PledgeMusic Pays Fastball 50%, As Others Exit Platform

Last week, Bob Lefsetz brought the plight of the many artists that have not been getting paid on time by PledgeMusic for the last 6 months to a broader audience.  Now Fastball, Bob 's posters boys for PledgeMusic transgressions, report that they received a little over half of the money due them.

Fastball received a check from PledgeMusic on Friday for a little over half of the $20,000 owed to them.  "This was the first money we’ve gotten from them for this project," the band told Variety. " So it was definitely our being so vocal about it that prompted a quick response from them."

The fact that PledgeMusic did not pay 100% of the money due the the band, in an of itself seems telling. And not every artist managed by someone like industry veteran Ron Stone who has Bob Lefsetz on speed dial. 

More Artists Exit

Meanwhile some artists are pulling their projects off PledgeMusic or are avoiding launching new ones.  

Indie band TC&I, which includes former members of XTC, are among those pulling their campaign. "TC&I Withdraw all of their Product from sale until further notice," reads an announcement on the band's campaign page, which to their credit, Pledge has not taken down. "Because of TC&I’s dissatisfaction with Pledge music over these past months, we have taken the step of withdrawing all of our product from sale until further notice–thank you — Colin Moulding"

The Future

On social media and online, reaction has been mostly negative. But industry insiders are still hoping that the company can be saved, and not just so everyone gets paid. 

Several label and independent music marketers reached out to share how valuable a tool PledgeMusic is, not just for its crowdfunding tech,  but also for its unique ability to reach a large community of dedicated music fans. "No other platform offers that to indie musicians," said one.

But whether or not fans and artists will return to platform is far from certain.

Responding to a peice by musician, author and educator Martin Atkins encouraging patience while PledgeMusic worked out their problems, one commenter wrote: "Perhaps you are the kind of person who returns to the restaurants that have caused you to have food poisoning in the past. I don't."