Threatin ("fake" band/PR stunt)

Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
58,899
Saw this on the BBC website:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/jered_threatin

It is quite a big article so here is a tl:dr

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  • Some loner guy in the US sets up a band then seemingly comes up with a marketing scheme with his wife
  • Sets up some fake websites for management, a record label, other signed bands etc..
  • Creates social media accounts with fake followers
  • Posts a really dodgy video with footage of some crowd at a random gig spliced with clips of him playing the guitar:
https://twitter.com/JeredThreatin/status/1049534149965438976
  • Uses his fake management/fake social media profile to recruit three band members for a European tour
  • Sets up a bunch of gigs at venues in the UK/Europe
  • Gets some established bands to support him, based in part on social media profile and fake management etc..
  • First few gigs they play practically no one turns up to watch
  • Bar staff at a the exchange in Bristol, where they have zero audience members, get suspicious and turn into internet detectives - figure out pretty quickly it is a sham
  • Story breaks about his antics/fake band etc... rest of the tour is now a shambles, two band members return to USA
  • Plot twist, he was actively braking the fake band story himself via one of his fake e-mail accounts actively outing him to news outlets right from the start of the tour
  • He's now had a load of coverage via the BBC, NME etc..etc..
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I guess some level of faking it isn't exactly uncommon in the music industry, I remember a few years back suggesting to my flatmate that I set up a website for a fake management company to try and get her band into a few small festivals but I'm not sure it has been done on this level before. Reading the article this guy sounded like he could be the music industry equivalent of Tommy Wiseau, but then I took a look at his youtube channel - the official music video for one of his songs has over a million views and actually isn't too bad at all especially given he's played all the instruments himself and recorded it all at home.The video itself is pretty cringy but perhaps with a decent drummer, bassist and producer he could have something pretty marketable and feasibly have the sort of tour he was ostensibly putting on previously. See what you think:


I'm inclined to think the whole stunt was quite a smart move, fair play to him.

(granted the reaction from the band members seems a bit weak, they apparently wanted to sneak out of the rented house when they found out in order to avoid confronting him)
 
Caporegime
Joined
4 Jul 2004
Posts
30,647
Read this earlier and thought it was pretty clever of him. Front page of BBC and other news sites across the world, so he's certainly achieved his aim for fame I guess.
 
Caporegime
OP
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
58,899
I read somewhere that underworld (the Camden venue he had his first gig to an almost empty room on his "tour") actually want to bring him back now that he's had a bit of publicity over this.
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Sep 2008
Posts
5,445
I read that article too. Pretty impressive thing to pull off really and he's certainly got some fame out of it but seems unlikely anyone would trust him in future exploits.
 
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