| iplacemusic.com |
| iplacemusic.com Andros Georgiou scam, taking advantage of the little man, Internet |
| 9th of Sep, 2011 by User312191 |
I’m quite disgusted at the amount of websites out there, whom make monetary gain off the misfortune of musicians who have just begun their career and get “scouted†by their company. Most musicians who don’t get their home-studio paid for by daddy and mommy, along with their new 2011 mustang, don’t have the extra cash laying around to spend on “promotional servicesâ€. However, some artists who have the motivation, and the dedication, will scrounge up the extra money, and go all-in on companies such as iplacemusic.com, in hopes that in doing so, they will be noticed in the music industry, and maybe even get signed to a label. The first email I received from this company was a few months ago. I humored them by submitting 2 of my recent songs to their website, in order to see what their response was. As I assumed, the response was generic, by an employee “inviting me to go platinum, which only a select few are offered!†which translates to: “Now you can pay us over $100 dollars so you can have a glorified soundcloud account, and receive reviews from “professionals in the industry†which consist of nothing but positive statements, no matter who the artist is, or what the song is. Its basically paying $99 dollars to someone you don’t know to give their opinion on your music. Pro-tip guys, if we wanted to do that, we’d
do it on soundcloud.com, or similar websites which allow reviewing of music, which needless to say, is FREE. I let it go, I gave them my opinion, and basically said “if you really cared about the artists as you claim, you wouldn’t charge money right off the bat to simply submit audio to the site (which by the way, is a terrible website; I could have coded better in high-school with pure HTML). They responded by saying some garbage about how “nothing in life is free†blah blah. We’ve all heard salesmen give their speeches. Iknow, I’ve been there, and have worked for both Best Buy as a salesman, and Verizon FIOS as a door to door salesman. Anyway, lets get to the point. Today I received ANOTHER spam email from their company, even after they already wasted my time a few months ago, and they already have my profile on their mediocre website. Here is the email, word for word -
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Subject: â€You have been scouted & invited by Andros Georgiouâ€
â€
If you’re serious about MUSIC & your CAREER, then you need to keep reading, the next 2 minutes could change your life and save you money. Our Manifesto, by Andros Georgiou iplacemusic was going to be done right or not at all. iplacemusic is about the artists, their vision and their music and making it a valued commodity, To be crass, it’s about making music that we can all make money from. Isn’t that the idea?
I have always believed in selling music. I have worked in the Industry for over 25 years as a music consultant, working in A&R, Branding, Image, Promotion, Social Networking, Music Publishing & Placement, Record Labels & Touring, the last 15 years of that career has been at the forefront of online Industry. I was the first to put an MP3 single for sale in 1997. Don’t believe me? See the BBC interview I also know how it all starts. The Artist needs a hub. A place to base ourselves and I want iplacemusic to be that place for as many of you as I can handle. And, if you are invited to join as a Platinum artist, you will have the added bonus of being one of a very select group. It’s only $99.95 a year, that’s less than $8.50 a month, for All the tools you will need to enable you to present and, most importantly, Brand yourselves in the right way. This also includes Music Placement as I strongly believe it’s the best promotion a new artist can get. There are an estimated 30 million artist on the web, all trying to do the same thing you are. Everyone wants that edge. Everyone is looking for help from anyone, anywhere, especially from the web. There are just too many music sites, offering artists no direction, help or guidance, and charging $500 plus! Who needs that? So what is iplacemusic and what sets me apart? I also provide something that no one else in my position can offer you.A private consultation with a music professional who can discuss your individual needs as an artist. This is time, one on one, with someone who can answer all your questions and draw up a plan with you to move you forward to develop you into what a Record company or Publisher is looking for. A plan geared to one end, taking you to the next level. Yes, I am talking about breaking new ground. The minute you stop moving forward and become static, it’s game over. It’s as simple as that. This is for a cost of $199. So to the point ? First, you have to set yourself up on my free artist page, which I will review, so I can ascertain whether you are eligible to take part in my special “1 of the 1000 Club,†as I am now calling it, as one of my Platinum artists. I want to set up a community of artists that help and promote each other. YOU CAN NOT DO THIS ALONE; we all need support, including me! I want to see you the artist befriending other acts on the site and to start working together, collectively (i.e. mixing, producing or song writing). I know it’s easier said than done, for so many reasons, believe me, I’ve heard them all, but the benefits and the results, could be amazing. I am going to be to the point. If you don’t help yourselves in this industry, can you expect anybody else to help you? Am I right? The next step is to become part of a label." Here is where I must comment, the company is now claiming that through their services you will become part of a label. - Keep reading " That’s another place where I will come in. When you become a Platinum artist with iplacemusic, it puts you in a very unique position. Our Top 20 Chart will be featured on various music sites, giving our Platinum artists much needed chart exposure. I have only one goal and that is to prove that being a part of iplacemusic is the best place your music can be. I am putting my reputation on the line, but I can’t do it alone. This is also a business, a business that will work as long as we deliver, together. I know how to get us there. Do you want to join me? Yours Sincerely
CEO Andros Georgiou
Start your career with a professional?â€
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Now, here is my response:
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Let me just go ahead and tell you why what your doing is basically a scandal to REAL musicians, with REAL talent. 1. “iplacemusic is about the artistsâ€. Wrong. If iplacemusic were about the artists, you wouldn’t charge $99.95 a year to simply upload music to your website. This is a mockery of musicians such as myself, who are well aware you can submit their work to multiple digitally-distributed websites such as iTunes, spotify, eMusic, Napster, etc. for about $10.00. Yes. $10.00. Now you tell me which is better exposure – iTunes charts, or your sub-par website? No-brainer there. In fact, if iplacemusic was about the artists as you claim, you’d charge nothing, and you’d make your profit through advertisement, private consultations, etc. etc. My point is, iplacemusic was never about the artists, and it is utterly disrespectful and immoral to pawn your mediocre services off to poor, “just starting out†musicians for a monetary gain, disguising it as something they “need†to succeed in the industry. The truth is, if you recognized the talent (which you don’t because you generate spam emails, and claim to “talent scout†just about anyone you come across, so you may hopefully turn a profit in result) you’d provide these services for free, and get paid AFTER your services benefited the musician in a way that noticeably altered their career. 2. †if you are invited to join as a Platinum artist†– I hope you don’t honestly believe everyone who joins your site and receives your obvious spam emails believes that they are special in receiving “an invitationâ€. This is, and pardon my rudeness, obvious bull****. Everyone who can bang two inanimate objects together and record it in .mp3 format is invited to join as a Platinum artist. This is salesmanship, pretending as if you only have “a few spots left†“running out of time†“only a select few†Yea, whatever, bull****, and everyone knows it is, so stop screwing over the ones ignorant enough to waste their time with you. 3. “I want to set up a community of artists that help and promote each other. YOU CAN NOT DO THIS ALONE;†This statement is the largest mockery of them all. I didn’t realize you employ satirical writers, but I’m quite certain everyone who works for your website isn’t so dense as to believe noone has heard of soundcloud.com (which is free, and allows artists to “help and promote eachotherâ€) bandcamp.com (which is free and allows artists to promote eachother,) need I really list more? There are PLENTY of websites that provide this service FOR FREE, and its a scandal for you to charge these people for it. I hope you sleep well at night knowing you turn a profit by taking the money most of these artists DON’T HAVE (clearly, everyone has heard the phrase “starving artistâ€). 4. “but the benefits and the results, could be amazing. †Pardon my lack of a business-like attitude at this point. LMAO. 5. “I am going to be to the point. If you don’t help yourselves in this industry, can you expect anybody else to help you? Am I right?†Alright, now allow me to be to the point as well; no musician, I repeat, no musician who is currently famous, got to the position they are at now by joining some “top 20 chart†website (equivalent to the scams by A&R Select, and similar companies, ) claiming to promote the artist somehow, but in all reality noone who matters checks these mediocre sites for content. If anyone was going to pay for ANYTHING to promote their music career, it should be a marketing team, or a website which can promote their material through advertisement, youtube submissions, social networking sites, etc. etc. Lets not sit here and honestly pretend that this isn’t the case. Because if you’re going to spend the little money you have on something to jump-start your career, its going to be something that actually WORKS, and doesn’t disguise their mediocre services as something useful. Now, hopefully, if you had the self-respect to read this message in its entirety, maybe you’ll re-think what you’re doing to these under-exposed artists, who barely have enough money to pay the bills, when you charge them ridiculous fees, for NOTHING. If you had business ethics, or a heart, you’d change your methods of turning a profit to ones that actually make sense. Use your brain, you don’t have to scam these innocent, ignorant musicians, who definitely don’t deserve to be taken advantage of, to make a profit and still have a site similar to the one you do now. Simply remove the fees, and make your profit AFTER your services provide a noticeable benefit to the musician. I’m disgusted to ever have wasted my time submitting my material to your website. I am, after all, a "starving artist" myself. And my talent is wasted on companies such as yourself, as I will succeed in the music industry without paying $99+ to your company, however, your company may not survive without the payments. And that, is the honest truth, and we all know that THIS is the TRUE reason you charge your fees. Because of greed. Find me on the top 40 charts in 3-5 years.
Sincerely,
an_hero
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- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - I believe the email speaks for itself, and you should respond in a similar fashion if you are ever contacted by companies such as theirs, which are out to take your money (which you don’t have extra laying around to give them freely now do you?) and provide nothing in result. I hope my words reach you if you have been contacted by this company, or a similar company. And I hope you see through their scam, as uploading your music, and spending your money on a website that has nothing to offer you but a “top 20 chart†(which by the way, almost every single FREE website out there which allows music submissions, has). Do yourself a favor, and if you get contacted by a “talent scout†research their company, and if they ask you for money, tell them to f*** off. Anyone you ask who has succeeded in the industry will tell you its a waste of money, and even worse, a waste of your time. |
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