Industry blog Hypebot has got its hands on some court documents from the liquidation of crowdfunding service PledgeMusic, and it sounds like they make for grim reading.
“PledgeMusic entered liquidation with $9.57 million in debt and assets worth just $20,000,” it reported. “With an ‘estimated deficiency’ of $7,405.502.48 and secured creditor Sword Row, LLC first in line, there is ‘little prospect’ that artists and other creditors will be paid, according to the court-appointed receiver.”
The documents are likely to get more of an airing over the coming months: as Hypebot points out, one of the crucial questions around PledgeMusic’s collapse is why money pledged by fans for artists’ campaigns was not ‘ring-fenced’ so that it could not be spent by the company. The documents also reportedly include details of interviews with PledgeMusic founder Benji Rogers, and his attempts (having left the company) to persuade its then-management to rethink its business approach, and prepare plans to pay artists back and ring-fence pledges.
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