L.A. Band, “Threatin”, Gets Exposed For Faking Their Following to Land European Tour – Podcast Episode #31
UPDATE 11/14/2018: In an interesting development, early this morning Jared Threatin’s social media profiles came back online, revealing a post that simply states “Jared Threatin to make “fake” official statement tomorrow”. Have his accounts been hacked? Has this all been an elaborate ruse? Or is he simply attempting to make the best of a bad situation by claiming that he meant to do this the whole time? Stay tuned for developments.
UPDATE 11/15/2018: Still more developments in this bizarre story. Jared Threatin (now revealed to be Jered Eames), or at least someone pretending to be him has made the following cryptic statement on his Facebook page: “What is Fake News? I turned an empty room into an international headline. If you are reading this, you are part of the illusion.” However, most (including his brother) have expressed the belief that he did not do what he did as part of a preconceived ruse, but rather he is trying to claim that it was done intentionally to save face. Additionally, the person claiming to be Jared Threatin has begun regularly replying to comments in an overtly arrogant, and crass nature, leaving many to wonder if this is actually Jared Threatin, or if someone has hijacked is social accounts. Though, this becomes less likely as time goes on with no changes. If it is in fact Jared Threatin, then it is a rather underwhelming end to a story that could have been so much more.
ORIGINAL POST…
In Episode #31 of the Music Marketing Manifesto Podcast we will discuss the L.A. metal band “Threatin” who is currently in a bit of hot water over their failed attempts at self-promotion.
The band (who’s only full-time member is Jared Threatin) has reportedly gone to great lengths to create a fake record label, booking agent, fan videos, Youtube video views and comments, Facebook followers and event RSVPs, all so that they could land themselves a European tour that no one has attended.
This deception was recently uncovered by MetalSucks and the story has gone viral, as the internet turns it’s fury on Jared Threatin. Half of the band has quit and come home from Europe, the band’s Facebook page has come down, their Twitter profile set to private, and many of the more egregiously fake pieces of content have been removed from the web.
In this episode I am joined by Eyvindur Karlsson from One Bad Day, to discuss the situation, the ethical questions that it raises about faking aspects of your story, and to talk a bit about just how rampant this kind of activity is amongst independent musicians.
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So what do you think?
Is Jared Threatin a Fraud who deserves the thrashing he is receiving, or a kid that just wanted to be a rock star and made a few really bad choices in pursuit of fame? Let me know what you think in the comments below…
Is this real? Or like a joke? lol I’ve never heard of Threatin and I have been a metal-head musician and a fan for a long time. It seems like it might have been a tempting thing to do for us struggling musicians, but wrong and cheating IMO
Hi Adam,
This is totally real. Thanks for your perspective and for checking out the podcast.
HipHop artist do this type shit all the time! It’s called fake it tell you make it
Hi M.D.
Thanks for checking out the podcast. It sounds like this is more prevalent than just this particular story. Thanks for the info.
Well if fame was what he wanted, he’s certainly famous now. No such thing as bad publicity in the fame game.
What makes me suspicious of this entire fiasco is that none of the supposed venues actually checked their own sites to track ticket sales. None, according to the story as it’s told. I wouldn’t be inclined to believe that in the first place, therefore I don’t believe any of this. But, it seems to be good publicity for someone, of course.
That’s just it: they did, and thought it was really weird, but had been paid in advance for venue hire, and these were mid-week shows, so they’re not going to cancel. One of the venues (The Exchange in Bristol) is local to me.
Having easy money at your fingertips can open a lot of doors, but at the end of the day you gotta have something with substance. I listened to Threatin’s track, and was not moved or wowed. There was nothing new, nothing cutting edge, no standing apart from the crowd, nothing memorable or impressionable, not even a catchy chorus!
This just gives further proof that the music industry playing field is more wider and open than ever before, accessible to almost anyone. This guy would have never made the cut 20 years ago (heck, even 10 years ago) with any major or minor label. But with vendors by the dozen, ready at the click of a mouse and eager to provide their services, every aspect of a “tour” can be fulfilled, from the marketing, CD pressing, printing, advertisements, venues, props, travel, accommodations, even a backing band and al-a-carte musicians! It’s all available, anytime, to almost anyone, especially those with money. But just because you have money, doesn’t ensure success or fulfilling your dreams, as this cat just found out.
As a new group trying to make a name for ourselves (Trace The Sidewalk), I feel that I’ve exhausted most of the free and affordable avenues to promote our group/songs and get exposure. We don’t have a large budget (what aspiring musicians do) so many of the larger promo packages/PR firms are out of our reach. But if it’s any indication so far, I don’t know how much of a difference it would make to spend large amounts of money on PR. We already have the potential to reach millions and millions of people on our own, and I continuously plug wherever I can. But after months of promoting, I’ve come to the conclusion that no amount of PR, eye candy, social promotions, etc will ever compensate for getting between the listeners ears.
Yeah, the hardest part and the biggest struggle we find is getting people to ACTUALLY STOP AND LISTEN TO YOUR MUSIC! There is a deluge of indie music out there. Whether you’re on Facebook, Spotify, Soundcloud, Reddit, YouTube, you name it, tons and tons and tons of music being promoted by everybody and their mother. Not only are you competing against the masses, but also competing for the listeners time, which is little to none these days. IF you have big dreams, get ready for big disappointments, big struggles, and big lies.
IMO, the only way you are going to make it in this business is to get between the listeners ears, consistently, and repetitively (and I stress repetitively). Your song needs to be playing all the time, in as many places as possible. Save your time and money on PR, Social promotion campaigns, fancy websites, press kits, blah blah blah. Take your money and focus it on radio (online, indie, and small FM markets…forget about the major FM’s for now, they’re never going to play you!). Next, focus on playlists – Spotify is the hottest right now, but also SoundCloud/Pandora/Deezer. Get on playlists, get on radio, get on playlists, get on radio. Wash, rinse, repeat!
Threatin may have a great amount money, but he doesn’t have great music. We got great music, but we don’t have a lot of money. I got a feeling we’ll still comes out ahead!
Matthias
http://www.TraceTheSidewalk.com
He’s either an idiot or a genius. We’ll know in 6 months.
I feel like everything that Threatin did was to be expected in this day and age. What’s wrong with utilizing your own form of capitalism and buying your success? If anything, I’d say the venue was sketchy and didn’t appreciate his dedication to his business plan. I’ve neger heard his music though- so I’ll get on that.
It’s embarrassing – but think about how many people are talking about Threatin now? Any publicity is good publicity so in a weird twisted way, what he has done has worked. I wouldn’t be surprised if he uses this platform and actually makes it now… would be typical of the music business and social media today.