Musicians beware: "Coldplay Opening Act" contest ain't kosher.
Ranked #6,733 in Music, #187,082 overall
Don't enter this contest! Spread the word!
The offer: "if you enter this contest and win, you'll get to be the opening act for Coldplay at one of their enormous upcoming concerts!"
The catch: entering the contest allows Capitol to take your work, sell it, keep the profits, and never give you credit (whether you win the contest or not). It also allows them to force you into a recording deal even up to two months after the contest has ended -- once again, regardless of whether you win or lose.
In short: Capitol is deceiving a lot of people and taking advantage of their lack of experience.
And they'd get away with it, too, if it weren't for us meddling kids. Want to meddle?
Mission (somewhat) accomplished
But there's still some fine print.
Thankfully, the rules changed for the better. All of the abuses listed below have changed or have been removed. This post for details.
However, I'm leaving them posted as a reminder that this is still Capitol Records you're dealing with. They may have a shinier looking contract on the table, but I still wouldn't make any deals with them. Musicians beware.
Quick Disclaimer
All page revenues are sent directly to the Nuci Foundation -- I'm not making a cent from this, but it will help a lot of musicians in need.
--Bert (creator)
Subscribe for Updates
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Subscribe to the RSS feed for more updates as we close in on our target. We're going to get Capitol to rewrite the contest rules -- you can watch it happen here.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byThe "contest rules"
Don't sign anything without reading it first.
The slippery trick they're playing is that submitting your YouTube video equals a signature. Tons of unsuspecting bands have signed up. Don't be one of them; Read the contest rules if you still think it sounds kosher.
Don't miss this little gem:
By entering this Contest, you agree:
(i) that Capitol has the right to use your submission in any and all media in and in connection with promotion, publicity, marketing and advertising for Capitol, Coldplay and this Contest or other promotions by Capitol as Capitol sees fit without any further attribution, notification or compensation to you;
(ii) that Capitol, in Capitol's sole discretion, may edit, adapt, composite, mix, remix, morph, scan, duplicate, alter and/or otherwise modify and commercially exploit your submission, in whole or in part, without any restrictions as to changes, for publication or for any other purpose which Capitol deems necessary or desirable, including, without limitation, in future publicity and advertising for Capitol's products and/or services, as well as on a compilation album...
Translation: by entering this contest (i.e. submitting a video), you give Capitol Records the right to edit, chop, copy, and sell your work without giving you a word of credit or a cent of the royalties -- even if you don't win the contest.
Read that again: even the contest losers have signed their rights over.
The trouble is that nobody knows this is happening. You may be one of the first to hear about it.
Best Ways to Get the Word Out
There's only one rule for raising awareness: you have to pass the word along.
Here are some ways to do it. Click the arrows to vote on the best methods. Click the links to take action.
Blog Watch
Search returns that might apply
- MetroMusicScene.com: Vote For Coldplay's DC Opening Act
- Vote For Coldplay's DC Opening Act. Yup, Coldplay is coming to DC's Verizon Center August 3rd, you've got no choice about that one. But, you can help decide which local band will be opening for them. All the contestant bands have live ...
- Coldplay opening act Sunrise, FL Nov 2008
- Band: Coldplay Songs: ?Life in Technicolor? and ?Violet Hill? Venue: BankAtlantic Center City: Sunrise, FL Date: November 09, 2008 Time: 08:45 PM ... The rest is here: Coldplay opening act Sunrise, FL Nov 2008.
- Coldplay and Guns N 'Roses shows may not be done | Momento 24
- The object of opening a place for opinion in a public media of www.momento24.com is to impel the debate between readers about current themes and to generate with that interaction, new knowledge. ... Messages with slanderous, insulting content which contain threats, obscenity or give motive to committee any act punishes by Argentine current law. Messages which usurp people identity. Discriminatory messages of race, religion, nationality, incapacity or other personal or ...
- According to e...: Coldplay at the United Center
- We missed the first opening act, but saw most of Santogold, a reggae-sounding rapper from Brooklyn--she was pretty good. The Powers That Be at the United Center informed everyone that Coldplay would be filming during the show, ...
What should be done?
Suggest a course of action.
It's not like the old days when you had to wait for somebody else to step up-- we've got the internet and a potentially huge audience. What can we about the whole ordeal? We've had some ideas, now tell us yours.
Acknowledgements
I'd like to thank the Academy.
I built this lens as a part of a web community for musicians and music-business geeks. We might be taking over the world, but don't tell.
We'd hate for the major labels to hear about us and get scared.
by berthart
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