Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Alexa listens to you, and it’s not the only one. Digital distributors on the rise. Bandcamp to offer vinyl pressing. Continue Reading
Direct-to-fan platform Bandcamp has shared its 2017 year-in-review, with some solid statistics for independent performers. Bandcamp’s results show a markedly different path than the overall music industry, and the company had some sharp words reflecting on the status quo. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Beta tests in India for YouTube Go. Music services become memes. Continue Reading
Bandcamp posted its 2016 year in review. The direct-to-fan music platform saw digital album sales up 20% and track sales up 23%. The results are markedly different than the industry report from Nielsen, which has seen sales from downloads and physical formats mostly declining in recent years. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Behind the scenes with Amazon’s digital music exec; Bandcamp CEO talks new payment policy; Internet radio copyright explainer. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Q&A about the Songwriters Equity Act; Mad Genius hits crowdfunding goal; Bandcamp hits $100 million in artist payouts. Continue Reading
One of this year’s emerging stories for the business side of music is a shift toward artist patronage. In Patreon’s first year, donations totaled just $259,000. This year, fans gave $10 million in support of a wide range of creative ventures, according to Polygon. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Google rolls out Songza feature in UK; British musicians might leave Bandcamp for tax reasons; Amazon’s holiday music winners. Continue Reading
Bandcamp made its name as a straightforward direct-to-fan platform, but it has expanded its offerings to give artists more power over the business side of their operations. The latest change opens the door to record labels as well. Bandcamp for Labels is a paid service that provides unified accounting and statistics for all acts under a particular brand. Continue Reading
Bandcamp has rolled out an artist subscription for all musicians on its platform. CEO Ethan Diamond spoke with The Guardian about the new feature prior to the official announcement at the SF MusicTech Summit. “The whole motivation here is that when you get to a point that you love an artist – when you go from liking them to being a real true fan of theirs – at some point you just want everything they make,” he said. Continue Reading
Bandcamp introduced a new approach to music ownership this week with the trial of an artist-based subscription. An independent band called Candy Says is using the direct-to-fan platform’s beta feature to offer an annual subscription to its music. For £20 (about $32) a year, listeners can have seven of the group’s back catalog and Bandcamp-only albums in addition to all new releases. The songs will be made available as downloads and as streams. Continue Reading
With album sales on the fritz, you’d think that CD Baby would be in dire straights. Yet the indie-friendly music retailer is actually getting aggressive with its business with the launch of a new service tier called CD Baby Free. This service eliminates the usual costs for musicians to sign up with the company and set up their songs. In exchange, CD Baby takes a 15 percent cut of digital sales rather than its usual 9 percent rate. Continue Reading