"LA Metalhead Faked an Online Fanbase to Book a UK Tour No One Attended"

Spin:

Jered Threatin is a metalhead from Los Angeles who sings and plays every instrument in the one-mand hard-rock band Threatin. Despite the project’s thousands of Facebook likes and YouTube views, you probably haven’t heard of it. That’s because Threatin faked his entire online fanbase in order to book a tour of the UK and Europe. A tour that, unsurprisingly, no one is showing up to.

Bands exaggerating numbers or buying Facebook likes is hardly a new phenomenon. But MetalSucks reports that Threatin took things a bit further — lying about ticket sales, buying Facebook likes, event RSVPs, and YouTube views, faking live footage of “packed” shows in LA, and posing as a nonexistent promoter to con venues into booking him to play. It worked. He hired a backing band and set off on tour.