5 ms·

Band faked a fanbase, got booked for a European tour that nobody attended

86 points by camtarn 8y ago

anotheryou 8y ago
I fear he might have thought to get away with it and jump start a career or something. That would make it pretty sad and pathetic.
rurban 8y ago
And his name is not Tommy Wiseau!
- bambax 8y ago
  Exactly, this is The Artist, the Musical! His youtube channel is him talking to a mirror or playing with pieces of broken mirror or a mirror frame... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoAm6zb9ruDaD7Ba7FZQI6g/videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoAm6zb9ruDaD7Ba7FZQI6g/vid...
CM30 8y ago
Is it me or does this sound a lot like a TV show/film plot? The whole idea of a band pretending they're more popular than they are and then performing to an empty theatre feels like something from a zany sitcom... Still, I'm not too surprised it happened. It's quite common for 'influencers' to fake their popularity online, and I've seen thousands of pseudo celebrities buy followers/make fake accounts to try and trick advertisers into thinking they're more popular than they actually are. Happens quite a bit with authors and books too; the likes of Robert Stanek and Gloria Tesch relied almost entirely on shills and paid marketing in an attempt to make people think their works had an actual fanbase/were going to be the next big thing. Still, guess it's the logical extreme for the whole 'fake it till you make it' thing. If you can't build a real audience after doing that, this is what you're left with.
nraynaud 8y ago
Fake it until you make it. Keep hustling.
mcculley 8y ago
Isn't this what people here refer to as "growth hacking"?
- nhauz 8y ago
  Mostly yes. It's how Reddit started, at least.
  - miketery 8y ago
    Links posted are still real, maybe by same account to give impression of more activity. But it was to get real people. It's not like they were selling those fake eye balls to advertising. This case is totally different and is fraud.
    - drenvuk 8y ago
      they used fake usernames as well. that shouldn't be forgotten.
- eaenki 8y ago
  not really
  - late2part 8y ago
    No, actually it is. It's just that this one didn't work.
rectang 8y ago
What a crappy thing to do. Most people in the music industry barely get by, and that includes the people who depend on booked acts bringing paying patrons to live music venues.
Luc 8y ago
They can still turn this around. Shoot some documentary video & turn it into a Borat-style wry comedy, pretend it was all a commentary on something or other.
kapauldo 8y ago
This is how Disney makes "musicians"
ISL 8y ago
Plot twist: a bunch of people turn up to the non-existent shows at the end of the tour, just to see a non-show...
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
Many of the small venues struggle to survive as it is without some jerk ripping them off because he thinks it's funny. Yet get a good band in one and they are almost always the best gigs by miles. That he goes into a huff because one venue asked him to actually pay their expenses says it all. I hope the other venues chase him for costs and lost bar sales.
KaoruAoiShiho 8y ago
The growth hack is half complete. He can ride this for all it's worth as a documentary on marketing: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/434gqw/i-made-my-shed-the-top-rated-restaurant-on-tripadvisor https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/434gqw/i-made-my-shed-the... or hire fake fans to show up to the concert like that fake screaming fangirls video that made Justin Bieber an instant sensation.
- DonHopkins 8y ago
  It worked for Balloon Boy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVbV_Sis99o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVbV_Sis99o
SpikeDad 8y ago
If a band plays in the woods and no one hears them should we talk about it?
rwallace 8y ago
Okay so my first thought was, why would the venues care, don't they have the ticket money anyway. Is there something I am missing about how these things are arranged, such that the venue doesn't get paid if people don't show up? If so, why?
- trentlott 8y ago
  Well, no: Article: "...they told the venue they sold 150 tickets (a sell out) and only one person actually showed up who bought a ticket." Even if they pay the band only after the show, the venue might get $16 for several hours of staffed operation. People attending a show buy tickets, food, and drinks from the venue. So, the band's payment is typically easily recouped because the venue expects a minimum guaranteed income (say 40% capacity, average of $6/attendee spent on incidentals). If zero people show up, they have the expense without the income, having sacrificed the night that could have gone to a more popular band, while also paying workers and incurring utility expenses.
  - rwallace 8y ago
    Aha! Yes, that would explain the unhappiness.
- SyneRyder 8y ago
  At one event I organized, we sold the tickets ourselves (through Eventbrite) and we kept the ticket money. The nightclub venue hire was "free", but we had to guarantee a minimum amount of drink sales for the night, I think $2000. We reached the target, but if we didn't, we were under contract to pay the remainder in a very short time frame. Basically we got to keep door sales if we guaranteed the venue a crowd. Eventbrite lets you set aside free tickets, eg if you have VIPs / sponsors who should get free entry, which would make it look like you've "sold" more tickets than you really have.

86 points by camtarn 8y ago

I fear he might have thought to get away with it and jump start a career or something. That would make it pretty sad and pathetic.

rurban 8y ago

And his name is not Tommy Wiseau!

bambax 8y ago
Exactly, this is The Artist, the Musical! His youtube channel is him talking to a mirror or playing with pieces of broken mirror or a mirror frame... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoAm6zb9ruDaD7Ba7FZQI6g/videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoAm6zb9ruDaD7Ba7FZQI6g/vid...

CM30 8y ago

Is it me or does this sound a lot like a TV show/film plot? The whole idea of a band pretending they're more popular than they are and then performing to an empty theatre feels like something from a zany sitcom... Still, I'm not too surprised it happened. It's quite common for 'influencers' to fake their popularity online, and I've seen thousands of pseudo celebrities buy followers/make fake accounts to try and trick advertisers into thinking they're more popular than they actually are. Happens quite a bit with authors and books too; the likes of Robert Stanek and Gloria Tesch relied almost entirely on shills and paid marketing in an attempt to make people think their works had an actual fanbase/were going to be the next big thing. Still, guess it's the logical extreme for the whole 'fake it till you make it' thing. If you can't build a real audience after doing that, this is what you're left with.

nraynaud 8y ago

Fake it until you make it. Keep hustling.

mcculley 8y ago

Isn't this what people here refer to as "growth hacking"?

nhauz 8y ago
Mostly yes. It's how Reddit started, at least.
- miketery 8y ago
  Links posted are still real, maybe by same account to give impression of more activity. But it was to get real people. It's not like they were selling those fake eye balls to advertising. This case is totally different and is fraud.
  - drenvuk 8y ago
    they used fake usernames as well. that shouldn't be forgotten.
eaenki 8y ago
not really
- late2part 8y ago
  No, actually it is. It's just that this one didn't work.

rectang 8y ago

What a crappy thing to do. Most people in the music industry barely get by, and that includes the people who depend on booked acts bringing paying patrons to live music venues.

Luc 8y ago

They can still turn this around. Shoot some documentary video & turn it into a Borat-style wry comedy, pretend it was all a commentary on something or other.

kapauldo 8y ago

This is how Disney makes "musicians"

ISL 8y ago

Plot twist: a bunch of people turn up to the non-existent shows at the end of the tour, just to see a non-show...

NeedMoreTea 8y ago

Many of the small venues struggle to survive as it is without some jerk ripping them off because he thinks it's funny. Yet get a good band in one and they are almost always the best gigs by miles. That he goes into a huff because one venue asked him to actually pay their expenses says it all. I hope the other venues chase him for costs and lost bar sales.

KaoruAoiShiho 8y ago

The growth hack is half complete. He can ride this for all it's worth as a documentary on marketing: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/434gqw/i-made-my-shed-the-top-rated-restaurant-on-tripadvisor https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/434gqw/i-made-my-shed-the... or hire fake fans to show up to the concert like that fake screaming fangirls video that made Justin Bieber an instant sensation.

DonHopkins 8y ago
It worked for Balloon Boy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVbV_Sis99o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVbV_Sis99o

SpikeDad 8y ago

If a band plays in the woods and no one hears them should we talk about it?

rwallace 8y ago

Okay so my first thought was, why would the venues care, don't they have the ticket money anyway. Is there something I am missing about how these things are arranged, such that the venue doesn't get paid if people don't show up? If so, why?

trentlott 8y ago
Well, no: Article: "...they told the venue they sold 150 tickets (a sell out) and only one person actually showed up who bought a ticket." Even if they pay the band only after the show, the venue might get $16 for several hours of staffed operation. People attending a show buy tickets, food, and drinks from the venue. So, the band's payment is typically easily recouped because the venue expects a minimum guaranteed income (say 40% capacity, average of $6/attendee spent on incidentals). If zero people show up, they have the expense without the income, having sacrificed the night that could have gone to a more popular band, while also paying workers and incurring utility expenses.
- rwallace 8y ago
  Aha! Yes, that would explain the unhappiness.
SyneRyder 8y ago
At one event I organized, we sold the tickets ourselves (through Eventbrite) and we kept the ticket money. The nightclub venue hire was "free", but we had to guarantee a minimum amount of drink sales for the night, I think $2000. We reached the target, but if we didn't, we were under contract to pay the remainder in a very short time frame. Basically we got to keep door sales if we guaranteed the venue a crowd. Eventbrite lets you set aside free tickets, eg if you have VIPs / sponsors who should get free entry, which would make it look like you've "sold" more tickets than you really have.