EXCLUSIVE: PledgeMusic Sales Going Towards ARIA Chart

PledgeMusic are now supplying data to the ARIA Digital Chart, becoming the first direct-to-fan music marketing company to do so.

In a move that may open the door for similar 'crowdfunding' sites begin to submit data to Australia's official music charts, sales made through Pledge's platform will count towards the digital chart. Much like the crowdfunding model, artists and labels offer incentives – from signed CDs or earlier downloads right up to exclusive shows and massive merch packs – through Pledge to fans that are willing to invest in an artist's project. It is essentially a dynamic model for pre-orders.

Pledge, who have moved to differ themselves from other crowdfunding sites by exclusively working with music projects, already supply data to Soundscan in the US.

Today PledgeMusic's Australian General Manager Scot Crawford told theMusic.com.au that he was pleased with the deal, which he felt continued to establish the company in the Australian industry.

“Fans don't need more ways to buy,” he said, “they need more reasons to buy and that is what PledgeMusic is all about. It's about building value around music. That is what we deliver.”

He added, “We see more and more artists and labels benefiting by using the PledgeMusic platform to interact with their fans and offer incentives up to six months or more prior to release. The fans love to be a part of the artistic journey of making a product and in turn the artist benefits by being able to pre-sell their work for a period longer than the tradition album pre-awareness lifecycle.

“We are not simply a crowd or fan funding company. For starters, our niche is the music industry, we only deal in music, and giving artists a new way to release music. We differ from fan-funding sites like our friends at Pozible etc. because our focus is not on the monetary goal but on the experience itself.”

Artists currently offering incentives through Pledge include The Delta Riggs, Amy Meredith, Alex Lloyd, Minus The Bear, Slash and ABBA.

Other websites and online platforms that contribute data to the charts include iTunes, Bigpond Music, Hillsong Music, ATM/Love Police, and label-backed sites including Warner Music, GetMusic, The In Sound, Modular, Create/Control and Elefant Traks. There are 23 in total.

Pledge does not currently have a streaming element, so will not contribute to that chart, which remains the domain of JB Hi-Fi Now, Samsung Music Hub, Songl and Spotify.

Read this week's crowdfunding wrap-up here.