Bandcamp has launched a vinyl pressing service, whereby artists will be able to crowdfund their releases and have the rest fulfilled risk-free by the online company.
The site has long been a haven for musicians wishing to share and sell their releases while retaining full rights to their work, but until now any physical media sold has had to have been paid for and distributed by the artist themselves.
Bandcamp says that, while there has been a 600% upturn in vinyl being sold through the company over the past five years, only as little as 9% of new releases actually offered the option last year – largely due to the expense and high risk of turning a loss.
Tackling this, the new pressing initiative will be funded by fans’ pledges, with those campaigns reaching their target then being pressed, printed and shipped by Bandcamp. Artists will have complete control over the design of their package, and retain all rights to the music, with Bandcamp also still delivering the digital files as it does with all other releases.
The service will be rolled out globally later in the year, but Bandcamp is showing how it will work with an initial four releases – two of which have already reached their funding target.
In a market flooded by major labels and re-presses of classic albums, this new pressing service promises to offer fans music they’d likely never otherwise have been able to find on vinyl. With that we can have no complaints.
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