A tremendous return for independent acts.
Bandcamp Fridays, one of the most touted music buying events of 2020, has netted over $40 million USD ($52 million AUD) for musicians since being introduced by the platform in March.
Instigated as a means of providing extra cash flow to artists who experienced a decrease in income due to tour cancellations, the initiative saw Bandcamp waive its usual cut on music and merchandise for the first Friday of each month to allow musicians to receive all proceeds from online sales.
The ensuing popularity of the initiative resulted in the platform expanding Bandcamp Fridays throughout the entirety of 2020, allowing for fans to direct assist their favourite artists across the year by cutting out the middle man and making sure they receive all the profits.
In a blog post revealing the news today, Bandcamp has thanked over 800,000 users who participated in the event, as well as announcing that Bandcamp Fridays will return in February, March, April and May of 2021.
Fans paid artists $40 million during the nine Bandcamp Fridays we held this year. Big thanks to everyone who participated, here’s what we’re doing in 2021: https://t.co/0KcZi3LKOj
— bandcamp (@Bandcamp) December 15, 2020
As an aside, Bandcamp have also reminded users that their platform is still one of the most beneficial ways to support an artist with digital sales, stating that an average of 82% reaches the artist/label with each purchase. Compared to the pay rates of everyone else out there, we reckon that’s a pretty fair flex to make.
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