If It Sounds Too Good to be True, It Usually Is

Clichés get pretty old and tired quite fast, but when you can give an example of one and use it as a teaching moment, they hold some value.

The headline of this blog is depicted in something I was witness to recently.

(I have gone to great lengths to maintain anonymity as it relates to the actual parties involved in this story.)

I was talking to a young performer who has only been singing for a year.  This person was at an event where there was an opportunity to meet formally with a rep from a major record label.  Although this person is over 18 years old, the parents were on the trip as well.

This individual reported to me that during their one-on-one with the record label rep, the latter actually used the expression, “I can make you a pop star.”  This floored me for two reasons.  First of all, getting back to the cliché references, that sounds like such a phony line – the kind that you only hear about people saying – that I couldn’t believe that a rep from a major (reputable!) record label would utter such a line.  But secondly, this person is saying this to someone who has only been singing for a year!  If this person was a born natural who ought to be on stage singing to packed audiences, I’d see the inclination to want to strike while the iron is hot.  But, despite the potential that this person seems to have, saying “I can make you a pop star” is not appropriate.

Sadly, it didn’t end there.

The rep also asked this person for a personal cell phone number.  Again, being over 18 means that it’s not mandatory that a parent be involved.  However, the nature of this event was such that the overwhelming majority of the attendees not only had one or both parents there but had traveled to it, meaning that coming there alone was highly unlikely.  Thus, the proper professional courtesy is to indicate an interest in speaking with the performer and their parents, not asking for a cell phone number.

What made all this even more bizarre to me was that it was coming from a label publicist, not an A&R person.  That too made me furrow my brows as the story was recounted to me.

I have been known to say that “People in this business give what I do a bad name,” and the above is a great example of that – unfortunately.  If I’m not mistaken, the cell phone number request might’ve also been accompanied by a reference to getting on Skype.  While there is a time and place for that, it was in context with other questionable statements or requests, so now it too suddenly added to the discomfort.

Be careful out there.  Trust your gut.  If a red flag goes up in your head when people are making statements and/or inquiries like those described above, your instinct is probably correct.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  Don’t be blinded by the company name.  You might just end up on the trail of broken dreams that is lined with others who fell for this pitch.