Leballoo and The Falcon Agency’s Scam “Sponsorships“
The Companies Involved:
🧠 Leballoo and The Falcon Agency are predatory companies targeting independent artists, claiming to offer a no-cost sponsorship program supposedly backed by Affirm, a well-known financial institution. It’s official: Leballoo is a scam.
The Pitch:
💰 Leballoo’s pitch is slick: artists are told they’ve been “scouted” for a fully funded sponsorship program that will cover marketing and promotion without requiring any upfront costs. Their representatives, like “Ryan,” claim that artists will receive everything they need to monetize their platforms, using vague language like “funding from Affirm.” But in reality, this is a fraudulent scheme.
Spoiler Alert: Affirm is not involved.
The Scam:
These scams promise to help artists grow their fanbase and reach one million Spotify streams at no cost to the artist, fully paid for by a lending institution’s sponsorship program and paid off through – of all things – streaming royalties.
Read on to learn more about how Leballoo and copy-cat startups like The Falcon Agency prey off of an artist’s lack of financial understanding and all the general misinformation surrounding the concept of career funding for independent artists.
CONFIRMED BY AFFIRM:
Affirm confirmed that they have no affiliation or partnership with companies such as The Falcon Agency or Leballoo and that it is against Affirm’s Terms of Service for any merchant to offer to take out a loan on a consumer’s behalf.
A spokesperson for the company added:
“We have practices in place to avoid fraudulent behavior, including blocking transactions from any merchants we find to be in violation of Affirm’s Terms of Service.”
affirm spokesperson
Affirm Spokesperson, October 24th, 2024.
Leballoo’s Affirm Claims:
A Sinister Profit Model
Leballoo’s “marketing plan” is nothing more than a facade. When artists sign up, they are often asked for personal details, including their date of birth and the last four digits of their Social Security number, under the guise that this is necessary to set up a Meta Ad account.
However, this is a major red flag. In reality, an advertiser can run ads on behalf of an artist without needing their personal information.
While Leballoo claims to run ad campaigns, what really happens is much more sinister. Instead of paying for legitimate ads, which would cost around $10 per day on Meta’s ad platform, sources who worked with the company have reported that their tracks were removed from Spotify shortly after signing with Leballoo.
This strongly suggests that Leballoo is using bots to generate fake streams, a practice that violates Spotify’s terms of service. Bots are cheap, making it easy for scammers to profit.
Here’s the math:
🧮 Spotify pays around $0.004 per stream. Bots typically cost only slightly more than what an artist would make per stream, and ads cost a LOT more per-conversion than $0.004 per-play (on average, around $0.40 per converted listener, if you’re a marketing magician). So regardless of whether they’re using ad marketing as they claim, or bots as their victims claim – it’s irrelevant to the flaw in their business structure. Either way, it is impossible for the artist or the scammer to profit off legitimate (or illegitimate) royalty payments alone. It’s just a fraction of a cent each time, and getting someone to play your song will always cost more than that. That isn’t going to change anytime soon. These scammers are betting that you don’t know the financial specifics of your own career path.
🕳️ Rabbit Hole
How Much Does a Marketing Campaign Really Cost?
This is a question that I hear people asking a lot, especially in the beginning. And this is a somewhat difficult question to answer because it depends on a lot of specifics, and there are many microscopic decisions and small variables that can yield dramatically different results, all affecting the cost and efficacy of Meta Ads.
But, in short: a lot. A lot more than $200 dollars, assuming the goal is to get less than (at absolute best) 400 streams out of it.
Knowledge is the best scam repellent. The best way to know when a company is using the term “marketing” to scam you is to understand what marketing for music really is, how it’s done, and roughly what it should cost.
You can learn all of that and more, down this rabbit hole.
Dive In.
If they were just running ineffective ads, that wouldn’t be a scam as much as a really terrible marketing business. One to be avoided, but that’s about it. But when an artist’s streams are botted, not only do they risk having their tracks removed from Spotify, but they may also see their entire artist profile penalized. And when you involved deceptive practices and false claims about being backed by trusted financial institutions like Affirm – now you have a serious scam on your hands.
Hidden Costs and Financial Exploitation
Artists reported that after being promised no upfront costs, they were later asked to pay $200 to start a marketing campaign. This fee would barely cover 20 days of low-budget ads.
💰 The real cost to artists, however, goes beyond this fee: they may be unknowingly involved in fraudulent loan schemes, with loans taken out in their name to “fund” these campaigns. These loans could potentially hurt their credit or lead to more financial trouble down the line.
The scammers at Leballoo and The Falcon Agency don’t stop at empty promises. They aim to profit from artists through fraudulent means, be it through taking out loans in their names or pushing them to pay for “ads” that simply don’t exist, or (if I’m being very generous to these companies), don’t deliver meaningful growth.
The Return on Investment (ROI) for artists is non-existent—these schemes are designed for Leballoo to maximize profit while the artist loses both credibility and money.
Ishmael: The CEO’s Flashy Persona
The CEO of Leballoo, Ishmael (or “Ish”), presents himself as someone living a lavish lifestyle, flaunting stacks of cash, fast cars, and flashy outfits in promotional material.
This imagery is meant to suggest that he is successful, but there are suspicions that his wealth is derived from exploiting naive artists. By flashing large sums of money, he attempts to lure artists into thinking they will receive financial success under his guidance.
However, what’s really happening behind the scenes is not success—it’s potential exploitation. His promises of 1 million Spotify streams in exchange for a $200 “campaign” fee is unrealistic.
🧮 To put it into perspective, on platforms like Meta Ads, a campaign at $10/day would likely net 10–15 streams a day, depending on targeting. For $200, an artist would only get about 200–300 streams—far from the 1 million streams Ish promises. Just so you know, 1 million streams isn’t even that profitable. As reward for hitting that incredibly milestone, you can expect to bring in a total of $4,000 from streaming revenue – assuming you own 100% of your master (i.e., you haven’t cut in any producers or writers or given away points for other reasons). That’s not enough to pay back a loan – it’s not even enough for Ishmael to keep the lights on. Leballoo’s business model falls apart pretty fast, just with some basic math applied. They’re clearly getting their money from something other than streams, and it’s obvious they have no intention of spending your money on small ad campaigns that they know would accomplish nothing.
The “No-Cost” Sponsorship Claims
One of the key hooks Leballoo and The Falcon Agency use is the claim that they have a partnership with Affirm, allowing them to fund campaigns at no upfront cost to the artist.
However, they do not clarify whether this “funding” is a loan, scholarship, sponsorship, or investment. And their business model wouldn’t work no matter what they called it, because it’s not taking into account how music is consumed and how much revenue it brings in (or, doesn’t bring in).
Only loans or investments apply to funding a music career in today’s industry, and it’s suspicious that Leballoo doesn’t specify what financial model they are using.
Let’s Break It Down:
🧠 What are the Standard Funding Models used to Start, Build, and Grow Businesses and Brands?
💳 Loan
What is a Loan?
A loan involves borrowing money with the expectation of paying it back with interest. If Leballoo is taking out loans in the artist’s name, that’s a huge red flag, especially since Affirm clarified that no such partnership exists and that offering loans on behalf of others violates their Terms of Service.
Is Leballoo Talking About Loans?
❌ In terms of this model being a loan – what Leballoo is describing is more like fraud than it is similar to taking out a loan. A loan is transparent, secure, and all parties involved know that a loan transaction is occurring. Also, with loans, there’s never any talk of not having to pay that money back. You are definitely expected to pay back a loan, and the longer it takes you to do that, the more interest you rack up. So there’s a built-in profit system for the lender, coming in the form of interest payments. The penalty increases if you opt for paying it back too slowly. There are far bigger consequences for not paying it back at all.
Can Loans Fund an Artist’s Career?
✅ Generally speaking, yes. Loans are a known funding-model in the music world; it’s the same structure that record labels use to fund an artist that they sign. Record labels previously worked more like venture capitalists, but ever since the streaming era begin eating into everyone’s bottom line, labels started to work more like loan sharks. That model is now the industry standard. Anyone who leads you to believe otherwise is either totally misinformed, or intentionally scamming you.
🕳 ️Rabbit Hole:
How Record Label Loans Work:
I know a lot of people remember when record labels used to “give away money”, but that time is gone, with labels now universally adopting a new funding model for signed artists: a high interest loan with significant risks. This is not your local Lending Tree we’re dealing with here. It’s a large sum, high interest loan. Borrowed money that artists must recoup, giving all profits to the label until it’s paid off. This typically takes 5-8 years, though many factors can prolong this, and some never fully recoup. Most of the loan is recouped through “music-adjacent” revenue streams like brand deals and endorsements – not through streaming royalties. That’s because record labels know something that Leballoo won’t admit: Streaming will never generate enough revenue to repay a small loan, much less fund an artist’s career. It costs a minimum of $150k to $250k to break an artist. Any less isn’t going to cut it.
🐰 To learn how Record Label funding works, jump down this Rabbit Hole:
Dive In
🎩 Investment:
What is an Investment?
This is when a party invests in your career, expecting a return on their investment, usually a percentage of future earnings. A “Return” is not the same thing as paying back a loan, though they are often confused. Additionally, an investment is often the artist-preferred approach for career funding within the music industry.
🕳️ Rabbit Hole:
Getting Someone a “Return” Vs. “Paying Someone Back”
An investor is someone who puts money into your music career with the expectation of earning a return on their investment. This means that instead of being repaid the exact amount they gave you, they want to see a profit or gain from their initial investment.
Investors typically get a share of your future earnings, like a percentage of your revenue from music sales, concerts, or royalties. They’re betting that by helping you succeed, their stake in your success will bring in more money over time. This is usually a risk for them, but they expect higher returns if your career takes off.
On the other hand, a lender gives you a loan that you are required to pay back in full, often with added interest. The lender doesn’t take a cut of your future earnings or profit from your success directly. Instead, their profit comes from the interest you pay on the loan.
The main difference here is that while an investor’s return depends on how well you do, a lender is focused on getting their money back, regardless of how successful your music career becomes.
For an artist, this means that working with an investor ties your earnings to their stake in your career, while borrowing from a lender requires you to make regular payments, regardless of whether you’re earning enough to cover those payments right away.
Understanding this difference is crucial when deciding which type of funding best fits your music career goals.
Is Leballoo Talking About Investment?
❌ No. Leballoo has no clear investment strategy or plan. And his money is all tied up in… well, we’re not totally sure if he even has money. From what we can see, most of it is being used as props for his IG videos. That’s not what investors generally look like. And, Ishmael doesn’t ask for the artist to provide him with a clear path to getting a return on his investment – which means, that path is already clear to him. And, just to cut to the chase, that path is by scamming you out of your money. An investment involves getting money – not spending it. The fact that reportedly asks for small financial contributions to “start running ads” or “cover the cost of distribution” is the opposite of an investor. If anything, you’re the investor, at that point.
Can Investors Fund an Artist’s Career?
✅ Yes! This is the funding model recommended by Wendy Day herself. While caution when choosing an investor is obviously required, in general, investors are a valid way to go about funding your music career. You just need to make sure you’re really talking to a potential investor, and not just some guy with a rented Lambo who can’t spell the word “globally” and pretends to take phone calls on a stack of money. Investors look like stiff, serious individuals who have stiff, serious jobs. Is that a generalization? Of course. But, it’s a good rule of thumb anyway. If you don’t see that slightly bland human in a really nice suit, you’re probably not looking at an investor. There may be plenty of exceptions, but it’s probably best to avoid those too. Especially if you’re not sure what you’re getting yourself into. Better safe than scammed.
👟 Sponsorship:
What is a Sponsorship?
A “sponsorship” means money given without needing it back, and no expected investment return like an investor would demand. Sponsorships usually come when you’re famous, like the shoe collaborations we all love.
Is Leballoo Talking About a Sponsorship?
❌ No – this funding model doesn’t fit exactly what Leballoo is pitching. Just to be clear, sponsorships are not a thing you will likely encounter if you’re in a position where you find something like Leballoo’s pitch appealing. By the time you are in the running for a sponsorship deal, you’ll be a world-recognized brand, that other brands will want to associate themselves with to share markets and audiences and mutually benefit from one unified marketing endeavor. If you’re not already an established brand, there’s no potential benefit that a sponsor could gain from sponsoring you. So be cautious of anyone offering sponsorships since it’s unrealistic for companies to freely give money without a true investor relationship, which always includes clear plans for profit-sharing – clear plans which you, the recipient, are expected to provide.
Can Sponsors Fund an Artist’s Career?
❌ Not really. In the music industry, sponsorships are rare, at least in the way that Leballoo is implying sponsorship. They happen all the time with small brand collaborations, but are rare in terms of funding major career moves. While they happen often enough that they’ve become an expected part of any 360 deal via a record label, sponsorships are less attributed to the music industry and more commonly seen in sports, where brands pay athletes to promote their athletic-adjacent products (like an Olympic runner promoting Gatorade, for instance).
🎓 Scholarships:
What is a Scholarship?
Scholarships are generally going to be similar to the context they’re most often used in, which is with college funds. These are charitable donations essentially, and they are awarded based on merit. To determine merit, a process is needed to establish how “deserving” you are – requiring an application process. If anyone can join, sign up, or take part – it’s not a true scholarship.
Is Leballoo Talking About a Scholarship?
❌ No. Leballoo has no vetting process, no application process, and no defined set of criteria that an artist has to meet in order to be gifted with the scholarship funds. It’s not free money – it’s a reward for excellence. Scholarships are merit-based, so not everyone qualifies. Leballoo’s lack of a vetting process makes his offer clearly not a scholarship.
Can Scholarships Fund an Artist’s Career?
❌ Not that I’ve ever heard of. There are programs like MusiCares and H3 which offer emergency aid and temporary support to musicians and artists in crisis, but those participants – again – have to qualify to receive these gifts. If there’s no qualification process, it’s simply not a real thing. I would not count on a program giving scholarships to independent artists which are generous enough to fund an entire career, which would easily require a six figure “scholarship fund” – which is quite a big ask, even for the most charitable programs out there. There is also a lot of scams floating around under the term “scholarship” so use good judgment before proceeding with any application processes. If you’re ever in doubt, use our report form to inquire about the program, and we will look into it for you.
Marketing “Plan”:
Leballoo’s so-called marketing plan is laughably simplistic and shows a fundamental lack of understanding of digital marketing. They claim that by simply signing up for their service, they will “blow you up” and generate millions of streams. However, their plan lacks concrete steps, targeting strategies, or any real marketing tactics.
Even with a $200 ad budget for 20 days at Meta’s lowest campaign budget of $10 per day, you would generate only a small number of streams. I cannot imagine a version of this where Leballoo has highly refined, thoughtful targeting. I’m sure they use absurdly broad interest targets, such as “music,” if they even run ads at all.
Assuming they did though, with the algorithmic learning curve and with what I can only assume would be lackluster creatives, these campaigns would probably result in only 15-30 streams per day at that budget, which is no where near enough to hit one million streams in your lifetime, let alone in time-frame promised by Leballoo.
Victim’s Report:
In fact, those who fell for the scam report that there was no evidence that Leballoo actually ran ads, and most of these artists have nothing to show for it. Those who did get a sudden burst of streams for their “marketed” songs report widely that their songs were subsequently removed from Spotify, which can only mean they were getting mostly bot streams.
Bots are cheap. A lot cheaper than running ads to snag real human attention. So it doesn’t surprise me that Leballoo would either skip town with the money, or spend a small fraction of it on bot streams and then skip town with the rest.
The artist is left broke, having at least one less song on Spotify than when they started.
One artist I spoke with, who I will call Jane, said that all of her songs were either removed, or they were left on Spotify by returned to <1000 streams (all her streams were removed by Spotify) and that she had to start over completely, which – even a year later – she has not had the heart to try and tackle yet.
Why This Business Model Wouldn’t Work:
Spotify pays approximately $0.004 per stream. So, if Leballoo or The Falcon Agency promises you 1 million streams, here’s the breakdown:
- 1 million streams = approximately $4,000 in royalties.
- If they take 10% of that, that’s only $400.
- There’s no way they can justify that 10% as covering the cost of their “funding,” which raises the question: where is the money coming from? It certainly doesn’t come from your streaming revenue.
Even if you hit a million streams in one month (which is highly unlikely), the company would barely break even. This leads us to believe their claims are simply not grounded in reality, and they are likely preying on artists’ dreams to extract what little money they can.
Avoiding the Scam
If you’re an independent artist, steer clear of offers like these. Always verify the legitimacy of any company claiming to offer sponsorships or funding. True sponsorships or investments are well-documented and transparent, and they come from companies or individuals with clear track records.
Always be wary of any entity that asks for personal information or upfront costs without delivering concrete results.
And remember, companies that might be using shortcuts like bots should be absolutely avoided – not only do they damage your reputation, but artificial streams could also get your music removed from streaming platforms entirely. Real growth is possible.
Final Thoughts:
There are no easy ways to get where you’re trying to go, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Work hard, be smart, and stay vigilant. It will happen eventually if you’re persistent in your pursuit, and cautious when it comes anything that feels easier than it should be to achieve your dreams.
Get the Facts, Courtesy of Affirm
This section includes information and linked resources about Affirm.
You can click the links provided to learn more.
✍🏻 When it comes to financing and payment options in the music industry, it’s essential to separate legitimate services from potential scams. Recently, there has been growing concern over companies like The Falcon Agency and Leballoo, who have been misusing financing platforms like Affirm to mislead artists. Here’s what you need to know, directly from Affirm, to avoid falling for these deceptive practices.
Does Affirm Offer Sponsorships or Partnerships for Artists?
Affirm has never had a partnership or sponsorship program designed specifically for music artists in the way these companies claim. Affirm does partner with businesses – such as artist merchandise stores or concert ticket platforms – to offer pay-over-time options for eligible consumers at their online checkout, but it does not sponsor or fund music careers.
🔗 To learn more about how Affirm partners with merchants,
click here.
How Does Affirm Work for Consumers?
Every time a consumer wants to use Affirm, they must apply for a loan directly through Affirm at the point of checkout. This is done by selecting Affirm as the payment option at checkout, and from there, Affirm assesses the consumer’s ability to repay the loan. If approved, the consumer can select from a variety of payment options that best suit them.
🔗 To see how consumers can use Affirm, click here.
Is a Merchant Allowed to Apply for a Loan on Behalf of a Consumer?
Absolutely not. It is strictly against Affirm’s Terms of Service for any merchant to take out a loan on a consumer’s behalf. Each consumer is responsible for applying for and repaying their own loan, making it important to ensure that any payment arrangements are legitimate and adhere to Affirm’s guidelines.
🔗 For more on Affirm’s Terms of Service, click here.
Has Affirm Ever Partnered with The Falcon Agency or Leballoo?
No. Affirm has no association with The Falcon Agency or Leballoo, and these businesses appear to be deceptive and predatory. In response to scams like these, Affirm has measures in place to block any merchant that violates their policies.
🔗 Learn more about how Affirm protects consumers from fraudulent behavior here.
Protecting Your Personal Data
Affirm will never ask for personal information through a third party, nor will they contact you asking for sensitive data like PINs or passcodes. If you receive any such requests, it’s a red flag that you may be dealing with a scam.
🔗 For more tips on how to protect your personal data,
visit this link.
Stay in the loop,
– Music Scam Alert Staff
don’t get duped.
Leave a Reply to 3hunnaCancel reply