Bandcamp to donate all profits directly to artists today
The music scene has had to deal with a hard blow, as the pandemic crisis keeps spreading, leading to thousands of events cancelled across the globe, hitting hard independent venues and labels, artists and collectives from the worldwide alternative scene — most musicians and bands' incomes now coming from touring as a result of the record industry bubble-burst in the early 2000s.
To support musicians during the crisis, Bandcamp — known as one of the best platforms in terms of revenue distribution —, is waiving their revenue share on all sales today, Friday 20th March 2020, from midnight to midnight PST (7am GMT on Friday until 7am on Saturday in the UK). In other words, everything you spend on the platform will be going directly to the artists and labels.
A jolly folk song written and recorded at home whilst under quarantine in France during the COVID-19 epidemic.
‘With such a major revenue stream drying up almost entirely, finding ways to continue supporting artists in the coming months is now an urgent priority for anyone who cares about music and the artists who create it’ said Bandcamp CEO and co-founder Ethan Diamond.
‘To raise even more awareness around the pandemic’s impact on musicians everywhere, we’re waiving our revenue share on sales today and rallying the Bandcamp community to put much-needed money directly into artists’ pockets.For many artists, a single day of boosted sales can mean the difference between being able to pay rent or not.’
So, go to Bandcamp and support your favorite artists and labels now. If you don’t know where to start, here’s a bunch of fresh releases that definitely deserve your attention.
Having put a call out for producers for their V/A compilation, Lobster Theremin has plucked 45 tracks from 900 submissions over the last 24 hours, including tracks from Route 8, Imogen, Desert Sound Colony, Ben Sims, and Bleaching Agent. All proceeds will go to Mind, Shelter and struggling artists.
Earlier this month, Beijing-based music collective DCYY has put together a wide-ranging compilation of electronic music from 20 different producers, with proceeds going to Firefly Plan for 'the purchase of protective clothing, diapers, sanitary pads and other essential items needed by frontline medical staff'. Featuring tracks from Ciel, Mr. Ho, Helix and SVBKVLT-affiliated GOOOOOSE.
Skream has shared a series of unreleased track, title Unreleased Classics Vol.1 2002 - 2003 — suggesting more volumes are set to follow.
La Chinerie’s rave-focused branch Comic Sans Records have gathered all their releases from 2017-2019 for the occasion.
The shares are 50/50 between the label and the artists – name your price.
All sales raised for Moscow’s Hyperboloid Records over the weekend will go directly to the artists. Get familiar with the futuristic sound of this cutting-edge heavy bass label through their last compilation – name your price.
A few independent labels and distributors have also announced similar practices, such as Brooklyn’s Ghostly International, and Kode9’s label Hyperdub — which has annonced that all the money from Bandcamp sales will go directly to its artists through the end of the month. The whole list is now available on Bandcamp
Check Hyperdub 15th-anniversary compilation, with tracks from Burial, Lee Gamble, Laurel Halo, Kode9 and more.
