This week music merchandiser Bandwear announced expansion of its crowdfunding platform and an offer to help musicians affected by the PledgeMusic collapse. Included is a staggered payout system similar to one which PledgeMusic reportedly abused by funding daily operations with money intended for artists and labels.
“we understand many in the industry are nervous”
Much like with PledgeMusic, Bandwear payments are staggered: 40% paid 30 days after campaign launch, 30% paid when the bulk of fulfillment starts and 30% paid when all items are fulfilled.
But artists and labels concerned with a repeat of the PledgeMusic disaster have nothing to fear with Bandwear, says VP of Sales Jim Cocke. “Bandwear has been in business for 20 years and has never had an issue of non-payment to our clients,” says Cocke. “With that said, we understand many in the industry are nervous about crowdfunding in light of the PledgeMusic issues.”
“Candidly as a long time partner with PledgeMusic, there are arguably few more negatively affected than Bandwear through this whole ordeal,” he continued. “So we understand the uneasiness in the industry at the moment.”
Exploring Additional Levels Of Accountability & Insurance
In a effort to ease industry fears, Bandwear is currently “exploring and working toward implementing additional levels of accountability and insurance to provide added assurance for our customers,” according to Cocke.
Bandwear has already helped a number of artists, managers and labels reconcile their PledgeMusic campaigns in the wake of the collapse: “We are offering to ship items at no profit to Bandwear, manufacture any merch, CD, or Vinyl needed for the campaign at significant discounts, as well as rebuild campaigns and Online Stores via our platform at no cost so artists can continue to generate revenue and offer their music and merch to fans, as well as a number of other creative solutions to help in each specific circumstance.”
“Our sincere goal here is to help artists in anyway we can thru this crisis, and provide a trusted platform moving forward so artists and fans can continue to benefit from Crowdfunding, Presales, and Online E-Commerce,” Cocke concludes.