Memoirs of a Roadie

Over the weekend I got spammed. I don't get that much spam into my inbox usually, as most gets caught by my own very aggressive detection rules, with SpamAssassin generally picking up everything else for me. However, this spammer seems to have got through because their spam was music related. Mr. Robert J. Johnson and Ms. Mary M. Dharma (Assistant to Mr. R. Johnson) under the guise of "www.eloformermembers.com", a website that seems only to exist to track real email addresses, appear to be working for a new band called The Orchestra, made up of former band members from ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) and ELO Part II. Now although I did used to like ELO, I have no real desire to see a half hearted attempt to see what almost amounts to a covers band, and especially when they employ a spammer to get me to listen to them or see them on tour.

However, what got me most about the spam, and the band's use of them, was that I got sent the request 3 times (or should I say 3 got through ... there maybe more), all different messages, and all 3 were requesting me to hit a link to obtain the tour dates for the forthcoming UK tour. But the best bit is the mails all started with "Dear Classic Rock Fan, Can I have your permission to send you info on the upcoming [UK tour]". Maybe the band don't see the stupidity of that statement, or are so ignorant of the actions of spammer that they don't care that their potential fans could become victims to a stream of rubbish in their inboxes. If you're going to advertise your tour dates doesn't it make sense to tell people about them in the mail, rather than request permission to send them? I might (note I said might) have had a bit of respect for them if they had done that and maybe had a link along the lines of "if you would like to receive further mails...", but as it is they have now been added to my blacklist.

Admittedly I wouldn't have wanted to see the band anyway, but possibly this might serve as a warning to other bands thinking about using spammers to get their name about. Don't. There is never a good reason to use a spammer. Ever. In this day and age there are plenty of ways to get your presence known, most venues have weekly or monthly updates on gigs, ents24 does the same, and there are many internet news sites these days (including the tradional hard copy magazines such as NME, Kerrang and Rolling Stone) that cater for a variety of musical tastes. It's alot easier to get your band's name known these days, and resorting to spammers just screams of desperation. If things are really that bad, maybe you really should just call it a day.

I've purposefully avoided adding any active links in this post, as don't want to promote the band or the spammers, but anyone getting a mail like this and being a bit dubious does a search, hopefully they'll find this post and avoid any further involvement with the band. Either that or bands read this and think of better ways to promote themselves.