Slippery little suckers - these success stories.
Ecco Recordings raised £134k (corrected from £234k as typo)on Crowdcube back in 2013. Their main pitch was a band called These Reigning Days - who were going to make it B.I.G.
Several years later and they may have - Reigning Days have just signed with Marshall Records.
The Ecco Recordings website, however, is down and they were last reported heading into dangerous waters with their balance sheet in tatters in the wind.
Looks like another empty stage for all those shareholders. One shareholder has complained that no communication from the company has been received since the Crowdcube round. It's a similar story with most Crowdcube funded companies.
RMB deserves a knighthood
ReplyDeleteDo you discuss current live pitches ??
Discuss yes, advise no.
DeleteThe earlier GCL campaign was dodgy to say the least, very suspicious.
DeleteHow do you assess the current Lightvert ?
I've been told the new crowdrating site swears by
Allsopro and the earlier ukeepu, am I missing something ?
Big Respect
Wouldnt bother with Crowdrating. Do your own research. Everyone else has their axe to grind.
DeleteJust reviewed the confirmation statements of shareholders and done some maths. Crowdcube shareholders bought in at 57 pence per share valuing the business at a redic £943,000. Sarah Woodward, PP Asset management and Kevin Wilson subsequently bought shares at 6 pence each in Aug 2016 valuing the business at £96,000.Nice dilution factor there. Seems like they had the shareholder's (and the fans of the bloody band!) best interests at heart. It's okay for Sarah though because she increased her shareholding from 15% to 24% during this feat.
ReplyDeleteHow does anyone protect against a hypothetical director that sells 100 shares for £1 each and then buys 1000 shares for £1 the next day? Oh,and Marshall aren't that well capitalised so I can't imagine that the deal resutedin millions. Not forgetting that large credit liability on Ecco's balance sheet.
Can't stress enough that the band has not only duped shareholders..but fans of the band too.
The facts stated here are disturbingly incorrect and can be clearly evidenced. Ecco did not raise £234,000 on Crowdcube. The final amount received was less than £120,000. Here is a link to the closing Crowdcube statement showing it finished at £140,000. A number of smaller investors pulled out before completion of the round and after commission and fees the final amount received was less than £110,000.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.crowdcube.com/investment/ecco-recordings-14357
Sarah's shares were increased slightly when the major investor subsequently bought out some of the original, pre Crowdcube shareholders and gifted some shares of his shares to her in recognition of the fact that she had worked with no income to get the company to this point. No Crowdcube investors were diluted at this time.
A dilution did take place some 2 years after the Crowdcube injection after the band's first album did not do as well as hoped and further investment was needed to rescue the company for the benefit of all shareholders. This dilution was fully orchestrated and overseen by Ashford's solicitors and all A shareholders were given an opportunity to invest further but there was no appetite from other investors to invest.
Almost all money received has been invested directly back into the band's career, mainly recording, tour support and promotion and there has been considerable critical acclaim but little financial gain to date. The company accounts show that no director has taken a penny from the company for several years and even before that only received an extremely modest salary, yet they have continued to work tirelessly for no financial reward at all in order to keep the company and the band afloat for the benefit of all shareholders.
The fact is, breaking a rock band, no matter how talented, in the current musical climate is a high risk endeavour no matter how hard the well connected and industrious team around them and takes considerable investment. There has been no impropriety and certainly no duplicity as implied above by the band or directors, just tireless hard work for virtually no financial gain and a strong loyalty towards shareholders and the band's fans to keep the company afloat and keep the band on the road.
Look at the accounts if you what to see what rubbish this is.
ReplyDeleteWell, as a relatively modest 'B' shareholder, I feel betrayed. I've received no communication about the band or the label since the ill-fated Hop Farm Festival back in 2014 (and the label were incapable of putting shareholder names on the free entry list for that either, as promised for one of the Crowdcube perks. Shocking.
ReplyDeleteI've supported the band for years, buying records and attending gigs), admittedly, the music is excellent but now leaves a bad taste in the mouth. The long and the short of it is I've lost my money, but they are still recording, playing and being promoted. At the very least, a condition of the Marshall deal should have been to buy at a price to pay off all non-director shareholders, or the band 'disbanded'.