Company:PledgeMusic

PledgeMusic

Type of site	Direct-to-fan music platform
Available in	English French German Japanese Spanish
Website	pledgemusic.com
Alexa rank	35,359 (Global, April 2017)
Commercial	Yes
Registration	Depends
Launched	August 2009 (2009-08)
Current status	Active

PledgeMusic is an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009, that facilitates musicians reaching out to their fanbase (termed Pledgers) to pre-sell, market, and distribute music projects including recordings, music videos, and concerts. Broadly speaking it bears some similarities to such platforms as ArtistShare, Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Patreon, RocketHub and Sellaband.

Features

PledgeMusic considers itself a direct-to-fan platform as opposed to a crowdfunding website. Features of PledgeMusic that distinguish it from other crowdfunding systems include that it:

• is solely focused on raising funds for musicians
• does not retain any ownership or rights to any music created through the platform
• encourages artists to include contributions to charity as part of their fundraising project
• absorbs all transaction processing costs involved in pledging on a project
• encourages artists to offer a wide range of incentives and exclusive content to pledgers
• does not process any funding transactions until the funding target is reached
• is international, accepting artists, projects and pledgers from all over the world
• allows pledger refunds

PledgeMusic allows two distinct types of campaigns: direct-to-fan and preorder. In direct-to-fan campaigns, fans are not charged until the project target is reached, at which point money is collected in an "artist account" that holds the money for disbursement to the intended recipients. If a target is not reached, fans are not charged. In preorder campaigns, fans are charged immediately, and the artist is paid directly upon project completion, much like traditional online retail.

Results

Success Rate

PledgeMusic is reported to have a 90% campaign success rate (higher than Kickstarter or Indiegogo), with most artists raising an average 140% of their goal.

Notable Artists Who Have Launched Campaigns on PledgeMusic

Campaign End Date	Artist	Project Type	Project Title	Label	References
2018	Men at Work	Album	Men at Work: You Better Take Cover (A tribute to Greg Ham)	PledgeMusic
July 2018	Willie Nile	Album	Children of Paradise	River House Records
2017	"Weird Al" Yankovic	Other	Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic	Legacy Recordings
Ongoing	Aly & AJ	EP	Ten Years	Aly & AJ Music, LLC
Ongoing	Erasure	Album	World Be Gone	Mute
March 2016?	Demon Hunter	Album	Outlive	Solid State Records
Ongoing	Marillion	Album	Fuck Everyone and Run	Intact/EarMusic
Ongoing	Culture Club	Album	Tribes	Different Man/Kobalt
October 2016	Sum 41	Album	"13 Voices"	Hopeless Records
Ongoing	Esmee Denters	Album	New EP	PledgeMusic
Ongoing	Christian Death	Album	The Root of All Evolution	PledgeMusic
Ongoing	Dweezil Zappa	Album		PledgeMusic
May 2015	Ash	Album	"Kablammo!"	Atomic Heart Records
Ongoing	Shayne Ward	Album	"Closer"	PledgeMusic
Ongoing	Macy Gray	Album	The Way	PledgeMusic
Ongoing	Plain White T's	Album	American Nights	PledgeMusic
Ongoing	Guster	Live Album		Nettwerk
Ongoing	Black Veil Brides	Album	"Black Veil Brides IV"	Universal/Republic
Ongoing	Unlocking the Truth	Debut EP		RED Associated Labels
Done	Erasure	Album	The Violet Flame	Mute
Ongoing	RX Bandits	Album	"Gemini, Her Majesty"	INgrooves
Ongoing	Echo & the Bunnymen	Album	"Meteorites"	429
Ongoing	Rufus Wainwright	Album	"Prima Donna"	Independent
Ongoing	Matt Pond	Album	"State of Gold"	BMG Rights Management
Ongoing	The Birthday Massacre	Album	"Superstition"	Metropolis
Ongoing	Chali 2na	EP	"Against The Current"	Independent
October 2015	The Zombies	Album	"Still Got That Hunger"	The End Records
September 2015	David Cook	Album	"Digital Vein"	Analog Heart Music / INgrooves
September 2015	Silversun Pickups	Album	"Better Nature"	New Machine Records
December 2014	Dexys	Album	"Nowhere Is Home"	Absolute Marketing and Distribution
December 2014	The Enemy	Album	"Dancing All Night"	Cooking Vinyl
November 2014	The Vines	Album	"Wicked Nature"	Wicked Nature
November 2014	Terri Clark	Album		Baretrack Records / EMI
November 2014	Weezer	Album	"Everything Will Be Alright in the End"	Universal/Republic
November 2014	Interpol	Album	"El Pintor"	PIAS Entertainment Group
October 2014	Mobb Deep	Album	"The Infamous Mobb Deep"	Infamous Records
October 2014	Antigone Rising	Album	"Whiskey & Wine (vol. 1 & 2)"	Independent
October 2014	Jack Strify	Album	"ILLUSION"	Independent
June 2014	SPONGE	Tour	Endless Summer Tour	Independent
June 2014	Sevendust	Album	"Time Travelers & Bonfires"	7Bros Records
June 2014	Peter Murphy	Album	"Mr. Moonlight Tour: 35 Years of Bauhaus"	Nettwerk
June 2014	K.Flay	Album	"Life As A Dog"	Independent
June 2014	Klaxons	Album	"Love Frequency"	RED
May 2014	The Clarks	Album	"Feathers & Bones"	Independent
May 2014	Lindsey Stirling	Album	"Shatter Me"	Lindseystomp
May 2014	Buzzcocks	Album	"The Way"	Cooking Vinyl
May 2014	Devin Townsend	Album	"Casualties of Cool"
May 2014	Peter Andre	Album	"Big Night"	Independent
April 2014	Blake Lewis	Album	"Portrait of a Chameleon"	INgrooves
April 2014	Steel Panther	Album	"All You Can Eat"	Kobalt
April 2014	The Babys	Album	"I'll Have Some Of That!"	All In Time Records
April 2014	Joan Osborne	Album	"Love and Hate"	Membran
April 2014	Dan Wilson	Album	"Love Without Fear"	Kobalt
March 2014	311	Album	"Stereolithic"	INgrooves
March 2014	Natives	Album	"Indoor War"	Transmission Recordings
March 2014	Kate Miller-Heidke	Album	"O Vertigo!"	Cooking Vinyl
March 2014	Tokyo Police Club	Album	"Forcefield"	Mom + Pop
March 2014	Stiff Little Fingers	Album	"No Going Back"	Rigid Digits
February 2014	The Presidents of the USA	Album	"Kudos to You!"	PUSA Inc.
February 2014	Reverend and The Makers	Album	"ThirtyTwo"	Cooking Vinyl
January 2014	The Hold Steady	EP	"The Unified Scene"	Razor & Tie
January 2014	The Rifles	Album	"None the Wiser"	Cooking Vinyl
January 2014	Hard-Fi	Album	"Hard-Fi: Best of 2004 – 2014"	Warner
December 2013	Flyleaf	Album	"Between The Stars"	Loud and Proud Records
November 2013	Mike Doughty	Album	"Circles, Super Bon Bon, and The Very Best Of Soul Coughing"	Independent
November 2013	Apocalyptica	Album	"Wagner Reloaded"	RCA
November 2013	Umphrey's McGee	Live Album	"Hall of Fame: Class of 2012"	Nothing Too Fancy Music
October 2013	Slash	Album	"Nothing Left to Fear (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)"
September 2013	Katatonia	Album	"Dethroned & Uncrowned"	Burning Shed
September 2013	Lissie	Album	"Back to Forever"	Columbia (UK/EUR) Fat Possum (US)
August 2013	Juliana Hatfield	Album	"Wild Animals"	Ye Olde Records
June 2013	Sam Duckworth (GCWCF)	Album	"Amazing Grace"	Independent
May 2013	Donots	Live DVD/Album	"Wake the States"	Solitary Man
April 2013	Bring Me the Horizon	Album	"Sempiternal"	RCA
April 2013	The Whybirds	Album	"A Little Blood"	The Little Red Recording Company
March 2013	IAMX	Album	"The Unified Field"	61seconds Records
March 2013	Kate Nash	Album	Girl Talk"	INgrooves
December 2012	Ian McCulloch	Album	"Pro Patria Mori"	Independent
November 2012	Kissy Sell Out	Album	"San City High ALL STARS"	San City High Records
October 2012	LCD Soundsystem	DVD	"Shut Up and Play the Hits"	DFA
August 2012	Kill It Kid	EP	"Rarities"	Independent
July 2012	Ginger Wildheart	Album	"Hey! Hello!"	Round Records
July 2012	Ginger Wildheart	Album	"Mutations/Mutations 2"	Round Records
April 2012	The Libertines	DVD	"There Are No Innocent Bystanders"	Absolute
March 2012	The Infamous Stringdusters	Album	"Silver Sky"	High Country Recordings
October 2011	The Lumineers	Other		Dualtone
September 2011	Crystal Fighters	Deluxe Album	"Star of Love"	Independent
September 2011	The Subways	Album	"Money and Celebrity"	Independent
September 2011	Art Brut	Album	"Brilliant! Tragic!"	Cooking Vinyl (UK/EUR) Downtown (US)
July 2010	Ginger Wildheart	Album	"555% (aka 100%)"	Round Records
May 2010	Kopecky Family Band	Album	"The Disaster"	ATO Records
On Going	Blind Pilot	Album	"And Then Like Lions"	ATO Records
May 2010	Princess Superstar	Album	"The New Evolution"	Independent

In the Charts

Various PledgeMusic albums have achieved significant chart success, including:

• Stiff Little Fingers - No Going Back - #1 in UK Rock Album Charts - #28 in UK Album Charts
• Ginger Wildheart - 100% - #27 in the UK
• Charlie Simpson - When We Were Lions - #6 in the UK
• Ben Folds Five - The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind - #10 on the Billboard Top 200
• The Subways - Money and Celebrity - #16 in Germany, #43 in the UK
• Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal - #3 in the UK, #1 in Australia
• Lindsey Stirling - Shatter Me - #2 on the Billboard Top 200, #1 in both Classical and EDM
• Sevendust - Time Travelers and Bonfires - #19 in the US
• Kate Miller-Heidke - O Vertigo! - #3 in Australia
• 311 - STEREOLITHIC - #6 on the Billboard Top 200
• Mindi Abair - #1 on the Billboard Jazz chart
• Casey Crescenzo - #2 on the Billboard Classical chart
• The Puppini Sisters - The High Life - #1 debut on the UK iTunes Jazz Chart, #3 debut US iTunes Jazz Chart
• The String Cheese Incident — #1 Billboard Heatseekers, #4 Vinyl
• Thomas Rhett - #1 Billboard 200
• Gary Numan — #2 in the UK

More than 30 PledgeMusic artists have been subsequently signed to major or independent label recording contracts.

Charity

PledgeMusic artists have the option of donating a percentage of their total or post-goal revenue to a charity of their choice. Currently, 67% of projects are linked with a charity. Artists without a cause in mind are able to meet with the company's charity outreach specialist to pair them up with charities.

Affiliated companies and partnerships

PledgeMusic Recordings and PledgeMusic Publishing are both affiliated companies providing the traditional services of a record label and a publishing company to select Artists.

PledgeMusic and the following companies have entered into commercial partnerships to provide more integrated services to Artists:

• Myspace
• SonicBids
• SoundOut (Slicethepie's insight and analytics service)
• Lyric Financial
• Nimbit
• Topspin Media
• Artist Growth
• Firebrand
• INgrooves Fontana
• Inertia
• INDMusic
• The Agency Group

PledgeMusic has partnered with the Hotel Cafe for SXSW 2011 and 2012.

PledgeMusic has hosted showcases with CMJ.

Awards, nominations, and notable commentary

PledgeMusic was nominated for the 2010 BT Digital Music Awards in the category "Best Innovation or Gadget".

While discussing the Digital Economy Bill Lord Errol, in the UK House of Lords, has described PledgeMusic as a "rather clever idea" in the context of new ways of releasing music.

PledgeMusic was nominated for the 2011 Music Week Awards in the category "Consumer-Facing Digital Music Service of the Year".

PledgeMusic was nominated for the 2011 BT Digital Music Awards in the category "Best Innovation or Gadget".

Ginger Wildheart was awarded the 2012 Classic Rock Awards 'Event Of The Year' award for his PledgeMusic campaign.

PledgeMusic was noted as one of Billboard's "Five digital startups to watch in 2013".

PledgeMusic won the Grammy Music Technology Lab in 2013.

PledgeMusic was nominated for SoundCtrl's 2013 Best in Artist Support award.

PledgeMusic was nominated for the American Association of Independent Music 2013 Annual Libera Awards (The "LIBBYs") 21st Century Award – celebrating the service provider or platform that was most beneficial to Independent labels and artists.

Co-founders Benji Rogers and Malcolm Dunbar were named to The Hospital Club 100 list in 2013 in the category of Music.

Benji Rogers, founder and president of PledgeMusic, won A&R Worldwide's International Music Industry Awards' Distinguished Digital Executive of the Year, 2014

"Super Fans"

In 2014, PledgeMusic and Lynda.com teamed up to produce a documentary about super fans and their role in the future of the music industry. The documentary features footage and interviews from SXSW and interviews with artists such as Nicole Atkins and San Fermin.

See also

• Comparison of crowd funding services
• Fan Funded
• Crowdsourcing
• Netlabel
• Social commerce
• Web 2.0
• Music 2.0

References

Notes

Citations