 I remember my first time getting scammed. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was working with this artist at a time managing him and he was getting ready to put out a small EP. I want to say it was maybe like nine or 10 songs, something, something pretty short, but it was pretty cool because at least as long as I've been working with him, this was going to be his first project release. So, you know, of course we were pretty excited about it. So we started doing some research around resources. We would need to put it out properly and you know, start building out like a marketing plan for it and a release plan for it. And one of the big things that he wanted to have was press. This was back in 2017, maybe. So this was around a time where a press was still super important, you know, not nearly as unimportant as it may have become today, but you know, at this time it was still pretty important. A lot of people still wanted to get press and wanted to be on blogs understandably. So after doing some more research, somehow we came across this publicist that honestly can't even remember how we found this guy, which maybe should have been the first red flag, but we came across this guy that sold us on his services as a publicist. So he started giving us all this, all this good ear candy about how he could get us on like ear milk and complex and PMP and all these blogs that at the time were like the blogs to be on. Now we pay him the money and the first week of the campaign goes by and the artist gets on like one of those blogs. I think like ear milk, maybe. So so far so good. We're like, oh yeah, it's about to be up. You know what I'm saying? He got the first one that's legit, boom, bang, bing. Another week goes by and he doesn't respond to our emails. We don't see anything go up. I'm like, okay, you know, I come from the press world. So I'm like, I get it. It doesn't always move as fast. I know what the process looks like. Two weeks go by, you don't hear from him. Email him again, still don't hear from him. Three weeks goes by and at this point we're pretty mad about it. So we send out, I think we like threatened to refund the money on PayPal or threatened. We did with some kind of threat got put out there. So he finally responds back. He gives us the soft story about how his grandfather had been in the hospital and all these bad things were going on. And you know, at that point, like we kind of didn't care because so much time had been buying it. My big thing was just communication, right? So we kind of didn't care. But somehow or another, we ended up letting it go. And long story short, we never hear from him again. And just like that, I'm out of like, I don't know, maybe like six or $7,000. So I learned a lot from that lesson. And it's honestly been one of the only times that I think I've ever been scammed in the music industry. And I have people tell me like, that's pretty lucky of me. But like I said, I learned a lot from that situation and it's definitely made me a lot more skeptical of certain things. And especially with how I move with certain other music industry professionals today or people who are trying to sell me their services and things that they do. So what I want to talk about in this video is some best practices, some mindset, some things you need to keep in the back of your brain so that you can possibly save yourself from getting scammed as much as possible. Let's get into it. It's the mat work. What's going on? My name is Corey Musilmark and I'm co-founder of Country Brand Agency. And today I want to talk to you about some practices, some mindset, some things you need to keep in your heart that could possibly save you from getting scammed one day or keep you from getting scammed as much as possible because the music industry is a grimy game. There are a lot of scammers out there who are looking to take advantage of young artists. And I just want to protect you guys. I don't want to see y'all go out like me and come out of pocket, saying six, seven K and have to eat Roman noodles and sleep on the floor for months after that. So before we get into all that, come and follow me on TikTok and Instagram. Links will be in the description below. Come talk to me, come engage with me, come give me some video ideas. All that cool stuff. Also make sure you check out the new Relunch Brand Man Network. It's growing by the day. It's turning into this real dope community. And me and Sean are putting a lot of game today. If I got to say so myself, I would say we lack a 12 out of 10 right now. We ain't missed yet. So check it out. Link is in the description below if you're interested in learning pretty much all the different marketing things that we talk about and are interested in all the new marketing content that we're going to be putting out. Then yeah, check it out. Link in the description. Now that being said, let's go ahead and get into it. So the first thing that I want to talk about actually is why you as an artist is probably going to get scammed or at least the archetype of the type of artists that I see get scammed the most or are getting scammed the most. And their artist is usually an artist that's super impatient. You know, a lot of the times they're new, they're greener to the industry. They maybe don't have a lot of resources with that being people in the music industry who they can get advice from or maybe even know about too many resources like us. You know what I'm saying? Who can give them advice in the music industry. And they're just, they're super impatient and they're green, right? So because they're green, they don't really know how to move correctly in the industry. They don't know what are the signs of things to look for. They're pointing to a person being a red flag and they don't know what to expect as far as like results, right? So an easily scammable person, to me as someone that can be so these insane results for very little money and the person falls for it because they're impatient and they don't know any better. So they really do think that yo, $500 can get me into rock caviar. If I get into rock caviar, I'm gonna become an S3. You know, or they really do believe it. Yo, this record label executive is gonna fly me out to New York to have dinner with me and listen to my project, even if you stream on Spotify for only $150. Once again, because they don't have context of what do these people really look for or how do they really move? And then again, how much do certain things cost? I also think the easily scammable person is the one that's too trustworthy of everyone that come across. Now I'm all about giving people the benefit of the doubt. And I do believe that if you're too hyper skeptical in the industry, you'll burn a lot of bridges and you won't move for it. Cause you'll just be too mistrusting of everything. You'll never really making a move. So I do think there is a line where you can become too, too not trusting enough. I don't know what I'm trying to say. But I have met some people who are the exact opposite. They give everyone a benefit of the doubt. They believe in the good of everyone and they want to give everybody a chance to the point to where they see them win. Those people are usually easily taken advantage of because people who are trying to scam you do not care that you're a good person. They recognize that in you, they take advantage of that. So I think that in order to put yourself in a position where you're getting scammed as least as possible, you have to be a fine balance between skeptical and unsure of everything to the point of where you're asking questions and you're asking the right questions. But then you also have to take in enough information and resources that you're not super gullible about everything and you have these realistic expectations of how certain things should go. So remember those three things. Those three things to me make the easily scammable artists. They're green, they don't really know shit. They're new to the industry, no connections, no real information. They don't know how things move. They're impatient. So because they're impatient, they believe things that tell them that they're gonna get them from point A to Z in matters of days and weeks and stuff like that. Just pure impatience. And then third, they can be too trusting and they can be too willing to see what everyone has to offer and what they can do for them. Those are the three characteristics of the easily scammable artists to me. But Bakora, you said this video was gonna be about how I can not get scammed. Why not why I'm gonna get scammed, bro? Like what's up? What can I do to protect myself if I am one of those things or two of those things or God forbid three of those things? And like I said, I just want you to understand that first because that leads me into the next couple of points that I wanna make. These are the things that you have to do or once again, try to really ingrain yourself to keep yourself from getting scammed as much as possible. The first thing is learn how to manage your expectations because like I said earlier, one of the people that are the easily scammable people are the people that don't know what to expect or anything. They don't have realistic expectations of their results. So once again, they believe that for $500, they can get into rock caviar and shoot to the top of the industry because they have never been around a Spotify rep that's talked about how to rock caviar playlist works or done any research on the PlayStation world to see how it works. So you have to learn how to manage your expectations and the way that you learn to manage your expectations is by gathering as much information about the music industry as possible. So I'm talking about podcasts, I'm talking about books. I mean, you guys are making the first step by watching this channel, you know what I'm saying? So you're headed in the right direction but really taking as much information as you can because as much as I love me and Sean, we don't know everything. We don't know everything about every nook of the industry and that's how people are able to spot something that they can get you about. So really learn as much as you can about the music industry so that even if it's something that you haven't been able to necessarily put your hand on yourself or do yourself as an artist, you have enough baseline understanding to go like, that doesn't sound right. You know, like every article and interview I've ever read by every major label, you know, representative that I trust almost has a complete opposite of this thing that you're telling me I can do for $150. You know, so that literally just comes with information. Information and I would say experience. Like as you get more resources for yourself as an artist and as more opportunities open up for you to try things out, you will start to do things that will let you know, hey, this doesn't sound right. Like not just because I heard it from someone else but because I've been through this thing and this doesn't feel right. That's why I kicked myself so much about getting scammed by the publicist back in the day because I come from the publicity world. I knew that certain things weren't moving the way that I was used to it moving when I worked with my men. So the publicist that I worked for, like, he wasn't giving us updates to certain points like you said he would or, you know, like, even the Illmeric article came kind of too fast in my opinion or like, you know, I hate to say it but even the artist that I was working with at the time like I knew deep down that certain opportunities that the publicist was talking about didn't make sense for the artist at the time but, you know, it happened and we gotta do, you know, but that's why I usually feel so bad about it is because like I should have known better, you know, like I came from that world. So in seconds, as much information as you can, that will allow you to learn what really works and how things really go in the industry which will help you to manage your expectations because one of the easiest ways for scammers to catch their prey is to promise a magic bullet, right? This magic bullet that in the artist's brains believes that if it gets shot, everything will change overnight and all their dreams will come true. And to me, the magic bullet only exists to people who don't have realistic expectations of how certain things should go. The next thing that you can do to protect yourself from getting scammed as much as possible is do your research and ask around about the people that you're trying to do business with. Like the music industry for the most part is a very small place, you know, like if you know anyone who has even a sliver of a foot in the music industry, nine times out of 10 they know someone that knows someone, maybe that knows someone that knows about the person that you're just trying to work with. If not, things like LinkedIn and corporate websites exist. And like, you know, super best case scenario, you find a form of music artists who talk about things like that, you know, which we do have inside the brand man network, you know, just wanna throw it out there. But you wanna put yourself in a position to be able to ask around as much as possible. So I know if you're someone that doesn't have as many industry resources, it can be hard, you know, but I don't know, the internet's a vast place. Like if someone has scammed someone before, trust and believe that person is out there willing to give someone enough information to stop them from being scammed as well. Most business people today have to build some type of personal brand on the internet in order to do business. And if those people have wronged people before, then those people are probably vocal in their comments, you know, if they're not being blocked. Or you can probably find certain people that are following that person and ask them questions like, hey, I see that you follow this guy or that y'all, you know, do XYZ together. Like, you know, I hate to be that guy, but what's up? Like how is he as a person? He's titled me that he can do XYZ for me. And like I said, like most artists, most professionals who have been scammed by someone before will gladly help someone else to not get scammed if they can, if they're able to give them the information. So do your research, ask around the industry, is a very small place. The internet is a very small place, especially when you're talking about music industry services and things that can be done. And a little bit of Google's and a little bit of research, you know, may feel tedious in the moment, but you'll thank yourself later when you were willing to drop that 3K budget. And you learned that, you know, this guy is consistent with not returning emails once the invoice has been cleared. The third thing that you can do to protect yourself is to ask the professional for references and credentials. Now, most people in the industry will have some type of case study list built around the services that they do. They'll have some referrals if you ask, like everyone doesn't offer referrals and I get it. Like sometimes people don't wanna like refer you to people in their professional network. So it's more common to see case studies and be like, hey, can I see some examples of your work? And then you point me to an artist that you've gotten great enough results around that you're comfortable with that I can go, one, check them out. And then, you know, going back to point number two, ask them some questions if I feel like I need to ask them some questions. So ask for references, ask for credentials, and ask for case studies. I say ask for credentials because if you're dealing with someone on a corporate level, you know, like one of the most popular scams I see is the age old trick of, hey, there's an A and R in XYZ city from XYZ label that wants to talk to you and fly you out. And, you know, people that work at labels are just people with jobs. Like these are people in corporate positions trying to make their bag by doing the thing that they like to do. The thing about people in corporate positions is nine to nine out of 10, those people have to have a LinkedIn profile. And then they usually have like some type of corporate email or, you know, something on a corporate page where you can actually look it up and see if it exists and if it's real, you know? So if there's someone that is claiming to be from some type of super professional background, like a label, major publishing company, something like that, like literally ask them for credentials, like ask them like, hey. Prove to me that you are who you are. Show me something, show me a work badge. Email me from your work email. That to me is the easiest one, like email me from a legit work email, you know? Point me to your LinkedIn, DM me from your professional LinkedIn profile, like, you know, so I can look and go, oh snap, all these resources and people commenting, you know, some of the real people that you possibly know, you know? So ask for credentials, ask for case studies and ask for referrals in situations as they make sense. And you know, use that to take in as much information as possible about that person so you can make your decision moving forward. And the last thing I would say, you know, like this just kind of came to mind, like never pay someone upfront unless you already trust them and know them pretty well. You know, like most professionals will offer payment plans where it may be let's say like a down payment upfront and then once they get a certain amount of work set up or a certain amount of stuff set up, then you can pay the remaining amount. I say, unless you like super trust the person that came to refer to you from somebody you trust, always take the option to split it up. So the worst case scenario, they get you for that. At least you made it out, you know what I'm saying? Unscaled with all of your budget. And then two, you can use that whole process of how to maneuver and doing that point to decide if you want to continue moving forward or take your money back. And the other thing I would say, just why I'm in the mind of that, these just keep coming to me, it is pay through a trusted payment source. Pay through something like a PayPal services payment or, you know, pay through your credit card from a bank, something that if shit hits the fan, you can at least file a dispute and get your money back. So people that ask you to send them payment through things like CashUp and Vimo and Western Union, like these untraceable sources or these sources that don't have a dispute method, they're more than likely trying to scam you. Cause no legit business is going to be like, yo, pay me through the friends and family payment plan on PayPal. No, we have invoices, pay through the invoice, see me at bank transfer, pay me through services so I can track it when tax time rolls around and shit looks legit. You know, so like, those are red flags that'll let you know as well if someone is trying to scam you. Hey, can you send me this payment as a friends and family only option? No, absolutely not. Hey, can you wish, my bank is down for some reason. Can you Western Union media deposit, you know, sorry for the inconvenience? Like, no, when your bank is fixed and they figure it out, I'll be here, you know? So that's another thing I want to throw out there before jumping out of that topic. Yeah, don't send people money through ways that you don't trust and believe in that aren't secure. Just don't do it. So there it is guys. Those are my tips for how you can prevent yourself from being scammed as a music artist as best as possible. And trust me, I get it. There are some elite top level scammers out there who know all the things I talked about and they make sure to set themself up in a way that, you know, still makes them look super believable. So I say I just say like, I'm not a 100% guaranteeing that you won't be scammed. But you know, if I could knock that percentage down 10, 20, 30% and I feel like I did a pretty good job. You know what I'm saying? And this video is actually inspired because one of my good friends has got an email from a fake label pretending to be QC, trying to get him on the phone to do like a $200 consultation with the N.R. Like some very clearly obvious scam bullshit that was like, hey, I should make a video about how not to be scammed. That friend actually also thinks that we should make a video responding to that scam email pretending to be artists and go through the whole process to see what they would do. So, you know, I've been thinking about it. If that's something that you guys are interested in dropping in the comment section below, you know, we may start putting that together. I don't know if I want to waste the time doing that. If y'all ain't gonna watch the video, you know what I'm saying? So, so let me know. Other than that, I'd be curious to hear what are some things that you do to help yourself not get scammed? What are some rare flags you've seen? How have you been scammed? And what did you learn from that situation? Drop those stories in the comment section below. I love to hear about it myself, you know, so we can all learn together. And then you never know what you may be helping some artists that is on the verge of being exactly where you are, you know? Like I said, like I know most artists, if you guys could, you would love to help another artist not get scammed as much as possible. So, drop those in the comment section below. And then that, if you feel like you learned anything today, please like and share this video. Hit those post notifications as well as I wouldn't want you guys to miss anything. Once again, my name is Kory and I'll see y'all next time.