Thread for awesome stuff on Bandcamp that costs money but is still awesome

Ok overstated sorry

lmao

I doubt Bandcamp’s business model was sound.

Idg this...investors aside, their cut of every record sold (except for Bandcamp Fridays) didn't outweigh the operating costs of servers, salaries, and freelance writer fees?

i do wonder how bandcamp Fridays skewed sales, possibly away from them.

In that case I think going back in time and eliminating Bandcamp Friday and never getting into bed with Epic Games and Sontradr would be an acceptable compromise

Bandcamp Friday is still going. I also think they benefited in myriad ways from those Fridays. They massively increased awareness of BC and reinforced in a lot of minds that this was a site about more than just making profit. there is definitely a type of BC customer and this fed right into their values. it was a shrewd thing to do as well as the right thing to.

I doubt Bandcamp’s business model was sound.

― Allen (etaeoe), Friday, October 27, 2023 4:08 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

??? how was it not

I took it as a pretty good dad joke

Important story at RA here -- Bandcamp United has filed an Unfair Labour Practice complaint against both Epic and Songtradr.

https://ra.co/news/79756

Some details:

Last month, Epic Games sold Bandcamp to Songtradr in the midst of lay-offs, and in the process also terminated at least 50 percent of Bandcamp's staff. None of the eight members of Bandcamp United's Collective Bargaining Committee received offers....Earlier this week, Bandcamp United also shared some stats about the Bandcamp lay-offs. The company's Black employees went from 19 to four amid the cuts, meaning the number of Black people at the company had been reduced by 79 percent overnight.

Last bandcamp Friday I got Speedy J's remastered 1990-2010 discography at 50% off and it's like 95% amazing (including two FAX ambient records I didn't know about & lots of classic singles too) - https://speedyj.bandcamp.com/

very nice

I'm not taking my BC page down, but I am creating a stand-alone website for my label so people can order CDs directly.

This may not be the right forum for this type of question but hopefully someone can help. I placed an order for a record on Bandcamp early last month. The platform gave an expected delivery date of mid month to the end of the month. I didn't receive so dropped a message to ask where it was and the guidance was to wait a 'week or two'. Then it would be a PayPal dispute. I haven't heard anything. The label has messaged me with new releases so I tried to do the same message again but not sure it's sending anything. I don't want to dispute.. and I'm happy to wait a month if that's the challenge. Perhaps I'm being impatient..

Have you emailed the label directly — like, at the email address they're using to tell you about their new releases — or just used Bandcamp's system? Try contacting them directly via their website or something.

Take those expected delivery dates with a big pinch of salt. If you go to your Purchases page, does it indicate that it’s been shipped at all?

Post from the union announcing a health solidarity fund to assist those who were laid off:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Czt2jLKu5SJ/

Fuckin' jeez.

https://aftermath.site/bandcamp-just-trying-to-keep-the-lights-on-following-epic-sale-layoffs

holy crap ned that’s a lot summary ha

my personal biz model is apple music never ever spotify as soon as i like it but on bandcamp. this covers a lot of shit i like. but for months now i don’t wanna go to spotify

btw i’m open to any better model for sure that’s reasonably accessible (?)

thanks for the link. so depressing - what a world!

very minor but nevertheless annoying Bandcamp design flaw: you bought the LP elsewhere (ie direct from a label or distro, discogs, real life) but wanna listen to the digital while you are doing something that requires you to be away from your turntable, and when you try playing the album on the site it keeps interrupting to tell you it's time to open your wallet. I keep wanting to reply with a photo of me holding the record, like "I have opened my wallet! There are other places to buy things other than Bandcamp!"

sounds like what you want is a kind of Ultraviolet scheme for music - https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/31/18204943/ultraviolet-locker-shutdown-date

This is why mp3s are your friend, but I hear you I've been in that situation when my files weren't handy

Not following why Bandcamp owes you that bandwidth for nothing. I have gotten Bandcamp download cards inside LPs (like bought at shops) and wonder how much small-time artists are paying Bandcamp for that arrangement.

xxxpost The way it works makes perfect sense, but I have always wished you could input some unique number on an album you bought elsewhere into Bandcamp and get streaming access there. That would be really nice. Not sure it makes sense on the Bandcamp side, though.

Anyone who expects any type of consistency for across-the-board listening solutions in the streaming age is fooling themselves

I have gotten Bandcamp download cards inside LPs (like bought at shops) and wonder how much small-time artists are paying Bandcamp for that arrangement.

― maf you one two (maffew12), Thursday, December 14, 2023 11:55 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Well if they're already paying bandcamp to host their digital downloads on the website, all they gotta do is print out the corresponding code link and put it inside the LPs regardless of where those LPs are sold

a nice thing about YouTube music is you can upload albums to listen to wherever you are , that are not on Youtube Spotify Tidal etc..

This is why I support artists but rely on soulseek for any corresponding digital download holes in my collection.

I still use streaming services to essentially play the albums I bought and lost, destroyed by accident, or can't currently dig up. I don't have a cd player except in my car, but I buy every album digitally, usually on Bandcamp. mostly because if I buy a physical product i'm just going to get glue and cheerios on it because I'm a slob and it will be unplayable in a month.

on the plus side, now that my turntable doesn't work, I have about 100 good condition vinyl I can use to make some money lol

you should clearly label your glue and milk containers, sounds like

Per Goldmine® Grading Guide:

Good (G),
Good Plus (G+)
or Very Good Minus (VG–)

These records consist of 10 to 15 percent glue and cheerios

labels are for posers

Bandcamp has announced that Bandcamp Fridays will resume in February 2024.

It's honestly perplexing how many free downloads Bandcamp gives you. Seems to be based somehow on sales, but I've only sold about $1,500 over three years, yet they've given me something like 2,000 potential free downloads to offer up. I' e printed them and included in CDs I've given people, and put maybe 50 up on social media.

very minor but nevertheless annoying Bandcamp design flaw: you bought the LP elsewhere (ie direct from a label or distro, discogs, real life) but wanna listen to the digital while you are doing something that requires you to be away from your turntable, and when you try playing the album on the site it keeps interrupting to tell you it's time to open your wallet. I keep wanting to reply with a photo of me holding the record, like "I have opened my wallet! There are other places to buy things other than Bandcamp!"

― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 14 December 2023 16:09 (one week ago) link

Tis is a constant issue with me, since I dont use streaming services... I try to send a photo of the vinyl and something stupid ( like me making a thumbs up sign in picture) to the record label asking for a download code.

Some do it.. others dont....

smaller labels are normally much cooler, Wax Trax sent me the Coil LSD code when the vinyl was delayed.

one label didnt have the DL rights but just sent me a googledrive link to the files.

right now as more major artists join bandcamp, its harder to find an email address let alone expect a response..

have accepted that I'm never going to get that Caroline Polachek album on my bandcamp library, without buying it again.

with smaller US labels, I have to balance paying for international shipping when buying through bandcamp or buying in the UK but not getting the title in my BC library which is basically my personal streaming service/library.

same issue when vinyl variants are sold out on bandcamp but available elsewhere, had that last week with the Green Lung album.

C'mon Bandcamp, don't give me a heart attack by going down while still reeling from the Pfork thing.

oh man

phew, looks like it is back now

Yeah, phew, maybe I'm just nervous after the change in ownership and couldn't imagine having another good thing on the internet go away, but seeing that 503 error come up and being reported in many places wasn't fun. Seems to be fine now.

Thread for awesome stuff on Bandcamp that costs a lot of money but is still awesome

The physical format prices for this one are wiiild. Granted, they link to their direct shop, which has normal prices, but I'm not sure what the point of these Bandcamp prices might be? Just hoping someone really, really likes them?

https://knollgrind.bandcamp.com/album/as-spoken

this is a fairly standard redirection of funds tactic for metal bands at least. Knoll addresses this in the second post here: https://knollgrind.bandcamp.com/community. They get a better cut through their other site so price that way to discourage bandcamp physical purchases and perhaps they hope to catch a clueless whale or two in the process.

Another example: Sanguisugabogg's first ep is now $1,000 for digital here on their maggot stomp bandcamp (it used to be much cheaper hence all the listed purchasers): https://sanguisugabogg-maggotstomp.bandcamp.com/album/pornographic-seizures but it can now be purchased for $7 from their non-label affiliated bandcamp here: https://sanguisugabogg.bandcamp.com/album/pornographic-seizures

I can't remember what label it is now, but there's also some metal label on bandcamp that lists all their digital purchases at $666, but has physical copies with digital included priced normally, too.

Ah, thanks, I wasn't following Knoll on my work computer so I couldn't see those community posts. That makes sense.

Though there are a few cases where the alternative is deleted or unfindable, so you're stuck choosing between paying $666 or not buying it at all, which is less optimal.

I didn't know Stevie well but I knew her in passing. Here's a Bandcamp refleciton on her work.

https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/stevie-pohlman-mope-grooves-album-guide

oh dang, mope grooves was great. i had not heard about her passing. rip.

so bigcartel seems to be offered more and more as a way to buy physical media of BC downloads, any thoughts?

Here's a new one that kind of annoys me, not going to direct link because I genuinely like the artist and don't want to shame them for trying to make a buck, but...

So said artist has a new album coming out, but there is no digital version available at all. Even ordering through Bandcamp it says that you won't get one despite Bandcamp's standard language that you will. The only way to get it is to pay $20 for the vinyl, but even in order to have the opportunity to do THAT you already have had to pay for a $60 annual subscription. Obviously you get other stuff too with that option, and I'm not discounting that, but I just can't see the benefit of hyping a new album that is locked behind so many gates.

I know it's hard out there, but this is annoying and kind of puts me off the artist.

Like I've supported this artist in the past by buying lots of digital and vinyl stuff in the past and was ready to do so again, but then I ran into this. I like this artist, but they have a wider range of stuff that I'm not as interested in. But I guess it's either all in on everything or you can't get anything at all. Which seems... not ideal to gain new fans?

I have def been seeing the subscription thing more often, I am also unsure what the idea is there

my latest bizarre glitch was buying a gift for a friend but using an old dead email. When I tried emailing her directly it bounced immediately, but before that Bandcamp happily took my money and did not inform me the email was undeliverable, lol