Written by Ambre Montespan - Updated on Jan 28, 2026
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Are you thinking about buying a tongue drum soon? Have you noticed that the Karma Drum brand has an offer that looks appealing? Are you wondering how reliable this company really is? Can you trust it, or is it a scam? Is the quality of the instruments they sell actually there? Are there any Karma Drum reviews?
Personally, I own more than 20 tongue drums from various brands, and I play them regularly. Having already placed an order on the Karma Drum website, I’m able to share my opinion and conclusions about this seller.
The Karma Drum store uses sales tactics that can come across as misleading, so you should stay cautious and pay close attention before placing an order.
By reading this short article, you’ll discover:
- Everything you need to know about Karma Drum
- The questionable business practices used by this percussion instrument seller
- My experience with this online store
This will give you all the information you need to decide whether purchasing a steel tongue drum from this online retailer is a good idea for you.
Now, let’s dive right into the heart of the matter.
Who is Karma Drum?
When you make your first online purchase from a seller, it’s crucial to build a strong, lasting relationship of trust. This is especially true if you’re considering buying a tongue drum or any other item. It’s always a good idea to review the legal notices or terms and conditions of sale, which should be clearly displayed and accessible to all visitors, often in the website footer. For any e-commerce site, regulations require that the seller be clearly identified, with information such as the company name, a physical address, a registration number with the relevant authorities, a phone number, a VAT number, and an email address. This legal obligation applies to all merchants, including those based abroad compared to their customer base.
In the case of Karma Drum, it’s very simple: you won’t find any legal information whatsoever, except for an email address. Not only is that illegal under the French Consumer Code, but it also means it’s impossible for a visitor to truly know who they’re dealing with. Looking at company registrations, there is no company named Karma Drum in France or Europe. Furthermore, no trademark has been registered under the name Karma Drum at the time of writing.
Finally, running the website karma-drum.com through France VĂ©rif, an e-commerce scam detector, reveals two concerning details. First, Karma Drum was created on December 28, 2022. Second, the country linked to Karma Drum is the Bahamas, a tax haven, which is far from reassuring.
What business practices does this tongue drum seller employ?
I first visited the Karma Drum website in February 2023. At that time, the store was heavily promoting the idea that their instruments were specially designed for children facing challenges, especially those with autism and attention deficit disorders. Here’s what it said:
On top of that, Karma Drum backed up its claims by saying that a recent study had been conducted by the University of Lyon in France. According to this study, significant improvements had been observed in children with autism through the use of a Karma Drum.
Because I’m particularly interested in music therapy, I contacted the University of Lyon to obtain the full study, as it could have helped a friend of mine who has a child with autism. I was surprised to learn that Karma Drum had never been the subject of any study in Lyon. No study from that institution has ever looked at the behavior of autistic children playing the tongue drum. It’s possible the University of Lyon reached out to Karma Drum, because this completely false insert was removed shortly afterward and replaced with the one below.
I found no trace of the “recent study” mentioned by Karma Drum. Furthermore, there is no Dr. Marie Dupont who is a music therapist according to the French Association of Music Therapy. All of this makes me think Karma Drum is claiming credibility from so-called scientific studies in order to target parents of children with behavioral challenges, which I find especially reprehensible.
Additionally, Karma Drum seems to list every instrument with a permanent discount, showing a crossed-out “regular” price. The 11-note model I was interested in was listed for $69.90 instead of $99.90. Several months later, the promotion was still exactly the same, even though I checked the price regularly. This suggests that Karma Drum may be running fake promotions to make it look like you’re getting a great deal. Such practices have been illegal since 2019 under the EU “Omnibus” directive designed to protect consumers.
The customer reviews featured by the Karma Drum store are also troubling. Here’s what you can see on the brand’s website:
In the reviews displayed in the left-hand column, one person claims to have owned the Karma Drum for two years, while another says they received it last Christmas. How is that possible when the Karma Drum website has only existed since December 28, 2022? I’ll let you decide. In my opinion, some, or possibly all, of these reviews could be fake. The easiest way to see what buyers really think is to read the reviews left on Karma Drum’s Facebook page. Here’s an excerpt:
The least we can say is that the comments are almost unanimous. Either customers never receive their orders, or they arrive after more than three weeks, which is surprising for a company that claims to ship from warehouses located in Paris.
Finally, and this is almost a minor detail, but on Karma Drum’s sales pages you can see a man with glasses on a blue background playing with drumsticks. It makes it look like he enjoys playing the Karma Drum.
In reality, that’s not the case. The person in this photograph is the American YouTuber LOOTd, whose concept is testing various unusual objects. He’s not actually a musician, and the tongue drum he’s testing is definitely not a Karma Drum. On top of that, this creator has been inactive for over a year. I remain convinced he never gave permission for his image to appear on the Karma Drum website. You can find the original video below:
What was my experience with this musical instrument distributor?
Personally, I can’t give you a true review of the Karma Drum itself, because everything mentioned above really put me off, and I was simply worried I’d never receive my tongue drum. However, I can only recommend that you do not order from this store. In my view, there’s a clear intent to sell at any cost by assigning false qualities to the instrument, all while using children with disabilities as marketing, which I find completely unacceptable.
Choose a reliable, well-rated professional for your next musical instrument
Buying a tongue drum is a significant investment, ranging from tens to hundreds of euros, so it’s important not to jump on the first attractive offer you see. Reading reviews about a brand is a crucial part of the process. You now know my personal opinion on Karma Drum, which is solely my own. I hope this article has given you a detailed look at this seller and helped you make an informed decision.
However, as you’ve probably noticed, it’s rare to find stores that are 100% trustworthy. That’s why I recommend the French company Instruments du Monde, known for the quality of its products and its excellent customer service. They offer more than 100 models of this percussion instrument, including a remarkable pentatonic gemstone tongue drum that’s excellent for children.
Discover this superb tongue drum now by clicking on the image below:
If you’re interested in other tongue drum brands on the market, I especially recommend reading my review of Exodrum, where you’ll learn whether that brand is trustworthy. And if you’d like to learn more about the tank drum, check out my article that breaks down everything you need to know about this percussion instrument.
