What if the person called "manager" asks you for a copy of your passport from the beginning? Scam?
Online, of course.

 

Have you asked why they need it?

Could be for legal reasons in order to figure out how to get you paid or to verify that you can travel in the event you're booked for a show.

 

Maybe a bit of Topic but even for Steam as a developer you'll need such things

" From a tax point of view, there are a few things to consider, you need a registered name and a company account, which is to be agreed with the name mentioned and so on and so forth. But you don't have to set up a GmbH or something like that. A UG is enough, the main thing is that the name is listed somewhere and there is an account under this company "

So if he is from a country with such tax law crap
It's possible he needs your ID for legal reasons.

Best thing is to ask, why he needs this ... like aymat wrote

 

Don't walk, run...unless you let ME manage you, but first I'll need your bank account number and password so I can direct pay the oodles and oodles of money that I`m promising to you within only the next three months. You can trust me, or my name isn't Lois Lane.

 

Those 5$ contracts could be a trap.

 

It's a global label. You'll notice it if I mention it. He said that he needed it in order to contract. That's all the reason he gave me.
I asked him to send me the contract form to check it out before sign up, and he said that I only can get it after registration. In order to register, I need to give him a copy of my passport and my id card. Sounds fish.

 

Last edited: Dec 13, 2020

Jup

 

@Niruvana You need to ask for reason as to why your passport is needed for.You are asking the wrong people. Ask the manager, not us. With that said, it may be justified for him to ask for it. We do ask for identity verification to every artist we sign, and so did all labels I have worked for. Generally the reasons are to make sure that they are dealing with the same person purporting to be the artist,and therefore, have a binding contract. Secondly, in order to verify that the artist is not a minor. Background checks are another reason and so is verifying that the potential client is eligible to work legally in the United States. The problem in your case is that the manager should send you a copy of the contract. Indeed, if he wanted to protect his ass he would have done so and advised you to hire a lawyer prior to decide as to whether to sign it. Simply tell him that you need a copy of the contract to have your lawyer go over it which is the first thing every artist should do BEFORE signing a binding contract.

 

Last edited: Dec 13, 2020

the labelsive been sighnedto have never asked for a passport ever

 

I don't think he will give me a copy of the contract form. He perioded it. According to your words, I'm pretty sure he is a con-man.
He approached me via Linkedin. I don't think the managers find musicians from Linkedin.

 

Musicians, artists can be found anywhere. Music is everywhere. Linkedin? He should have a professional profile. Who does he manage? What has he done foe his clients? Unwillingness by labels or managers to provide you with a copy of the contract could only be for purposes of not exposing to the public or to competitors intricacies of their business models, as well as not alienating current clients. However, they will have you sign a NDA to at least cover those situations.

 

Well, it can be true. Sadly, there are tons of con-artists in the world. He doesn't even have a photo of his Whatsapp profile. Of course, some people don't prefer to upload their pictures online. But if his job is MAJOB LABEL MANAGER, it's a different story. I've seen many con-men and he smells like them. As far as I know, serious business people tend to expose their picture and it's critical in the business. Although he had one, I still can't trust it 100%. Con-artists don't use their real pic. Your passport or id is very important nowadays. Once they are exposed, you can lose everything.
Do you have a good idea to find out if he is a real manager? Otherwise, I don't wanna give my passport or id to someone whose identity isn't clear.

 

Last edited: Dec 14, 2020

talk to my lawyer

 

Before you sign up with any label, watch Vinyl:

 

This is crazy. I just did not want to say that YOU are the one who is crazy. Anyone who is serious has a business address, website, references. If he is well known most likely you find articles about him. The problem here is that you did not ask the pertinent questions. Again, who does he currently manage? Who has he worked with in the past? How long in the business? What can he do to take your career to the next level? References? Business entity? Is he an independent manager or works for a label or management company. Any pro who is running a legit business has it registered. At least here in the USA, talent agents, and booking agents need a bonded license. Look him up in social media. You must do your homework. You are asking us and we don't even know who the guy is. More importantly, trust your gut feeling. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

 

Surely his name/profile should be somewhere on the label's website - if it isn't, email and ask them whether anyone with this name works for them. Even then, this person might still be a conman using the real person's id to scam with.

If it were me? Tell him that trust cuts two ways and that you aren't prepared to proceed further unless/until he supplies you with a copy of HIS passport - after all, anyone who sends highly sensitive identification papers to a random who has (out of the blue) made contact with tantelising promises of $$$ is naive in the extreme. If he's legit and reckons you're worth it, he'll do it. If not, firmly decline all further contact - c'est la vie.

EDIT: @The Pirate nailed it right on the head. Frankly, his reluctance to impress you with details of experience, past achievment, artist roster etc up front makes the whole situation dubious to say the least...

 

Last edited: Dec 13, 2020

...actually the most elegant solution would be to just leave it a couple of days & then mail the guy saying that you emailed the label and they said they'd never heard of him... see what he says. 99.9% he'll cuss you then simply disappear. If this happens, you should detail the situation to linkedin to investigate, 'cos if he's a conman, linkedin can stop him working this BS on others.

 

If it smells like fish....

 

My apologies if my way of asking was wrong. I don't know the details of this industry, so I have no idea how to ask exactly.
Anyway, he didn't give me his details. As I said, he just approached me via Linkedin and constantly said that he would make me a big star. Another one he keeps saying is "YOU MUST RESPECT OUR PROCEDURE WHATEVER IT IS."
I also have worked with many companies, but nobody has said that like this as long as they are appropriate ones.

 

Thanks for sharing your idea. The thing is that he made a plan. He used a famous musician's profile on Linkedin. One day, he sent me a DM and praised my songs. After several days, he said that he's been helping other musicians and he wanted to help me out. Then he gave me the number of the manager.
I checked the musician's profile and it said that he was registered with Universal Music. I clicked the link and it showed me just several followers. And then I checked the official Universal Music profile on Linkedin. They have tons of followers, of course. Once I thought about that, it sounds not right. Why does a famous musician want to put their profile on Linkedin? I found him on Facebook and Twitter and sent a DM if he really sent me a DM via Linkedin, but I haven't got any answer so far. I also sent a message to Universal Music, and they also haven't given me an answer yet.
And the manager, I think he is the same person. His name was shown on Whatsapp without a profile picture. I researched his name on Google, but it didn't show me any. There was a man, but he is not related to the music industry. That's why I posted a question here if someone has the same experience as me.

 

Last edited: Dec 14, 2020