Online music marketplace Bandcamp is waive the revenue share on the sale today to help musicians affected by the new coronavirus pandemic. The platform normally takes 15 percent of every digital sale and 10 percent of every purchase of goods. The fees lifted will remain in effect until 12:00 PM PT tonight.
While streaming music eventually pays off some money to artists, it can take months and is often split among many parties. Buying music on Bandcamp is a way to quickly and more directly put money into a musician’s pocket, as there are often fewer intermediaries and money is deposited within 24-48 hours of a purchase. Bandcamp’s structure is also unique in that it allows flexible payments. Artists set a minimum purchase price for music and physical goods, but people are welcome to add more when buying a tip or gift.
Bandcamp is used by hundreds of thousands of artists, over 3,000 labels and has an inventory of over 800,000 unique physical products. The platform says that fans have paid $ 470 million to artists since its launch in 2007, with $ 10.2 million paid in the past 30 days.
“For many artists, a single day of stimulated sales can mean the difference between being able to pay rent or not,” says Bandcamp co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond. “However, we only consider this as a starting point. Musicians will continue to feel the effects of lost tour earnings in the coming months. ”
The edge commented this yesterday in conversation with musicians looking for Twitch to recoup lost tour money. A study of the Music Industry Research Association discovered that the average American musician is predominantly dependent on live shows for his income, and now many face unexpected hardships, like many most tours are canceled in recent weeks as a result of the pandemic. “The more you can prove that you can sell hard tickets, the more you will be worth if you are booked,” said musician Marc Rebillet. The edge. “I’m scrambling a bit to find a way to live the way I want to live.”
For artists, Bandcamp’s announcement also outlines other ways to make money on the platform, including releasing old demos or live recordings, setting up a subscription service, and listing things like video hangouts, lessons, and equipment tutorials as merchandise items.
Moreover Pitchfork has also listed more than two dozen labels on Bandcamp who direct a greater percentage of sales to their artists, including Hyperdub, Captured Tracks and Citrus City.
With the announcement, BandcampWebsite seems to receive more visitors than usual and occasionally goes offline. Make sure to come back all day if you come across a message saying ‘we are offline for maintenance shortly’.