Until/Unless you get a reply from universal or from the famous musician i can't see how you can be expected to proceed. If this 'manager' is authentically associated with the label, why not ask him then to harry universal to reply to your mail to satisfy the completely understandable concerns you currently have?

 

Last edited: Dec 14, 2020

askin' for your passport could smell fishy but it's quite a normal practice in the music industry, mostly if you and the label are not from the same country; they use it as a "shortcut" to check any criminal records or visa violation... anyway, you really need more information about the guy and his business before handing out your signature...

 

Here in the Netherlands is standard practice for every employment, just watermark the copy for it's purpose

 

I just signed up to be able to reply to this post. I work for a big label as a label management assistant it's not really common practice.
If it's a small insignificant label be careful and consider to deliver via a service like "Amuse" and whatever they are called. If it's a larger label, they may have had problems in the past with uncleared samples and want to make sure you don't go underground. But actually you wouldn't release on any established label after that because we all talk to each other regardless of whether you've submitted the passport or not :D

 

Welcome to the forum. Maybe your label does NOT, which surprises me, but many others do. Even if not required by law, it is good practice. As I said before, here in the United States many business entities require identity verification before getting into a legal binding document. Moreover, a potential employer will ask you for your government ID and Social Security number which will tell the employer whether you are a legal resident or not. If you are not you MUST provide a VALID i-765. It is also used for book keeping and tax purposes. Foreign nationals living abroad must submit a "certified" birth certificate or copy of their VALID passport or national ID card. Record labels are not different, and neither are management companies. I can tell you this much, Polydor, Arista, Sony, WB, BMG, universal Music Group, all did and continue that practice to this day. We currently manage 47 artists, and every single one of them had to provide us with proof of identity before signing our contract. Indeed, a copy of the identification document they produced either is attached to the document or its information stated in its body as an added identifier. If a contract is notarized you need to show proof of ID to the Notary. That will save you a lot of headaches if any contract dispute arises in the future. With that said, the main problem that the OP has is not the fact that the person purporting to be a manager is asking for his/her passport but that such person refuses to provide him with professional references, and therefore, should not and can't be trusted. I guarantee you that if UMG contacted @Niruvana saying they were interested in signing him/her, and needed a copy of his/her passport or whatever we would not be discussing it here.