During this worldwide pandemic, many artists have been forced to cancel or postpone tour dates, which has been a significant loss for independent artists who rely on touring as their primary source of income. To try alleviate some damage and assist their user base, Bandcamp have announced that all proceeds from music sales this Friday will go directly to artists. This will be a significant change from the usual 15% take on digital sales and 10% on merch sales.
“This single day of boosted sales can mean the difference between being able to pay rent or not,” Bandcamp’s CEO Ethan Diamond said earlier today. This action will raise more awareness around the impact this global health crisis has had and is having on the music industry.
The impacts of this worldwide pandemic will be felt for months to come, but this small increase in disposable income will contribute vastly to the world’s struggling artists, if we all take part and buy a vinyl record or digital release. If you wish to assist a local group or artist, Bandcamp have a large assortment of Australian artists you can help, such as King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Angie Mcmahon and #1 Dads, among many others.
More information on this can be found here, and you can check out Bandcamp’s artist list here