It was the story that blew up YouTube for more than four months, Instagram guitarist/influencer Giacomo Turra was exposed for not only stealing and reselling music, but also for being a fake advanced guitarist. Now, his victims have come together for a YouTube jam session that has blown up and possibly paid them back for some of their losses.
Let's break this down from the beginning. Giacomo Turra is an Instagram guitarist that rose to internet fame by posting videos of different songs and solos that he composed showcasing his advanced guitar playing ability. At his height Turra had over 600,000 followers on Instagram and another 810,000 on TikTok, which made him one of the biggest internet musicians today. Through the platform and eventually his own website, Turra built a huge following, selling not only his compostions, but his tabs (guitar charts used for players to learn how to play songs and solos) as well. Turra was generating a small fortune and on top of that playing live shows where fans came to see him play. Turra got so big, that even Rick Beato, YouTube's favorite music teacher, invited him on his channel for an interview.
But, that's when the cracks on this musical genius began to appear. Beato's interview was never posted but it was ultimately revealed by Rick that when he did get to meet Turra face to face and saw him actually play, he came to the realization that Turra couldn't really play guitar, or at least not nearly as well as he made himself out to play in his videos. The two went their separate ways and Beato didn't out him, but other YouTube musicians did begin to look into Turra and found out that there was even more to the story.
1. Turra not only couldn't really play what he was playing in the videos, but he was miming his performances and even using editing trickery to make it look like he could play as well as he sounded.
2. Many of his compositions and most of his solos were actually takes from other internet guitarists that had less followers than Turra.
3. The music and tabs that he was selling, were made up of the stolen music and although he promised to compensate those other guitarists for their work, he never did.
This not only made Turra a fake guitar prodigy, but a music thief as well. The internet exploded, from the first revelation of what took place by bassist Danny Sapko, but also by fellow musicians and influencers, including Charles Berthoud, a Berkley Graduate who has made a name for himself on YouTube, much the same way that Turra did, except he actually composed and played his music.
This lead to an all out burning of Turra name in effigy all across YouTube, and massive backlash on Instagram and TikTok. Needless to say Turra was exposed and his numbers fells like a stone, and now the very musicians he stole from have not only gained followers and prominence from the revelation, but now they have gathered on a jam supplied by Berthoud called "Slapocalypse Reborn", in celebration of their acknowledgement. The song features most of the guitarists that Turra stole from, and also includes Sapko who exposed him. The song is for sale on all platforms, so if you love great guitar play by actual guitarists who can play, then give the video a view and stream the single.