​I’ve been receiving scam messages and emails for a long time, as I’m sure every other person on the internet has. It’s an age-old tactic, but I find that there are some techniques that are particularly effective against artists, musicians, and composers. My recent contemplation about this was interrupted recently by a particularly elaborate scammer. Rather than simply ignoring the message as I normally do, I decided to follow along and see where these scams lead. If nothing else, I figured I’d waste the scammers time thinking they had a fish on the line. The following experience inspired a new series of posts that I’d like to call “Scam Alert”. Buckle up.
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​Our epic tale begins where many scam stories begin, SoundCloud. For whatever reason, the place is overrun by bots and scammers. This could be due to the easy access of the site, which is actually something I admire about it, but of course there’s a downside. I received a message from a fellow named “Sean”, a decent name, I’m a fan of it at least. For the sake of anonymity, I’ll be leaving out last names/company names because there are quite a few victims in this ploy (namely, the innocent folks that get their identity used for this nefarious purpose). I don’t want to contribute to the damage the scammers are already causing. The message from this “Sean”, was about using my music for an ad campaign. They were asking for permission, how nice!

​I actually have gotten legitimate work opportunities via this method on SoundCloud, so I don’t automatically consider messages on there to be scams. However, as I continued communications with them, it was clear what was going on here.

​The first thing that I did, and I’m sure most people do, is search up the names of the companies that Sean claimed to be working with. A good idea! When I did that, I saw that they are legitimate businesses. This is done to reassure anyone who they may be reeling in with the ploy. Seeing all the legitimate branding and pretty photos makes you feel you can trust the people you’re talking to. However, it’s important to remember that anyone can “say” they work with anyone. I personally used to play vibraphone with Mac Sabbath back in the day. 

So, what did I think? A lot of things. My next thought was to ask about this renewal term… an interesting detail for a potential scam to include.

​Okay… I guess it adds legitimacy if nothing else. I’ll throw in another question, just to waste a little more time. I’m really interested, after all!

​No time for questions : ( this kind of pressure to keep moving is common for scams because they don’t want you to stop and think before making an impulsive, and possibly tragic, decision. Always stop and think! So what was my response?

​And yes, I gave them my contact info… risky, but hey I was determined to follow this trail! Sean told me that someone named Matt would be in touch. In double checking the website, there was indeed a Matt working for them.
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​The next morning, I received the ping of an email in my inbox. Sure enough, (insert company name here) was contacting me. With a rather official looking contract! Again, my first step was to go to the website of (insert company name here) and compare the email address and phone number that I was provided in this email. Red flag! They didn’t match. This is another good thing to check!

​The contract appeared legitimate enough aside from one very specific clause in the “Payment Terms” section:

​Fishyyyyy! I found it admirable that they would at least lay out how they were going to scam me in a contract I could sign. I wonder if that could serve as a legal defense? “But he signed the contract, your honor!” News flash, that wouldn’t hold up.
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​Then my phone rang. It was Matt! Matt had a very thick accent, which alone wouldn’t raise any eyebrows, but considering Matt's picture and bio on the website, things were rapidly not adding up. I proceeded to ask Matt if they could clarify the questionable “Payment Terms” in the contract. After a few roundabout answers and follow up questions, I told them that I wouldn’t be comfortable sending money in any form. He responded by telling me that he needed to go ask the company if they could change the terms of the contract, and that he would call me back in 10 minutes.
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So after never hearing from my dear friend Matt ever again, I put together the plan for the scam. From what I understand, the way this works is that they would send a spoof payment of $5,000, as stipulated in the contract, which would be initially accepted by the victim's bank/Venmo/PayPal. I would see that notification and go ahead and pay the $3,740 to the “Agency” because I’m an honest, good Samaritan. Suddenly voila! I’d have just paid the scammers for nothing, never to hear from them again.

​It’s actually a pretty smart system, and I’m sure it gets a lot of people. The bank transfer bit especially, because it seems like a done deal. I hope that more people become aware of this tactic.
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​As soon as I finished up my phone call, I drafted an email to the real (insert company name here) and let them know what had happened. I let them know that their company and employees were being impersonated as a part of a scam, which led to a short exchange with the owner. They explained that they’d been trying to get the scammers accounts deactivated, but because the scammers were using an outlook address, and the company used Gmail, they were having trouble. I also use Gmail, so I hope that flagging the email for phishing was enough… It’s a real shame that these corporations only collaborate in a monopolistic sense and not in a consumer benefit sense, almost like monopolies don’t work, but that’s for another blog.

I let them know the information about the spoof SoundCloud account as well, and wished them good luck.

​I think the most important takeaway is that as a musician, where most of our job opportunities can come from calls and emails out of the blue, it’s important to be extra vigilant and aware of the latest scam tactics.

​This experience also made me consider the fact that there really is little difference between a bad contract and a scammer. Ultimately, it’s being hyper aware of contract terms and always watching out for predatory clauses, that is most important. As artists we can get scammed by stereotypical thieves working out of basements and dingy rooms, but we can also get scammed by the owners, CEOs, and Presidents of the wealthiest organizations on Earth. Both are often operating from the same mindset. Unfortunately, the law currently only cares about the stereotypes, so we’ve got to look out for each other, share the latest tactics, and watch each other's backs! I hope this blog made you at least more aware of one potential scam to avoid. I’ll be sure to make follow up posts of more as I come across them. Until then, stay vigilant, thank you for reading, and happy jamming!

Great! You’re now an ASCAP member! If you’re not and you’d like to be, check out my run-through on how to get signed up here. After you join, the next thing you’ll need to do is register your beautiful music with them so they can keep track of anytime you get a piece performed. Once your works are registered, ASCAP will be able to credit royalties to you anytime your music receives a performance.
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After logging into ASCAP, you’ll want to click on the “Works” tab on the left side of the page. This will open a list (or soon to be list) of your works that are registered with ASCAP. Each of these piece registrations will include information about the work, and an assigned Work ID which ASCAP will use to help track down performances. 
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Click on “Register a Work” and add in the title of the piece. If your piece happens to have an alternative title, you can add however many exist by clicking the little plus next to “alternative title”. You may end up with other titles if you decide to change the name of a piece after it’s already been included in a program, if there’s a subtitle, or even if a program ends up having a typo. The important part is that ASCAP will be able to connect a given performance to your piece even if it has gone by other names.

The next section will cover the royalty split between the writer of the work (you), and the publisher (also probably you). This is why it’s so important to set up your own publishing name in the initial registration of the work. Again, if you’d like a run through of how to do that, check out my past blog on it here. If you only register as a writer, you’ll only be able to receive 50% of your royalties, so make sure not to miss this step! Go ahead and search up your writer name and then your publisher name. For writer, I set my role as “Composer/Author” unless I’m using someone else’s text in the work. For publisher, I set my territory as “WORLD”.
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I often skip the recording and performer information as I usually register the work before I get a performance/premiere. If your work is part of a film/TV/commercial score, you’ll be prompted to insert that information. If it’s a concert work, you can skip to that section and specify if it has movements or not. If the work is complete in a single movement (no movements) you’ll be prompted to include the instrumentation and the approximate duration of the piece. For the instrumentation, first check that your instrumentation is unavailable, if you can find your standard ensemble, you can simply pick it there. This is great for string quartets, trios, orchestral works, and choirs. If you don’t see it there, you should pick from the menu below that. This section is specified for each unique instrument in the score. For example, if I have a work for 4 cellos and 1 didjeridu, I would select “Cello” and specify “4” in the “Number of Parts” section, and then “Add Instrument” to select “Didjeridu” and specify “1”. If you have multiple movements, you’ll be prompted to include the approximate duration of each individual movement of the work.

In the next section, if your work is an electronic piece and you sampled anything you need to credit, you can do that here. The following section touches on mentioning any public domain elements. If you’re using a public domain text, this is where you can include that.

Lastly, I usually skip the performance time on initial registration. I’ve already given the approximate duration, and because I often haven’t gotten a performance yet, this isn’t pertinent.
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​A couple final notes, it can be helpful and more reliable to file each of your performances manually. This can decrease the chance that a performance of one of your works gets missed in performance reporting. You can do this here by submitting a PDF of the concert program that you were a part of, along with the venue information. I would also advise that you keep track of all your performances each year so you have a record to refer to.

Should you receive your royalty check and find that there are missing performances that haven't been credited, simply click the "Contact ASCAP" button and explain the details of the missed performance that was not credited to you. ASCAP is amazing, but nobody is perfect, communicate issues you encounter and they will do their best to help you!

Congratulations on officially joining ASCAP. I hope this post was helpful! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out anytime. Until then, thank you for reading, and happy jamming!