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Mutlu
by Gary E. Andrews - 04/15/24 07:08 PM
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Leafs
by Gary E. Andrews - 04/05/24 01:49 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,822
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Serious Contributor
Joined: Aug 2001
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You know, that Don Reed thread got me to thinking...(and I'm in no way defending them). Someone blaming an agency for their lack of success certainly wouldn't be a criteria for evaluating the company's worth, but since 97% of all records made by the major labels (I read that somewhere) never even break even or make the top 100 on major charts, how WOULD you determine a legitimate promotional company? At least 97% of their clientele would NOT have gone on to become famous. Some form of marketing is undeniably part of achieving success. Someone like Ashlee Simpson certainly has a HUGE (like REALLY, REALLY BIG) marketing machine behind her. Otherwise, she would be indistinguishable from others of similar talent (notice how nice I was there ). Another example: In my studio, I deal a fair amount with indie artists or solo performers, some of whom don't even care about fame. They might be happy just selling 1000 CDs at their gigs. Just because I don't have any platinum artists who started with me, does that make my studio a "scam" - just after some dreamer's money? I know that's a little on the extreme side, but I wanted to set up the analogy so we can think about where you would actually draw the line in what's worthwhile and what's not? What are the criteria and statistics that would be meaningful? Wouldn't a legitimate marketing/promotion company also have reams of failures? Any thoughts on this would probably be very helpful to other JPFers. ------------------ Larry www.audibleresponse.com [This message has been edited by Lwilliam (edited 03-26-2005).]
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 19,580 Likes: 13
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Top 10 Poster
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 19,580 Likes: 13 |
The easiest and most obvious red flag is if a company promises or even strongly suggests that if you use THEIR services you'll find great success, get significant airplay, get a record deal, get a publishing deal etc. Money, power, connections etc.. don't guarentee success. And most companies who serve unknown independents are not among the most powerful, wealthy and connected companies (those folks general service major label clients).
Scam artists give false hope to cash in on dreams. Legit companies are up front on their services and the costs. They will also be honest about your talent level (some can help improve your talent but none can make someone who isn't very good successful) and give you a specific plan on how to present what you do and to who. They would also either have a proven track record or at least a set of quality references that you can contact and that don't reek of insiders/shills for the company. Asking on websites won't always give you the most accurate info, but it WILL raise red flags. If there's no negatives that arise, most likely they are either honest or haven't actually done anything for anyone. You need to determine which. If it's a mix of positive and negative, that might be a good sign. As has been mentioned, untalented people often blame everyone but themselves for their failures. (Just watch American Idol to see this illustrated all the time). But usually there will be positive endorsements mixed in with negative if there is something positive going on with a company.
It's also interesting to note how a company reacts to negative feedback. If the people running it will address the concerns upfront and in person, that's a good sign. If they hide behind false endorsements, aliases and attacks on the messengers, I would steer well clear. If they are unprofessional in response, they will likely ALWAYS be unprofessional.
Brian
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@gmail.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney Facebook: www.facebook.com/justplainfolks"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney "It's easier to be the bigger man when you actually are..." -Brian Austin Whitney "Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney
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