In praise of Bandcamp

[fungd]

A recommendation of a recording (remaster) only available at Bandcamp: Sonny Sharrock's Ask the Ages, one of the greatest albums (IMHO) of the 90's. Features, Pharoah Sanders, Charnett Moffett, and Elvin Jones.

https://billlaswell.bandcamp.com/album/ask-the-ages

 

[Count Arthur]

Another Bandcamp fan here. A plus is that it’s the most artist-friendly platform by a wide margin.

A definate plus, I understand that some of big players, Apple, Amazon, Tidal give very paltry amounts back to the artists.

 

[escape2]

I always choose the uncompressed WAV version and quite often I've been pleasantly surprised to find that I get a copy that is a higher bit rate and sampling frequency than CD standard, 16bit/44.1khz, but never lower.

AFAIK, if you choose FLAC, you will also get a higher bitrate/sample rate if that's how the artist uploaded it.

 

[Count Arthur]

AFAIK, if you choose FLAC, you will also get a higher bitrate/sample rate if that's how the artist uploaded it.

Most of my music files are WAV because they are rips from my own CDs, so I like to stick with that so that it's all consistant.

Someone mentioned metadata being weak with WAV, but I use J.River Media Centre to handle all that, so it hasn't been an issue so far.

 

[Kvalsvoll]

Nice to read this, I have found some of my very best favorite music on bandcamp, artists like Flashbulb and Emancipator.

I hope bandcamp will still be around, unfortunately the fact that I like it, is a clear indication that it is something for the very few nerds, and therefore can never attract a large audience.

 

[LTig]

Most of my music files are WAV because they are rips from my own CDs, so I like to stick with that so that it's all consistant.

You can always convert FLAC into WAV.

 

[escape2]

Most of my music files are WAV because they are rips from my own CDs, so I like to stick with that so that it's all consistant.

Understood. I choose FLAC over WAV to save bandwidth as I have a monthly data cap.

 

[Count Arthur]

There are worse caps.

 

[Katji]

^^^ Ah, you know, it was just a joke.

 

[Katji]

https://isitbandcampfriday.com/

 

[Katji]

 

[q3cpma]

Except the fact that Bandcamp is politically biaised, I find that their platform works quite well. The best feature is that buying the physical medium always (I think?) grants you a download. I'd kill for that when buying classical SACDs I can't easily rip and being told I'm supposed to buy it a second time.

There are worse caps.

View attachment 110158

Just for the record, these are most probably third-party "goods" (God I hate having to use the word "goods" in politics; just shows what kind of system modern democracy really is).

 

[Katji]

Buying CD/LP/cassette always provides unlimited downloads in any format, unlimited time period,

 

[pads]

Love Bandcamp, discovered many wholly under the radar but great artists there.

 

[Marc v E]

I found bandcamp googling for a site where I could download and pay legally. That they benefit bands more, I didn't now until now. I love that I will check for more.

Downloaded Kruangbin and another, which I can't remember because I buy so much music lately.

 

[Katji]

Another benefit versus buying CD album/EP is that you can buy just the track/s you want, the remix you like.
(I've just been reminded - EP with 5 tracks, just the one remix I like.)

 

[MattHooper]

Love Bandcamp. I’ve bought a number of nice records there from indie artists

 

[jsrtheta]

I've bought quite a few albums as downloads from Bandcamp: https://bandcamp.com/

I never bothered with iTunes and the like because they only offered music in compressed, lossy formats, often for a higher price than I could buy a physical copy on CD and have it sent by post - which, other than the fact that you get it instantly, made no sense.

Bandcamp sells physical copies on vinyl and CD, but also offers digital downloads in a variety of formats. Once you've purchase an album, or track, you can select which format you wish to download it in, they are all the same price. In addition, once you've purchased a track or album you can log into your account and download it at any time in any of the available formats that you wish:

View attachment 110070

I always choose the uncompressed WAV version and quite often I've been pleasantly surprised to find that I get a copy that is a higher bit rate and sampling frequency than CD standard, 16bit/44.1khz, but never lower.

The album above, New Light by Gidge was 16bit, 48khz.

The album Perplexagon by Kebu had both a 16bit, 44.1khz and a 24bit, 88.2khz versions of each track.

All Encores by Nils Frahm was 24bit, 96khz.

I know it's debatable whether you can hear any difference above 16bit/44.1khz, possibly even 320kbps MP3, but it's nice to get more than you bargained for.

It is an outstanding site. In it for the music. And the musicians.

 

[amirm]

I used to buy a ton of content from them until I switched to streaming. Excellent pricing and nice selection.

 

[Victoria]

Ohh look a Bandcamp thread! Always happy to give Bandcamp more publicity. I’ve been an extremely vocal supporter of Bandcamp — even here — for many years and I’ve spent thousands on the platform since.

For those unaware artists only pay a 15% cut to Bandcamp and this drops to 10% once they’ve hit 5,000US$ in sales over a 12-month period. Bandcamp is easily the most pro-artist platform there is out there by a COLOSSAL margin. Just for the record I’m not an artist and I have no interest in the company, but as someone who also likes to own their music Bandcamp is hard to beat. The Bandcamp streaming app is also fantastic (on iOS anyway), and being able to download all my music as DRM-free FLAC/WAV while simultaneously having my entire library available on my phone in an instant is a massive convenience.

Bandcamp also has an extremely impressive following of artists and the way the platform is designed means you really do discover some extremely obscure music. I mostly listen to various forms of underground metal and there are some bands from quite literally the middle of nowhere whom I literally would’ve never discovered anywhere else. Bandcamp also doesn’t shy away from publicising less popular artists and albums. It’s great.

Another feature I really love about Bandcamp is how you can pay above the asking price for an album. It allows the platform to remain accessible a wide variety of buyers while those like myself who can afford to pay what you’d normally pay in physical distribution — or in many cases even more — are free to do so. There are seriously many good bands on Bandcamp selling their albums for barely a dollar, and I’m always happy to up the price to 10-15US$ and I’ll always make sure to add at minimum a little extra to cover the artist’s Bandcamp and card merchant fees. All in all Bandcamp is the best music distribution platform out there. Period.

I’ve said time and time again that I’m a music-lover first and foremost, and most of my money goes to the artists who pour their blood and sweat to allow me to enjoy their creations. I’m a bit of a gear geek myself so I do certainly appreciate the kit I’m privileged enough to own, but I refuse to ever get caught in any sort of upgrade cycle. This site has allowed me to commit to purchases knowing I’m good until something breaks.

And that ultimately allows me to focus on my never-ending quest to further expand my already-gargantuan music library by diving into the depths of Bandcamp to find that next obscure “something special” to listen to.