So I was real hesitant to start this thread for a number of reasons.
First, Troy Baker has a ridiculous amount of fans here on ERA, and I'm not particularly in the mood to be dogpiled on by fans of Joel/Kanji/Joker/Whoever the fuck you like that believe that the person who portrays the character they like is not capable of wrongdoing.
Second, this is kind of a grey area for some people? Crowdfunding rewards were partially sent out, so if you ordered something digital, you likely got it. If you ordered something physical, well go fuck yourself with something sharp and rusty.
Third, I'm not really here for drive-bys or to be "Well Actually"-ed to death. (i.e. "Crowdfunding LOL" or "Well, actually, you should've filed a chargeback...") Yes, fuck me for believing an extremely well-known artist will fulfill their promises.
And lastly, for any wannabe backseat mods who are hovering over the report button: This thread is in Gaming, not because of the content of the thread (which is primarily music) but because the person the thread is about is primarily known as a video game voice actor (and not the musician he fancies himself to be).
With all of that out of the way (I'm tired), let's start:
In 2017, Troy Baker partnered with a site called pledgemusic.com (don't even bother, they are very much dead now) to start crowdfunding for a new album. More here:
www.windowtotheabbey.com
The album had a release date of June 14, 2017. Like all crowdfunding, various tiers were available. For $35.00 USD, you would receive digital copies of two albums, an autographed physical CD, and a second CD. For those details, since PledgeMusic is still deader than dead, we use the Wayback Machine:
web.archive.org
The crowdfunding goal was reached on April 17, 2017. Then the delays started. June 2017 became October 2017. October 2017 became 2018. 2018 became 2019. And in May 2019, PledgeMusic unceremoniously died. If you'd like to go down that rabbit hole (why? why would you?) there's this:
www.digitalmusicnews.com
Now it's crowdfunding. You aren't guaranteed anything with crowdfunding, but the plot thickens. You see, these rewards Troy Baker (or Window to the Abbey, whatever the fuck) promised pledgers were produced. And sold. By Troy Baker, at various Cons.
Now, there are no Kotaku articles about this, or any media coverage that I could find for that matter, and why would there be? Who the hell has ever heard of PledgeMusic? So the sources are basically my experience, and various social media posts. So here's someone's experience, and their claim that Troy had signed and sold these rewards (that again, were not sent out) at Cons:
There's also a Reddit thread that discusses some of this, but yeah, not linking to Reddit. Since PledgeMusic is dead, so is the comment section, which was filled with pledgers who never received anything from Mr. Relater.
The very last e-mail about this I received (I only ever received four), was on August 8, 2018. The text of the e-mail:
It's coming together + bonus content. Hello Friends! First of all, we want to say thank you all so much for your continued patience with this project! I know it's been a long time coming! We have the CDs in hand and the vinyls are on their way to us! The handwritten lyrics and coffee table book are the remaining things that we're working on...
Yeah, none of those CDs were sent. The ones they had in hand. But they were sold. At Cons.
We're three months away from the 5-year anniversary of me giving Troy Baker $35.00 so I could (Oh God, I'm gonna vom) #BeAPartOfTheStory:
It's thirty-five bucks, whatever I'll survive. Just wanted to let you all know, in case you didn't already, that Troy Baker is kind of a pretentious asshole.
First, Troy Baker has a ridiculous amount of fans here on ERA, and I'm not particularly in the mood to be dogpiled on by fans of Joel/Kanji/Joker/Whoever the fuck you like that believe that the person who portrays the character they like is not capable of wrongdoing.
Second, this is kind of a grey area for some people? Crowdfunding rewards were partially sent out, so if you ordered something digital, you likely got it. If you ordered something physical, well go fuck yourself with something sharp and rusty.
Third, I'm not really here for drive-bys or to be "Well Actually"-ed to death. (i.e. "Crowdfunding LOL" or "Well, actually, you should've filed a chargeback...") Yes, fuck me for believing an extremely well-known artist will fulfill their promises.
And lastly, for any wannabe backseat mods who are hovering over the report button: This thread is in Gaming, not because of the content of the thread (which is primarily music) but because the person the thread is about is primarily known as a video game voice actor (and not the musician he fancies himself to be).
With all of that out of the way (I'm tired), let's start:
In 2017, Troy Baker partnered with a site called pledgemusic.com (don't even bother, they are very much dead now) to start crowdfunding for a new album. More here:
ABOUT — WINDOW TO THE ABBEY
www.windowtotheabbey.com
The album had a release date of June 14, 2017. Like all crowdfunding, various tiers were available. For $35.00 USD, you would receive digital copies of two albums, an autographed physical CD, and a second CD. For those details, since PledgeMusic is still deader than dead, we use the Wayback Machine:
Troy Baker: Window To The Abbey
Six friends seeking to tell a story with music. Be a part of the experience. Be a part of the story.
web.archive.org
The crowdfunding goal was reached on April 17, 2017. Then the delays started. June 2017 became October 2017. October 2017 became 2018. 2018 became 2019. And in May 2019, PledgeMusic unceremoniously died. If you'd like to go down that rabbit hole (why? why would you?) there's this:
The Rise and Fall of PledgeMusic — How Everything Went Horribly Wrong
PledgeMusic as a crowdfunding platform was a massive success when it was founded in 2009. But soonafter, things started to go horribly wrong for artists.
www.digitalmusicnews.com
Now it's crowdfunding. You aren't guaranteed anything with crowdfunding, but the plot thickens. You see, these rewards Troy Baker (or Window to the Abbey, whatever the fuck) promised pledgers were produced. And sold. By Troy Baker, at various Cons.
Now, there are no Kotaku articles about this, or any media coverage that I could find for that matter, and why would there be? Who the hell has ever heard of PledgeMusic? So the sources are basically my experience, and various social media posts. So here's someone's experience, and their claim that Troy had signed and sold these rewards (that again, were not sent out) at Cons:
There's also a Reddit thread that discusses some of this, but yeah, not linking to Reddit. Since PledgeMusic is dead, so is the comment section, which was filled with pledgers who never received anything from Mr. Relater.
The very last e-mail about this I received (I only ever received four), was on August 8, 2018. The text of the e-mail:
It's coming together + bonus content. Hello Friends! First of all, we want to say thank you all so much for your continued patience with this project! I know it's been a long time coming! We have the CDs in hand and the vinyls are on their way to us! The handwritten lyrics and coffee table book are the remaining things that we're working on...
Yeah, none of those CDs were sent. The ones they had in hand. But they were sold. At Cons.
We're three months away from the 5-year anniversary of me giving Troy Baker $35.00 so I could (Oh God, I'm gonna vom) #BeAPartOfTheStory:
It's thirty-five bucks, whatever I'll survive. Just wanted to let you all know, in case you didn't already, that Troy Baker is kind of a pretentious asshole.
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