MusicSource.com (Gerald Ace Michaels)
Complaint 23433 Details

I would like to notify the fraudulent activity of a certain Ace Michaels, as he likes to call himself.
I auditioned for Mr Michaels at the Cutting Room about a month ago, since he was looking for new singers, to sing at the House of Blues ( which is in fact the Foundation Room, so not the same at all!) in the Martini Jazz Show.
He loved my performance and said you are booked for the Martini Jazz show, he gave me about two Tuesday nights there. the 6th and the 20th of September 2011. He also said i had to sell tickets, a minimum of ten of them, otherwise i would be cut from the show, which he didn't do. After that, he solicited me for another audition at a new French restaurant that recently opened in Los Angeles.
When i showed up for my audition at the Venue on September 18th, 2011, i was surprised that he was there and also about 15 other singers from the Martini Jazz show. What turn out to be an audition was just a free performance that we all gave as a group for about more than 3hours and no pay for it. At the end of the show, he said i was booked there for two days, that same week thursday 22nd , friday 23rd, 2011. Then, he basically let me know over the phone that i had to sing on a cd for three hours, when i said i wanted to bring a pianist, as the owner of the venue requested that to me, he claimed that " we didn't have the funds" and that he was investing 1000$ in me to produce me. That he was paying me and not the venue and that i will have to pay him 20% on everything he books me for. After a few days, i let him know gently that this was not going to work and got out of that shady situation rather quickly.
In total, i gave out about four performances for free, for which i was never paid. I was told a lot of things, that didn't rely on any sort of contract. It's important to report this so called producer/manager, as he keeps ripping off new artists all the time. Don't fall for it. He will take advantage of your passion for music, to have you work for him, for free. That's illegal!