The biggest scams and money pits you need to avoid as a music producer

Earning money is hard as a music producer, but losing money is one of the easiest things to do in music.

So, here are a few of the most popular scams and ‘not worth the money’ investments that producers should be aware of

4 THOUGHTS FROM ME

1. Be careful when signing anything with your music.

The biggest money pits, scams, and desperation moments can happen when you realize you signed a bad deal you can’t get out of, so be careful with whatever you sign. For example:

1. “360 Deals” that take a cut of everything. Consider limiting it to a specific alias, as otherwise it normally takes a share of everything, possibly even non-music stuff, and hire a lawyer.
2. Limit all lock-in clauses without exits. Make sure to have an exit clause if a label proposes anything that locks you with them. For example, ‘right of first option’, when a label requires you to always send musi to them first, that might seem OK now, but may not be great in the future. If they start rejecting your tracks, that can become mentally draining.
3. Stay away from management deals that require you to pay. Any management deal that requires a monthly payment isn’t a traditional management deal, but a service you’re paying for. If a manager really believes in you, he would ask for a percentage of your career. A service can be cheaper, but so will their commitment to your project.
4. If a deal sounds “too good to be true”, ask them to put it in writing. What isn’t written in a contract, isn’t guaranteed, regardless of how much you “trust” themsure. “But they wouldn’t do that to me,” isn’t a justification for not getting it in writing, because if it’s not written down, they legally don’t have to provide it.

2. Be careful when promoting your music.

When promoting your music, here are some investments that I’ve found are just not worth it, or could be a scam:

1. Don’t buy “playlist curator spreadsheets”. You’ll have a bunch of emails that you’ll have to cold email since you don’t know anyone in there. Instead, build your own list, and build relationships with the people on the other side, and they will be happy to support you;
2. NEVER pay labels for promotion packages. A label should cover promotion costs through royalties, and not by charging you upfront. If a label asks you for money, run, and don’t look back!;
3. Never pay for a gig just for exposure. Pay-to-play is rarely worth it, and you should avoid it. It’s ok to underprice yourself or even do it for free, depending on the situation, but never pay to work;
4. Avoid distributors that charge you for not removing your song. Some distributors charge to keep your song active if you cancel their subscription, which can cost you more later than what you pay now. So, be careful;
5. Avoid any “We’ll make you viral” packages. Any package that offers instant virality can be a waste of money. Even if they make your song reach 150k people, are they the right audience for you?
6. Don’t pay people to “pitch your songs to labels”. It still depends on your music being good, and you can likely find out how to submit yourself. Not a scam, but a waste of money that you could use for promotion.

3. “If you just buy this, your music will instantly improve”.

The biggest money pits in music are the unnecessary things we buy based on “fear of missing out” or “finding that one magic tool”, but that doesn’t exist.

1. Be mindful when buying plugins, especially on Black Friday. Buy plugins that add new tools to your arsenal, but don’t overdo it. You don’t need ten synths, or even two synths that do the same thing. Instead, master the one you already have;
2. Be careful with online courses that over-promise. Three things to look for to avoid wasting money:
   • Check if the course’s tutors have done for themselves what they promise to teach you.
   • Check what people are saying about the course on Reddit.
   • Ask friends if anyone did it and ask if it’s worth it;
3. Avoid subscription-only plugins that lock you out when you stop paying. Any subscription that locks you out if you stop paying cares more about your money than your music, so just find an alternative to it. It will likely be cheaper and less stressful in the long run.

4. Don’t ever do any of these to avoid problems in the future.

A lot of these scams not only won’t work, but could actually get you in a bad position later. For example:

1. Don’t ever pay for streams or social media followers. Streaming services hate when you buy plays, some even delete your song, and buying followers isn’t worth it. Numbers without long-term engagement won’t do anything for you;
2. Don’t ever sell lifetime master rights of future songs/albums. It’s ok to sell your master to a label of the current song you’re pitching, but never sell your future songs/albums ahead of time. Taylor Swift did it, and it cost her 360 million dollars (and plenty of legal fights) to get it back;
3. Don’t ever pay for a vocalist before setting the terms. Vocalists can disappear, refuse to make changes based on feedback, or simply come up with a fee out of nowhere. Set the terms after they agree to collaborate, and avoid headaches in the future;

1 QUESTION FOR YOU

What are things that sound like a scam, but could actually help you?

1. Collaborating with a major artist when you did all the work.
You might feel weird when a big artist asks to collaborate with you, but contribute to the song. Still, the promotion they can bring in can be worth it, so just play with it

2. Paying for ads to promote your music or playlist.
Most people are afraid of promoting their songs with ads, but it can be really helpful when done right.

3. Hiring a music production or music marketing coach.
Hiring a coach is one of the best ways to improve in something you’re lacking, but you need to find someone who is actually helpful. Do the same as recommended for the online course in point #3, but feel free to ask the coach directly for examples of past success cases to guide your decision.