Top 20 Crowdfunding Sites – PledgeMusic – 5/20

PledgeMusic

New York
PledgeMusic
265 Canal Street, Suite 602
New York, NY 10013

Launched – August 2009

Being a musician can be pricey. (As the husband of a jazz singer and father to three budding musicians, I can attest to that!) So anything you can do to cover costs when you launch an album, promote it, or go on tour takes a load off. That’s where PledgeMusic can make a real difference. And like most of these other crowdfunding platforms, you can provide rewards for donors who pledge a certain level such as downloadable digital music.

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 includ e 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 includ e 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.