Support Independent Artists on Bandcamp
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WRITTEN BY: Vince Barreras
On May 1, Bandcamp will once again waive their percentage of the sales fee to give artists 100% of the revenue they make off the platform. This isn’t the first time Bandcamp is doing this. Back on March 20, Bandcamp did this same strategy and the result was monumental. For the 24-hour period, Bandcamp allowed their artists to collect 100% of their music/merch sales and the results were around 800,000 items sold and $4.3 million spent for the day, a record for the site. Bandcamp said on a typical Friday they can expect to sell about 47,000 items, so on that one day they sold more than 15x a normal Friday. It’s also important to note this will be an ongoing project for Bandcamp as June 5, and also July 3 (the first friday of each month) the same will be happening on the platform.
Covid-19 has really hurt the independent music scene. Artists were forced to cancel shows due to the pandemic, which, for independent artists, has hurt them big time financially. Currently, many are streaming live events with a patron account in hopes of donations from fans but that is still a bit of a gamble and doesn’t make up for not touring since they aren’t able to sell records, or merch, which helps them in a big way make money. Supporting your favorite artists on the site in either buying a digital record, or a piece of merch could mean the difference between paying their rent or not. If you have an artist you love, consider buying a t-shirt, a record, or even a couple singles because the money will go a long way. It’s important during these times of quarantine to look towards the arts as a way to get us through this difficult time, and that’s what many people are doing. Without the support of fans, artists wouldn’t be able to create the things we love. So consider supporting independent artists this Friday on Bandcamp! Be cautioned, even if the site loads slowly from an influx of people trying to access BE PATIENT! It will allow you on the site, it just needs time.
