7 ms·

I could not agree more. If Bandcamp actually implodes I would have no idea where to buy music. I want to buy directly fron the artists; everything else feels t

I could not agree more. If Bandcamp actually implodes I would have no idea where to buy music. I want to buy directly fron the artists; everything else feels tainted. Is there any alternative?

Pxtl 3y ago
7digital? Except... they're owned by the same company.
Syonyk 3y ago
Buy a vinyl album from artists who sell such things, which will get them far more, per album sold, than just about anything else. Your ability to play vinyl is irrelevant here, and all I'll ask is that you store it reasonably (upright, in a cool place, sealed if you're not going to play it) for future use, since they last "about forever" when well taken care of. Then obtain the music in some lossless form. FLAC download from the usual sources, used CD on eBay into the ripper, etc. Though I've also debated just starting to mail checks in envelopes to artists I want to directly support. It's certainly more annoying than something like BandCamp. But given how "literally everything useful on the internet" either turns into a behavioral surplus vampire or dies (gets killed off), I don't have any better ideas either.
- Lacerda69 3y ago
  I want a comprehensive directory of all indie/underground music where I can buy physical or digital copies of the music directly from the artist. I need to know that 80%+ of the money goes to the artist. Is there any other platform than bandcamp that offers this?
  - 999900000999 3y ago
    You can also find artists that do live streams and directly pay them. Buy merch, see shows, etc.
    - Lacerda69 3y ago
      sure but not every artist offers this and its much harder to find the individual channels vs having one big index. But if worst comes to worst that will be the alternative for the time being I guess
- lifeformed 3y ago
  Vinyl won't get the most to the artist per dollar spent though. Most of the revenue from vinyl goes to people involved in the production and distribution of the physical record.
- mvdtnz 3y ago
  There is no universe in which I "mail checks" (sic) to anyone. I wouldn't even know how to obtain a chequebook, I doubt my bank issues them. It's not 1995 anymore.
  - wilsonnb3 3y ago
    Your spelling of the word “chequebook” makes me think you aren’t American, so it could be a cultural thing but checks are readily available and still somewhat commonly used for large purchases and rent payments in my experience.
  - serf 3y ago
    55% of Americans wrote a check last year.[0] I get being adamant, and I couldn't agree more -- i'd have to be really convinced to mail a check, but let's not act like it's unheard of. [0]:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/almost-half-americans-not-written-120019202.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/almost-half-americans-not-wri...
    - ghaff 3y ago
      I write checks a couple times monthly to a housekeeper and other service people and my bank writes a few more. Writing a check is higher friction than other payment schemes but it’s pretty routine in the US.
    - crazygringo 3y ago
      But it's absolutely plummeting: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/15/paper-checks-who-uses/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/15/paper-che... Rates of check-writing have been falling relatively linearly since 1995, and at the current rate it will drop to zero by around 2030.
      - tarboreus 3y ago
        Want to make a bet that it's not zero by 2030?
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > I've also debated just starting to mail checks in envelopes What about downloading music normally and buying merch?
  - tarboreus 3y ago
    On...Bandcamp? Which is what most indie artists use to sell?
- Symbiote 3y ago
  Most of the CDs I've bought online in the last few years have been through Bandcamp. It was convenient to get the FLAC immediately after ordering, and the CD soon after.
- DragonStrength 3y ago
  The issue of course is Bandcamp is the method most artists use to sell vinyl to fans who can’t make it to their live shows. I assume the pandemic led many to support their favorite artists through Bandcamp, but Bandcamp planned for a new reality that was really just pandemic-induced. The issue is Bandcamp enables smaller artists to sell like bigger artists and anything like your “mail a check” solution is so far from the kind of support Bandcamp could provide. I’m more interested in thinking about what “sustainable business model Bandcamp is” than going back to 1990s music industry.
  - 15457345234 3y ago
    There's nothing unsustainable about bandcamp, it was bought by a company that immediately sold it to another company that was a competitor. It being run into the ground after such a transaction is quite unsurprising. > The following year, after massively bigging up the business, they sold it to Songtradr Does 'bigging up the business' here mean loading it up with technical debt and real debt? Enquiring minds would like to know etc.
- barkingcat 3y ago
  Usually, if you buy a vinyl, the artist will include a download link for digital files of your choice - I like buying music this way because the vinyl helps the artist, and in turn the artist usually will give you lossless compressed files direct from mastering.
cageface 3y ago
bleep and boomkat are good for electronic music.
- Lacerda69 3y ago
  they are good true. but I always wondered if they pay artist as well as Bandcamp does. There is probably some info online but it seemed to me that artists do prefer bandcamp, so I figured they get a better deal there
  - cageface 3y ago
    I assume artists do get a bigger cut on Bandcamp but unfortunately it looks like Bandcamp is in dire straits. So I'm doing my best to support the remaining independent music stores.
dddavid 3y ago
I bought a CD from an artist (The Burning Leaves) through Bandcamp. Even though the artist lives, like 500m from me and I could have just asked her. Just to give Bandcamp my business and their cut to help them along (also it would have been weird). I've discovered so much through Bandcamp that I would have otherwise not known about, and bought so much I otherwise would have pirated. I think it's the help the platform help the artist thing that gets me. It means nothing in the end.
- emmanueloga_ 3y ago
  How do you discover stuff through bandcamp? The follow feed? Their front page articles? Search?
  - e12e 3y ago
    The Bandcamp weekly podcast (now bandcamp radio) was (is?) great for discovery.
    - dddavid 3y ago
      yes!
  - throwaway17_17 3y ago
    I tend to go digging through the artist you might like list on pages of music I’ve purchased. It’s not guaranteed I’ll stumble across something, but I do tend to find other artists I end up purchasing from.
  - joveian 3y ago
    Lots of indie musicians are on small labels and often multiple small labels so looking at the other artists on the same labels is often a good method (link usually pops up in the upper left corner).
Slow_Hand 3y ago
Qobuz has a good web store full of full-res releases, but it's more oriented towards label releases. Bandcamp is still superior when it comes to brand new indie releases. Hopefully someone will fill the vacuum if Bandcamp goes away. https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/discover https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/discover
- cageface 3y ago
  It looks like with Qobuz you only get one chance to download your purchased downloads? If you lose the files there's no way to download them again?
  - JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B 3y ago
    Their FAQ says you can download again your purchases: https://help.qobuz.com/en/articles/10166-can-i-re-download-my-purchases https://help.qobuz.com/en/articles/10166-can-i-re-download-m... The terms of services only say that "The offer to Download is currently unavailable in Latin American countries and in Portugal." It doesn’t give more details. The store is confusing though. You can buy a "CD quality" album for $10 but there also is a "hi-fi 192" version for $20 without explaining what hi-fi is. > Proxies and VPNs not allowed No Qobuz for me it seems. They don’t want my money for some reason.
    - herewulf 3y ago
      They also fairly recently changed things so you need to install a downloader app in order to download more than one album track at once. That's quite aggravating. I'm not installing some shitty app but there isn't a Linux version either, FWIW. I have historically bought a lot of music, don't like MP3s, and don't want to collect CDs anymore that I just rip to digital. Qobuz and Bandcamp age the only services I know that offer FLAC. I've mostly stuck to Bandcamp but Qobuz has quite a few releases that don't appear on Bandcamp (probably because of certain labels).
      - joveian 3y ago
Bjorkbat 3y ago
I think Itch.io has a decent chance of picking up where Bandcamp left off. Out of the box it doesn't have a media player to preview singles on an album, but someone created a media player that you can add to an itch page to provide said support github: https://github.com/torcado194/scritch-player https://github.com/torcado194/scritch-player demo: https://keestak.itch.io/heck-deck-ost https://keestak.itch.io/heck-deck-ost
crtasm 3y ago
I'm yet to try https://gumroad.com/ https://gumroad.com/ but have seen some producers move to after attracting copyright complaints on Bandcamp.
ihinsdale 3y ago
I'm building that functionality into https://giraf.app https://giraf.app, and will set the fees as low as possible (aiming for a flat 4%, compared to Bandcamp's 15% on digital items and 10% on physical items). My goal is for Giraf to help artists by maximizing how much they take home, and by giving them a platform for building a unique kind of relationship with their fans, around their interests in music, film, books, visual art, and other forms of culture.

I could not agree more. If Bandcamp actually implodes I would have no idea where to buy music. I want to buy directly fron the artists; everything else feels tainted. Is there any alternative?

Pxtl 3y ago

7digital? Except... they're owned by the same company.

Syonyk 3y ago

Buy a vinyl album from artists who sell such things, which will get them far more, per album sold, than just about anything else. Your ability to play vinyl is irrelevant here, and all I'll ask is that you store it reasonably (upright, in a cool place, sealed if you're not going to play it) for future use, since they last "about forever" when well taken care of. Then obtain the music in some lossless form. FLAC download from the usual sources, used CD on eBay into the ripper, etc. Though I've also debated just starting to mail checks in envelopes to artists I want to directly support. It's certainly more annoying than something like BandCamp. But given how "literally everything useful on the internet" either turns into a behavioral surplus vampire or dies (gets killed off), I don't have any better ideas either.

Lacerda69 3y ago
I want a comprehensive directory of all indie/underground music where I can buy physical or digital copies of the music directly from the artist. I need to know that 80%+ of the money goes to the artist. Is there any other platform than bandcamp that offers this?
- 999900000999 3y ago
  You can also find artists that do live streams and directly pay them. Buy merch, see shows, etc.
  - Lacerda69 3y ago
    sure but not every artist offers this and its much harder to find the individual channels vs having one big index. But if worst comes to worst that will be the alternative for the time being I guess
lifeformed 3y ago
Vinyl won't get the most to the artist per dollar spent though. Most of the revenue from vinyl goes to people involved in the production and distribution of the physical record.
mvdtnz 3y ago
There is no universe in which I "mail checks" (sic) to anyone. I wouldn't even know how to obtain a chequebook, I doubt my bank issues them. It's not 1995 anymore.
- wilsonnb3 3y ago
  Your spelling of the word “chequebook” makes me think you aren’t American, so it could be a cultural thing but checks are readily available and still somewhat commonly used for large purchases and rent payments in my experience.
- serf 3y ago
  55% of Americans wrote a check last year.[0] I get being adamant, and I couldn't agree more -- i'd have to be really convinced to mail a check, but let's not act like it's unheard of. [0]:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/almost-half-americans-not-written-120019202.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/almost-half-americans-not-wri...
  - ghaff 3y ago
    I write checks a couple times monthly to a housekeeper and other service people and my bank writes a few more. Writing a check is higher friction than other payment schemes but it’s pretty routine in the US.
  - crazygringo 3y ago
    But it's absolutely plummeting: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/15/paper-checks-who-uses/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/15/paper-che... Rates of check-writing have been falling relatively linearly since 1995, and at the current rate it will drop to zero by around 2030.
    - tarboreus 3y ago
      Want to make a bet that it's not zero by 2030?
JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> I've also debated just starting to mail checks in envelopes What about downloading music normally and buying merch?
- tarboreus 3y ago
  On...Bandcamp? Which is what most indie artists use to sell?
Symbiote 3y ago
Most of the CDs I've bought online in the last few years have been through Bandcamp. It was convenient to get the FLAC immediately after ordering, and the CD soon after.
DragonStrength 3y ago
The issue of course is Bandcamp is the method most artists use to sell vinyl to fans who can’t make it to their live shows. I assume the pandemic led many to support their favorite artists through Bandcamp, but Bandcamp planned for a new reality that was really just pandemic-induced. The issue is Bandcamp enables smaller artists to sell like bigger artists and anything like your “mail a check” solution is so far from the kind of support Bandcamp could provide. I’m more interested in thinking about what “sustainable business model Bandcamp is” than going back to 1990s music industry.
- 15457345234 3y ago
  There's nothing unsustainable about bandcamp, it was bought by a company that immediately sold it to another company that was a competitor. It being run into the ground after such a transaction is quite unsurprising. > The following year, after massively bigging up the business, they sold it to Songtradr Does 'bigging up the business' here mean loading it up with technical debt and real debt? Enquiring minds would like to know etc.
barkingcat 3y ago
Usually, if you buy a vinyl, the artist will include a download link for digital files of your choice - I like buying music this way because the vinyl helps the artist, and in turn the artist usually will give you lossless compressed files direct from mastering.

cageface 3y ago

bleep and boomkat are good for electronic music.

Lacerda69 3y ago
they are good true. but I always wondered if they pay artist as well as Bandcamp does. There is probably some info online but it seemed to me that artists do prefer bandcamp, so I figured they get a better deal there
- cageface 3y ago
  I assume artists do get a bigger cut on Bandcamp but unfortunately it looks like Bandcamp is in dire straits. So I'm doing my best to support the remaining independent music stores.

dddavid 3y ago

I bought a CD from an artist (The Burning Leaves) through Bandcamp. Even though the artist lives, like 500m from me and I could have just asked her. Just to give Bandcamp my business and their cut to help them along (also it would have been weird). I've discovered so much through Bandcamp that I would have otherwise not known about, and bought so much I otherwise would have pirated. I think it's the help the platform help the artist thing that gets me. It means nothing in the end.

emmanueloga_ 3y ago
How do you discover stuff through bandcamp? The follow feed? Their front page articles? Search?
- e12e 3y ago
  The Bandcamp weekly podcast (now bandcamp radio) was (is?) great for discovery.
  - dddavid 3y ago
    yes!
- throwaway17_17 3y ago
  I tend to go digging through the artist you might like list on pages of music I’ve purchased. It’s not guaranteed I’ll stumble across something, but I do tend to find other artists I end up purchasing from.
- joveian 3y ago
  Lots of indie musicians are on small labels and often multiple small labels so looking at the other artists on the same labels is often a good method (link usually pops up in the upper left corner).

Slow_Hand 3y ago

Qobuz has a good web store full of full-res releases, but it's more oriented towards label releases. Bandcamp is still superior when it comes to brand new indie releases. Hopefully someone will fill the vacuum if Bandcamp goes away. https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/discover https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/discover

cageface 3y ago
It looks like with Qobuz you only get one chance to download your purchased downloads? If you lose the files there's no way to download them again?
- JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B 3y ago
  Their FAQ says you can download again your purchases: https://help.qobuz.com/en/articles/10166-can-i-re-download-my-purchases https://help.qobuz.com/en/articles/10166-can-i-re-download-m... The terms of services only say that "The offer to Download is currently unavailable in Latin American countries and in Portugal." It doesn’t give more details. The store is confusing though. You can buy a "CD quality" album for $10 but there also is a "hi-fi 192" version for $20 without explaining what hi-fi is. > Proxies and VPNs not allowed No Qobuz for me it seems. They don’t want my money for some reason.
  - herewulf 3y ago
    They also fairly recently changed things so you need to install a downloader app in order to download more than one album track at once. That's quite aggravating. I'm not installing some shitty app but there isn't a Linux version either, FWIW. I have historically bought a lot of music, don't like MP3s, and don't want to collect CDs anymore that I just rip to digital. Qobuz and Bandcamp age the only services I know that offer FLAC. I've mostly stuck to Bandcamp but Qobuz has quite a few releases that don't appear on Bandcamp (probably because of certain labels).
    - joveian 3y ago

Bjorkbat 3y ago

I think Itch.io has a decent chance of picking up where Bandcamp left off. Out of the box it doesn't have a media player to preview singles on an album, but someone created a media player that you can add to an itch page to provide said support github: https://github.com/torcado194/scritch-player https://github.com/torcado194/scritch-player demo: https://keestak.itch.io/heck-deck-ost https://keestak.itch.io/heck-deck-ost

crtasm 3y ago

I'm yet to try https://gumroad.com/ https://gumroad.com/ but have seen some producers move to after attracting copyright complaints on Bandcamp.

ihinsdale 3y ago

I'm building that functionality into https://giraf.app https://giraf.app, and will set the fees as low as possible (aiming for a flat 4%, compared to Bandcamp's 15% on digital items and 10% on physical items). My goal is for Giraf to help artists by maximizing how much they take home, and by giving them a platform for building a unique kind of relationship with their fans, around their interests in music, film, books, visual art, and other forms of culture.