After months of financial uncertainty, the indie-rock club Cake Shop has collected enough money through a novel Internet fund-raising site to avoid closing down, one of the owners, Nick Bodor, said on Tuesday.
In May, the scruffy Ludlow Street club, which had served as an incubator for bands like the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Dirty Projectors, was on the verge of going out of business. The club's budget had been knocked out of balance after the New York state liquor authority hit the owners with $20,000 in fines and a judge ordered them to pay the landlord $58,000 to cover a portion of the property taxes for the last two years, as required under its lease.
Since then, however, Mr. Bodor and his partners have raised about $25,000 through Pledge Music, a Web site used mostly by musicians to finance recording sessions through advance sales of records and other considerations.  That money, along with some loans from private individuals, has enabled the owners to rid themselves of the immediate obligation to the building's owner and enter negotiations on a new 10-year lease, which will start next year, Mr. Bodor said. “We can hand them a check and be square with the landlord,†he said.
Most of the funds came from patrons who agreed to pay in advance for tickets to future shows or for blocks of drinks, Mr. Bodor said. Several bands, among them Surfer Blood and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, did benefit concerts in recent weeks to save the performance space.
Mr. Bodor acknowledged the business would have to increase revenues over the next year to remain profitable and still absorb its property tax burden in future years. But he pointed out that attendance at the club's shows had risen this summer after the owners went public and asked their patrons to support them. He expressed confidence the club could balance its budget now that it h as paid off its current bills.
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