In an announcement on their website released today, Bandcamp noted that vinyl sales on their website had spiked 600% within five years, with 3,500 unique vinyl pressings being added to the site every month.
The new service, which Bandcamp claims “streamlines the financing, production, and fulfillment of vinyl records” essentially allows for bands to crowdfund vinyl releases without any upfront investment. Records are then shipped to fans as soon as the campaign reaches its minimum target. The records will be manufactured and pressed by a partnering company with over 60 years of experience in the vinyl sector.
While the service is yet to launch, Bandcamp has promised that it will be available to users of the platform later in the year. To launch the service, the website has released four records from seperate acts to provide an idea of what’s possible from the service: Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s Ancestral Recall, Jim Guthrie’s Below (Original Soundtrack), Juliette Jade’s Constellation and Mesarthim’s Ghost Condensate. Check out how Jim Guthrie’s Below pressing looks below.
While it’d be nice for artists to have copies of their own records to sell at their own shows, we can definitely get behind this move from Bandcamp. It’s always nice to see digital ventures get behind the vinyl revival, and some of the pressings teased by Bandcamp look pretty incredible – we’re defintiely keen to see what other artists make of it all.
Head over to Bandcamp’s new Vinyl service to see what’s good.
