MOJOHEADZ = SCAM LABEL

CAUTION: SCAM LABEL!

To all dance music creators out there, especially to all music producers who are currently looking for a label to release their valuable music.

I’ve been sending out demos myself lately and came across a label that I didn’t know, but seemed to have a nice portfolio at first glance.

It is Mojoheadz, supposedly from L.A.

Reaching Out

So I contacted the label Mojoheadz (sublabel Sickdance), as it appeared to be a large and well-known label for dance music. I sent them a demo and quickly received a reply with a few questions and that my song would be discussed at their next meeting for potential release. 

Shortly after, I received another email with an overly positive tone, which seemed pre-formulated, stating that they wanted to collaborate with me. However, they mentioned that the sound needed improvement and offered to have their partners master the song for a prepaid fee of 69 euros. They also provided me with a link to a video with mastering tips, if I’d like to do it on my own (of course they wanted to do it for me).

Naturally, I became skeptical. Why should I pay and let them master an already mastered song and why do they ask for an advance payment without any signed agreement beforehand? This didn’t feel right to me.

Searching The Web

So, I started to research and soon discovered that the label uses the same tactic again and again with all artists and their demos. The label, which appears to be an obvious one-man operation from Moscow, pretending to be a large corporation based in Los Angeles, even contacts artists themselves, primarily on Soundcloud, expressing a desire to release their songs. But of course, only after a mastering and an upfront payment. Always.

In their self-marketing they boast about collaborations with famous artists, but their artist roster consists entirely of unknown acts. Artists who were probably so eager to get their music released that they fell for the scam.

It was even mentioned by someone on the internet that the label requires individual track stems from the artists and eventually use it to release their own variations of the original songs, so that the original creators do not have to be paid. I can’t verify the truth, but it seems to be a legit experience.

There are even blatantly obvious fake posts online from the label itself. And even an equally obvious fake Facebook profile of a supposed label employee.

The individual with whom I corresponded via email goes by the name Steve Benson, but no information or presence of this person can be found anywhere. 

I responded to their suggestion that my track needed mastering by stating that it had already been professionally mastered and did not require a second mastering. They replied that if that was the case, then it must be an issue with the mixdown and that the low-frequency components needed to be adjusted. They again provided me with the link to the video with mastering tips. I replied that I would give the song to my mastering partners again and get back to the label asap. The label responded, quote: „Do you understand the advantage of this offer?

I found this to be quite arrogant. No major label would ask an artist such a question and ultimately try to exert pressure.

I ignored that impertinent email and later responded with a newly and even better mastered song (yes, it really sounded a bit better than before). Since it was clear to me by now that the label was more fake than genuine, I exaggerated as well and wrote that the song had been mastered at a famous Berlin studio (which I do not want to name here) where famous artists (whom I listed) had been recorded and mixed in the last decades. And if the label still wasn’t satisfied with the sound quality of my song, then it wasn’t due to the audio. I provided a link to the file and sent the mail.

The Ambassador?

Meanwhile, I continued my research. What I noticed beforehand was that a certain artist named Endego appeared remarkably frequently. According to his own statements, he acts as a label ambassador. However, I noticed that his name, picture and releases appeared in almost every post from the label online. Even the aforementioned mastering video in my emails was recorded by… Endego. I also found a russian website that referred to a studio called BigBeat supposedly behind the Mojoheadz label. And who appears in every photo in the studio? Exactly: Endego. He also appears in the very first videos on the label’s YouTube channel from 13 years ago (click for example), under a different pseudonym called Nuclear Maniac.

So I am sure that this guy is not just collaborating with the label as he claims or a label ambassador, who was signed to the label, but the actual label founder and head behind all of this, which he obviously tries to hide. Of course, there is no real proof, but well… it’s really extremely obvious if you’re not blind and put one and one together. 😉

I assume that he has founded the label that should give the impression of a small empire, on the one hand to promote himself and on the other hand to make money from advance payments from artists.

On the other hand, you have to realize that artists actually publish on the label and even announce this themselves on social media. So there must be a figure of cases where it has worked. But I pretty much assume that these are just those artists who have paid for the mastering (which according to Internet sources is not even made and only the original masterings of the artists are published) and whose songs without further promotion (as promised by the label) are loaded on the trending streaming platforms. They have a significant number of streams. But well… my gut feeling would tend to keep me away from all this. 

The label seems to already be aware that it is being exposed as a fraud, but continues to try to keep up the lie and take people for fools (check the sources below). That’s why it states everywhere on the web that the label is real and not fake. But in a very unpleasant way that doesn’t make the feeling any better.

What do you say?

I have now waited several weeks after sending my fresh mastered song. I asked again for feedback. The response was… none.

Which should be the proof that the 69 Euro was not about my music or a possible mastering or even a release, but only about collecting money. Since there was no money to „earn“ with me, I was dropped.

In the end, I mailed again, cancelled the label myself and asked for my data to be deleted.

Well… let’s call it an interesting experience. So all of you producers out there, be aware of this. Don’t pay for having your music out there. And if you do, the label should communicate this transparentely beforehand.

I hope I was able to help you a bit with my experience report. If you have made similar experiences, feel free to leave me a comment. And if you like to warn our music community, just share this blog entry everywhere.

Take care and all the best! 🙂

Fabian / Dan Spop

SOURCES:

Reviews on experiences with the label: https://mojoheadz-records.pissedconsumer.com/review.html

Anonymous blog post about the machinations of the label: https://mojoheadz.news.blog

Fake employee profile also showing and mentioning Endego: https://www.facebook.com/alex.mojoheadz

Fake user experience on a specially created wordpress page, even under the Mojoheadz URL. https://mojoheadzrecords.home.blog

Pretty cringe and senseless fake Youtube channel (with no substantially content) reffering to the term „scam“: Click

Another weird Youtube channel referring to if the label is real, but with no substantially content (just showing Endego sitting on a couch): Click

There are some other posting in forums online writing about experiences and opinions about the label. Just start a web search.

Update 2023-04-15:

A few days after I posted this online, I had a messenger conversation with an artist, who also seemed to be scammed (e.g. his song mastered by Mojoheadz sounded the same as before). He asked me what happened to the Mojoheadz and Endego pages. After I checked, I realised that almost all web pages dissapeared from the internet, like the homepages of Mojoheadz, Endego and the studio, the Instagram and Facebook… let’s see what happens next.

Update 2023-04-24:

The websites are back online, but obviously upgraded to look more professional and less like a scam (or fake).

On Instagram, I’ve obviously been blocked by the label.

But shortly after my post, two Instagram profiles appeared that also call the label and Endego a scammer.

1 thought on “MOJOHEADZ = SCAM LABEL

  1. danspop says:

    It’s me, Dan. Something interesting happened. Shortly after I released my article about the scam label, almost all web pages dissapeared from the internet, like the homepages of Mojoheadz, Endego and the studio, the Instagram and Facebook… let’s see what happens next.

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