Scam: They Promise a Deal with Universal!

It’s the Holy Grail for most artists! A deal with Universal. As most insiders know, it’s been a long time since record labels opened their doors to young talents. Instead, they prefer to incorporate “finished products” and handle the final details of their artistic direction. Yes, generally it’s the majors themselves who seek out the artists. Of course, in the industry, there are always intermediaries who can manage contacts with record labels and who get paid handsomely. But when an artist approaches a record label themselves, the deal will always be less lucrative than if the record label itself seeks out the artist. While drafting a press kit with an artist we’ll call R., I was told about a media outlet capable of “casting” for Universal. At first, I complied and signed the press kit. A few days later, R. contacted me again to say that his contact at this media outlet had asked for 300 €. And when he tried to pay via PayPal, his payment was rejected. When asked what the 300 € was for, R. replied that it was for processing fees. The situation seemed strange, so I asked R. to send me all the proof of their conversation. “The media outlet in question” approaches artists in this manner:

After a few exchanges, the professional scammer apparently sends visuals linking the artist with several media outlets and Universal. For an independent artist dreaming of signing with Universal, it looks quite convincing!

I finally asked a connected member of Universal on WhatsApp about this. And their response was very clear.

According to testimonies from another artist who crossed our path, this team offered freestyles on Générations FM with round trips in a Viano. The technique was similar: