Bandcamp made headlines earlier this year when they announced they would be waiving all revenue cuts from purchases made on the site on Friday 20th March. Now, the website has announced they’ll be doing it again on Friday, 1st May.
It was a historic day for both the website and for musicians, as fans spent a colossal $4.3 million to support their favourite artists.
“It was an inspiring day, and we heard many requests to do it again, so we’re going to do exactly that (and a bit more),” commented Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond in a press statement.
“For many artists, a single day of boosted sales can mean the difference between being able to pay rent or not.”
“Musicians will continue to feel the effects of lost touring income for many months to come, so we’re also sharing some ideas…on how fans can support the artists they love and how artists can give fans new, creative ways to provide support.”
Camp Cope‘s Sarah Thompson spoke to Music Feeds about Bandcamp and how it is really helping artists during this unprecedented time of widespread hardship.
“I think Bandcamp is such an important platform in general, but moreso now than ever before,” she said.
“With the music industry the way it is currently, compared to 10+ years ago when physical sales were still a way to make real money, Bandcamp feels like the only digital space that still fairly supports and pays artists.
“Bandcamp being the first major platform to offer real, direct support to those they make their money from during a global pandemic was absolutely no surprise to me. I guess we were all hoping other larger platforms would follow suit, but unfortunately that wasn’t to be. I feel like Bandcamp come as close to the physical model of music distribution you can get, without actually being a physical distributor.”
The website has also teased some more surprises coming on Friday, 1st May, though not revealing details as of yet. More information will be announced on Monday, 27th April.
