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PledgeMusic may still be sold to a new owner, according to reports
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 23 April 2019
A potential buyer for PledgeMusic is still busy going through the process of due diligence, it has been reported. The troubled crowdfunding and pre-sales platform suspended artist payments in February, while it attempted to find a way to overcome financial difficulties, most likely through acquisition.
According to Hypebot, a number of people with knowledge of the situation have said that a potential buyer is still moving towards acquiring the company. However, the deal is taking longer than expected because that buyer has been discussing with record labels and management companies whether or not they would return to the platform after its high profile payment issues.
PledgeMusic admitted last October that it was experiencing financial problems, but said that it had made internal changes in order to overcome this. However, in January, after numerous artists complained of continued issues with receiving payments, the company said that it was still having difficulties.
The company’s founder Benji Rogers returned to advise on navigating a way forward. Meanwhile, artist payments were suspended. Money owed is still being withheld, causing significant problems for those artists who have completed their pre-order campaigns but not yet received the money. Many require this to manufacture physical releases and other items.
Those artists still waiting for payment have expressed concerns that there has been no news of late, speculating as to what that might mean. However, last week the co-founder of NoiseTrade, which was acquired by PledgeMusic in 2016, said on Twitter, in response to complaints about the ongoing problems from the band Jesus Jones: “Benji told me by text there is in fact a buyer going through due diligence. I trust him that that is taking place”.
Rogers has also posted the Hypebot story to his LinkedIn profile without comment, which would suggest that he believes a sale is still possible.
