PledgeMusic has issued a statement attempting to calm the fears of the growing number of artists who are experiencing late payment or non-payment after their crowdfunding campaigns were completed. “It is our expectation that payments will be brought current within the next 90 days’” the company said in a statement.
45,000 artists using the platform have been paid $100 million, according to PledgeMusic.
Acknowledging the delays, PledgeMusic promised to do better. Citing cost cutting and “potential” new partners, the company has an “expectation that payments will be brought current within the next 90 days.”
Same As It Ever Was
Artists could be forgiven for questioning the veracity PledgeMusic’s promises.
Last summer, the crowdfunder promised to fix the problem, “blaming rapid growth” and “externally imposed transfer of the company’s payment processing systems.”
3 Months later, new artists came forward with more recent payment issues.
In October, CEO Dominic Pandiscia stepped down, co-founder Malcolm Dunbar was elevated to Global President and COO, to build on the success of the UK and European division. Co-Founder Jayce Varden also returned and Scott Graves has re-joined as President of the North American territory. Members of the finance team were replaced, as well. PledgeMusic also began working with Nashville-based Lyric Financial to expand working capital and improve payable processing.
But another 100 days laterm and the problems still persists
Today’s full PledgeMusic statement:
“PledgeMusic has always been committed to serving artist and fan communities. It was established by artists and was born of a need to change the way in which the traditional music industry operated. It was designed to help artists and their teams at every level, and we believe that PledgeMusic has become an essential part of the evolving landscape of the music industry.
“these delays to artists are unacceptable”
“That said, we deeply regret that recently we have not lived up to the high standards to which PledgeMusic has always held itself. We acknowledge that many artists have and continue to experience payment delays. These delays to artists are unacceptable — not only to them, but to us.
“Since its beginning, PledgeMusic has successfully serviced over 45K artists from emerging acts to some of the biggest names in the industry. We’ve supported 60 Grammy-nominated artists and helped springboard 100s of unsigned bands to successful careers. Our efforts have assisted over 375 artists with chart position on the Billboard Top 200. Our platform has provided close to $100M of revenue to its artist community.
“Mid 2017, new investors came into PledgeMusic with the goal of strengthening the company and improving the value proposition for artists and fans. After substantial investments in the business over the past 18 months, we believe we have made good progress to that end, but it hasn’t been enough. That said, the company has cut its operating expenses nearly in half over the past year. We’ve overhauled key parts of our financial and operating systems, while adding talent to our roster and making enhancements to the platform like our Vinyl Store, D2C artist store-fronting and our data analytics. While the company has made progress, we still haven’t reached our goals.
“in discussions with several strategic players”
PledgeMusic has been in discussions with several strategic players in the industry who have interest in the PledgeMusic platform. We are evaluating a number of transactions with those potential partners, and we plan to announce details of this in the next 60 days. It is our expectation that payments will be brought current within the next 90 days. We accept responsibility for the fact that we have been late on payments over the past year. PledgeMusic is working tirelessly on this issue, and we are asking our community for their continued support and patience.”