Full points for a prompt and thorough retraction. It's getting easier to get fooled. My take-away is the next time I am approached with a pay-for-play is to contact someone on the masthead and ask if this is their policy. There is a lot of pay-for-play or "cover our production expenses" outreach but I now see there is good money to be made impersonating employees of reputable organizations. So if it's someone I would want to get coverage from making a pay-for-play offer I will double check.
Just based on the over-the-top too hip for words email 'she' sent all of my warning bells were chiming. But no one is impervious to scammers any more. With any and all privacy gone, every time you click on a page, look up a product, or research a topic you are opening up the Pandora's box of scammer potential. I get dozens every day. and you must get hundreds. Thanks for all the great work and keep on truckin'...
Sorry, Ted, but you should know better. You have a big platform and reporting experience. If something feels fishy, look into it before you claim that a major publication engages in pay-to-play.
These offers are especially rampant on IG. Sadly, some publications are allowing paid placements (Spin, Rolling Stone UK, India, etc), and entire "PR" agencies are popping up to handle execution of these glorified ads. The artists/labels know better, and they do it anyway. Will fans know the difference, though?
Anybody can get fooled these days. Good that you reacted fast.
Perhaps another takeaway from this is that she "sold" you a narrative that you were ready to buy, as it aligned with many of the points you correctly make in this newsletter every week.
You were "presold" in a way because what she said confirmed your general opinion on the state of that business.
We should always be suspicious of our own ideas and that's the hardest thing to do.
I ponder, what could the scammers become if they poured their time, energy and tenacity into creating legit business pursuits? Can the money really be so good that it rewards living in seedy shadows of the internet and life?
Maybe they enjoy it. Its naive to assume everyone wants to be good.
And theres no reason a decent and upright person irl couldnt also be "living in seedy shadows of the internet".
In short, you assume too much, about both good and bad people, and their motivations.
Also, legit business pursuits arent so easy to obtain these days. You can work smart and hard and still fall flat.
Good and bad coexist, must coexist(if history is any guide). The answer to why are bad people bad is the same as to why good people are good. This simple fact seems to be uncomprehensible* to many people. But in fact its necessary for the world. The greatest good cannot, will not, exist without its opposing greatest evil.
That was my initial thought as well. But it occurred to me that he got scammed in the sense that he acted as if this person was telling him the truth, when he wasn’t. So while the scam attempt did not result in his paying $60, it did lead to Ted acting as if what the scammer was doing was telling the truth. That is, he fell for the scam, despite not spending the money.
Sorry, You can still get fooled again and you'll probably still marvel how you could have fallen for it after your regular experience. You're only scam-proof to future scams that share some similarities in methods and domain to previous scams. Any new scam that triggers no alarm from previous scams would easily get you still.
I think you should have zero regrets. The whole series of events has served to inform me about scams in general and the perils of music journalism in specific. Thanks for being on the front lines.
Why not tell people her name - even if it is fake - and put her ten-year-old social media site online so, at the very least, she will have to create a new one?
Full points for a prompt and thorough retraction. It's getting easier to get fooled. My take-away is the next time I am approached with a pay-for-play is to contact someone on the masthead and ask if this is their policy. There is a lot of pay-for-play or "cover our production expenses" outreach but I now see there is good money to be made impersonating employees of reputable organizations. So if it's someone I would want to get coverage from making a pay-for-play offer I will double check.
There are so many targeting musicians. It’s truly heartbreaking.
Just based on the over-the-top too hip for words email 'she' sent all of my warning bells were chiming. But no one is impervious to scammers any more. With any and all privacy gone, every time you click on a page, look up a product, or research a topic you are opening up the Pandora's box of scammer potential. I get dozens every day. and you must get hundreds. Thanks for all the great work and keep on truckin'...
Sorry, Ted, but you should know better. You have a big platform and reporting experience. If something feels fishy, look into it before you claim that a major publication engages in pay-to-play.
I appreciate this - retraction and apology, straight up.
These offers are especially rampant on IG. Sadly, some publications are allowing paid placements (Spin, Rolling Stone UK, India, etc), and entire "PR" agencies are popping up to handle execution of these glorified ads. The artists/labels know better, and they do it anyway. Will fans know the difference, though?
We are all human and make mistakes.
Anybody can get fooled these days. Good that you reacted fast.
Perhaps another takeaway from this is that she "sold" you a narrative that you were ready to buy, as it aligned with many of the points you correctly make in this newsletter every week.
You were "presold" in a way because what she said confirmed your general opinion on the state of that business.
We should always be suspicious of our own ideas and that's the hardest thing to do.
Thanks for the heads-up, Ted! Sorry it happened to you!
How much skepticism do you need to be an honest broker??
Aren't we most human when we fall short?
Happened to me on Sound Cloud. Scammers are everywhere.
I ponder, what could the scammers become if they poured their time, energy and tenacity into creating legit business pursuits? Can the money really be so good that it rewards living in seedy shadows of the internet and life?
Maybe they enjoy it. Its naive to assume everyone wants to be good.
And theres no reason a decent and upright person irl couldnt also be "living in seedy shadows of the internet".
In short, you assume too much, about both good and bad people, and their motivations.
Also, legit business pursuits arent so easy to obtain these days. You can work smart and hard and still fall flat.
Good and bad coexist, must coexist(if history is any guide). The answer to why are bad people bad is the same as to why good people are good. This simple fact seems to be uncomprehensible* to many people. But in fact its necessary for the world. The greatest good cannot, will not, exist without its opposing greatest evil.
Something to think about, really.
* i thought uncomprehendable looked wrong lol
Dude I really really like your Substack but this was a clickbait. You did NOT get scammed as your better sense prevailed. What am I missing?
That was my initial thought as well. But it occurred to me that he got scammed in the sense that he acted as if this person was telling him the truth, when he wasn’t. So while the scam attempt did not result in his paying $60, it did lead to Ted acting as if what the scammer was doing was telling the truth. That is, he fell for the scam, despite not spending the money.
Sorry, You can still get fooled again and you'll probably still marvel how you could have fallen for it after your regular experience. You're only scam-proof to future scams that share some similarities in methods and domain to previous scams. Any new scam that triggers no alarm from previous scams would easily get you still.
I think you should have zero regrets. The whole series of events has served to inform me about scams in general and the perils of music journalism in specific. Thanks for being on the front lines.
Thanks for the heads up. I will be publishing my first fiction novel in the near future and will watch out for this type of scam.
Why not tell people her name - even if it is fake - and put her ten-year-old social media site online so, at the very least, she will have to create a new one?