This bandcamp news is all really upsetting though. I have grown to use it so extensively as the place that I buy and find music I don’t know where I’d realistically go otherwise. The hopeful (possibly naive) part of me is holding out that the core functionality/pricing won’t be too heavily affected.
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I did not use Bandcamp much over the years, but supported the platform with a monthly “Bandcamp Pro” artist membership. Not anymore. Cancelled it today.
Time for an alternative. Preferably something with a decentralized leadership. I imagine just the lot of us in this thread could build something that at least had more integrity than this nonsense.
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If we could have signature files on here this would be mine.
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It’s bait. Relax.
All I’m saying is if they were allowed, that would be mine. Purely hypothetical. 
It hadn’t even occurred to me that this could be done manually.
Edit: just realized what thread I’m horsing around on. I am actually really furious about what’s happening to Bandcamp. Bon courage and solidarity to the union!
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I’m pretty sure creative content made in the U.S. is legally protected domestically by copyright law the moment you make it.
Practical Problem #1 is how to prove you made it, and when. That’s why people register creative content with the copyright office here.
Practical Problem #2 is whether you can protect your creative content if a rich, powerful entity steals it. I’m guessing this happens less than people fear, but when it does happen you’re probably out of luck. Sort of like getting struck by lightning or being eaten by a large animal.
On topic: I agree with those above saying we will need an alternative. Selling one’s work only from one’s site is a hard sell, unless you have a following. As someone who bought hundreds of albums from BC, I don’t really want to deal with browsing for each artist’s content at a separate site—haven’t even bought my favorite Springsteen bootleg from Springsteen’s site.
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There are Web 3 solutions running already, like Audius.
Herr is a quote from the interwebs:
Here are three Web3 solutions for independent musicians who want to publish their own music:
Audius: Audius is a Web3 music streaming platform that is musician-first and decentralized. It allows artists to upload their music and retain ownership of their content. Audius also offers a token called $AUDIO, which can be used to access premium features and earn rewards for contributing to the platform.
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Music NFTs: Many artists are creating and selling music NFTs as an alternative source of revenue. Music NFTs generated $80 million in primary sales in 2021. This is partly due to the NFT boom, but it is also due to the fact that more and more musicians and music creators are looking for alternative sources of income that cut out the middlemen.
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Emanate Distro: Emanate Distro is a Web3 platform that allows artists to upload and promote their tracks themselves. It also offers a range of tools to help artists monetize their music, including the ability to sell NFTs and earn cryptocurrency.
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These Web3 solutions offer independent musicians more autonomy and control over their music, as well as new ways to monetize their content. By embracing Web3 technology, musicians can potentially earn more money and build stronger relationships with their fans.
First of all very sad about this not only because of loving Bandcamp a lot (mostly for its curation and journalism) and being scared when it was bought but also because this is people’s lives and I also run a tech company and know how much of a struggle it is at the moment out there.
But mostly I’m a bit tired of everyone always talking about “we need an alternative” whether it’s Bandcamp or social networks or anything like this. The alternative has always existed and for some reason we’ve lost track of it: Personal websites and music journalism.
We need to realise that the best part of the web is independence and self-publishing and stop counting on external all-in-one apps. Another alternative is something communtiy run like wikipedia but that only works without money, when money gets involved it gets hard.
It’s so easy to set up your own website, and a little payment gateway nowadays (easier than it has ever been yet no one seems to have a website anymore). The problem is telling people about that website and that music. But that’s where we need to invest in music journalism and community sites like this one. It used to work even up to the early 2000s for everyone like that. I still get all my music recommendations from reading reviews. Then it doesn’t matter where to actually find or get the music.
And MP3 players and apps that collect and aggregate loads of downloads in one have also existed for decades. Let’s try to stop capitalism fooling us into thinking that there is no other way than big app monopolies. The whole web is at its core a beautiful, creative, open, self-publishing library, we need to try to get back to that embracing that.
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Sure, that is probably true 
I was just talking about the protection an individual has as a rights holder. The rights being composition, lyrics, performance and master owner.
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About building decentralized alternatives, it would be useful to continue the discussion on Fediverse Soundcloud for Elektronauts?
It’s an interesting discussion on its own, related but unrelated to Bandcamp.
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Anyone tried Artcore yet?
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Tired of bad news even tho this one is pretty soft compared to most of what’s happening in this hell.
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Agreed, just wanted to present OP with an idea, a development that may be the future after all.
Independent artists will probably move away or even feel pushed away from big company solutions.
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It should be owned by musicians, the ones who distribute it.
A really interesting model might be some musician-fan co-ownership.
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The idea is good, and raising financing is the main challenge, as usual …
There’s a platform very similar to BC in the works in Ireland called Minm, they’ve been working on the backend and the app for a while… pretty small catalogue at the minute and the app is still in beta but it’s something.
I’m absolutely gutted about BC, their editorial staff were amazing and gave a lot of small artists their first bit of real exposure. I wish a very flaming eternity to the business scum who destroy beautiful platforms like this
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the boys in green eh 
must check that out, cheers.
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Horrible news but I will not lose hope in late capitalism making life better for us . I know one day this vibrant global market economy will stop chewing up and shitting out everything that matters every time economy bad every 10 years
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Did they cut half the staff to double the artist profits ?
Seriously, their articles used to be curated by passionate listeners.
Hope there will be new options for musicians like us.