I’m well aware of that (I’m a Bandcamp user), but I’m concerned about the fact they rely on US servers. There are a lot of independent musicians who only want to publish on Bandcamp, not on Spotify and YT. In the extreme scenario where the POTUS might instate a great Internet firewall, we - active Bandcamp users - might end up dependent on VPNs. Let’s see if there’s going to be any European Bandcamp alternative.
Yeah that’s fair. I suppose I haven’t really considered that because I treat Bandcamp as a storefront only, and download + maintain my library locally. So if the servers died tomorrow the only thing I’d lose is the ability to purchase. In some ways the great fracturing of online platforms is bound to be a net positive for most communities.
That means you either have way more disposable income than people like me or you consume very little music. As an amateur music critic of sorts, I have to stream much more music than I could realistically afford. And I still remember the days when most music was only legally available as 30-second previews…
I do listen to music for several hours every day, and tend to buy an album about once every 3-4 weeks. But my pool of music now is very deep with albums, probably not as wide as most algorithm/streaming services could provide. Its a slow build though, I’ve been accumulating albums at about $10-20/month since COVID (and had a bunch of pirated stuff before then). On Bandcamp that amount can get you 1 or 30 albums depending on the artist.
As a a critic though you definitely are under different circumstances and I understand why streaming is probably hard to escape from. I still prefer when artists have their own websites but that comes with its own set of challenges! Luckily my national radio (Triple J, Australia) has it’s own artist platform for up and comers (Unearthed).
I am afraid Bandcamp is US-based…?
It is, but if you only purchase on Bandcamp Friday then the platform doesn’t take a cut of the sales.
I’m well aware of that (I’m a Bandcamp user), but I’m concerned about the fact they rely on US servers. There are a lot of independent musicians who only want to publish on Bandcamp, not on Spotify and YT. In the extreme scenario where the POTUS might instate a great Internet firewall, we - active Bandcamp users - might end up dependent on VPNs. Let’s see if there’s going to be any European Bandcamp alternative.
Yeah that’s fair. I suppose I haven’t really considered that because I treat Bandcamp as a storefront only, and download + maintain my library locally. So if the servers died tomorrow the only thing I’d lose is the ability to purchase. In some ways the great fracturing of online platforms is bound to be a net positive for most communities.
That means you either have way more disposable income than people like me or you consume very little music. As an amateur music critic of sorts, I have to stream much more music than I could realistically afford. And I still remember the days when most music was only legally available as 30-second previews…
I do listen to music for several hours every day, and tend to buy an album about once every 3-4 weeks. But my pool of music now is very deep with albums, probably not as wide as most algorithm/streaming services could provide. Its a slow build though, I’ve been accumulating albums at about $10-20/month since COVID (and had a bunch of pirated stuff before then). On Bandcamp that amount can get you 1 or 30 albums depending on the artist.
As a a critic though you definitely are under different circumstances and I understand why streaming is probably hard to escape from. I still prefer when artists have their own websites but that comes with its own set of challenges! Luckily my national radio (Triple J, Australia) has it’s own artist platform for up and comers (Unearthed).