What’s the feeling with all the changed ownership of Bandcamp? I’m between something like that (super simple etc) the new Artcore site posted around here, and going for something like Distrokid. The main benefit of a Distrokid that I can see is basically having control of your licenses, covering off officially creating the releases, etc, so it’s all linked back to you if it winds up on YouTube or somewhere else.
I guess the big benefit of BC was the idea that you’re pitching your music to a small engaged audience who care somewhat about indie artists vs the generalities of streaming. You might pick up a handful of sales, but it’s a nice place to pop your stuff online in a professional-ish storefront without feeling like you’re releasing into the void so to speak. If people are jumping ship though, that benefit could be nullified or lost.
It looks like for the most part Bandcamp hasn’t changed much despite the new owners. Though I have heard people saying they are ditching it due to the new ownership or annoyances w/Paypal on the artists side.
Despite all of this, is it still a go-to until folks abandon it, or is something else better/different for folks looking for a basic storefront to show releases off?
I haven’t seen any collective outrage yet from indie and small-fame artists or gripes to indicate a change in policy, I can see how people don’t like Epic games and Paypal is Paypal so nothing uniquely terrible there.
I release everywhere. SoundCloud is in fact my main distributor (repost, or nowadays I think they call it SoundCloud for artists?) That one covers most if not all the streaming platforms including YouTube and YouTube music. Then I got another one for Beatport/Juno, and I do Bandcamp myself.
But the idea of using Bandcamp for unfinished music? That’s only making the site worse. Look at how one of the reasons people complain about SoundCloud in this thread is for having unfinished music.
…only finished tracks count and surve a real purpose…
don’t do what fux up the whole game even more…
kill ur darlings and get out with only that stuff ur really proud of…
bandcamp remains the last recordstore of the planet…even given the fact that after epic games bought it recently only to sell it now to songtrader…let’s see, where this will take it…
but for now, that’s the only place where u, personally, as the artist can see at least some direct revenue from ur work…
but streamingfarms saw their peak…and the future might finally bring the user based pay model finally to our table…the only solution to give the average music consumer that good feeling, that part of their subscription really end up in the hands of the artists they’re actually listen to…
…too many just don’t care…yup…while most of those are teens…
but once ur growin out of that phase in life and ur still into listening music, u care a lot…
fwiw, a lot of artists I buy from on BC were first encountered on Youtube, when I was trying to hear how a certain synth sounded or whatever. Youtube can guide people to your Bandcamp.
I mean are you trying to hit mass market appeal? Why even use synthesizers…
Alternately just figure out who you want to reach (even if it’s just people who think like yourself…)
Perhaps they meant something more like album-centric releases on Bandcamp then mirroring the structure on Youtube simultaneously over releasing “tracks” randomly on Youtube.
My friend told me to use everything, but I ended up using nothing. I am strange. People were following me like crazy when I left. Like, what am I going to do now? Now i only have a fan account. LIKE don’t do it like me im seriously in a rut. Got tunes, graphics, brain. Stoped smoking all that shit.
Objectively, is better to start out small, in particular as an amateur. Build a local community with gigging, networking or interest groups and private events. Send out stuff to people who do have the attention span, taking into account your level of musicianship.
Releasing everywhere also does not come cheap. Big music platforms like Spotify make you practically undiscoverable by design because there is too much content and beyond playlists, which are monopolised by the usual suspects, there is no easy way to be discovered.
Nevertheless, releasing everywhere avoids others from stealing your music snd releasing it everywhere instead of you. That’s important as soon as your music starts gaining traction, that is if it gains traction at all.
I used to have Jamendo account in the past (and actually was surprised how popular my releases were here about 10-14 years ago). I switched to Bandcamp because of lossless formats and simpler, more direct interface and structure.
Recently they joined efforts with WinAmp (omg, that name in 2020’s, but anyway) and lauched a new version of digital distribution. And my question is if anyone has tried their new platform? Any better features or conditions?
Bumping this mostly because this question isn’t worth making a new thread.
Is it possible to upload music to Youtube Music without going through Distrokid or one of the other distributors? I canceled my Distrokid account a few months ago and I’d like to have my music somewhere more accessible than just Bandcamp, but Distrokid’s ToS changes regarding AI make them a no-go for me.
Yes, you do not need a digital distributor for YouTube. I guess you would upload it the same way as a Video but don’t know what file formats are accepted. Would not end up on their YouTube music streaming service obviously
