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At least so far, Bandcamp has not changed after the sale (neither sale). You can still buy music, and try it out for multiple album streams before buying (unles

At least so far, Bandcamp has not changed after the sale (neither sale). You can still buy music, and try it out for multiple album streams before buying (unless the artist or label disable it, which is rare), and download as FLAC. Granted, not always useful if what you want is from major labels, but still, keep in mind that there are options.

Syonyk 3y ago
Wasn't there some recent article about how Bandcamp got acquired by a competitor and is more or less being left to rot on the vine? I agree, the FLAC downloads are a major perk of it, and I'll happily buy music there. But I wouldn't trust it to be around long term at this point. It's too consumer-friendly to exist long term in this modern world we live in. :(
- JohnFen 3y ago
  In the long term, everything is temporary. Enjoy the good stuff now while it's here!
  - Syonyk 3y ago
    In the long term, yes. In the human lifespan terms, our digital stuff is a lot more stupidly temporary than it has any good reason to be, and physical media (especially in the realm of music) has rather outlasted it. Records (vinyl) from 60 years ago still play perfectly fine with a cleaning, and CDs are holding up quite well too in general. Because my ability to play a record from the 1960s or 1970s is not dependent on the company that created it still being around, and being willing to license it to the company that delivers it for me to play it, at favorable contract terms, etc, etc, etc.
    - JohnFen 3y ago
      All true -- which is what makes Bandcamp such a treasure. Download the flac and you have it forever (or a reasonable approximation of that).
  - rakoo 3y ago
    That's the thing: everything is temporary, but who gets to decide how temporary it is ? If it's you, fine; if it's not you for totally avoidable reasons, that's a problem.
- Semaphor 3y ago
  Bandcamp doesn't need to change, it can just keep going. That's what I meant with "neither sale", because there were also some (if fewer) doomsayers for the epic sale. It got sold. Nothing changed. And again, you own the music, if it stops existing that sucks, but only for the future, everything you bought, you still have. And fwiw, I don't think anything for Bandcamp will change.
  - pavel_lishin 3y ago
    > And again, you own the music, if it stops existing that sucks, but only for the future, everything you bought, you still have. Only if you downloaded the mp3s/flacs, and also backed them up.
    - Semaphor 3y ago
      Do people use BC in other ways? I mean, I guess technically, you could just keep streaming, but do people do that? I’d assume anyone using bandcamp cares about having the music actually available.
      - pavel_lishin 3y ago
        I think some people assume that it'll always be there to re-download. I certainly download things immediately, and stick it somewhere where it'll be backed up nightly.
- xerox13ster 3y ago
  Bought by EPIC, conducted layoffs to crush unionization attempts.
  - vanchor3 3y ago
    Bought by Epic Games then Epic sold to Songtradr, which is when the layoffs happened.
- solarkraft 3y ago
  Nothing, neither for good nor for bad, has noticeably changed about Bandcamp in the 5+ years I've been using it. I'd call that "leaving it to rot" - but hey, at least it hasn't gotten any worse. If the new owners keep the course, it'll be okay.
chimeracoder 3y ago
> At least so far, Bandcamp has not changed after the sale (neither sale) The second sale was just a couple months ago, and while you can still buy music and download it, it's not true that "nothing has changed" since then. There have been quite a lot of changes, just not on that one front. And it's only been two months, so it's way too early to conclude that Songtradr won't gut it more thoroughly. Not much changed during the time Epic owned Bandcamp, sure, but that's because Epic only bought it in order to gain standing for their lawsuits with Apple. It didn't fit into their business strategy otherwise, so they had no need to mess with it - they literally just needed it to be a legal subsidiary as a pawn for an unrelated legal battle. The same is not true with Songtradr, which has its own motives and objectives that relate to Bandcamp's actual operations and business.
- Semaphor 3y ago
  I know. Still don't expect any changes. Nothing has changed for any part of Bandcamp I cared about.
bloomingeek 3y ago
For what's it's worth, I use mp3caprice.com to download zipped music. The prices are pretty fair and I don't have to store another CD on the shelf. The bitrate is decent and I can find albums that aren't available anymore. The bonus for me is, since I subscribe to Mojo magazine, I can Youtube new artists and if I like them, go download the music.
- Semaphor 3y ago
  That looks like piracy, but paying someone for it? Thanks, but I actually prefer to support the artists I listen to, and when I can’t afford to, or it’s impractical, to not pay those who prevent artists from getting money.
  - bloomingeek 3y ago
    Where's your proof? Show it and I'll gladly quit buying from them.
    - Semaphor 3y ago
      If you think bands actually sell albums on one site for $2 that they sell for $10 everywhere else, then I guess you can just go and keep believing. I just think it might be better to not support sites like that and instead torrent directly for free. No need to sealion.
      - averageRoyalty 3y ago
        > No need to sealion. I'm lost. What do seals have to do with this? Is this a typo, or a turn of phrase I've never seen?
        Semaphor 3y ago
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning
      - 3y ago
bee_rider 3y ago
Bandcamp has remained amazingly functional throughout all their ownership drama. I hope they somehow hold it together.

Syonyk 3y ago

Wasn't there some recent article about how Bandcamp got acquired by a competitor and is more or less being left to rot on the vine? I agree, the FLAC downloads are a major perk of it, and I'll happily buy music there. But I wouldn't trust it to be around long term at this point. It's too consumer-friendly to exist long term in this modern world we live in. :(

JohnFen 3y ago
In the long term, everything is temporary. Enjoy the good stuff now while it's here!
- Syonyk 3y ago
  In the long term, yes. In the human lifespan terms, our digital stuff is a lot more stupidly temporary than it has any good reason to be, and physical media (especially in the realm of music) has rather outlasted it. Records (vinyl) from 60 years ago still play perfectly fine with a cleaning, and CDs are holding up quite well too in general. Because my ability to play a record from the 1960s or 1970s is not dependent on the company that created it still being around, and being willing to license it to the company that delivers it for me to play it, at favorable contract terms, etc, etc, etc.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    All true -- which is what makes Bandcamp such a treasure. Download the flac and you have it forever (or a reasonable approximation of that).
- rakoo 3y ago
  That's the thing: everything is temporary, but who gets to decide how temporary it is ? If it's you, fine; if it's not you for totally avoidable reasons, that's a problem.
Semaphor 3y ago
Bandcamp doesn't need to change, it can just keep going. That's what I meant with "neither sale", because there were also some (if fewer) doomsayers for the epic sale. It got sold. Nothing changed. And again, you own the music, if it stops existing that sucks, but only for the future, everything you bought, you still have. And fwiw, I don't think anything for Bandcamp will change.
- pavel_lishin 3y ago
  > And again, you own the music, if it stops existing that sucks, but only for the future, everything you bought, you still have. Only if you downloaded the mp3s/flacs, and also backed them up.
  - Semaphor 3y ago
    Do people use BC in other ways? I mean, I guess technically, you could just keep streaming, but do people do that? I’d assume anyone using bandcamp cares about having the music actually available.
    - pavel_lishin 3y ago
      I think some people assume that it'll always be there to re-download. I certainly download things immediately, and stick it somewhere where it'll be backed up nightly.
xerox13ster 3y ago
Bought by EPIC, conducted layoffs to crush unionization attempts.
- vanchor3 3y ago
  Bought by Epic Games then Epic sold to Songtradr, which is when the layoffs happened.
solarkraft 3y ago
Nothing, neither for good nor for bad, has noticeably changed about Bandcamp in the 5+ years I've been using it. I'd call that "leaving it to rot" - but hey, at least it hasn't gotten any worse. If the new owners keep the course, it'll be okay.

chimeracoder 3y ago

> At least so far, Bandcamp has not changed after the sale (neither sale) The second sale was just a couple months ago, and while you can still buy music and download it, it's not true that "nothing has changed" since then. There have been quite a lot of changes, just not on that one front. And it's only been two months, so it's way too early to conclude that Songtradr won't gut it more thoroughly. Not much changed during the time Epic owned Bandcamp, sure, but that's because Epic only bought it in order to gain standing for their lawsuits with Apple. It didn't fit into their business strategy otherwise, so they had no need to mess with it - they literally just needed it to be a legal subsidiary as a pawn for an unrelated legal battle. The same is not true with Songtradr, which has its own motives and objectives that relate to Bandcamp's actual operations and business.

Semaphor 3y ago
I know. Still don't expect any changes. Nothing has changed for any part of Bandcamp I cared about.

bloomingeek 3y ago

For what's it's worth, I use mp3caprice.com to download zipped music. The prices are pretty fair and I don't have to store another CD on the shelf. The bitrate is decent and I can find albums that aren't available anymore. The bonus for me is, since I subscribe to Mojo magazine, I can Youtube new artists and if I like them, go download the music.

Semaphor 3y ago
That looks like piracy, but paying someone for it? Thanks, but I actually prefer to support the artists I listen to, and when I can’t afford to, or it’s impractical, to not pay those who prevent artists from getting money.
- bloomingeek 3y ago
  Where's your proof? Show it and I'll gladly quit buying from them.
  - Semaphor 3y ago
    If you think bands actually sell albums on one site for $2 that they sell for $10 everywhere else, then I guess you can just go and keep believing. I just think it might be better to not support sites like that and instead torrent directly for free. No need to sealion.
    - averageRoyalty 3y ago
      > No need to sealion. I'm lost. What do seals have to do with this? Is this a typo, or a turn of phrase I've never seen?
      - Semaphor 3y ago
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning
    - 3y ago

bee_rider 3y ago

Bandcamp has remained amazingly functional throughout all their ownership drama. I hope they somehow hold it together.