Ohhhh his [i]name[/i] is dre. Due to the poor grammar and mention of musical preferences right before that i thought he was saying that he likes Dre, as in Dr. Dre the rapper.

I'm surprised you didn't mention anything about the title. Seems like a very odd way to lure people in to form a band.

[quote=fishbulb;18054801]Ohhhh his [I]name[/I] is dre. Due to the poor grammar and mention of musical preferences right before that i thought he was saying that he likes Dre, as in Dr. Dre the rapper.

I'm surprised you didn't mention anything about the title. Seems like a very odd way to lure people in to form a band.[/quote]


I'm trying to avoid harping on the same stuff, like terrible grammar, all caps, mislabeling gear ("Protools" etc.), and just general borderline illiteracy. There's not a lot of new ground there.

[quote][B]needs a band an fast[/B]

im 17 years or been playing guitar for 3 years now really needs to start a band i dont hava nay videos up right now but plz hurry i need a band call my at [B][phone number redacted][/B] thx call or txt anytime[/quote]This one I found funny. It has this comical urgency like it was scribbled on a dirty napkin and tossed out the window of a kidnapper's van as it speeds away from the scene of the crime (no doubt to some secret sex dungeon somewhere). "Only a group of like-minded musicians can possibly save you now!"

That would explain the grammar and insistence on urgency anyway. Overall, this is otherwise a fairly functional ad: it piqued my interest enough that I might want to know why there's a need to rush (at least it would if I were also 17 and looking to start a band). I think otherwise you're not gonna drum up much interest in this post. More info would be better.

[quote][B]Musician Seeking Non-Profit Organization[/B]

Hi, I'm a professional musician that is seeking a charity to help with my career. I need help with public relations, financial management, fund raising, event planning, media production, and help around the house (I'm behind on my chores). I am seeking a non-profit agency that can help me with these things. Even though I am a professional musician who works his tail off, I have hardly made any profit, so I'm basically a non-profit and wouldn't be able to compensate you financially for your services. But since you folks are in the helping profession, and love to help others, I'm hoping that the fact I can't compensate you won't be a problem. Plus, you can sleep well knowing that you are supporting music and spreading it's beauty throughout the community.

Even though I can't pay you, I will help provide exposure for your organization. I play around town quite a bit with different bands, so I can get great exposure for your organization. Some greedy corporations pay lots of money for this exposure, but I'd rather help out a local charity. Plus, musicians are cool and hip, so your organization's image will benefit. I would be happy to provide a table where you can display materials, talk about your organization, and solicit donations.

So instead of paying caterers, security, facilities, florists, and ice sculptors to promote your organization, support a musician. Your investment of time, money, and/or training will go a long way if you do.[/quote]


This one is actually pretty well-written and informative. The trouble I'm having with it is that it comes across as [I]insane[/I]. Like, the sort of thing that I might think is actually badly written satire (there's always a big stink about open mics and other non-paying gig offers on craigslist in my area).

Look at the list of services that this person is hoping to get, free of charge:
[LIST][*]public relations[*]financial management[*]fund raising[*]event planning[*]media production[*]help around the house[/LIST]Basically, this person is looking for somebody to do the work of an agent, accountant, manager, producer/engineer, and butler, all for free. The rationale?

[quote]Even though I am a professional musician who works his tail off, I have hardly made any profit, so I'm basically a non-profit...[/quote]

No, you're not. A proper non-profit organization provides a service or funds to public resource. At the end of the day, any extra funds you've got left over go right into your pocket. That doesn't really happen with a non-profit, as their extra funds can't legally be touched for purposes other what's considered a part of their mission statement (i.e., providing more services or funds to the public resource).

More to the point, I can't think of any particular organization that provides half of those services at [I]all[/I]. Most music-oriented non-profits I know of are about funding and education for schools and child musicians. I certainly don't know of any house-keeping charities that help out able-bodied adults

The reason I think this might be failed satire is the exchange of "exposure" for the free services. But now we're no longer talking about "charity" or "donation" and have instead moved onto "exchange of services." Lop-sided exchange, yes, but it's still a trade.

Herein lies the real reason I've posted this ad, however: does anybody know of any non-profit organization that even remotely caters to the desires of this poster? I'm really curious as to see what version of reality this ad is grounded in.

Moseph, I'm sorry, but that's a painfully obvious work of satire ;)

These pop up in my craigslist all the damn time.

I'm not inclined to disagree, though I'm sort of on the fence. I see a lot of that sort of stuff too, but never played this straight-faced. It's also a little out of the blue since there hasn't been a glut of "free exposure" type posts recently, which usually draws these types of things out.

If it's satire, it's incredibly subtle. Too subtle in my opinion, considering how ridiculous some of the posts I've talked about in this thread are (and until now, I have had no reason to assume any of them are not 100% in earnest).

[quote][B]cover band needed[/B]

We are looking for a cover band to play at our outdoor pigroast this Saturday July 24th. We would like to have 2, one hour sets between maybe 4 and 8 pm. We are thinking an alt/rock/classic rock type of music would be good. Unfortunately, we can't afford to pay you. However, we can offer you free food and beverages and the opportunity to play in front of over 100 guests. If you are interested, please email with sample songs or videos of your band, if you have them. Thanks.

[B][name redacted][/B][/quote]


Okay, so I saw this one yesterday and basically laughed it off. I thought about posting it, but figured it was more blatantly stupid than interesting and really not in line with the point of this thread.

This is the classic example of the hopeless and clueless offer: they want a professional band for 4 hours, 2 of which will be filled by (kind of long) sets, the other 2 being filled by hanging around 100 strangers. And they want it free. Nothing weird about this, see it on Craigslist all the time: enjoy your boombox this weekend.

Except the ad was re-posted and modified:


[quote][B]we need a band this satutday![/B]

We need a band to play covers at an outdoor party Saturday afternoon/evening. Free food/drinks. No pay. Over 100 guests to hear your music. Let me know if you're interested![/quote]


Again, almost the same basic idea. This is when something dawned on me.

[quote]We need a band to play [B]covers[/B]...No pay. Over 100 guests to [B]hear your music[/B][/quote]


Except that covers won't be "your music", will they?

Can anybody please explain to me what could the possible appeal be for a band to show up, play for free, and get paid in "exposure" when they're not playing their own music?

I know if I was a struggling band trying to get my name out there, I'd be [I]all about[/I] playing 120 minutes of other people's songs for exposure and barbecue. I mean, 100 people! That's 100 potential new fans of our music....wait...

And since people don't give a **** about live music anymore....

have you ever responded to these ads with your corrections?? i think you'd get a fairly interesting string of emails that you could post up here ;)

[quote=Xomblies;18096159]have you ever responded to these ads with your corrections?? i think you'd get a fairly interesting string of emails that you could post up here ;)[/quote]


I generally only respond to them if I feel like I have constructive criticism to make in goodwill. That's assuming the ads aren't flagged away (most of them are: my area's CL has a bunch of flag-happy viewers). Most of these I find through an RSS feed I set up.

heh, well if you ever get a response back that's totally nuts, please do post it :)

[quote][SIZE=3] [B]top of the line home studio equipment - $2500[/B][/SIZE]

4,000 worth of studio equipment for 2,500[/quote]


Okay, so this ad is kind of a rehash of the issues with the speaker stand ad I posted about a while ago. So what's the key difference between the two? A factor of 10 in asking price. While $30 gives you a general idea of what you're probably getting when talking about speaker stands (hint: 2 speaker stands), "4,000 worth of studio equipment" says virtually nothing.

This could be a smash deal on a matched pair of Neumanns (admittedly, I doubt this very much), or it could two large crates filled with Nady Starpower microphones. That's assuming there are any microphones at all. "Home Studio Equipment" could be anything from adapters/cabling (on the cheap end) to top-dollar rack gear (on the expensive end) to old shedding tape (on the expensive yet unusable end).

It's at least nice that they don't say "cash and carry only" and thus there is no printed expectation to bring $2,500 in bills to a strangers house for what basically amounts to zero reason. But in all honesty, without at least a modicum of information, I don't see anybody who might be serious really responding to this ad.

[quote=Xomblies;18096166]heh, well if you ever get a response back that's totally nuts, please do post it :)[/quote]

I've been mulling this over, and I think I have one.

This is from about 1.5 years ago. Sometimes I see an ad that makes me want to check out that poster. Typically they have a MySpace page or website, but not always. So occasionally I submit an email from a dummy account posing as a potential client. I'm aware this is kind of a dick move. But I don't think it should be: in doing business they should expect to share a few details about their operation, and also to not book everybody who contacts them.

In this case, I imagine that they didn't end up booking many sessions.


Here's the ad that piqued my interest:

[quote=CL Poster] [B][SIZE=3]***[ridiculous name redacted] Mobile Recording*** $140.00 4hour Block

[/SIZE][/B]Hey Yo,,,What's cooking? Don't even move your gear we'll come to you.

State of the art mobile studio in an anvil case, delivers a finished wave file for you to mix at the studio of your choice.

You'll play better when your comfortable with your surroundings.

Don't move a thing we'll be right over! [/quote][B][SIZE=3]

[/SIZE][/B][SIZE=3][SIZE=2]First off, when I say "ridiculous name," I mean it. This helped catch my attention to this ad. Basically, they named their service to imply they had large genitalia (hint: it involved poultry). I Google Searched the exact name, and there's at least 2 completely unaffiliated media services out there with similar names. Clearly their priorities were straight. I know that sexual virility is #1 on my list of traits for partners for a musical endeavor[SIZE=3].[SIZE=2][FONT=Arial]

[FONT=Verdana]Anyway, the ad's rates were 2x what I was offering (and typically still do) at $35/hr. I had a mobile 16 channel rig and mics to fill it, so I was curious about what they used and how it sounded. Here's my initial email:
[/FONT]
[/FONT][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][quote=Moseph]Hi,
I'm interested in finding out more. Please share details with me regarding your equipment and work process. I'd also like to hear samples of your work.

If you have them, pictures of the gear would be cool, too.

Thanks[/quote]


Here's the response:

[quote=CL Poster]laptop, amp, power conditioner,, mixer,,, dual hard drives 1, Firewire to write to,,2.USB to read from.. in an anvil case.
Cubase,,,, 5 mics...I work until I get the job done,,,4 hours is the intro,,I can mix but it costs more.

I only take cash,,upfront. Here's a sample... pictures of my rig? never. take care,,happy new year, stay out of trouble.[/quote]


The attached sample was a guitar-only recording of "Girl from Ipanema." It sounded "okay."

But now I had even more questions about the process than at first. Like what does this mean?

[quote]I work until I get the job done,,,4 hours is the intro[/quote]How do I pay upfront if I don't know I need more than 4 hours? What do I take away: a CD? An mp3 file? Unmixed tracks?

But the big one was why he (I'm assuming "he" because "his" business is named after his junk) was so secretive about his rig (which was a big reason I sent the message in the first place)? Wouldn't a client eventually get to see it anyway?

So I sent this message:

[quote=Moseph]What's the end product? Mix-down track or fles for each mic?
What amp/power conditioner/mxer/mics? I'm running this by a friend who knows about these things. He's gonna wanna know.

What does mixing cost? What if the session runs longer than 4 hours, do I need to pay for another 4 hours upfront?

Why no pix?

Thanks[/quote]


Looking back, this message might have been telling. Why wasn't my friend recording (ostensibly, my "friend had recently re-located far away")? But at the same time, these aren't unreasonable things for a potential client to ask. Clients should know what they're getting from the session. They [I]definitely[/I] should know how payment works. They often ask about gear, too.

Anyway, here's the response:

[quote=CL Poster]Trade secrets is why there is no photo's..if you design a product and a million other motherf%$#kers do what you do and you have a sleeker version would you just give your *** up to anyone who comes along?,,,wave files on a data disk.....You're missing the beauty of this bud....if you want the big board and the air conditioned room with the couch and big glass window, with float mics and furman conditioners with crown amps then I must "respectfully" request you look into a home studio,,,this is mobile,,quick in and out,,I'm not putting more than 4 hrs up for sale...if the session runs over than it runs over and we bill by the hour,,and we stay as long as you want us,,we can mix on the spot, but it's usually 80 beans an hour for such attention,,it's probably below your league as a musician ,,I'm offering this service to cats who are holed up and need someone to record their ideas and give them a decent recording of what they sound like. It's not the record plant. I'm a mobile studio. I'm not westwood one with a tractor trailer hauling my gear...if you are an engineer enquiring about your competition than I say this" I am not your competition since nothing compares to the luxury of a home studio with all the features. Only a tech would ask what gear? anyone else just wants us to git er done.[/quote]


So the tone changed immediately. Granted, he was right and I may have tipped my hand. Conversely, this response is [I]stupid[/I]. If he'd been wrong, he basically turned away a client.

For starters, I still don't know the end product. His response of "wave files on a data disk" applies equally well to individual tracks or a 2-track mix-down. The pricing thing remains nebulous:

[quote]I'm not putting more than 4 hrs up for sale...if the session runs over than it runs over and we bill by the hour,,and we stay as long as you want us,,we can mix on the spot, but it's usually 80 beans an hour for such attention,,it's probably below your league as a musician[/quote]Wait, you don't want to work more than 4 hours? And if you do, you promise to raise your price and [I]to[/I] [I]suck[/I]? Not a strong sales pitch.

Calling me "bud" and downplaying the gear issue by doubting my smarts for "missing the beauty" is borderline hostile.

Anyone who's interested in English literacy should know that when I "respectfully" request you do something, those quotes mean "go f*** yourself." He also had done ZERO price research. There are full-blown studios with all the amenities that charge less. And there are others out there with better mobile rigs, more open policies and nicer demeanor beating his price.

Regarding the "competition" thing, that's also wrong. Read the trades, dude. Pretty much every engineer in the big rooms knows that the little guys with craptacular gear and a lame business model are making work more scarce. Even if you only target "small budget" projects, you [I]are[/I] the competition. And for the record, you in particular aren't being very professional about it.

I will also admit that the very first thing in that response is a hot-button for me. That's partially my fault. But the reality is this: [I]"you haven't figured out sh**."[/I] Period. I had been mobile recording (with a bigger rig) for 5 years already, and people have done it it on-the-fly since the 60's. My own mentor did it [I]as a middle schooler[/I] on a 2-track tape machine in the early 70's. Mobile recording isn't new, you don't have any trade secrets, and there's no need to be a dick about it.


So, after going through that thought process above, I carefully typed up and edited (and re-edited: I didn't want to send an angry response) this:

[quote=Moseph]Sorry,
Like I said, my friend would want to know about gear...you could call him a tech, and [I]I[/I] wanted to know about what would be in my hands at the end of the session. I still don't really know, other than "wave files" which doesn't tell me anything.

I'm not big on the hostility though. I'm just shopping around. Lots of guys doing what your doing, just look at craigslist. Good luck to you.[/quote]


This was 18 months ago, and I had less practice being professional via email, but I think that's a okay message and a reasonable way to end communications. Apparently I was wrong:

[quote=CL Poster]I sent you per request a sample,,does it sound good? there ya go...thank you for the luck,,,,not hostile,,Im focused and waste no time,,,ciao![/quote]


There's no need to follow-up when somebody breaks off communication, except to say "Sorry things didn't pan out." The reason is because anything else makes you look like a jackass. This message reads like this:

[quote]I sent you a sample (I'm ignoring that I didn't do anything else you asked). Clearly I'm not being inappropriate because I said so.[/quote]I can think of literally no qualification you can give for a bad exchange that doesn't make the other party think less of you. That's why apologies were invented. "I'm focused and waste no time" sounds good upfront, but once tensions raise then it sounds like "I'm too important for this crap anyway."

Also, unless you happen to be Italian, adding "ciao" without audible/body language cues comes off patronizing. Granted, he might actually be Italian. Notice that names were never exchanged.

By the way, this is true for pretty much any other language. If you want to use "Adios" or "Sayonara" as your send-off, your name better be Juan-Carlos Yamaguchi. Otherwise it makes you look flippant and condescending.

The big lesson from all this for me was "try to consider how a potential client views you when you make contact." Lesson #2 was "it's not a big deal if your colleagues/'competitors' know how you run your operation." Lesson #3? "Don't name your business after your dong."

[quote][B][SIZE=3]NEED ALL WHITE STUDIO to Shoot Video in [location redacted][/SIZE][/B]

Need a studio with All White Back Drop to shoot pics and Video let us know[/quote]


Hopefully this one is self-explanatory. That title needs a little work.

[QUOTE=Moseph;18101275]I've been mulling this over, and I think I have one...

...The big lesson from all this for me was "try to consider how a potential client views you when you make contact." Lesson #2 was "it's not a big deal if your colleagues/'competitors' know how you run your operation." Lesson #3? "Don't name your business after your dong."[/QUOTE]

its people like that guy that make our jobs difficult. You spend hours putting together the right gear and spending time understanding how those "waves" sound together (and how to make them sound good together if they don't inherently. Only to have some dildo like that giving audio engineers a bad wrap. If home boy actually knew what he was doing he'd know that you REALLY only need 3 mics on drums, one on guitar(s) and one on bass and get a pretty amazing sounding recording. Mobile or not, anyone asking what gear their using is a completely legitimate question. I'm not about to pat 150 an hour to have some D-bag track drums with a bunch of 57's. I'd rather rent RACKATTACK for 150 a day and have u87's 451's and a bunch of brent aviril preamps...

I can't understand why anyone would want to "git er done" when recording their band either... it's your first impression to most listeners, you may as well take some time and money making it worth listening to...

c'est la vie i guess not everyone holds themselves to the same standards

[quote][SIZE=3][B]Local band needed for recording[/B][/SIZE]
I have access to a 1.5 million dollar studio in the school I go to in [B][location redacted][/B], [B][school name redacted][/B] . I need a band that is reliable , good, has their own instruments and has at bear minimum a drummer, vocalist and guitar player to record on wednsday.[/quote]


Other than the glaring spelling problems (it should be "bare", "Wednesday"), this one isn't awful. I mostly posted it for 2 reasons:

(01) What's "good", exactly? This isn't a rhetorical question, either. If this is for school is it more important that the band can get through material quickly (e.g., you have limited studio time), the material is of a certain technical difficulty (i.e., you need to work with experienced musicians), or that the songs are well-written originals (i.e., school policy doesn't let you work with cover songs). These are kind of important things to make known.

(02) I've seen ads like this one for this school before, so it's likely this isn't too big a deal, but there's no discussion about money changing hands. The assumption I would make is that there is [I]zero[/I] money changing hands, but you can never be too sure. On top of that, you should probably also talk about turnaround time: this session doesn't do the band any good if they never see the finished mix in their hands.

[quote] [SIZE=3][B]Maybe This Will Work? Kind of awesome guitarist now free agent.


[/B][/SIZE]OK. Here's the deal. I just moved here from [B][city in Wyoming][/B]. I lived near [B][Midwestern Metropolis][/B] before that. I've been in a lot of bands. Some of them have even been good. I could give you a whole list of my accomplishments but then I'd just sound like one of those guys... oh god the guitar store guys. And I'm not the "too much man for you to handle with UFC on every channel" style of guitarist either. I just like being in good bands with drummers that know what the are doing?

So if you are looking for someone awesome for your band? I might be awesome enough. I will not blow you away with fretboard wizardry... but also? I will not put you to sleep with unbelievable prog rock skills. I also am a top notch designer and have developed a good eye for the not lame. I like playing shows with my own music. My last band kind of sounded like Valient Thorr or that we wished we were Thin Lizzy. So there's that.

Let me know [B][current general location redacted][/B]?[/quote]
Okay, first off, there's a lot of stuff that's reasonable about this ad. It's pretty up front, you get a decent idea about the poster's personality, and it's not really offensive or annoying (to me anyway).

On the other hand, we don't really know anything useful, other than his approximate location (it was in the CL location field). Like how old this poster is, what sort of music they [I]want[/I] to play (rather than what they [I]won't [/I]play), and whether or not this would be a gigging project, a hobby thing, or something else entirely. Those are all kind of important, and if you're posting this sort of ad, they're probably the only information you really [I]need[/I].

I'm also curious what exactly is meant by "designer" (interior? fashion? web? electronics? It's a long list...) but I don't know that it's particularly pertinent to the focus of the ad.

[quote][SIZE=3][B]Recording Studio - LOW NIGHT RATES @ JUST $50 - Serving [location redacted][/B][/SIZE]

[B]Need to record late at night? We're booking [I]24/7[/I] here at [business name redacted][/B]

Our rates are just [B]$50.00[/B] per hour when you book between the hours of 8:00pm and 6:00am.

Minimum of 2 hour blocks at night. Record on some of the most sought after gear and get great results fast and easy.

Mixing & Mastering services available.

[B]Why us?[/B]
Because when you choose us, you get access to a full service recording studio to take care of all your needs in just one place. You can record vocals in our acoustically treated, comfortable, wide open vocal booth, track instruments in our live room and get a mix that competes with the best.

Call [B][phone number redacted][/B][/quote][quote][SIZE=3][B]*NEW RECORDING STUDIO* Insane Deals, Best Pricing *35.00*[/B][/SIZE]

If your looking for recording, engineering, mastering, mixing or production, there's no better place than ours.

We're giving away full days for $350.00 and half days for $200.00.

Call [B][name redacted][/B] @ [B][phone number redacted][/B]

This is a PROFESSIONAL LOCATION & NOT A BASEMENT STUDIO, so you can be in a comfortable environment, complete with a lounge, 50 inch TV, live room, vocal room plus access to all the gear.

NUEMANN
NEVE
AVALON
UNIVERSAL AUDIO
TUBE-TECH[/quote][quote] [SIZE=3][B][business name redacted] - high end recording @ the most competitive price[/B][/SIZE]

Looking for a studio to record with, mix and master your single?

My name is [B][name redacted][/B], owner of [B][business name redacted][/B] recording studio in [B][location redacted][/B].

If you are in the need of an audio mastermind, in an environment that's comfortable with upscale quality, you are coming to the right place.

I will record, mix and master your music.

~ $45.00 Per Hour ~ Gets you an award winning engineer with the best possible equipment.

12 Hour Blocks just $500.00

Call [B][phone number redacted][/B]

Learn how you can record for just $35.00 per hour by participating in our VIP programs at our recording studio.[/quote]Okay, individually, these ads are all pretty solid. However, they also are for the same exact studio. They were also all posted within a week of each other.

If you're not following, what this basically means is that they have multiple ads with different conflicting rates advertised all on craigslist at the same time. I've actually posted ads from this studio before, and to be fair they used to have "weekly deals" and occasionally "daily specials." You'll note that they don't mention that anymore.

This is a problem because if you're constantly changing your rate schedule, you'll never get any (smart) clients. Even if you're an awesome studio and you do great work, the expectation to anybody paying attention is that you constantly switch your prices around, so they'll probably keep waiting until they can get a really good deal. There's also the savvy consideration of "who is getting these lowest prices and why?" If I were a potential client, I wouldn't care how rates could go if I make special deals, I'd want to know what the actual "base rate" to expect is, and then figure out if deals apply to me (see last line of 3rd ad).

Also keep in mind that conflicting prices in ads can make you look like a [I]dumb-***[/I]. Up above, you can pay their normal day rate @ $35/hour (title, second ad quoted), [B]OR[/B] you can pay their super-exciting [I]REDUCED[/I] night rate of $50/hour (first ad quoted). Common sense would dictate that you should pay less for night rates (the studio isn't going to be busy, it's less convenient for you if you have a day job, etc.). Even if you don't happen to subscribe to that particular convention, you shouldn't call your highest posted rates in the course of a week your "reduced rates."

EDIT:

Wow, the stupid just keeps on coming today. Here's that same studio advertising again:

[quote][SIZE=3][B]ATTENTION ALL BANDS! Need a recording studio!?[/B][/SIZE]

Hey, we are a pro rate recording studio located at [B][address redacted][/B]. If you and your band are seeking good recording rates look no further! We charge $35 hourly and after 9pm $50 hourly! But both rates include engineer for the sessions! We also specialize in mixing and mastering, graphics, web & photography! We are positive that we can suit you in more ways than one! call us for further inquiry! All of our recording gear is top notch and will not disappoint you! We can help you build a strong foundation for you and your career once we are done with the project. Call us for further information. [B][phone number redacted][/B]![/quote]Just in case you missed it:

[quote]We charge $35 hourly and after 9pm $50 hourly! But both rates include engineer for the sessions![/quote]

[quote][B][SIZE=3]FREE Studio time for Attractive Female Artists[/SIZE][/B]

Offering free recording time/music production for aspiring female vocal artists/musicians, in exchange for some personal time. We can be creative with it, cooking food in a bathing suit, massages, or more physical things. My studio charges 90 an hour and it is an up and coming facilit in the [B][location redacted] [/B]area. I will work with you and help coach you through to reaching your potential. I have 8 years in the business 4 years in jazz, hip hop, and R n B. Cute females are preferred. I'm a young professional, cool, chill, just trying to keep things interesting. Looking for somewhat of the same.

Interested send me copies of recordings youve done and pics. Let's work something out. [/quote]

Listen, this is just a straight up no-no. While I'm sure more than a few "industry types" have tried to incorporate their work into their attempts to get laid, you're generally best keeping that crap talked about in hushed tones over drinks at the nightclubs.

Maybe your up and coming "facilit" is the next big thing in the music industry. Maybe you deserve 90 dollars an hour for your work. But unrelated to all that, I'm also betting you're a d-bag who's probably not good for the industry as a whole.

The absolute best thing about this ad is that it doesn't actually explicitly name the poster by name/face/business. When that's the best thing going for your ad, there are some serious problems.

Don't be this guy.

[quote][B]MUSIC TO MY EARS[/B]

This is a no brainier --- want to record your ensemble in a professional studio with an engineer/musician who cares about you and your sound?

Our band just finished up recording seven tunes with [B][name redacted][/B] – [B][business name redacted][/B] in [B][location in nearby rural town redacted][/B]. The studio is located on a beautiful horse farm. The recording facility is not a closet in someone’s basement it is the real deal! [B][first name redacted][/B] holds a degree from Full Sail University http://www.fullsail.edu/ and has an excellent ear. Post recording costs are not a rip-off and he will listen to what you want.

Check out his web page: [B][MySpace page redacted][/B]

[B][business name redacted][/B] has experience recording Classic Rock, Blues, Country, Punk, Heavy Metal and Celtic. Believe this testimonial to be the real deal --- musician to musician.

[B][previous client name/MySpace page redacted][/B]

That’s it – Good Music and a Pleasant Environment![/quote]Look, when you're posting ads on a space deliberately designed for posted ads, there's no reason to be coy with your advertising. If I open up the paper to the ads, I don't want Best Buy posting an ad from a phony customer telling what a G-D awesome deal Best Buy has on televisions.

And that's what he have here. We have a "testimonial" ad from a "previous client" talking about how wonderful their recording experience was at a particular studio. I should note that this studio has never posted on craigslist in my area for the entire time I've kept track of this stuff (about 20 months now).

So when we see an ad talking about the experience working with this guy, to preserve anonymity let's call him "John Doe", and it only passes along the uber-professional MySpace page as the point of contact, the initial response (to borrow from a certain internet comedy writer) is something along the lines of "Who is John Doe and why are you doing this, John Doe?"

Maybe a phone number would help. Or maybe an email address. Maybe if somebody had ever mentioned this studio [I]at all[I], in any context[/I][/I] in the past 2 years of posts I'd be inclined to think that this wasn't just the engineer posting about his sweet horse-farm setup to drum up business. But I'm afraid that on the cynical Internet, that's not a real possibility in this situation.

[QUOTE=Moseph;18125733]Okay, first off, there's a lot of stuff that's reasonable about this ad. It's pretty up front, you get a decent idea about the poster's personality, and it's not really offensive or annoying (to me anyway).

On the other hand, we don't really know anything useful, other than his approximate location (it was in the CL location field). Like how old this poster is, what sort of music they [I]want[/I] to play (rather than what they [I]won't [/I]play), and whether or not this would be a gigging project, a hobby thing, or something else entirely. Those are all kind of important, and if you're posting this sort of ad, they're probably the only information you really [I]need[/I].

I'm also curious what exactly is meant by "designer" (interior? fashion? web? electronics? It's a long list...) but I don't know that it's particularly pertinent to the focus of the ad.[/QUOTE]

Agree, this was actually a pretty decent ad, but I would venture to say the things he didn't include could easily be asked for in a follow-up e-mail. Its really hard to post every conceivable thing in an initial ad.

[quote=Seafroggys;18126009]Agree, this was actually a pretty decent ad, but I would venture to say the things he didn't include could easily be asked for in a follow-up e-mail. Its really hard to post every conceivable thing in an initial ad.[/quote]

Oh, for sure. But if you're trying to find the right folks quickly, you want them to find you quickly too. For this type of ad, which is basically a "meet new people" ad, I would say that the mandatory info is age/gender, musical style, pro/amateur/other, and location/mobility.

In the same manner, if I see an engineer/studio ad, I want a name, location, phone number/email address, rate idea, and stylistic specialties (if any).

What I guess I was getting at was "why hinder yourself if you don't need to?"

I'd like to try something different here. I'm gonna post the ad I saw, and then everybody else pick it apart. I think the issues with it are very obvious, but I'm curious if that's what everybody else thinks:

[quote] [SIZE=3][B]WE NEED BEETZ[/B][/SIZE]
We are two well-educated female rappers. We are looking for some beetz for our rimez. slash ritmos, cuz we somos bilingual. We are not 16 in case my mom answers. [/quote]

Have at it, everybody. If there's no responses I might chime in on my own in a couple of days.

well apparently they're not well educated due to their horrible vivisection of the English language.

The mom comment made me chuckle. How the hell can you know who answers the phone? There's nothing in here suggesting age (although the grammar gives you a pretty good ballpark).....erg.

Yep, that's half.

The other half was a little more subtle: but I'm pretty sure they're lying about their age (which is bad).

It's not all that weird for younger people to live with their parents until their early-to-mid 20s (and realistically, it's not weird for parents to move in with you once they're a bit older too), so the whole "mom answering" thing isn't that weird...unless you think about it a little too much.

Basically, why would you immediately assume that the whole "16-year-old" thing would come up, even if you mother is the one who responds? Is your mother a crazy person? No, more realistically you're actually 16, and you don't understand how lying works.

But what makes this even stranger is that I've posted the entire ad, verbatim. There's no phone number there! That means your mother is monitoring your email, so I'm pretty sure you're [I]definitely[/I] not yet an adult.

Granted if the mother doesn't speak English (they [I]are[/I] bilingual, after all), then there might be some [I]confusion,[/I] but I don't think necessarily it's going to be about age. Also that would only really be the case with a phone call: that's not the situation.

No phone #. Never realized it.

Man, I just can't imagine parents monitoring my e-mail. I set up my yahoo e-mail when I was 12 on my own and, well, that was that. No monitoring whatsoever, or even of my internet usage (heh....heh ;) ). Just can't comprehend it.

[quote]I will record anything from Rock to Rap. Any genre can be recording in the studio. I have very high end equipment that will produce a great recording set.[/quote]

This is taken from a post by somebody who states that they are currently an "Audio Production/Engineering Major" at a local media college. The ad basically says they'll use the college's resources to record you.

The funny thing, to me, is that "Rock to Rap" is a hilariously narrow sliver of the musical landscape. Yes there are different considerations between doing something similar to Kanye West versus something similar to the White Stripes. But they are still hugely similar compared to dealing in the realm of chamber music, choral music, bluegrass, jazz or funk (all of which are pretty prevalent in my area).

I definitely should cut this poster some slack because they are a student (and it's the beginning of the college year, so they might even be a first-year student with no practical experience), but saying "Rock to Rap" definitely doesn't inspire me to believe that "Any genre" can be recorded by you successfully.

To be fair, I'm taking this way out of context. For instance, not only is he a student, he's offering to do it for free. So yeah, I'm not being fair here. But this is something to consider when writing your own ads/bios: you can be honest but at the same time imply things about yourself that aren't particularly flattering.

[url]http://sputnikmusic.com/forums/showpost.php?p=18162517&postcount=3[/url]

Advertising on a music forum in random half-related threads, using half-arsed interpunction and typos, lol.

[quote] [B][SIZE=3]Studio Time (Singers/Rappers/etc.)[/SIZE][/B]

I have my own personal studio/booth set up, and have been working in the music production field for over 10 years, I have 2 years of professional experience as well as 4 years of professional knowledge, prices are negotiable & vary on the time spent, and work/labor hours put in. I guarantee you will leave with a top notch professional quality record every time. Email is best method for contact, I will only give out my cell number to the serious inquirers. SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY!!!![/quote]


So two quick things here. The first one is that, in my experience, saying "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY" won't do anything to curb problem clients. A lot of them are slackers and don't know it, and a lot of folks out there are completely serious until it's time to collect on the bill. It's kind of like saying "no spammers" when you're selling something. Either the spammers are unaware it applies to them (i.e., a bot), or they just don't care.

The other big thing here is this:

[quote] I have 2 years of professional experience as well as 4 years of professional knowledge[/quote]

How does [B][I]that[/I][/B] happen? Don't you develop your "professional" knowledge during your "professional" experience?

That's a legitimate question, by the way. Maybe somebody else has insight about what this poster could actually mean?

To add to the confusion he has been working in the music production field for over 10 years. Presumably not professionally though?

[QUOTE] I guarantee you will leave with a top notch professional quality record every time.[/QUOTE]

This is another thing that caught my eye. What if the client is an awful musician or terrible writer? I don't think you can polish a turd into a top notch professional quality record.