Ever since its launch in 2008, Bandcamp has become a byword for fairness in the music industry. Allowing artists to keep the lion’s share of all profits made from selling albums, tracks and merchandise, with prices set by them alone.
Bandcamp’s meagre 15% commission is a stark contrast to the maximised cut that other distribution platforms tend to take. Its community-oriented ethos has meant that Bandcamp has been perceived as the ‘good guys’ in an industry where music creators increasingly seem to be getting the thinnest slice of the pie.
Beyond arming self-releasing artists with a potentially profitable pathway to cultivate an audience, the platform - originally founded by Ethan Diamond, Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker - has also embraced labels (including Ninja Tune, Sub-Pop and Matador). Major artists such as Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Bjork and Aphex Twin also relish in the platforms’s direct-to-fan model.
Bandcamp’s cultural karma rightfully reached a peak during the Covid pandemic, during which it insigated ‘Bandcamp Fridays’. On those days, the platform waived its revenue share - meaning that 100% of money from sales went straight into the pockets of artists (and/or labels).
It also provided a route for the online community of music lovers, isolated from their local music scenes, to connect.
But perceptions shifted following the 2022 acquisition of the company by Epic Games, and - shortly afterwards - Bandcamp was passed on to music-licensing platform Songtradr.
In the midst of this uncertainty, highly publicised layoffs and hostility towards attempts to unionise, led many self-releasing artists to question whether Bandcamp was still a bastion of fairness - or was transforming into something different.
With this context in mind, we spoke to Bandcamp’s General Manager, Dan Melnick, and - donning the cap of a self-releasing artist - asked him whether Bandcamp’s ethos had changed, and how artists can maximise their reach via the platform.
MusicRadar: Hi Dan, firstly can we start by asking how you became the General Manager of Bandcamp?
Dan Melnick: “I was a co-founder of Reverb, and was there from the beginning. I have a software engineering background, and I led software development and design and products while I was there. Reverb was acquired by Etsy in 2019.
“I joined Bandcamp a little over two years ago. So it was after the Epic Games acquisition. Originally I was working for the founder, Ethan Diamond. Following the Songtradr acquisition, I moved into the General Manager role.
“[In my role], I’m interacting with all aspects of the business. We have our product development team, engineering, design and we have our artists and labels team, which, you know, works directly with artists and labels to make sure they succeed on the platform.
“Then we have customer support and things like that. But then we also have our editorial arm. Bandcamp is also a media company in that sense. We run our Bandcamp daily where we write about new music, but we also run Bandcamp radio.
“The goal [of all that] is to make a mini-music scene. It’s a little microcosm of the ecosystem that you see in real music scenes. It's a feedback loop of supporting artists and making sure that they aren't just out there on their own. They have other ways to have the spotlight shine on them.”
MR: Do you think that ‘scene’-replicating model you mentioned is something that more platforms should be trying to emulate?
DM: “I think that’s a bit part of it, but I think, you know, the biggest differentiation is our business model.
“Bandcamp is about buying music directly from artists and labels. The majority of the money goes to artists and labels directly. They get paid. It's a very simple value-based transaction, I think that's sort of core to the ethos as well.
“[When you think about it] it’s a timeless model, and the way streaming works is more of an anomaly than how we work at Bandcamp. What it does is it aligns all of our incentives very clearly. So, we do well, when artists do well. And, if labels sell more, we make a little bit more money, but if they don't, we make nothing.
“Our incentives are aligned.”
MR: Recently there was some well-publicised internal turmoil following the Songtradr acquisition. For self-releasing artists - has anything changed with regards to Bandcamp's central mission statement?
DM: “We haven't changed our business model. We haven't changed, you know, anything that's really core to what makes Bandcamp Bandcamp.
“There's obviously been some staffing changes and things like that over the course of the acquisitions, that have [resulted in] internal changes. But Bandcamp - the product, the ecosystem and the platform - has been very stable in that sense.
“One of the things you can point to that really underlines that is the continuance of Bandcamp Fridays. Those started at the beginning of the pandemic.
"On that day, Bandcamp waives its fee, and allows artists to take all of the money. It can be a big boost for artists - and fans love it.
“We’ve been doing that for five years now, I think that shows our commitment to the artist community and that has really not wavered at all."
MR: How are Bandcamp communities more engaged than those artists could foster on their own social platforms, or via their own direct messaging?
DM: “Bandcamp really lets you own your relationship with your fan. In an era where on a social media platform, you might post and not even reach the people who've signed up and follow you - and want to get your message.
“On a streaming platform it's a total abstract number. You get metrics like: 'You have X many monthly streamers’.
"On Bandcamp, you can message your fans directly.
“If they opt in, you get their email address, which you can add it to your own email list, which means it's also portable - off the platform.
"We're not trying to lock anyone in. We're trying to help foster an ecosystem. I think that's essential for artists, especially independent artists, to really understand their value by trying to sell things.
"It sounds kind of straightforward, but it's true; if fans pay for something, that means something. It means something about the quality of the fan.
“If you're going on tour, you can message fans in a geographical area and say, ‘Hey, I'm going to be in Seattle’.
"You can message fans who have actually supported you, or have bought something. That's a really meaningful way to bolster your audience and your touring.”
MR: How granular and detailed are the analytics that artists get? And do you think there’s something sad about the fact that artists now need to live in a world of metrics and data?
DM: “I certainly think there's a lot of fatigue from artists on having to be all of the things.
"Having to be marketers, you know, all of those things can be kind of overwhelming, but the reality is that, yes, you you do kind of have to have a sense of that.
“Artists get sort of behavioural data, in the sense that they get to see what's being streamed from their catalogue, what's being previewed and how long the tracks are being played.
"Did [fans] play tracks the way through? Was it a partial play or a skip? Where did that traffic come from? etc.
"We also provide sales data, including where those sales came from, in terms of refers and then geographical data. It's pretty robust without being too intrusive on the fans. I think that something we always try and balance is good data practices and privacy in addition to giving artists useful data.
“If you're an artist, and you're starting out, then you're not going to have a team. That's not a new state of affairs.
"[You can compare it to ] the DIY movement and the history of DIY music. Bandcamp is sort of a continuation of empowering that tradition, if you think of it that way.
MR: Outside of the Bandcamp world, it’s difficult for artists to sell their their music and their merch directly to fans - particularly those just starting out - without losing a huge percentage. How does a new self-releasing artist begin to think like a merchandiser - how can they reel in new potential purchasers?
DM: “Let's say you're a brand new artist, that has played some local gigs and you have a recording. You can come to Bandcamp and release it as just a digital album for sale on the platform.
"So, there's very little extra investment that you need to do that. You create some cover art, you write some liner notes, and you send it out to your fans.
"As your audience starts to grow, then adding physical merchandise is kind of the next step.
“Depending on who you are, it might be easier to fund a run of cassettes or CDs, or vinyl records. Then all of a sudden, people have a physical item. I think music collectors still really respond to having something they can put in their hand.
“Once you get past that point where you started releasing physical merchandise and your fans are buying it, you can start to release t-shirts and non-music merchandise.
“Part of the reason that's powerful is that, as a musician, it's hard if you're really relying on your release cycle to be able to sell something,
"It could be a year or possibly multiple years between releases. Learning how to have other things your fans might want to buy in between those releases is really powerful.
“As you say though, it is marketing, analytics, merchandising. We don't touch it other than helping artists promote it.
“Touring is still pivotal at the end of the day. You can get fans through the internet, sure, but I think really deep fan connections are made through through touring.
"Those that have built really lasting fans without touring are in a pretty exceptional situation. But in general, music scenes are what make real fans come into shows.”
MR: So artists can’t bank on making a success of themselves from scratch with just a Bandcamp account?
DM: “Here's the thing, I think Bandcamp is not built to break you as an artist. That's not our our strength. There’s a lot of discovery on the platform, but you do need to bring some fans with you.
“You still need to figure out how to market it. You need to play gigs. You need to do the work of getting your music into the world. Once you do - Bandcamp is a great way to build on it.
“I follow artists, I follow other fans. I have a feed of releases. If I see a fan whose taste I generally like, and they buy an album. I can click on it. If I like it, I'm gonna buy it. The value of that is huge.
"I think part of the value of that specifically, is that Bandcamp has really passionate listeners who are, like, willing to take a chance on music, willing to take a chance on new artists, and willing to directly support them when they do. Not just stream and be like, 'Oh, that's cool', and never think about it again.
MR: There's been some worries that the new ownership by Songtradr (a music licensing platform) of Bandcamp, would lead to the platform prioritising what it can make the most money out of. Do you have any thoughts on that?
DM: "There hasn't been any conflict there. I think we're still curious to figure out where there could be opportunities. Songtradr obviously has a lot of hooks into the B2B sync licensing world and we would love to get more independent music into commercials, because it's a great way [for all] to make money.
“You know, if you're an artist and you get a good placement, that can be life-changing.
"We're in the business of helping artists make money. If there are opportunities there We're always actively talking about it, but there's nothing in conflict that's causing any issues internally.
“Bandcamp’s been around over 15 years now, and in the tech world, that's a long time. I think I was really fortunate to work directly for Ethan, the founder. I really absorbed some of his ethos and approach to product development and approach to the brand, and brand voice and things like that, which I think is important.
"I think that's sort of an important transition from a founder-led company to sort of the post-founder era. My hope is that we're still talking about Bandcamp in another 15 years, still having a steady presence that musicians can rely on.
MR: During the COVID lockdown, the community-oriented values qualities of Bandcamp really came to the forefront of the public consciousness, at a time when human beings couldn’t connect in the same way. Do you think that the human-focussed philosophy is kind of a safeguard against the encroachment of AI?
DM: “Yeah, I do. And I think our business model is very well positioned for the age of AI. If the streaming world gets flooded with AI music, then it reduces the pie for living musicians.
“I think because we're already so focused on these direct fan relationships and and sort of human-to-human connection and commerce, that we're actually very well positioned in that sense.
"I'm hopeful that it'll actually cause more artists to realise, that’s how they should be running their careers. Staying in the streaming world and trying to play that game is probably more of a threat to your career than getting out and and building those relationships. Letting fans interact on platforms where we can verify each other's humanity.
MR: On a practical level - for self-releasing artists reading who have a Bandcamp account - what are some methods for developing that fan engagement and building out that audience?
DM: “So I think the first thing I would say is talk to your fans.
“We have these mechanisms to message your fans. Artists and labels who who do that sell more. Part of engaging with your fanbase is making sure that you're doing it in between your release cycle.
“Don't just send them something once every two years, when you put out an album. You have to [keep] being interactive with them. In-between that, tell them you're going on tour, tell them that you're working on a new record, You know, if you're a fan of music, you're excited when you hear your artist is working on a new album. Share a video of a recording session, try and engage regularly.
“For the actual album release cycle, I think what we're seeing more and more of is releasing first on Bandcamp direct to their ‘real’ fans right before releasing to streaming.
“So if you're going to do both, it's fine, but you cannibalise your own sales if you put them up at the same time. So we're seeing more artists do that and having huge success.
“I mean, you know, we have artists are saying, ‘I made more doing this than it would have made in years if I just put it on streaming’, and streaming is still there later for that long tail passive income.”
“I would also suggest that every artist should be having a listening party on Bandcamp for their record. That's a good moment to talk to your fans. It's a synchronous chat, you know. You listen to the album with your fans. You can give them a preview. So again, it gives your fans that moment to hear the album before the release date.
“There's live commerce so people can buy it. I don’t think I’ve seen a more wholesome internet product in a long time than the chat at our listening parties.”
MR: You mentioned earlier you want to see Bandcamp remain a central part of the music releasing pipeline, but where do you envision it being in a decade's time? And I guess, beyond that, where do you see the industry in a decade's time?
DM: “I think Bandcamp will continue to evolve - we’ve got some great new features coming out. Just later this month - and early next month - with our playlisting mechanism that I think people are gonna be really excited about.
“I think we are going to help fans also do more curation on the platform and share that with other fans.
“Part of how Bandcamp will still be around in 15 years is by continuing to just modernise and ensure that the things work the way people expect them to work.”
“[In terms of] where the industry will be in 10 years. Whoo, man, I don't have a crystal ball. That's a tough one.
“I think, it's obviously going to be extremely interesting to watch how disruptive AI is.
"With AI, you have to make a distinction between AI as a tool versus AI as a finished product. But I think musicians are going to adopt AI just like they've adopted all technology, you know, I think musicians are actually very adaptable to technology as a tool, and always figure out incredibly creative ways to use it.
“I think music and musicians are incredibly resilient, and I have a lot of faith that we're still going to be listening to music made by human beings in 10 years and we'll still going to concerts for human beings in 10 years. That doesn’t keep me up at night.
"I think the question is - how can musicians still make a living? I think that's why Bandcamp is so important.”
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