

pauliewallie wrote: »

have had a few emails like that alright ... I never got involved ... just seemed like not a very good deal for me

Its not even if its not being sold ur still entitled to royalties if it ever gets airplay or the song is used yaknow? this is a terrible terrible deal.

goblin59 · 11-09-2010 06:37PM

500 to stick your song on a cd? your actually better off recording a demo for 200 - 300 and then sending the recording CD (in WAV) to the labels yourself.

your more likly to make an impression that way as the label see's you went to the time and effort to do it yourself.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4 · 12-09-2010 12:28AM

SCAM!!!

its so bad that people fall for this.

Waking-Dreams · 12-09-2010 05:05PM

Actually, it's so obvious why people fall for this.

These kind of “scams” have operated in various guises for a long time. It's the result of the widely-held belief where musicians are convinced they need the help of the music industry professionals and players in order to get worthy exposure.

What puzzles me is that some bands can spot these kind of hucksters at work but would still be quite open to signing a poor record contract from a legit indie label that would leave them possibly out of pocket (from having had to fund their own album) and tied to the label that will recoup all promotional expenses (such as costs for promo CDs and magazine ads) before the band see their royalties.

If only bands would apply the same standard of scepticism to record contracts as they do to these unsolicited emails, they might get somewhere. Or know better than throwing money away at a battle of the bands competition where the judges are “industry pros”, because industry pros who are worth their salt and make things happen have nothing better to do than attend some local, low-budget BOTB event.

There are no shortcuts, much as some people will tell you, or that they have the ears of the right people if you pay them a small fee.

Caveat emptor.

pay to have your song on promo cd?

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