Complaint Review: Michael Louis Brittingham

Hi,

I'm a recording artist. Michael Louis Brittingham approached me on myspace in april 09, and invited me onto "A Closed Circle", his social network. Soon after, he made me an offer of half a million dollars of investment into the label I was setting up at the time.

As we chatted, he also offered me an artist management contract, to become my label CEO, and a merger with an LA based label.

It soon emerged that he did not have the money at all, and although he claimed to be coming to London to close an $80 million deal with a major UK bank, he began to ask me if my label had money available to fly him to London, and for "an office and modest living quarters" and to "pay minimum living expenses" "until we get a substantial budget input, and/or I close my deal and invest from my end".

This seemed an extremely strange request from a man who describes himself as being a successful and wealthy entrepreneur, and many other things including "THE Music Producer" (see www.myspace.com/michaelbrittingham, and his other self moderated sites), and who was proposing to bring half a million dollars to my project. I said no.

He then tried to go one step further by asking that a wealthy friend of mine advance him $250'000 to put into the label, that he would repay at the closing of his next "big deal".

At that point I sent him a polite email to ask him to be in touch when the money was on the table, and that all matters concerning the label were out of his hands till then. I was still willing to be courteous and give him the benefit of the doubt, although a mail asking him if he thought I was a complete idiot, and to never to be in touch again would have been a more accurate reflection of my feelings.

I have not heard from him since.

A more complete explanation and links can be found at www.clientmichaelbrittingham.wordpress.com, which was posted following contact with people financially defrauded by Mr Brittingham, in order to help other people be aware of this person, and ask him for some answers.

Although I did not part with any money (or succumb to his persistent "romantic/sensual advances"), others have, and I wish to share what was attempted with me, in order to help keep others, maybe more vulnerable than me, safe. I have filed a report with the UK Metropolitan Police here in London.

Artists have a tough enough time without people like this wasting our time, energy and money.

Everything I post here is fully verifiable, I have all the correspondence, and the blog contains only allegations which we can already prove.

On his claims to be a music producer, I have been in the business 11 years and work with some of the biggest people in the industry. None of us have ever heard of him, nor can we find any band or artist who can credit Mr Brittingham for their success. Please come forward if you owe your musical success to him, as I am willing to rethink my opinion if I am mistaken.

I hope this is useful...