Katherine Turman, Author at SPIN

In response to the pandemic earlier this year, Bandcamp waived its own revenue share on the first Friday of every month since March giving artists all proceeds from their sales. Today, the site revealed that artists earned $40 million from those dates and pledged to continue Bandcamp Fridays in 2021. The dates will be Feb. 5, March 5, April 2, and May 7, according to the site. While artists including Bjork and Peter Gabriel have music on Bandcamp, thousands of new and small bands across all genres use the platform to share music, and the Bandcamp website offered thanks to the nearly 800,000 fans who helped creators whose livelihoods were disrupted by the pandemic. In a letter, CEO Ethan Diamond explained that on Bandcamp Fridays, an average of 93 percent of money paid reaches the artist/label (after payment processor fees). On other days of the month, an average of 82 percent goes to the artist/label. Bandcamp says that purchases on days other than Bandcamp Fridays came to $145 million worth of music and merch. Additionally, according to the site, "Fans have paid artists $639 million using Bandcamp, and $21.3 million in the last 30 days alone." Bandcamp was one of the first platforms to help artists directly since the pandemic began. With the number of Bandcamp Friday exclusive releases growing each month, it appears as if fans have been eager to help out their favorite artists as well.

Katherine Turman

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