PledgeMusic to Acquire NoiseTrade and Set.fm

NEW YORK, March 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- PledgeMusic, the leading global next generation direct-to-fan e-commerce platform, announced today that it will acquire NoiseTrade and Set.fm. The newly integrated company will have a user-base of more than 3 million highly active music superfans directly engaging with the artists they love. The ecosystem's technologies currently provide over 50,000 artists and musicians with inventive ways to connect with those fans, creating value that adds newfound revenue opportunities throughout the music production and promotion lifecycle of their endeavors. With these acquisitions, PledgeMusic's model of enabling individual fans to directly support artists is poised for exponential growth across all levels of the creative community and consumer landscape.

"In bringing our three companies together under a single roof we are building a unique platform that adaptively supports the full lifecycle of recordings, tours and the constantly-changing forms of artistic output," stated PledgeMusic Founder and CEO Benji Rogers. "It is our shared belief that PledgeMusic now offers musicians at all stages of their careers the most robust home to bring their visions to life and reach their commercial objectives. Revaluing music for fans equals revenue for artists and the ecosystem we've created makes me more optimistic than ever about the future business of making music."

London-based PledgeMusic, established in 2009, features its first-of-kind pre-selling, marketing and distribution of recordings, alongside premier exclusives and engaging experiences for superfans directly from the artist. With offices in New York, London and Boston, PledgeMusic will expand its footprint with the addition of Nashville–based NoiseTrade and Austin-based Set.fm. PledgeMusic was recently named one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Music by Fast Company. Artists using the platform include Rob Zombie, KT Tunstall, BB King, Interpol, Lindsey Stirling, The Libertines, Erasure, Rufus Wainwright, The Flaming Lips, Cheap Trick, 311, Def Leppard, and Gary Numan.

NoiseTrade's mission of helping artists and labels connect with fans through the exchange of free music for data and Set.fm's technology platform allowing musicians to capture and instantly sell live performance recordings will greatly enhance PledgeMusic's offerings to its ever-expanding international community.

"The PledgeMusic, Set.fm, and NoiseTrade platforms are cut from the same cloth," said NoiseTrade founder and president Derek Webb. "We are all founded and run by artists and exist to empower musicians and facilitate meaningful connections between creators and their tribes. Aligning our massive combined reach around one vision represents the start of something unprecedented. The fuse has been lit on the reconstruction of the music business."

"We're thrilled to be uniting our market-leading live-event recording software and sales platform with PledgeMusic and NoiseTrade," said Set.fm CEO Matt Peterson. "The combined network-effect of the three services will uniquely empower artists to be successful at all stages of their creative process, while rewarding and engaging fans with the products and experiences they want most from the performers they love."

The acquisitions and growth trajectory further underscore major PledgeMusic investors Magna Entertainment and their co-investor and advisor Sword Rowe & Company's growing commitment to music-focused properties and distribution vehicles. Both artist- founded and led firms are deeply passionate about building innovative businesses that support the creative community in reaching their commercial objectives, while remaining true to their artistic visions.

About PledgeMusic
PledgeMusic is a global next generation music company and direct-to-fan e-commerce platform dedicated to enabling artists to build community, fund and pre-sell recordings, and provide unique experiences and exclusives throughout the entire music production and promotion lifecycle. PledgeMusic was named as one of The Worlds Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in Music for "Helping artists and fans get what they want". –Fast Company.

About NoiseTrade
NoiseTrade enables artists, labels and publishers to meaningfully connect with fans passionate about music, books and culture through the free exchange of content and data, while offering advertisers a platform for reaching a highly engaged, targeted audience.

About Set.fm
Set.fm is an online platform and application suite that makes it easy to capture, share and sell high quality audio recordings of live performances in real-time; enabling performers to amplify their social reach and activate incremental touring revenue streams. Fans can socially share a portion of the experience and purchase a copy of the full performance before leaving the venue.

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SOURCE PledgeMusic

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