My bias should appear obvious. I will first and foremost say, I have never formally worked with Green Kite “Records”. I know bands and have talked to bands that have. They offered my band a slot on Warped Tour once…but first we had to PAY an agent to watch us. Yeah….no.
I do not lay claim to all the knowledge about this company, but I will tell you what I do know:
They are not a record label. Only 2 bands have been “signed” by Green Kite – one of the bands is the owner Kerry’s son – weird right? And BOTH are conveniently “on hiatus” – where is this label?
This company will specifically message young, emerging artists, posing as a record label. “I think this song _____ is great, I’d love to send it to _____ of our A&R team”
They will schedule a call with you, without you requesting it. Some bands, take the call, because hey, it’s a record label. (it’s not a record label!)
You will conveniently be deferred to their mentorship program. This mimics something called bait and switch- an illegal marketing technique. They make you think you have potential to be signed, then switch out what their services are really intended to be.
After the call or audition, they will say “hey you’re great, but we think you need work before we’re ready to sign you, how about our “mentorship program?”. (Read more: http://www.greenkiterecords.com/mentorship.html#&panel1-3) The website says “The goal of this program is to ready the bands to the level of acceptance from either a major or indie label”. But wait, I thought YOU were a label?
They will proceed to take percentages from your shows and give you advice for the low, low price of $200-$300/month. Some band may pay more or less. Sure, managers have to take a percentage right? Yes. But they are not a management company, they are a mentorship program. If you are ready for a manager, spend the time seeking out a legitimate one.
****I know for a fact they message hundreds of bands. Think even if 20 bands paid $200-$300 a month. $250 x 20 = $5000 a month. $60,000 a year. Maybe they fool 40 bands and she is making six figures. Sounds like these bands are AT LEAST paying her rent.****
You should hire her son. If you want to record, you are told to hire Kerry’s son, the producer. If you need a sound guy, you are told to hire Kerry’s son, the sound guy. You get the idea.
Keep the money in the family. If you want to play their shows in Arizona you either: buy on to a show guaranteeing ticket sales OR take a mall gig where she takes 20% and you pay her son half your earnings to do sound.
***IF you are seeing a pattern here, so am I. I suspect the whole thing was started as a revenue driver for her son’s band (I know, there he is again.) ColdFusion. (www.facebook.com/coldfusionband)***
IF you think I’m attacking a friendly, family business, I’m sorry. My goal is not to defame – I’ll admit, I used the word “scam” in the title to get people to pay attention. I am addressing this publicly out of concern for young, talented artists. (11 one star reviews should also back up my point.) Sadly in this industry, you need to be careful. People will lie to you to appear to be something they are not.
IF you are a band just starting out and you need help. Please reach out to me anytime. I’ll give you all the knowledge I have, and if I can’t answer your question, I’ll gladly direct you to someone who can. And I’d love to refer you to a band in your region so you can learn and grow together.
David Kleinebreil
dkleineb@asu.edu
http://www.facebook.com/davidkleinebreil
Disclaimer: My advice does not cost hundreds of dollars a month.
Also, if you have screenshots or an experience you’d like to share, you can email me.Anything shared will be done so anonymously and only with your permission.
There's No Money in Music 
I am looking at this place to apply for an internship. Bad idea? I guess I won’t learn anything? Do you know how many employees there are? I don’t want to apply if I’m only working un-paid to help her son’s band … LOL
I think it would be worth your time to pursue an internship with a legitimate record label if that’s the career you want to pursue. You can also get paid internships!
Thinking of doing their internship but they require to fund raise on your own. Do you think this is a scam how they make money? Any thoughts?
Most likely. Trying to source money and using a friendly phrase of “fundraising”.
“Green Kite Records” In 2016 my band was contacted, and given the conference call… (and we were on the phone with the man who contacted us as well as 2 other “A&R” people from some label) They loved us and our music..(and could name our songs and knew who the members of the band were) some side talk then down to business….and they wanted to know our age… as a band we were too old for their business model.. (17 to 27yrs old only) our singer however was still within range, they asked if she would be interested in going solo and tour with a pro band of the same age group, she wasn’t interested. So.. they then asked if we would like to license our music with them and allow their artists to record our songs and we declined. They apologized for the inconvenience… and said if the model changes or if we changed our minds about the music to contact the guy (can’t remember his same) who found us… on a side note… the woman from the conference call tried to recruit us again last year except she was working with Rehegoo music..(only discovered this after some research) They seemed professional on the phone.. and they were all business.. and weren’t interested once our ages were revealed. Are they real? No idea… but it definitely seemed real enough… also the guy from Green Kite Records was “scouting” for another Label and not G.K.R. and the conference call was not with G.K.R. but he stayed on the line during the call.. It didn’t feel like a bait and switch and nothing was offered…