PledgeMusic ‘Unlikely’ to Pay Artists Following Bankruptcy

Musicians are “unlikely” to receive money pledged by fans via PledgeMusic following the company’s dissolution. Earlier this year, PledgeMusic was ordered by a judge to be liquidated; a move to pay off £7.4 million of debt.

PledgeMusic was riding high from 2015-2017, securing funding campaigns with acts like Motley Crue, Ministry, Sum 41, Papa Roach, Hellyeah and Metallica’s Robert Trujillo. In early 2019, Queensryche and L7 began speaking out against PledgeMusic, claiming they’d been lied to and scammed by the company.

"It is with collective heavy hearts that we are writing to inform you that we have all been bamboozled by the people at PledgeMusic," Queensryche said on Facebook. "The platform informed some people that they were having money troubles, but we have now also been informed that they do not have the monies that were pledged to Queensryche. This means that [neither] manufacturing nor shipments can be fulfilled."

In their own statement, L7 wrote, “To give a brief summary for those not familiar with the Pledge Music scam, in a nutshell, the funds that many bands and their supporters raised through the crowdfunding platform were absconded by the company with zero accountability and unreturned legal appeals. Their site is no longer live and they are filing for bankruptcy protection in the U.K. It’s been a disappointing, time consuming, and expensive mess for all artists and fans involved with this Pledge Music FIASCO.”

According to a statement obtained by Variety, a bank-appointed receiver for PledgeMusic’s liquidation reveals the situation artists who teamed with PledgeMusic now find themselves in.

“I do not anticipate that I will need to contact you again because there is unlikely to be a payment to creditors in this case,” concludes the report from official receiver S. Rose. “If that changes I will contact you.”

Various artists have threatened to take legal action against the company, but PledgeMusic’s legal advisors “indicated that Pledge monies were not trust monies.” This means despite fans’ intensions to pledge their money to musicians, they were legally pledging money to the company.

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