One of the few bright spots of 2020 has been Bandcamp’s continued practice of waiving its revenue share on select Fridays, directing 100 percent of sales on the digital platform to independent labels and artists. Now, “Bandcamp Fridays” will continue on a monthly basis through the remainder of the year. The designated days are the first Fridays of each month: August 7, September 4, October 2, November 6, and December 4.
Bandcamp co-founder Ethan Diamond announced the news late last week. The platform’s standard revenue share is 15 percent for digital sales and 10 percent for merchandise sales.
“We started Bandcamp Fridays back in March to support artists impacted by the pandemic,” Diamond writes, “and in the past few months the music community has come together in a huge way: in just four days, fans put more than $20 million directly into the pockets of artists and labels.”
He adds: “That’s incredible, but just as amazing is that since the pandemic hit in March, fans have bought more than $75 million worth of music and merch directly from artists and labels, and to date, fans have paid artists over half a billion(!) dollars on Bandcamp.”
The first “Bandcamp Friday” arrived on March 20, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to tighten its grip on the country; $4.3 million was spent over a 24-hour period, roughly 15 times the business the music hosting platform would see on any given Friday. Similar efforts were made again on May 1 (fans spent a whopping $7.1 million on music and merch) and then on June 5, where $4.8 million was spent in efforts earmarked for donations to those fighting for racial equity. The most recent effort was on July 3, just before the Fourth of July holiday.
“It’s a good reminder that Bandcamp Fridays are really an extension of what Bandcamp is about every day,” says Diamond. “Thank you to all the artists and labels who shared their music with us, and the fans who spent their hard-earned coins to support the artists they love.”
Bandcamp Fridays run on its designated day from midnight to midnight PDT. A website has been set up, isitbandcampfriday.com, specifically for what Bandcamp calls “timezone demystification.” Hit the link to see if the when campaign is in effect, no matter what part of the world folx are checking in from.