Big youtuber Glenn usually reviews music gear, does tutorials on how to record guitars, drums etc, but just lately has been reviewing people’s bands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IFjVdzVyWs
The issue however is that he asks up to $50 to “consider a review” with still no guarantee of said review. These streams seem to now rake it in, with onscreen “donations” popping up from bands every couple of minutes. You can imagine lots of small and struggling bands clamouring to get the money to get their chance.
However is this exploitation for exposure?
I think if they do it right it’s not bad, this podcast I sometimes listen to ‘that one time on tour’ I think does a good job where they give a brief intro about the band then play a song before the show and it’s not really a review it’s just exposure. On the other hand I know a band that does those paid reviews all the time and they seem to like paying for it but I’m not sure if they do see any spike in new listeners because of it
Thats the thing, the audience is pretty much their peers. How is this benefiting them, they’re just spending money.