Smoke Was Pouring Out Of Fyre Media Weeks Before Its Disastrous Music Festival

The app maker behind the festival was in trouble well before partygoers arrived in the Bahamas

- Polly Mosendz, Kim Bhasin, and Shahien Nasiripour

Now that Fyre Media Inc. is infamous for its aborted music festival in the Bahamas, the one that’s prompted lawsuits from vendors and a $100 million class action from attendees, it’s hard to remember the whole thing was meant to promote an app. The Fyre software is essentially a mobile-friendly speakers bureau for performers available for appearances at concerts, clubs, and parties for a price. Current and former staff say Fyre Media co-founder Billy McFarland made it seem like the two-year-old app was well-funded, even attracting interest from Comcast Corp.’s venture capital arm.

Whoops. Court papers and public records reviewed by Bloomberg show that in the weeks before the festival disaster, Fyre Media took on as much as $7 million in debt. The funds were meant to carry the company through the festival, partly to be repaid with a cut of tickets and sales made via attendees’ digital-payment wristbands. Court filings claim that almost $1 million is unaccounted for, and it’s unclear exactly how the rest was spent.