UK Music deputy CEO Tom Kiehl has called on the government to take urgent action to prevent a repeat of the PledgeMusic collapse, which left artists out of pocket.
As revealed by Music Week, the company has not entered administration despite speculation. Instead, it was today (July 31) the subject of a winding up order at the Royal Courts Of Justice, which was approved by the judge.
The D2C and crowdfunding platform had been seeking a buyer. But it was loaded with debts and had failed to pass on payments to hundreds of artists.
UK Music attended the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice today (July 31).
In a letter to Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst, Kiehl said: “Many musicians across the UK relied on crowdfunding website PledgeMusic to deliver payments from patrons, to pay for album recordings and other costs. The winding up of this company represents an entirely unsatisfactory development for the many music fans and creators who have invested so much into projects through this scheme.
“I ask you to again consider the merits of a ministerial referral to the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate what went wrong with this case.
He added: “I would also like to ask you to consider taking up the case with the Financial Conduct Authority, which holds responsibility for regulating certain types of crowdfunding, to consider the activities of PledgeMusic and whether there have been any regulatory breaches.
“Furthermore, I would like to ask for a meeting with you to consider further possible Government interventions to ensure the issues which have arisen from PledgeMusic can never happen again.”
L7 are the latest act to hit out at the company over the withholding of money raised from fans.
“We do not wish to further comment on this situation as we do not want to be the face of being screwed over,” said the band in a statement. “L7 are bigger and mightier than this mess. The only time we will speak of this again will be in a courtroom. So with the graciousness and empathy of our fans, we are turning this unfortunate page in an otherwise amazing chapter in our career.”
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