Beware the latest scams targeting independent musicians

By Jess Santacroce

Writer/Editor: The 315

Independent musicians and other artists and content creators typically describe their professional identity simply by describing their art form or content form. They might say, “I’m a singer-songwriter” or “I’m a novelist and writing teacher” or “I make videos to help young parents.” They often forget to even mention the rest of the work they do. Independent artists and other content creators also serve as their own managers, publicists, and security. This means there is nothing standing between the independent artist and the most common scams targeting them.

Pay to play scams

“Pay to play” scams are popular as we move into summer 2026 because they are so tried and true. It’s a musician or other performing artist twist on the old scam of selling somebody a television set that turns out to be a box full of rocks. That is, they’re charging you money for something that simply does not exist.

The setup for this scam is simple. The scammer posts an announcement for an “industry event.” They announce that people from record labels or publishing companies will be there, guarantee that agents will be in the audience, or make other promises of career promotion. All you have to do is pay a small fee to get on the list, show up, and play your music or read your poetry or prose.

In these scams, the event may or may not happen. You might show up to the venue and find a diner or restaurant that doesn’t even have a stage staffed by people who have no idea what you’re talking about. You may pull up to an abandoned building or an empty lot. Or you might actually participate in a show. There just won’t be any agents or anyone else who can give your career a huge boost in attendance.

Never pay anyone for promises. The only legitimate fee you should ever be asked to pay is an entry fee to the event or venue that is charged to everybody who walks in the door.

Music placement scams

Music placement scams have been around for a few years now. The advent of television streaming services seems to have inspired a population of scammers to pose as people who could get your music used for shows on well-known streaming channels such as Netflix and Hulu for a small fee.

The latest version of this scam appears to be a form of what some writers are calling “playlist payola.” Scammers use artificial intelligence to create bots that appear to be people following a playlist they create. They then show you this hugely popular playlist on a well-known streaming service, and tell you that for a fee, you can get your music added on, introducing you to all of these “fans” who regularly listen to and purchase music from the list of songs.

There are no real fans listening to this playlist. Being added onto it will do absolutely nothing for your career, except to take some of the money you could have used to actually promote it, and hand it over to a scammer.

Impersonation scams

By now, most people find it absurd that celebrity impersonation romance scams exist. Almost nobody famous is going to be foolish enough to risk their career, their contract, and their reputation by flirting with someone who might screenshot, edit, and publish their correspondence. The odds that your celebrity crush would be the one willing to take this risk are astronomically low. Add to that the odds that your message or comment would be the one to even scroll across their screen in the sea of people trying to get their attention if they did take that risk in the first place. Even if you really are someone your celebrity crush would date, they’re not going to be on the internet asking out fans, and they’re never going to know you’re trying to talk to them.

Despite their absurdity, these scams continue to flourish. Today’s post on the romance scam YouTube channel “Catfished” features a man who believes he is in a relationship with actress Sofia Vergara (Gloria on “Modern Family.”) And just as scammers are willing to expand their list of celebrities to impersonate, they are willing to expand their approach. Those who are happily coupled, uninterested in the celebrity they’re a fan of romantically, and/or simply onto the fact that online celebrity flirtations are always scams might still be approached with mentorship, collaboration, or networking scams instead.

Independent musicians are also vulnerable to becoming the one whose identity is faked. Today’s scammers look for people who have made samples of their voice, plenty of photos, and biographical information available online. It would take little effort for a scammer to take a sample of you introducing a song or reading a poem, use AI to copy your voice, and target your family member, friend, or fan in the “grandparents scam” by calling them and making it sound like it’s you asking them for some type of financial help.

Do all you can to verify everything before promising your time, talent, or money. Visit venues. Talk to other local independent artists. Call anyone who reaches out to you at a number you already have or that you can independently check. Make in-person appointments in public places with anyone who offers you any form of career promotion. It may seem like a hassle, but it would take a lot less time and effort to verify a situation than it would to repair your reputation and finances after falling for many of today’s scams.

Photo credit: stock photo