Qrates has struggled to fulfill vinyl orders since July
Qrates, which many artists and indie labels have used to release vinyl records based on consumer demand, is struggling to fulfill orders and has stopped accepting new projects.
Qrates offers an end-to-end solution for short-run vinyl on-demand, which includes no-risk manufacturing and shipping. Some independent distributors affiliated with Qrates and encouraged artists to utilize its services.
But, according to artists who used the platform in 2023, vinyl orders dating back to July have not been fulfilled.
“I’m a relatively small artist who has several projects through them, and I have fans/customers that have been waiting way too long to receive their orders (oldest pending order is from July),” writes Stickers and Toast on Reddit, “I have almost 200 supporters waiting for their orders. I have talked to other artists, and they are in the same position. Customer support has (been) unhelpful and has blamed the warehouse for the delay and later changed it to a ‘hacker breach’ excuse. I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s hard to believe they’re reasoning as it has changed over the last few months.”
That post prompted another artist to check their orders on Qrates. “I just found out about this and went to check the shipments on my projects from the last three months, and none of them have shipped, they wrote. “It’s the same pressing / project that I created a few years ago, and in years previous, I’ve had no issues.”
Some commenters likened Qrates’ problems to the messy 2019 demise of the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic, which left artists responsible for more than $9 million in fan orders.
Artists on Twitter reported similar problems dating back to the summer.
Artists beware! Do NOT use Qrates for your vinyl needs. Here’s my Trust Pilot review. There’s a bunch of horror stories on there as well as in the comments on Qrates IG page pic.twitter.com/5n1KSmJFvb
— Brittany Ann Tranbaugh (@b_thefolksinger) January 6, 2024
Qrates’ Response
So far, Qrates‘ only comment on the ongoing problem has been a banner at the top of its homepage:
“We are currently suspending the acceptance of new project starts due to maintenance work to stabilize the service.“
Hypebot has reached out to Qrates for comment and will post updates.
H/T: DMN
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.
