3 ms·

the Valve of music might be Bandcamp.

by eprparadox 2y ago

Apocryphon 2y ago
The Epic Games Store of music, surely.
- Dilettante_ 2y ago
  The Gorbino's Quest of music!
solardev 2y ago
I'd buy albums off Bandcamp for artists I already know, but I wouldn't use it for discovery. Do they even have discovery features? (I honestly don't know) Steam's recommendations (and more importantly, sales) are how I discover new games. And there's a lot of titles (both games and music) I'd happily pay $2 or $5 for, but not $20 or $50. There's a lot MORE titles I'd be happy to try for a monthly all inclusive subscription. For music, I wish Spotify would add a "Like this track? As a Premium subscriber, you can buy the whole album for only $5!" function. That's way less than a full price album but still way more money than the artist would get from streaming.
- where-group-by 2y ago
  They kind-of do. The main page allows you to browse popular albums by genre. Each individual album also has a "recommended by this artist" footer, or "people who bough this also bought" (if there aren't any recommendations set). I also check profiles of other people who purchased an album I liked and see if anything catches my interest. I do not use Spotify, so I'm not sure if the above counts as a proper discovery tool.
- crtasm 2y ago
  Click the tags on any release to jump into to their discovery system, or get there from the genre/tag/countries buttons on the homepage. https://bandcamp.com/discover/ https://bandcamp.com/discover/
rchaud 2y ago
Disagree. Bandcamp doesn't require a bloated desktop app that needs to install a bunch of updates every time you open it. Songs you download are yours to play and distribute as you please. They don't require an active Internet connection to check your license and track your listening habits. Besides that, Steam is the go-to place to publish games. The only reason you wouldn't distribute on Steam is if you are a Nintendo or Epic-level megacorp that has its own store and exclusivity rules. On Bandcamp, the decision to upload an album comes down to whether the record label allows it. So a lot of times, artists will post early works to BC and drop it as soon as they sign with a label.
- gruez 2y ago
  Yeah bandcamp is closer to GOG, because it's DRM free, and you can get all your games in offline installer format if you so desire.
mrgoldenbrown 2y ago
That was probably true before Epic bought them. Less so now.
- somethingor 2y ago
  You’re one sale behind the times, Bandcamp was sold to Songtradr in 2023
- int_19h 2y ago
  As someone who regularly buys music on Bandcamp, I can't say that I've noticed any substantial changes throughout the acquisitions. It also seems that most bands that I listen to prefer people to buy their music on Bandcamp before other platforms, so presumably it's still a better deal for the artists as well?
  - crtasm 2y ago
    I believe so yes, they make their payout % clear and are continuing to do days where they waive their cut entirely.

the Valve of music might be Bandcamp.

Apocryphon 2y ago

The Epic Games Store of music, surely.

Dilettante_ 2y ago
The Gorbino's Quest of music!

solardev 2y ago

I'd buy albums off Bandcamp for artists I already know, but I wouldn't use it for discovery. Do they even have discovery features? (I honestly don't know) Steam's recommendations (and more importantly, sales) are how I discover new games. And there's a lot of titles (both games and music) I'd happily pay $2 or $5 for, but not $20 or $50. There's a lot MORE titles I'd be happy to try for a monthly all inclusive subscription. For music, I wish Spotify would add a "Like this track? As a Premium subscriber, you can buy the whole album for only $5!" function. That's way less than a full price album but still way more money than the artist would get from streaming.

where-group-by 2y ago
They kind-of do. The main page allows you to browse popular albums by genre. Each individual album also has a "recommended by this artist" footer, or "people who bough this also bought" (if there aren't any recommendations set). I also check profiles of other people who purchased an album I liked and see if anything catches my interest. I do not use Spotify, so I'm not sure if the above counts as a proper discovery tool.
crtasm 2y ago
Click the tags on any release to jump into to their discovery system, or get there from the genre/tag/countries buttons on the homepage. https://bandcamp.com/discover/ https://bandcamp.com/discover/

rchaud 2y ago

Disagree. Bandcamp doesn't require a bloated desktop app that needs to install a bunch of updates every time you open it. Songs you download are yours to play and distribute as you please. They don't require an active Internet connection to check your license and track your listening habits. Besides that, Steam is the go-to place to publish games. The only reason you wouldn't distribute on Steam is if you are a Nintendo or Epic-level megacorp that has its own store and exclusivity rules. On Bandcamp, the decision to upload an album comes down to whether the record label allows it. So a lot of times, artists will post early works to BC and drop it as soon as they sign with a label.

gruez 2y ago
Yeah bandcamp is closer to GOG, because it's DRM free, and you can get all your games in offline installer format if you so desire.

mrgoldenbrown 2y ago

That was probably true before Epic bought them. Less so now.

somethingor 2y ago
You’re one sale behind the times, Bandcamp was sold to Songtradr in 2023
int_19h 2y ago
As someone who regularly buys music on Bandcamp, I can't say that I've noticed any substantial changes throughout the acquisitions. It also seems that most bands that I listen to prefer people to buy their music on Bandcamp before other platforms, so presumably it's still a better deal for the artists as well?
- crtasm 2y ago
  I believe so yes, they make their payout % clear and are continuing to do days where they waive their cut entirely.