Bandcamp has established itself as the perfect example of how artists can be reimbursed for what they produce. Popular with independent artists, Bandcamp is an excellent example of success. It has shown that streaming platforms are not the only solution for supporting artists. What is Bandcamp and is it the best solution to support artists?
We explain everything and show you how Soundiiz can improve your use of Bandcamp.
Bandcamp: humble beginnings
Music streaming is everywhere. In just a few years, it has already invaded the world. But in the wake of this popularity, problems have quickly arisen—piracy and artists’ remuneration. Some artists have been fighting against an unprofitable remuneration system for many years. You must be a superstar with several million monthly listeners, for music streaming to be a viable solution.
In 2007, Ethan Diamond, Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt, and Neal Tucker came up with the idea of a site that would be an alternative to MySpace. In the early 2000s, MySpace was a significant player in the music industry. It’s one of the most consulted sites in the world. Artists create profiles, post photos, news, and music, and connect directly with their fans. Bandcamp aims to follow a similar path and, above all, similar success.
Fighting against giants
They also know there’s no point competing with Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and other streaming platforms. So, they’ve chosen to serve artists rather than listeners. Bandcamp aims to be a platform for artists, with less financial and marketing focus than indirect competitors. Its co-founder, Ethan Diamond, has, by his admission, an almost idealistic goal: to change the industry’s rules, to put the “power” back in the hands of artists, and to enable another model to exist, supported by listeners.
Ethan Diamond’s position is interesting: he doesn’t see Bandcamp as a streaming service but rather as a record store and a music community. It’s also a tool for connecting artists and buyers, a way for them to cut out the middleman in an ultra-connected industry.
At the heart of the Bandcamp model is redistributing 85% of revenues from any sale. Bandcamp takes “only” 15%.
What is Bandcamp and is it the best solution to support artists?
On Bandcamp, artists can choose the selling price of their albums and sell merchandising, from t-shirts to mugs to USB keys, whatever they want. Bandcamp is a showcase, an online store where you can buy anything related to the artists you listen to.
Content producers can choose how many times a song can be streamed before the user has to buy it. The aim is to create a privileged relationship with the public, encourage discovery, and support the independent circuit, one of the major streaming platforms’ big losers in the war. Bandcamp’s early days were focused mainly on ultra-niche genres, speaking only to an initiated audience. Over the years, however, they have begun to open up to other genres and become a global platform.
Bandcamp’s DNA is rooted in independence and the desire to highlight what others aren’t doing. It’s also rooted in the desire to encourage interaction and make Bandcamp a collaborative platform where listeners can chat with their favorite artists and leave comments and reviews on their albums. It’s a similar approach, in essence, to Myspace.
Trying to establish itself as the best solution to support artists
Bandcamp is still a popular platform for independent artists. It is also one of the primary sources for purchasing CDs and vinyl in physical format. Its users appreciate the possibility of obtaining a digital album even if they buy a CD or vinyl copy. Bandcamp has understood that if it is to exist in a saturated market, with behemoths that are impossible to compete with, it has to play on both the digital and physical fronts.
Growth was linear for many years until the pandemic reshuffled the deck. From then on, there was a growing awareness of the importance of supporting one’s favorite artists and helping to sustain their careers. At the time of the pandemic, Bandcamp announced it was lifting its usual 15% fee for one day. Media reports indicate that on this day alone, the equivalent of $4.3 million worth of merchandising and music is purchased on Bandcamp. That’s a lot. Bandcamp repeats the operation three more times, notably on May 1, when $7.3 million is spent.
The Bandcamp Fridays: a yearly event and one the best solutions to support artists
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic affects the entire planet and weakens the music sector, with a shortage of tours and concerts, the Bandcamp team will set up an operation that will prove popular.
Bandcamp decides to support artists and musical creation every first Friday of the month. It’s in the site’s DNA. Instead of paying 85% of the revenue generated by purchasing anything related to the artist, they increase this remuneration to 93%.
In addition to these one-off Bandcamp Fridays, another dimension, this time editorial, makes Bandcamp a relevant hub for all readers and listeners.
Bandcamp Daily is an online magazine (or newspaper?), one of the aims of which is to highlight artists who are little heard or who are still under the radar of the general public. Over the years, Bandcamp Daily has established itself as the tool of choice for discovering new trends and artists, and its reputation is well established.
Some of the world’s greatest artists, including Radiohead and Peter Gabriel, can now be seen on Bandcamp. Over the years, the service has acquired such a reputation that it would now be almost counterproductive not to have a presence there. Has Bandcamp won the day? Has it shown that listeners can make things happen and that music streaming is not the only way to consume and support music? There’s no doubt about that. But recent events have weakened Bandcamp.
Buyouts that raise questions
In 2022 and 2023, two events changed Bandcamp’s trajectory. The company was first acquired by Epic Games in 2022 and then by Songtradr the following year. Songtradr describes itself as a global music licensing platform for artists and music buyers, allowing them to sell their music and license any song. They are B2B oriented. Songtradr’s recent takeover caused quite a stir, with some concerned about the future of Bandcamp. During the operation, 50% of Bandcamp’s 120 employees were laid off, including many of those in charge of Bandcamp Daily. It should also be noted that, at the time of the Epic Games takeover, 16% of Bandcamp employees had already been made redundant.
Variety published a statement from Songtradr:
“Over the past few years, the operating costs of Bandcamp have significantly increased. It required some adjustments to ensure a sustainable and healthy company serving its community of artists and fans. After a comprehensive evaluation, including the importance of roles for smooth business operations and pre-existing functions at Songtradr, 50% of Bandcamp employees have accepted offers to join Songtradr.”
It’s still too early to say whether these redundancies will have consequences. But the news has been greeted with considerable trepidation among independent musicians. What would become of them if Bandcamp disappeared or changed its model? Bandcamp had established itself as one, if not the only, viable solution for making money from music. Selling your music only on Bandcamp is often not enough to create a decent living. Still, with royalties far superior to other online music sales tools, Bandcamp has established itself as an indispensable solution for hundreds of thousands of artists.
How can Soundiiz improve your use of Bandcamp?
Using Bandcamp with Soundiiz is trickier than other streaming platforms such as Deezer, Spotify, Apple Music, or TIDAL. But it doesn’t mean we can’t do some things! You know us; we always find ways to give our Soundiiz users what they want.
We’ve written a dedicated page on our support section for you to understand how to get the most out of your Bandcamp account. You can read it here, and we copied-pasted it below.
While Bandcamp does not offer an API to access user data directly, we can still retrieve information on your public profile on Bandcamp.
When trying to connect Bandcamp to Soundiiz, you have to enter the “profile username” (the one in the URL). It can be different from the name on the profile page or your login account/email.
Where can I find the right “username” value?
Simply by looking at the URL of your profile. For example, the URL should look like “https://bandcamp.com/xxxxxx,” where “xxxxxx” is the correct username.
If you are not able to retrieve the URL, go to your public profile (or the profile of someone else) and click on “Share profile” and then in “Or copy this link:” you will find the correct URL / the good username value!
What can I do once I have connected my Bandcamp profile to Soundiiz?
We can only retrieve public elements (so be sure to set your Wishlist to public, etc.). Here are how we handle these different elements in Soundiiz:
- In the “Playlists” tab of Soundiiz, you can find a “Wishlist Tracks” generated playlist, which includes “Tracks” from your Wishlist.
- In the “Playlists” tab of Soundiiz, you can find a “Collection Tracks” generated playlist, which includes “Tracks” from your Collection.
- In the “Albums” tab Soundiiz, you can find all your “Albums” from your Collection.
- In the “Tracks” tab, Soundiiz, you can find all your “Tracks” from your Collection.
- In the “Artists” tab of Soundiiz, you can find all the Artists/Labels you are following.
There’s no way for the moment to import/add data to a Bandcamp account. Connecting Bandcamp to Soundiiz is useful only if you want to match your Collection with an online music streaming service or export lists such as CSV.
With this new article, we hope we answered this question: what is Bandcamp and is it the best solution to support artists? And to test Soundiiz’s services, it’s right here!
