Bandcamp
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Bandcamp was launched in 2008, and has since gained popularity among independent musicians]] Bandcamp is an online music store that allows independent artists to sell or freely distribute their work directly to their fans. The basic service of Bandcamp is free, and the site takes a revenue share from artist sales. The site offers a convenient means for artists to sell their music quickly and free of record label intervention. When an artist creates an account they receive a micro-site on a subdomain of bandcamp.com where they can upload their music and personalize their page. As of 2012 there are 646,978 albums uploaded to the site[1]. Notable Bandcamp moments include when cellist-composer Zoe Keating made #7 on the Billboard classical chart solely from Bandcamp sales[2] and when popular game soundtracks from Bastion, Terraria, and others were uploaded.
Contents
History
Ethan Diamond conceptualized band camp in 2007 when a musical group he liked was dropped from it's record label. The group attempted a self-release, but came upon many shortcomings including downloading and formatting issues. Diamond wanted to create a music distributing format that any independent artist could easily and effectively use[3].
Through it's existence, Bandcamp has gained more and more exposure through it's use by popular artists. In 2010, Amanda Palmer sold 15,000 dollars worth of music within three minutes without the help of a label or a promoter, using only Twitter to spread the word of her new release [1]. That week Bandcamp saw incredibly large wave of new users hosting their music on the site.
Features
Multi-format Downloads
Bandcamp allows artist to upload their music in lossless formats, providing the option of multiple lossy formats (e.g. MP3, AAC) to the downloader. The effect of providing a myriad of formats for download is that people with varying preferences will have the opportunity to make a purchase.
Flexible Pricing
One of the defining features of the Bandcamp service is the "name-your-price" downloads, which allows listeners to download the music at a price set by the artist or uploader. Artists can choose a fixed price or allow listeners to choose their own price. Additionally downloads can be priced for free, however artists are limited to a certain amount of free downloads a month[4]. Bandcamp takes 15% of the sales made by artists, which decreases to 10% once the artist has made more than $5000.
Creative Commons
Bandcamp allows each artist to choose whichever licensing options suit their preferences best, and these include Creative Commons licenses. In 2009 they increased the number of licensing options to the amount available today.
Real-time Statistics
Bandcamps allows artists to view detailed statistics about the streaming and downloading of their music. Not only can artists view the amounts of plays per time period, they can also view where their music is being linked from and which search engine terms bring them the most traffic. Bandcamp provides a detailed graph of all of the user's play counts from the date the music was posted to the current time. [5]
Ethical Aspects
Bandcamp assists artists in getting exposure that they would've otherwise had to obtain by creating their own pages or hosting somewhere else. Creating a streamlined service by which someone can buy and sell media, as well as listen to it, assists in making those things more accessible. While Bandcamp is not the only company that offers these types of services, Bandcamp and its peers are contributing to a music consumption culture free of filtering.
Bandcamp also serves as an outlet for artists who prefer to release their music under a Creative Commons license. It also educates artists who are unsure by giving them a summary of the aspects of each licensing choice as well as links for more detailed explanations. The site also allows an artist to choose the more well-known 'All Rights Reserved' licensing for those who want the most intellectual property protection.
