The Quireboys cancel PledgeMusic campaign for new album 'Amazing Disgrace'
The Quireboys have released a statement explaining to fans they have cancelled the PledgeMusic campaign for their new album ‘Amazing Disgrace’.
The band had received an impressive 208% of their Pledges for their latest studio record, which they’re releasing next month to precede their co-headline tour with FM in April.
However, with PledgeMusic reportedly not paying many artists all the money they are owed, The Quireboys say they’re unsure their Pledge campaign will “ever be fulfilled or paid and that is something we can’t continue to endorse.”
As well as urging their fans to cancel their Pledge orders (details of which can be found in their full statement below), The Quireboys say they have asked PledgeMusic to let them “who booked what.”
They added: “Once we have that (information) we will be in touch via our label Off Yer Rocka Recordings who have kindly funded our costs in the interim period to keep this incredible recording alive.”
Explaining how they hope to offer a solution, The Quireboys said: “Off Yer Rocka Recordings has now loaded all items that people were buying through Pledge and loaded them onto 'The Quireboys' section of the label site.
“OYR will now press and fulfil any new orders that come into this platform. What's more and as a gesture of goodwill from The Quireboys and OYR, for any item purchased we will be offering an album free of charge from our back catalogue which we will deliver at the same time.”
Fans can order items from the Off Yer Rocka website right here.
The Quireboys added: “We can only apologise that you have to cancel one order and re-book again but at least we know it will be fulfilled and you will get what you paid for. We really hope you can support us one more time and finish off what we started out to complete together.”
HRH & OYR President Jonni Davis commented: "This has cost us all in many ways and in reality Pledge should have worked, it was a positive model. We are committed to finding a solution to get "Amazing Disgrace" out as soon as possible and also offer something for the multitude of new and established bands who use these styles platforms to fund their releases.
"I believe in helping bands in any way possible and have today signed off a new fund raising platform which will be called 'HRH Hell Raiser' (www.hrhhellraiser.com) which will come online early June, not just with album fund raising capabilities but complimented with another range of services like Pressing, Distribution, PR, Media, Audience Profiling & Acquisition as well as possible live performances at one of the numerous HRH festivals or club shows worldwide. More of that later, but at least you know it is coming, once we clear up this unfortunate incident first."
At the end of January, Tyketto’s Danny Vaughn first detailed the problems artists are having with PledgeMusic in a 10-minute YouTube video, which went viral.
Vaughn urged fans to refrain from handing over money to PledgeMusic, as he claimed he’d only received a fraction of his total pledges of £26,702 for his new solo album ‘Myths, Legends & Lies’.
In response, PledgeMusic later issued a statement, saying: “We are committed as a company of passionate music lovers to get things back on track as quickly as possible.”
However, since then a number of bands have voiced problems they are having with PledgeMusic.
With Bernie Tormé still in hospital battling double pneumonia, his family released a statement last week saying he was owed “almost £16,000 which was due last December.” A JustGiving page set up by fans for Bernie has since raised almost £4,000.
Elsewhere, Queensrÿche say they have “all been bamboozled by the people at Pledge Music” and are owed $70,000. They also called on fans to demand a refund.
Last In Line have also cancelled their Pledge Campaign and are looking into setting up an online store where they can sell the merchandise that had been previously offered on Pledge.
The Quireboys’ full statement reads:
We've been watching this all play out very closely and have tried to work in any way possible with Pledge to arrive at a positive outcome but in reality we are just not confident that the campaign we entered into with Pledge, will ever be fulfilled or paid and that is something we cant continue to endorse.
This was all brought to light recently with other key bands (who were also involved in Pledge Campaigns) pointing out that they haven't been paid or look likely to be. We have recorded and mastered our new album 'Amazing Disgrace', we have booked the PR, videos, pressing, we have received nothing and we never will under this platform.
We have written to Pledge today asking them to officially cancel the campaign and let us know who booked what, once we have that we will be in touch via our label Off Yer Rocka Recordings who have kindly funded our costs in the interim period to keep this incredible recording alive.
The band Last in Line posted some great advice the other day about cancelling your Pledge booking which you should do immediately. If you didn't see it, we've used some of their words:
We are told that PledgeMusic’s cancellation process has been initiated. The refund process will go through Pledges' payment processor Bluesnap. Fans can also directly dispute the charge with their credit card company. At this time our recommendation is that you also log into your PledgeMusic account and cancel your order. We would suggest that you take an additional step of contacting your credit card company to request buyer protection and further ensure the charges to PledgeMusic are reversed.
To CANCEL YOUR PLEDGE ORDER:
LOG IN to PledgeMusic and FIND your order.
Click on “CONTACT US ABOUT THIS PLEDGE” then pull down the menu item “CANCELLING THIS PLEDGE ORDER”
Click on “I STILL HAVE A QUESTION”
In the form that opens type that “I AM CANCELLING THIS PLEDGE, AND AM REQUESTING A REFUND DUE TO THE CAMPAIGN BEING CANCELLED”
You will receive a confirmation email from them immediately
Now PLEASE call your credit card and request a “CHARGE DISPUTE” as additional insurance for your refund.
We are truly gutted that this has come about, you all supported us above and beyond, especially getting us over 200%, however were simply not into finger pointing or blame culture, its happened and we need to deal with it, firstly you must do the above, once that has been completed we can move onto the Solution…
Our label 'Off Yer Rocka Recordings' has now loaded all items that people were buying through Pledge and loaded them onto 'The Quireboys' section of the label site. OYR will now press and fulfil any new orders that come into this platform. What's more and as a gesture of goodwill from The Quireboys and OYR, for any item purchased we will be offering an album free of charge from our back catalogue which we will deliver at the same time.
The below link has all the items which have had sales registered against them and are now available to purchase
We can only apologise that you have to cancel one order and re-book again but at least we know it will be fulfilled and you will get what you paid for. We really hope you can support us one more time and finish off what we started out to complete together.
Guy, Spike, Paul & Keith