I came across this article and felt it was important to get the word out to new artists about these shady practices going on.

Many of us journalists with actual degrees in journalism and communications feel as if our jobs are being taken away by a geek with internet access. This theory is made a reality by various websites having the ability to sustain as much daily hits and unique users as mainstream media outlets; therefore making it hard to determine the credibility of the reporting and posts listed. The end result is amateur “industry” representatives taking advantage of the unsigned talent; payola.

Payola is when a person of influence i.e. a DJ or journalist takes money for “promoting” something as if it is their genuine belief. It is simply a paid advertisement without telling the public it is an advertisement. In short, payola is nothing new to Hip Hop, but with Twitter and the Internet being widely used, it is becoming more accessible than ever. Many website owners, promoters, bloggers and DJs have a much easier avenue to reach their prey; an unsigned artist.

Why is payola a bad thing? It is because you, the public, trust the opinion of a certain DJ/journalist/website. If they tell you something or someone is good for whatever reason, you should believe what they say. But if they really don’t feel that way and are just getting a paycheck, where is the credibility? Then you, the consumer wonder why there isn’t any “good music” out.

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I want your opinion on this. This is a true story I am not making anything up, so lets get started:

This young lady is named Tierra. She is a “Web Model” (no porn, but nudity). She has a website:

http://club-tierra.com

Pretty young lady, not knowing her personality, but just basing off her looks I don’t think too many guys would not try to holla at her. With that being said there are millions of young ladies like her walking around. Nothing that special about her.

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