Bandcamp Live: A desperately needed new revenue stream for musicians
Bandcamp’s ticketed live streaming service arrives this month, bringing a new feature to one of the world’s most popular music streaming and retail platforms. Bandcamp has a great reputation for being an ethical, artist orientated system. Undoubtedly, Bandcamp’s decision to waive all fees until March next year will only earn the platform more fans. Is it time the big players took a leaf out of Bandcamp’s book?
Bandcamp – The Artist’s Choice?
The internet has provided us with an incredible tool for musicians to reach their fans. And crucially, it’s also made it easier than ever to discover new music. Conversely, many artists now find they’re receiving less and less financial return for their art than ever before. Major streaming platforms such as Spotify have come under criticism for the low artist royalties being paid.
A campaign by the Musician’s Union and The Ivors Academy was recently set up to address what many of us see as a “broken” industry model. The COVID pandemic has pushed many artists towards live streaming, in an attempt to claw back much-needed revenue. Once again, however, the big players like Facebook have moved in and monetized a much-needed income stream.
Thankfully, for those of us looking for an ethical option, there’s Bandcamp, a platform which does things very differently and typically charges only 10% commission on artist sales. Fans also have the option to tip artists at their discretion. For independent artists, Bandcamp is an amazing platform for selling music, merch and more.
Live music – remember that?
Bandcamp Ticketed Live Streaming
Now Bandcamp is rolling out a ticketed live streaming service, throwing artists a much-needed lifeline in these difficult times. What we find amazing is that Bandcamp is waiving its fees until March 2021! In these difficult times, it’s wonderful to see a platform that’s really stepping up to support artists and help them out.
The new service, called Bandcamp Live, is fully integrated with the rest of the website. If you’re a fan of the band you’ll automatically be alerted when your band is live. Fans can chat with the band and a “virtual merch table” allows fans to browse merchandise during performances. Bandcamp promises totally transparent pricing, and when the service starts charging in March, they’ll only take 10% of ticket fees.
We say: Bravo Bandcamp! Now let’s see some of the other platforms step up to support artists and musicians too!
More Information
- Live music - remember that?: Pixabay
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