How Songwriters Can Spot a Scam: Fake Royalty Claims, Pay-to-Pitch Offers and Bad Checks

On Halloween, a surprise at the door is part of the fun. A surprise in your inbox is another matter: an offer to 'release your unclaimed royalties', a publisher who wants a fee to listen, a buyer whose check is too big.

This guide covers the warning signs that come up again and again, and a quick way to check any offer. None of it needs special tools.

What the FBI is seeing in music

In March 2026, the FBI's Nashville office warned about crime aimed at the music industry. According to news coverage of its release, musicians, record label owners, producers and managers filed more than 100 complaints about non-delivery, advance fee and overpayment scams between January 2024 and September 2025, with over $777,000 in losses. Rareform Audio's summary says these cases often involved false offers tied to collaborations, contracts, media coverage or royalty payments.

In May, the FBI and the Nashville Songwriters Association International shared more guidance about people posing as artists, songwriters, managers and industry insiders. The FBI called a request for payment by gift card, wire transfer or cryptocurrency an immediate red flag. It said that if a conversation feels rushed, secret or too good to be true, it probably is.

Trick 1: Pay first

A long-running scam in songwriting is the 'publisher' or 'pitching service' that charges you for the chance. A guide by Jim Liddane for the International Songwriters Association, republished online, says a genuine publisher will not suggest that a songwriter pay money for any reason. It lists a better demo, song pluggers and copyrighting the song among the normal costs a publisher bears. A 2014 Writer's Digest guide gives the same test: anyone who asks for large sums up front to review or accept your work is likely a scam artist, and money should come in, not go out.

If a company asks for a small fee anyway, that guide says to ask for samples of its previous work first, and to move along if it won't provide them. Paying for help you choose, like a session singer or a mixing engineer, is normal. The red flag is paying for access to an opportunity, or paying before you receive money you are told is waiting.

Trick 2: The check that is too big

A buyer offers to pay for a song, a mix or a lesson and sends a check for more than the price, then asks you to send back the difference. The FTC calls this a fake check scam. Even when the funds show up in your account, that doesn't mean the check is good, because fake checks can take weeks to uncover and you may then owe the bank. The FTC's advice is to not accept a check for more than the selling price, and never to use money from a check to send gift cards, money orders, cryptocurrency or a wire transfer.

Trick 3: The 'royalty recovery' offer

Another approach targets anyone who feels they are owed money. The FTC says refund and recovery scams ask for an upfront fee, and that government agencies and legitimate organizations never ask for money to help you get a refund. Apply the same test to royalties. The MLC says there is no cost to register a musical work with The MLC, and its Public Work Search is free, so ask why anyone would charge you to 'unlock' money there.

Trick 4: The official-sounding email

In May 2026 the American Society of Media Photographers warned members about a fraudulent email claiming to come from the U.S. Copyright Office. It asked about existing copyright registrations and called itself part of a routine federal record verification. ASMP's advice was to not respond, not to click links in questionable emails, and to contact the Office directly.

The FTC's phishing guidance gives the rule that works everywhere. If you have an account with a company, contact it using a phone number or website you know is real, not the details in the message. That goes for your PRO, The MLC, your distributor and your Starchild dashboard.

Trick 5: A takeover of your own accounts

The FBI's advice for the music industry includes keeping software updated, using a strong and unique passphrase for each account, and turning on multi-factor authentication, particularly for webmail and for accounts that manage backups. It also warns against clicking links in unsolicited messages that ask you to verify account information. Go to the company's website directly instead.

Look-alike entries in your catalog data

A quieter scare involves the databases that pay you. In September 2025, Digital Music News reported on look-alike entries in The MLC's database, including works registered under recording identifiers that belong to other songs. The article reports that The MLC confirmed royalties were diverted in its main example, and it advises songwriters, publishers and catalog owners to monitor the database.

Searching your own titles in the Public Work Search every few months takes minutes. Our guide to registering with The MLC covers the tools.

A 60-second check for any offer

• Stop. Urgency is part of the trick.
• Look up the organization yourself and use the contact details on its official site, not the ones in the message.
• Ask who pays whom. Money should come in.
• Ask for the agreement in writing, and have a professional read anything you sign.
• Check it where the money lives. On Starchild, sales show in your dashboard as they happen and earnings withdraw through Stripe, so you can check a claim about money owed there first. Anyone can check a license at /verify.

If you already paid or shared a password

Act quickly. The FTC says that if you have paid a scammer, the sooner you act, the better. Contact the company you paid with, such as your card issuer, bank, gift card issuer or wire transfer company, and ask for a refund. Then report the scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general. The FBI asks victims to report at ic3.gov. If an account was taken over, change its password and turn on multi-factor authentication.

Sources

• WSMV: More than $12 million lost as cybercriminals target musicians and fans, FBI Nashville warns
• WSMV: FBI Nashville, How to protect yourself from scammers posing as musical artists, managers, industry insiders
• Rareform Audio: Cybercriminal Activity Targets Music Industry, FBI Reports $12M in Losses
• Jim Liddane, International Songwriters Association: Songwriting and Money
• Writer's Digest: Avoid Rip-Offs and Publishing Sharks, by James Duncan (2014)
• FTC: How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Fake Check Scams
• FTC: Refund and Recovery Scams
• FTC: How To Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams
• FTC: What To Do if You Were Scammed
• ASMP: Scam Alert, Fraudulent Email Claiming to Be the U.S. Copyright Office
• The MLC: Play Your Part FAQs
• The MLC: Tools
• Digital Music News: Duplicate works and royalty fraud in The MLC database