Tell Us Your Music Business Horror Stories!

By
June 17, 2011{ 20 Comments }

iStock 000000751628XSmall 300x225 Tell Us Your Music Business Horror Stories!Have you experienced a copyright catastrophe and lived to tell about it?

Last year, we asked CD Baby artists to share their tales of musical terror. Most of these involved embarrassing moments on stage, creative differences, drunkenness, and the like. But a few of the more interesting plot lines were about trouble in the realms of intellectual property law.

Have you ever been the victim of copyright infringement? Ever been ripped off by a label, manager, or promoter? Ever had trouble getting your band name trademarked? Ever had someone steal your idea? Ever needed to take action to prove the law was on your side?

Contact the law offices of…

Just kidding.

Instead, please tell us about your experience in the comments section below so the whole CD Baby community can learn from your cautionary copyright tales.

-Chris R. at CD Baby

Sell your music on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, Rhapsody, Napster, Spotify, and more!

Chris Robley's Author Bio

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1709405445 Will Moffett

    I have been ripped off by tunecore when they said they could get my music on the top radio stations for $400. That company is a scam artist trying to find desperate artist to get there voices heard. CDbaby is awesome.

    • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

      Hey Will, thanks for sharing. But was it really Tunecore that promised you radio play? They are a digital distribution company. I hadn’t heard that they were doing any radio promotion. In any event, professional radio campaigns cost thousands of dollars. To get sustained results on commercial stations, I can’t even imagine how much that costs. Tens of thousands of dollars, probably.

  • Juapi

    Right now I’m in the process of trademarking my band’s name, In Dependence, but they want to deny the trademark because there is a musical group with the name Independence Jazz Reunion. They say that there is a lot of similarity on both names. But I’m still trying to trade mark it.

    • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

      Let us know how it goes.

  • cdbaby artist

    I have very tight control of my inventory and know the names of everyone who has ever purchased on eof my CD’s. That’s why I found it disturbing to see some clown on Ebay listing my CD for sale, and claiming a copyright on promo copy I wrote myself too. I believe this guy is ripping artists off selling copies of their work that he has reproduced somehow. If he hasn’t reproduced my CD, how did he get copies without me knowing about it or being paid for them and if he did buy them from me, how can he turn around and sell them unopened and NEW for less than I charge?

    http://shop.ebay.com/jmurr335/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

    • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

      He might just plan on ordering some from you if anybody orders from him. I’ve seen people do this. It’s not really illegal. And rarely do they sell any because the price is so marked up.

  • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

    Eek! If your music is still distributed through them see if you can send a cease and desist!

  • Greentree

    The first time we toured Taiwan, we were wonderfully treated. We performed at marvelous concert halls, stayed at 5-star hotels, did a National Press Conference… At the conclusion of each concert, we signed CDs for fans for up to two hours! The kicker: every one of those CDs we signed was a pirated copy!!! We earned not a penny from the sales. But we had such a good time, and the concerts paid so well, that we went back again…

    • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

      Sounds like in that case it was better they had your music than not. Thanks for the story. Sounds like a great time!

  • Bradley Sowash

    In the 80′s, I paid $2,500 as a retainer to a “well-connected” entertainment lawyer to shop my demo to labels. The only thing I received was a logo stamped napkin from a NYC restaurant with a note in it saying that he had discussed my project with a nameless record company exec over lunch. That’s it – a $2,500 napkin!

    • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

      Expensive lunch.

  • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

    Ouch!

  • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

    Did they fix it for the second pressing?

  • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

    Maybe he did you a favor in the end. Sounds like a real $#%^$@#*!

  • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

    Glad you found a more suitable engineer!

  • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

    Wow. Sorry you’re having to wade through the legal muck on that one. Let us know if you ever get any resolution.

  • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

    Wow. What a series of events to lead up to that. Like you said, you probably DID make more money than the artist, so there is that small consolation. Thanks for sharing.

  • http://members.cdbaby.com CD Baby Admin

    Yeah. In the pre-internet days, an Indian band with the same name probably wouldn’t have been a big deal. But now…

  • Lb4311

    I was about 8 yrs. old and i had to play a pipe organ for a vietnam Christmas service…i am of the african american culture and i didn’t know their language…so you can imagine how that gig went.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Alice-Evans/583992474 Alice Evans

    I met this producer over the phone from a friend. He sweet talked me, telling me how awesome my music is and saying that I should do another record, or re-produce the one I have. After two weeks he dropped the bomb that his services would cost $25 K. Of course I couldn’t afford it. So I asked about a radio tour. He said that would cost $15 K. Again, couldn’t afford that. He then said he’d do a modified, local radio tour, and that would cost $7, 500, and that he and a radio promoter in the Seattle area would hawk my stuff to local radio for that price. Couldn’t do that either. I then dipped into my savings to see what he could do for $3 K. He said he’d give me music advice for a few months. The first piece of advice he gave me was to revisit the radio campaign- for the original $7, 500.
    Moral of this story- be careful who you work with- A LOT of these people in the industry have no real interest in you, just your money!