UK music trade organisations have come together to support UK musicians and businesses effected by the demise of crowdfunding and direct-to-fan platform PledgeMusic. But in the US, the music industry and trade groups have remained largely silent. To assess the damage left in the wake of PledgeMusic, a coalition of…
Category archives: Crowdfunding
Bandzoogle Adds Commission-Free Crowdfunding With Direct Payments To Artists [EXCLUSIVE]
Music website platform Bandzoogle has added crowdfunding to its commission-free sales toolkit. The move comes just weeks after crowdfunder PledgeMusic left musicians owed hundreds of thousands of dollars already paid by fans and many more without a platform to crowdfund their next project. Now in its 15 year, Bandzoogle powers…
Was PledgeMusic Lining Their Own Pockets?
In this latest chapter in the saga of the still-smoldering wreckage that is PledgeMusic, Mario Putzar examines some of the underlying causes that led up to the platform’s current state of crisis, many of them eerily similar to another music direct-to-fan platform (now also defunct), Sellaband. ____________________________ Op-ed by Mario…
The Day I Broke Into the PledgeMusic Office
I did something relatively gutsy and not entirely unprovoked, I broke into the offices of PledgeMusic. The following comes from Hattie Webb, yet another artist stiffed by PledgeMusic. On the evening of Friday 1st February 2019, I saw artists posting on…
Getting It Done: The Week In D.I.Y. & Indie Music
Doing our bit to help the music business’s independent self-starters out there, we this week offered tips and advice avoiding touring dead-ends, whether or not it’s worth rebranding yourself as an artist, how to make the most of social media marketing, and more. Avoid Dead Ends: 6 Tips For Touring…
TOP POSTS: This Week’s Most Read Posts On Hypebot
This week, the most popular and voraciously consumed articles to appear on Hypebot covered a statement from the board of PledgeMusic, why it’s no longer a major label world, a look at the biggest streamers of 2019 so far, and more! PledgeMusic Board Issues Statement It’s No Longer A Major…
It’s Not Just PledgeMusic — The Entire Crowdfunding Sector Is In Trouble
The global crowdfunding market is set to decline by 17% over the next three years, according to the recent projections. An in-depth market analysis now asserts that the crowdfunding model is in serious decline. But maybe that was obvious. Evidence of …
More Crowdfunding Trouble? Layoffs At Indiegogo, CEO Exits
The CEO of crowdfunder Indiegogo is exiting "for personal reasons" amid multiple reports of layoffs at the company. Former Reddit exec Andy Yang will takeover as Indiegogo CEO today. Both Indiegogo and Kickstarter have been criticized by users after some crowdfunding campaigns failed to deliver promised products. More recently, music…
Here’s a List of Every PledgeMusic Board Member — Past and Present
Who’s on the mysterious PledgeMusic board of directors? These guys. Earlier this week, the PledgeMusic board of directors broke its silence with a terse statement on the PledgeMusic site. The statement emerged as investigations and potentially crimin…
5 Crowdfunding Myths Exposed
While many artists view crowdfunding as their ticket to music industry success, recent events like the PledgeMusic train wreck may have them second guessing the concept. That said, crowdfunding can still be effective if you know what you’re doing. Here, we look at the truth behind five commonly believed crowdfunding…