Bandcamp’s fee-free Fridays to continue into 2021
Artists and labels earned $40 million over the course of nine Bandcamp Fridays this year
Bandcamp has pledged to continue its fee-free Fridays in 2021 to support artists whose livelihoods have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Waiving its revenue share for all sales taken one Friday each month to allow 100% of proceeds to go to creators, the online music store has paid out over $40 million to artists and labels since the scheme first started in March - thanks to participation from almost 800,000 fans.
Acknowledging that it may be several months until live performance revenue makes a return and musicians still need to pay rent, the artist-centered scheme will now continue until May 7th 2021.
A new poll showed that 82% of musicians earned less than £200 from streaming service throughout the whole of 2019. On Bandcamp Fridays, an average of 93% of buyers' money will reach the artist and label after payment processor fees - and they’ll still receive an average of 82% from Bandcamp purchases on any other day of the month.
DJ Mag launched a weekly roundup of the most vital Bandcamp releases in solidarity with the artists and labels impacted through the pandemic: find the most recent roundup here.
We encourage you to check out Blackbandcamp.info - an expansive, crowd-sourced list of Black artists and music on Bandcamp. Read our feature about Black Bandcamp here.
You can also read DJ Mag’s feature about the rise of Bandcamp here.
Bandcamp Fridays will continue next year on February 5th, March 5th, April 2nd, and May 7th. Head to isitbandcampfriday.com for the details.
