Forums > Music: Non-Prince > pledge music goes bankrupt and artists lose all the funding given by fans.
Thread started 07/08/19 6:07pm
JoeBala
pledge music goes bankrupt and artists lose all the funding given by fans.
This is so sad. Diane Birch lost all her funding for her new record.
https://m.facebook.com/st...3151215305
This happened two months ago and today is the first I hear of this. If this was posted before I apologize.
https://pitchfork.com/the...llions/amp
[Edited 7/8/19 18:11pm]
Just Music-No Categories-Enjoy It!
Reply #1 posted 07/08/19 6:36pm
whitechocolate
brotha
OMG...how AWFUL is THIS?! I almost contributed funds to Pledge Music for the next S.O.S. Band album. Glad I changed my mind.
Hungry? Just look in the mirror and get fed up.
Cinny
This is the reality of any record deal: Major investment into recording music, photography and video before a project is even released HOPING to make it back.
Welp, if you pledged money to sponsor a future project, it's still you that lost, not the artist.
This gal could go ahead and create whatever she wants but she needs an album sleeve at very least which probably requires some professional photography and stylist.
P was right about that slave shit.
I never got a chance to support Diane's pledge and glad I didn't. I did fund her last effort though. I guess something was telling me not to and I glad I didn't. Hopefully she can do it with another company or just release it on bandcamp or something.
[Edited 7/12/19 16:40pm]
lastdecember
This was happening for a bit now, got a long message from singer/songwriter indie artist Anna Nalick who did a long campaign through Pledge for her 2017 album "At Now" but ironically this is the third time she has been screwed, once after her "Breathe" song was a hit and the label wanted another single, and then created a fan/made type video, she complained about it and told them to pull it by they not only pulled the fan made video, they pulled her song of radio which was rising quickly so she disappeared literally, Second was a recent issue of identity theft, HUGE amount of stolen $, then last but not least was this. Now this is not so much the platform going bankrupt, its more about them never delivering the money pledged, they are theives pretty much, a lot of off shore "accounts" in this fund raising platform, so basically everything Anna did she had to fund out of pocket and never got paid for, basically the last few years she has been touring all over the states mostly east coast doing smaller venues, meet and greets to keep the cash flow to stay alive, she joked at a receent show that she has her friends streaming "Breathe" 10,000 times so she can buy groceries, sounds funny, but honestly thats about 10,000 streams will get you if you are lucky.
"We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F
Cinny said:
Actually the artists in some of these cases lost depending on where they were with projects, as I mentioned in my post hearing and speaking with singer/songrwriter Anna Nalick she had to pay out of pocket to do her record, and the funding never got to her and also the giveaways that most of the aritsts do for pledge amounts Anna was doing these art creative things for fans and that also came out of her pocket, money never found its way to her. Which is why I think the term "bankrupt" is misleading here becuase Pledge was not paying people what they were pledged and simply finally got caught and now anyone with something in production its just lost
SoulAlive
Sheila E. and George Clinton used this method to get their last albums completed and released,if I'm not mistaken.Just shows you how difficult it is for veteran artists to get new music out there.
Boo fucking hoo.
If you saw a veteran artist's royalty statements, you would wonder why they weren't all independent.
You see there is a difference in veterans royalty statements we are not talking Elton or billy Joel or Lionel Richie or u2 etc....Shelia e by no means I consider a paid artist she's a traveling working musician big difference she has never even had a hit outside prince so I doubt much royalty is coming in, and others that have done pledge albums, culture club I think and some others most don't even own their stuff so their royalty checks are below minimum wage hourly money. And as far as getting new music out there, listen to Eddie Trunk on this subject, because he has been saying this for over a decade and I can't believe that people on this forum still talk about sales of reissued prince albums. Artists putting out new music especially older artists fans care for about two weeks and then it's gone, it's like at a show when an artist plays a new song that's code for go take a piss to half the crowd.
dianebirch
Putting the final touches on songs as I prepare to finish recording the album next week in Wales at @monnowvalleystudio ! Yes it's true and rather surreal after so much time in a holding pattern. It seems my test in life is patience. What is it here to teach me? And how do we hold the love for something when it often feels like a light flickering in and out? Perhaps sometimes it's less about what you create and more about how hard you're prepared to fight for it even when you feel like a stranger to your own art. Full understanding of one's creation is maybe a luxury not intended for the creator. All my life I've followed an unknown flame and the only times I've gone astray is when I've questioned my value to this world. Perhaps the stall, the Pledge money lost, comes as a gentle reminder that I'm not here to take but simply here to give and until I give that part up, I will always be fighting the wrong battle. So I sit here in my familiar confusion only sure of one thing. My unwavering dedication to my craft no matter how many times I get it wrong. I have many angels by my side and always humbled by the doors that open when I finally open my eyes. In gratitude and servitude #yourstruly
purplethunder3
JoeBala said:
This is so sad. Diane Birch lost all her funding for her new record. https://m.facebook.com/st...3151215305 This happened two months ago and today is the first I hear of this. If this was posted before I apologize. https://pitchfork.com/the...llions/amp - - - - - [Edited 7/8/19 18:11pm]
I just heard about this in a podcast last night--was so surprised...and saddened. It was a great idea ruined by greed and lack of oversight.
"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato
Reply #12 posted 08/04/19 12:02am
Kelli Ali was funding a movie and soundtrack album and is now struggling to make it happen. She made fans aware of this a few months ago.
Another artist who has gone independent:
https://www.musicbusiness...onsters-2/
So hard to read how they treat artist on all these labels 😢