Similar to the Poetry contests scam, this one makes the victims (singers and artists) believe that they have really won an award, such as the “Director’s Award” or “Breakthrough of the month”. The scammers harvest all the victims from websites like MySpace or Facebook, where everybody tries to promote himself, looking for exposure.
The fraud comes as an official approach or letter in the mail, notifying the artist that his talent has been recognized and is finally paying off.
“We really like your latest song and our committee decided it’s the winner of the month. Our creative director will get in touch with you shortly, to talk about the professional demo that we will create for you. Also, we intend to award your trophy at the Nashville Music Industry Awards next month, let us know if you are able to attend”.
Well, regardless of how talented you are, these kinds of scams are very common. You will be asked to pay for your demo (“a promotional price”) and, if you want to go to the awards, as of course you do, you will be required to wire some money for whatever reason, either accommodation or registration fees. You pay and you’ll never get anything of what was promised. Just looking online for the awards next month doesn’t avoid being scammed, since the scammers know you might check for that – they will give you a real event.
In another variation of the scam, the criminals promise the artist a potential signing with a specific record company.
How to avoid: always research the name of the company who contacted you, on all the music forums. Somebody should have heard anything about it. If not, just ignore it. Never wire money, either.