Bob Baker's The Buzz Factor
Music marketing tips and self-promotion ideas for independent songwriters, musicians and bands.
Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog
News, notes and ideas on music marketing, self-promotion, artist empowerment and more
June 14, 2007
BurnLounge Burning Out?
Here's part of an article from Digital Media Wire (one of many news stories making the rounds online):
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a complaint in a California federal court against BurnLounge, alleging the digital music store is in fact an illegal pyramid scheme.
New York-based BurnLounge charges users between $30 and over $400 a year for subscriptions to its service, which allows them to create their own digital music stores.
But the FTC said the company provides payments mainly for recruiting new participants, rather than on the retail sale of products -- which the FTC alleges would result in most participants losing money.
I know this is a hot issue, depending on which side of the fence you sit. So I don't want to get side-tracked debated the pros and cons of BurnLounge. Just read up on it and make your own decision.
-Bob
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posted by Bob Baker @ 10:34 AM
11 comments
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Bob Baker is an author, indie musician and former music magazine editor dedicated to showing musicians of all kinds how to get exposure, connect with fans, sell more CDs, and increase their incomes. Find out more about Bob and his live events.
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Thanks for the tip Bob! I've always wondered about these guys, but I could never really figure out what they were all about... it seems this is always the case with MLM companies. You can never really figure out what they're selling.
Jordan of The Gorgeous Hussies
www.thegorgeoushussies.com
Bob,
I fell for the hype a little over a year ago. I was suckered in like everybody else, listening to a trusted friend about how I could make some extra dough. Thinking that I might be able to make a little bit of money with selling some songs of my artists I represent. No dice! Burnlounge first took $165 to start and operate my store at a certain level, and then $14 per month to maintain the stare. Don't get suckered in too!
Glad I didn't get involved!
Well, I don't think EVERY MLM is a thing to be considered being treated like a leper. Even so, MLM has a bad rap all because of a few "bad apples".
The point is not that it's a MLM structured business, it's that they are not doing it legally, or ethically.
Let's not confuse the issue. And no, I'm not involved with any type of MLM company at all, just a jazz guitarist.
Adam Smale
www.AdamSmale-jazz.com
Burnlounge is just another hype driven money making scheme invented by people that have no real investment in music. Just like most of the record companies! Looking for the quick path to success makes you vulnerable to this type of thing. Learn more from Bob, study marketing, work with your friends and fans, and try new things instead!
I was always grossed out by the way people got this greasy gleam in their eye whenever they tried to sell me on BurnLounge. it was like they could see all this money rolling their way or something, and I was just this stupid little bird waiting to be plucked... they always came at me with this big "oh yeah, this is great" spiel, but I could never see what was so great about it for me...
plenty of people might sell your music, but you have to have confidence you'll see all the money from what you do sell; few people inspire that confidence in me, least of all any BurnLounge person.
bottom line, no one is going to sell your music for you at first. there's no magic button or magic burnlounge, just good music, a lot of work, smart friends like Bob and his merry cohorts, and maybe a bit of luck.
cheers,
Jerolyn
http://JerolynMusic.com
http://myspace.com/JerolynMusic
I listened to this guy give his pitch one night on an Indie Heaven conference call, and it sounded like the old Amway pitch to me. It was more about recruting others to open burn lounge stores than selling music. And then to top it off he made a big deal out of paying 5 cents for each of my downloads he sold. Folks the sales pitch is the give away.
I think any business savvy musician or fan of music saw this coming.
I feel sorry for those who have been sucked into this scheme but, there's a sucker born every minute. Nothing you or I or anyone else in the music industry would have been able to persuade them any differently.
Wicked D of DEAD RAGE
myspace/deadragemusic
Unfortunately, I was one of those suckers that signed up for a Burnlounge Store.
But I am glad I decided to jump ship after a couple of month. The reward just wasn't worth the work I had to put in.
Sorry to say I got involved in this, I was lied to and before I figured out what happened they had suckered me out of $400.00! They never even went into the recruiting part with me at first, they simply made it seems as though I could "own" an online store and make money while also ahving a store to direct customer s to for my own music. They sold targeted indie musicians, and even MC Lyte and Bill Bellamy were sold this and bought it, appearing in Las Vegas to help promote the coming year. The true story is that they targeted Indie musicians, telling them that they would be able to submit their music and have it featured in their store along with the major label artists. They lied to people and told them it was a store, and that we would be investing in the next itunes.
Burlounge.com is down and has been down for a while. Sorry for all who got suckered in.