Veteran punks L7 have joined the ranks of musicians left in dire financial straits by PledgeMusic, a direct-to-fan British marketplace that filed for bankruptcy this year. The service has also ripped off bands like Swervedriver, Dandy Warhols, and Ladytron, guaranteeing they would reimburse musicians for recording, merchandise, and other expenses before going defunct. It’s estimated that the company owes artists between $1 and $3 million, and will probably never be able to pay them back in full.
Today, L7 issued a statement about Scatter the Rats—their first record in twenty years—that was supposed to reach fans via PledgeMusic. The album was released in May on Joan Jett’s label, Blackheart Records, but no one who pre-ordered it via Pledge has received their copies.
“To give a brief summary for those not familiar with the PledgeMusic scam, in a nutshell, the funds that many bands and their supporters raised through the crowdfunding platform were absconded by the company with zero accountability and unreturned legal appeals,” L7’s statement reads.
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“As bad as it is, the band nonetheless has made the financial decision to honor our fans who pre-ordered the album through Pledge Music, and which they have yet to receive,” the statement continues. “Pledge Music has held over $20,000 in shipping costs alone that we have no access to and will likely never see. However, L7 has made the financial commitment to honor these mailings. From the Borough of Brooklyn to the shores of Peru, every Pledger who paid for the record please take note, the music is on its way!”
Elsewhere in the statement, L7 promised they would see PledgeMusic in court, but won’t speak about the fiasco publicly again.
A silver lining: the band also released a new video for “Holding Pattern,” directed by Rob Sheridan. Of the track and visual, they shared, “Although our song ‘Holding Pattern’ is not about this lousy experience with Pledge Music, we believe that we can all relate to its inspiration of being caught in a disheartening loop of stagnation in one way or another.” Watch it below.
