Commanding Chaos for Coworking, Open Source and Creative Communities

Tell those bitches!

Tue, 03/04/2008 - 04:54 -- rprice

Don't you love all those form letters you get about "We can get you to the top of search engines", and "I'd like to buy text links from you"? I know I do, and I'm not alone...

My friend Marc, otherwise known as "marc with a c" to the music community of Orlando, has recently decided to let 'em have it. He was contacted by a chain-lettering, canvassing, music rep from Hitt Music Group.

Here's a sample of Marc's reply from his MySpace blog:

You mean that THE Hitt Music Group is interested in me? Oh my God. Here I was thinking that MySpace was just A Place For Friends, but no... you really do make dreams come true.

Of course, you must be joking, right? This CANNOT be the same Hitt Music Group that brought us such unmitigated talents as Friday Night Gunfight and the Lords Of Conversation, can it?

OH MY GOD, I JUST CHECKED OUT YOUR WEBSITE. You guys TOTALLY are *that* Hitt Music Group.

One of the modern conveniences technology affords us - the ability to spam thousands of independent musicians on MySpace... yes!

This is good for a laugh, and probably an indicator that no matter how much transparency and genuineness gain value in the marketplace, there will always be a Hitt Music Group.

Cookie cutter PR is bad PR - but I'm no expert.

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Comments

Submitted by 13 Reasons (not verified) on

does anyone have any proof of Hitt Music Group being a scam? or not being a scam? just wondering. let me know.

13 Reasons

I do know I get lots of searches from them - did you read Marc's original MySpace post? This was just sort of intended to point you over there.

I wouldn't call it a "scam" as much as a bad idea. They don't do anything you couldn't do yourself, but then they take a big percentage.

At least that's my understanding of it.

Submitted by Stacy (not verified) on

They contacted me and I signed with them after checking their ratings on BBB.ORG. They have BBB rating and they are member of Better Business Bureau. They charged me a flat fee for the whole year that's about it. They don't take percentage off anything since they are not a management company. Hey, at least I got my songs places and got some gigs for myself. I think there are many companies similar to Hitt music group but not really legit so bring them down as well. I would recommend their service to my friends.

http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository....

Submitted by Stacy (not verified) on

Its kinda funny that I checked the blog and went to the link, the rating is BBB not D. So I doubt that person knows whats going on. Check it your self. BTW, I am not paid to write stuff online. Its messed up when people are talking things aren't true.. specially when I benefit from that particular company. Anyways, you be the judge of it.

By all accounts, it seems to be a scam, or at the very least a waste of money.
I've searched three different threads, and have seen the same guy (Eric Dawson) chiming in during a discussion about Hitt with the exact same email. Then somebody else says they are a member of Hitt (or know someone who is) and have benefited- often with nearly the exactly same wording as Stacy just used...
The following is from www.soundbitesdog.com from January of this year:

"A Working Class Rip Off (Hitt Music Group)

VinylOk, I'm forgoing the usual Q & A section because I heard something the other day that made me want to vomit with rage. There's an online scam going around that preys on indie artists looking for inexpensive marketing, booking and promotion (a la TAXI or Sonic Bids but NOT legitimate). They are presently calling themselves Hitt Music Group (although I'm sure it's evil takes many forms). This pseudo company has a very sophisticated and impressive looking website as well as profiles on Myspace, Facebook and YouTube.

"Damn, it all looks so good... How could it be a scam," you ask? A friend of mine was contacted on Myspace by HMG claiming that one of their scouts had heard their music and thought it would be great for a new movie directed by Goldie Hawn. Overcoming their reservations, my friend decided to plop down $400 for a "consultation" by phone and a year's worth of Taxi-like industry leads and other PR related services. When the consultation never happened, my friend became suspicious. They noticed that the "pitch sheets" were for movies that had been out for 3 years. The new, improved bio written by a team of "industry experts" turned out to be the same as what the artist had given them only with the addition of typos and a few words changed. Once my friend started asking questions, phone calls stopped being returned and all of the people that they had corresponded with suddenly "no longer worked there." And finally, when my friend asked to speak with the owner regarding a refund... nobody would give his/her name or contact info.

Yeah, doesn't sound good. Curious, I did some digging of my own and discovered that half of all the bands listed on HMG's testimonial page are either impossible to find (ie, no myspace page or band website) or strangely come from city's other than where the company's site listed. I also took the liberty of contacting a few of the ones I could track down and received absolutely no responses by press time.* NOTE: since I first published this, I have received one response from a band on their testimonials page. It reads "we would consider ourselves successful with the Hitt Music Group. We have actually placed one deal so far where we made money. It was a small Indie film that didn't pay way too much but it was definitely worth our time because it covered what we payed (sp) for the membership and we also purchased some needed equipment with that cash." What can I say? One real band with a positive experience out of 10 (the total number on their testimonial page) is not resounding support or encouraging.

What if you're a victim of one of these scams? If you used a credit card or Paypal you should contact the fraud department and follow their protocol. Chances are VERY good that your financial institution will refund your money once they investigate and realize that you're not the only one filing a claim. Paypal in particular favors the buyer over the seller. Also, if a scammer/spammer contacts you on Myspace (or any other social networking site for that matter)... alert the admin to their presence. Myspace doesn't like con-artists ruining your experience anymore than you do and will probably have their accounts deleted within 24 hours. Paybacks a fish. ha ha.

So please, take heed. The internet has opened up many new and exciting possibilities, but it's also like the wild west. My general policy with online business is; if I can't Google you, you don't exist. Obviously in this case, these guys have all the hallmarks of being legit until you start doing some digging. A few other rules of thumb: 1). If it sounds too good to be true (ie, cost vs. service), 2). they're not easy to find (ie straightforward web addresses, contact info, consistent contacts), 3). their client list is impossible to verify and you don't know anybody who's heard of or worked with them, stay away. It's hard enough trying to recoup your expenses (much less make a living) without having the added insult of being ripped off.

For more info on avoiding online scams check out this article at Sound Tempest. Hope this helps avert a few more disasters. Next month I promise to keep my opinions to myself... an exercise in futility. "

Google on "hitt music group scam" and spend some time investigating for yourself...You should do this whenever you get any soliciations anyways so that you can make an informed desision.

Submitted by Anonymous songw... (not verified) on

Tell you what - I'm going to bite the bullet and join up, out of sheer curiosity. I figure I've got nothing to lose since I can write the $400 off as a business expense. If I find the service to be valid and useful, I'll rave about it. If I find it to be shady (or to do nothing but duplicate work that I'm doing myself already), I'll let you know. Either way, I'll provide some details in a couple of months.

The journey begins...

They contacted me and when I guestion them about there company .A girl name Candice Kash hung up on me and when I called back I got an answer machine .They wanted 400.00 dollar to promote me , they made it sound really good . So ther you go scam or an honest company that hangs up on there furture clients. Cash!!!

Submitted by dana - D - stroy (not verified) on

They are a scam and they arent. They do submit artists for projects all the time and for different genre's. However they will take anyones money. they dont care if you suck if you believe you are good enough to be placed in movies with your garageband tracks then they will let you think you are and take the cash.

In summary they do offer a service but they basically only submit a handful of people whilst openly signing crap misguided acts.

its a shame really. company is a good idea Just lacks management with morals

Hey everyone -

I work for Hitt Music Group. I absolutely understand all of your concerns - the way we do business is a little bit shady, I agree. I'm the guy who sends out all of those MySpaces. I just wanted to clear up a few things about our company. And yes, I speak completely honestly - email with any questions.

The way we send out messages is very much based on the numbers game. We try to get out quite a few every day, simply because we need a sales and return rate. It is pretty scammy, but we are not in any way a scam. We are a 100% legitimate A&R company in LA. , with a real office building and real people working for us (I'm surrounded by them right now). We have worked with big-name artists, namely 311, Anthrax and Avenged Sevenfold. There are opportunites, and out submissions department really does put people's music out. What artists rarely take into account is that a) there are only so many opportunities for placement in the first place, and b) it really, really depends on how good the artist is. We are a business, and we do need to make money, so we will take any artist who will pay the $400 a year, and we will submit them to the best of our ability. But if the artist isn't very good, we can't do much for them besides submit their music, which is NOT a guarantee for placement. The music business is phenomenally competitive. I can't tell you how many singer-songwriter-guitarists I've talked to who think they are the next Jack Johnson. What people need to realize is that there are literally thousands and thousands of early-20's guys with guitars writing songs about college. The chances that one of them will get singled out are basically nil, and there's not much any A&R company can do about that. The best we can do is find your best song and put it on a submissions sampler to send to film, TV and radio stations. We do a lot with college and Christian radio as well, so even our lesser-known artists do get placed.

Overall, I'd say that if you have faith in your music, the $400 is very much worth it. Our submissions department has three guys and four interns in it, so it's a lot of work to try to appease 1400 bands. There are lots of great, legitimate opportunities. But it really comes down to how talented you are and how unique your sound is.

Hopefully this has dispelled some of the rumors and beliefs about our company. Feel free to check out our site and browse our catalog. And if you have any further questions, please email me and I can answer them for you.

Thanks,

Hitt Music Group Leads Dept.

Hitt Music is a scam my friends. I spoke with a few people that had been contacted, and dooped, by HMG. They start off fine, but then they stop contacting and eventually they begin to solicit to you again...even if you're a member.

Not only that, but they do send off your packages. Doesn't mean they're sending it to the right places.

Wow. So glad I googled HMG. They just contacted me today & said verbatim the same BS each of you posted. What a bunch of scumbags they are. How can they live with themselves knowing that all they do, day in & day out, is lie, cheap & steal? They oughtta work for the government.

Submitted by God Son (not verified) on

It is a SCAM!..I use too work there at 7624 Santa Monica Blvd La Ca 90046 ..
These are money hungry people,they write there own reviews ,it is all fake and a scam.The people responsable for stealing your $400 is the two owners Dave&Inga and the fake account manger who real name is Sherry.STAY AWAY!