hitt music group (aka song placements) is a parasite
in october 2008, we got a myspace message from a scout named cori concerning a potential placement of one of our songs. we responded, but instead of a cori, someone named lisa repola called us. once we found out that they wanted four hundred bucks just for the referral and have no financial return if they do connect us with listeners, we bailed.
on feburary 17, 2009, we got this email:
Hey Nathan,
I still haven’t forgotten about your music and I think it’s perfect for some of the projects we currently have going on.
If you have any other questions or want to find out about some of our current projects we can submit your music for, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 323-230-9276 or email me back at this address.
I look forward to working with you!
Bella Week
Bella@hittmusicgroup.com
323-230-92767624 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles CA, 90046
here’s our reply:
hey bella,
i don’t really buy that you’re interested in my music. last time, i chatted with someone claiming her name was lisa repola, before that you were cori the scout, and now you’re bella and you claim you haven’t forgotten about my music. uh huh…
if you were really interested in selling me on the ability of your company to pair me with outlets that might get potential fan’s attention, perhaps you should demonstrate that you’ve taken an interest. at the very least you could work my band’s name and some descriptive terms of our music into the form letter. instead i hear that you think our “music” is perfect for your “projects.” wow, i’m glad you’re such a fan.
demonstrate that your company plans to do more with my $400 than pay drones to spam and scam musicians and you’ll probably get a lot more interest from a much higher breed of artists. just some unsolicited, professional advice to match your unsolicited attempt at a con.
yours truly,
dr. stryker
of course, she wanted to gain some credibility and have the final word:
I’m sorry to hear that you think that about our company and my intentions in contacting you, Nathan. I was actually hoping to work with you to submit the track, I Never Dared to Dream to this one particular indie film I have been working on this past couple of weeks.
I have taken you off our invitation list, so you won’t be hearing from us again. Sorry for any misunderstandings in the communication you have had with our company.
Good luck,
Bella
interesting that it wasn’t until after we expressed our annoyance that she actually made the effort to visit the myspace and spit back the name of the first song on our playlist.
More: news.
August 17th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Peace;
I too was contacted by Hitt Music Group. Naturally, red flags went up. I knew what this was all about. I actually got a phone call from them. I would have gone into it a bit – after all, they had their fun, I would have mine! But I had to take another call.
They did mention two of my songs I posted on myspace by name. Perhaps they’re learning from past mistakes.
Thanks for your post. Its people like you that help protect and teach those whose scam instincts are not yet fully developed.
Dawoud
October 19th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Hello,
I too was contacted by someone named Renee on myspace, and then received a call back from a woman named Bella. I found the whole thing quite strange from the beginning, but it wasn’t until she mentioned the $400 fee, that I thought this was a scam. I went ahead and did a google earth map for the address she signed the letter with, and saw a big fat “for lease” sign on the so called address (god bless the internet). Also, now she is calling the company Song Placements, not Hitt Music Group. I found this blog when I was googling the phone number she called from. I am really happy you posted this. My uncle works for the U.S. Attorney’s office, and I wonder if there’s any way to bust this Aussie con artist. Thank you again for the warning!
December 8th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I too was contacted by some “song scout” from Song Placements…claimed to be interested in one of our songs, Bad Bad Boy, from Sweet Big Time.
I got a call, not from her, but from some other guy, who tried to sell me…and yep, they wanted 400 bucks up front.
They supposedly take nothing if they sell one of your songs…so, my question is this: what’s their incentive to sell any of them? My guess is they just want to get as many paid memberships as possible….lookin’ a lot like just another songwriter scam to me.
Tom
December 18th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
I was contacted in the same way as the people above (by at least 3 different names). A girl named Kim began calling. All along I said I couldn’t afford $400. This lady said she can sell it to me for half off. So I agreed.
About two months with them and nothing having come of it one day I checked my bank account. Those bastards took another $200 out of my account, didn’t even notify me. THEY STOLE MONEY OUT OF MY ACCOUNT. When I called they said the lady who sold me “is no longer with us”. I tried going trough their process for a refund and they denied me. I’m now in the process of going to small claims court and if possible to file a civil law suit. And of course on top of all of this, the company has done NOTHING for my music.
It’s our obligation to warn everyone we can about this scam.
January 5th, 2010 at 1:12 am
THIS COMPANY IS A SCAM OF MAJOR PROPORTIONS. THEY ARE UNDER COMPLETE LEGAL INVESTIGATION AND WILL CEASE TO EXIST. THEIR EMPLOYEES AND OWNERS WILL BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE BY A COURT OF LAW.
DUE TO AN OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF COMPLAINTS TO THE BBB AND FTC AN INDEPENDENTLY APPOINTED LEGAL TEAM IS HANDLING THIS..
January 7th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
yeah, its a big scam -
its probably the same woman who told me that her name was Hillary.
Never hesitate to ask for credentials!
January 12th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
From what i hear.. The Song Placement co/their owners and their employees both past and present are under FTC investigation , spanning everything from unlawful practices to deception as well as plagiarism , all of which are very serious crimes. I have heard that in these fraudulent cases they use “voice recognition” to track down former employees “Bella Week” and their owners.. The smartest thing they can do is to come clean and start offering refunds to any request