5 causes to purchase music from Bandcamp

Should you’ve ever heard in regards to the ethical issues with music streaming and wish to do one thing about it, one nice approach to get away from it’s by shopping for music straight from artists. One platform that is nice for doing that’s Bandcamp, the place artists can straight promote their music and merchandise. As an alternative of getting paid a fraction of a cent per stream, you possibly can truly assist your favourite artists extra straight.

So in the event you’re undecided about Bandcamp and all the advantages from utilizing it, listed below are among the foremost the explanation why you may wish to purchase music from artists on Bandcamp and forego your regular streaming habits.

1 You personal the music you purchase and it might’t be taken away from you

No DRM software program to be discovered right here

Whenever you purchase music on Bandcamp, be it a digital copy, a CD, vinyl, or a cassette, you get to maintain that music in whichever format you buy it in. On the flip aspect, while you take heed to music on a streaming service, since you might be paying a subscription charge and do not truly personal the music, it may be taken away at any time when on the will of the distributor.

As such, all downloads from Bandcamp are freed from DRM (digital rights administration) software program. So you possibly can’t be restricted from utilizing the music at a later date on the will of any copyright holders. As soon as you’ve got downloaded that music, you possibly can’t have it taken away from you.

Moreover, while you purchase digital downloads on Bandcamp, you possibly can re-download the music you bought indefinitely. That is in distinction to different platforms that will solely allow you to take heed to bought media on their platform, like how Apple solely permits you to obtain music you beforehand bought on iTunes to 10 gadgets.

2 You may assist artists extra straight

Whereas streaming providers pay a fraction of a cent per stream, shopping for music will get cash into artists’ fingers

Whereas streaming providers pay artists cents, and even fractions of a cent, per stream, while you purchase music on Bandcamp, you are supporting the artist extra straight by giving them cash instantly for getting their tracks or albums. Bandcamp itself takes 10% of the income from bodily media buy and 15% from digital purchases, with the remaining going to artists.

Every so often Bandcamp can have a “Bandcamp friday” occasion the place artists get 100% of the income from gross sales. That is a fair higher alternative to assist your favourite artists, since you possibly can make certain that each cent you spend goes straight to them.

3 You may get prime quality lossless tracks

Spotify will not allow you to obtain FLACs, however Bandcamp will

A variety of the time while you purchase digital tracks from an artist on Bandcamp, they’re going to be CD-quality, which is 16-bit/44.1kHz lossless high quality. That is customary lossless high quality, and is considerably higher high quality than the very best high quality you possibly can at the moment get on Spotify.

Lossless principally implies that the unique sound of the recording is retained, and regardless that lossless music continues to be compressed to a level, it is not compressed to the diploma of the typical MP3 file, and the compression is completed in a means that also retains the unique high quality of the music. So by shopping for lossless music from artists via Bandcamp, you may be certain you are listening to the whole lot you wish to be listening to, as long as you are listening with wired headphones or audio system, no less than.

4 You should buy music from smaller artists that are not on streaming providers

Anybody can promote their music on Bandcamp, making it nice for native acts

To get music on a streaming service, there are quite a lot of steps to be taken, and it is actually tough for small impartial artists to get on streaming providers. However Bandcamp permits bands to easily add their music to the positioning with out leaping via all of the hoops one must on a streaming service like Spotify.

So in the event you’re extra occupied with exploring native or small bands that may’t handle to get on a streaming service, Bandcamp is a good way to do this. Should you go to a neighborhood present and see a cool band you actually like, there’s a terrific probability they’re already on Bandcamp, so you possibly can assist them straight there.

5 Some artists use a pay-what-you-can mannequin

You may pay much less if you do not have a lot to spend, or pay extra if you wish to

Mick Haupt / Unsplash

Bandcamp has the choice for artists to promote their music below a pay-what-you-can mannequin, which is nice for individuals who wish to assist artists however do not essentially have a lot cash to take action. Most individuals who do that are smaller artists, you are unlikely to discover a larger artist below a label that does this, but it surely’s a pleasant approach to present assist to your favourite native artists even when you possibly can’t totally afford to below regular circumstances.