I have spent most of my morning looking through Bandcamp. This isn't me shirking my work responsibilities; it's because Bandcamp Fridays are back and it's the perfect day to buy music and support your favourite artists directly.
If you haven't been on Bandcamp before, it's an online music store and community where artists can sell their music (and merch) directly to fans and which "puts more money in the artist's pocket than any other platform".
As Bandcamp itself puts it: "When a fan buys something on Bandcamp, an average of 82 per cent of the money goes to the artist or their label — typically in 24-48 hours — and the remainder covers our revenue share and payment processor fees... Fans have paid artists and their labels $1.37 billion using Bandcamp. In the past year alone, they have spent $188 million on 13.6 million digital albums, 11 million tracks, 1.6 million vinyl records, 750,000 CDs, 300,000 cassettes, and 50,000 t-shirts."
Those are impressive numbers, and it gets even better on Bandcamp Fridays. It's a day (a Friday) when Bandcamp waives its revenue share and fees, meaning when fans buy on this special Friday event, an even greater share of these purchases goes directly to the artists and label – about 95 per cent on average, says Bandcamp. It started back in March 2020, when most musicians' main source of income – live touring – ground to a halt due to the global pandemic. And so Bandcamp Fridays was born to help artists, especially independent artists and labels. To date, Bandcamp states that this initiative "has resulted in millions of fans paying over $120 million directly to labels and musicians they love."
The main thing in all of this is that Bandcamp lets you support the creators of the music that you love listening to. The big-name artists – the likes of Taylor Swift, Oasis, Adele, Metallica – are doing just fine, but it's the small to medium-sized and independent artists who are counting their pennies month-to-month (or day-to-day); being able to support them and buy music in this way is hugely appealing (and rewarding) in my books.
Most of us at What Hi-Fi? listen to music via streaming services, sure, but we also still regularly buy physical media alongside that. I've waxed lyrical about my regular vinyl purchases, my colleagues have shared why they still love buying CDs and collecting Blu-rays, and we have already written in detail about how we would be happy to pay more to support artists.
Not only is it a surer way of getting the money you paid directly into the hands of the artists (compared with the pittance they get via streaming royalties), but it also means you have a piece of music – be it an album, a digital track, even a cassette – that you can cherish and own forever, without worrying about it disappearing off a service with no warning.
It's music that I love, and why wouldn't I want to pay my dues to the creators who bring so much joy to my life? There's also a friendly community vibe on Bandcamp, which presents and recommends music like a magazine and helps you find new music you like through granular filters for genre and format.
There's an extra bit of joy with using Bandcamp today: right under the main homepage carousel is a "Selling Now" banner that shows what albums are currently being sold, and which country the buyer is from. And on Bandcamp Fridays, it can be exhilarating watching the albums zoom by at breakneck speed as more and more people are joining in this day-long initiative to buy music and support creators. I remember the first Bandcamp Friday during lockdown, and I could barely read any of the album names as they flew by – it was all a blur; a happy, celebratory blur as I realised how many people were signing on and buying music in a frenzy. Check out the website right now, and there's satisfaction in seeing those albums zoom past every second.
So if you have been putting off buying a new album or track (in whichever format: CD, vinyl, digital download or the rare cassette), let this be your inspiration and extra initiative to own a piece of music you love, knowing that you're also helping artists you like directly, without any evil corporation getting in the way. Many artists also drop special demos, new merch or even use the opportunity to raise awareness for causes and charities, too.
For my money, I'll be checking out Romance by Fontaines D.C. and Bright Future by Adrienne Lenker (you can also preview a song before buying), and seeing what other treasures indie UK label Alcopop! Records might have in store.
You've got all afternoon to peruse and buy some great new music, but don't worry if you miss out – Bandcamp Fridays will be back on two more dates this year: 4th October and 6th December.
MORE:
12 of the best folk and indie songs to test your system
If you’re fed up with streaming algorithms and miss the human touch, I have the perfect solution
