Re:Band faked a fanbase, got booked for a European tour that...
by CM30 on Saturday November 10, 2018 @10:57AM
(#18421836)
Is it me or does this sound a lot like a TV show/film plot? The whole idea of a band pretending they're more popular than they are and then performing to an empty theatre feels like something from a zany sitcom...
Still, I'm not too surprised it happened. It's quite common for 'influencers' to fake their popularity online, and I've seen thousands of pseudo celebrities buy followers/make fake accounts to try and trick advertisers into thinking they're more popular than they actually are. Happens quite a bit with authors and books too; the likes of Robert Stanek and Gloria Tesch relied almost entirely on shills and paid marketing in an attempt to make people think their works had an actual fanbase/were going to be the next big thing.
Still, guess it's the logical extreme for the whole 'fake it till you make it' thing. If you can't build a real audience after doing that, this is what you're left with.
Still, I'm not too surprised it happened. It's quite common for 'influencers' to fake their popularity online, and I've seen thousands of pseudo celebrities buy followers/make fake accounts to try and trick advertisers into thinking they're more popular than they actually are. Happens quite a bit with authors and books too; the likes of Robert Stanek and Gloria Tesch relied almost entirely on shills and paid marketing in an attempt to make people think their works had an actual fanbase/were going to be the next big thing.
Still, guess it's the logical extreme for the whole 'fake it till you make it' thing. If you can't build a real audience after doing that, this is what you're left with.