This One Time at Bandcamp

There’s a 10 am feeling in the air as I face my Notion after scouring for an hour through local music releases. Where might you ask?
“The internet, dummy,” a gatekeeper might say. I’m of the mind that sharing is true caring, especially in our industry.

One of the best places to search and scour for music in our beautiful land is, in fact, Bandcamp. YES! Have you heard of it? If you’re anything like me - a music lover, connoisseur, self-proclaimed curator and buff - you know that Bandcamp is the source, the sauce and of course, the place where support for artists runs rampant.

“Wait, Jeronimoh...” you might be thinking. No! No waiting. In fact, why are you still reading this? Go there right now, type ‘South Africa’ in the search bar and click on the option that reads ‘Music tagged with South Africa’. What a joy!!

Oh, wow you’re still here, to make me feel special? There is a point I assure you, let me just take a look at my notes real quick... Ah there it is... The reason I’ve dedicated a whole page and chunk of time to Bandcamp is because there are so many people who aren’t aware of the platform. Not just that, a lot of people who are aware of the platform aren’t aware of what it represents. So, if you are a casual listener or even a connoisseur who was none-the-wiser, let me tell you all about it.

Bandcamp is a community-driven place on the internet, not owned by a conglomerate whose only goal is profit. It’s a fair place to be where artists can determine the worth of their music. More importantly it’s one of the few places on the internet (aside from an artist’s own website) where a fan/listener/curator can directly support their favourite musicians. Let me say that again.

It's ONE of the FEW places fans can DIRECTLY SUPPORT their favourite artists.

Now, if you’re a casual listener, this next bit is just for you. You know how Spotify has crept in to become the main platform listeners use for music? iTunes, Apple Music, similar things if you prefer. What makes those platforms great is that they are cheap and convenient for you. It’s simple to discover music, it’s easy to make playlists and if you don’t want to pay for it you just have to deal with ads. Wonderful, right? That’s why you use it and love it so much.

If there’s a part of you that thinks, “Wow these artists are so lucky! Look at how many of them there are here. They must be making a good living.”
You’re wrong. As the bearer of bad news, you’ve got it all wrong. The aforementioned streaming services do not support artists. Your favourite artist, your favourite local band, your friend who makes music and your cousin who plays the guitar do not get the support you might think they do from streaming. The worst way you could support these people is by subscribing to a streaming service. It’s almost as bad as liking all their posts on their social media, but never listening to their songs.

The best, most wonderful, most glorious, most impactful way that you can support an artist is by making a direct purchase of their music and/or merch. Back in the day, you would go to Musica and ask the clerk to put on the CD from that singer you love, to see if there were enough songs you liked on the album before deciding to spend the R110. You would discover at least 5 tracks that you could listen to over and over again. You’d buy the CD, listen to it and eventually grow to love the other 5 tracks as an acquired taste. You’d then buy a ticket to their show because you love the music this person makes, and maybe even a T-shirt so that you never forget the experience.

Most of that has gotten lost because we prefer convenience. Which brings me back to the point I want to make. It’s important to remember the following about the streaming platform you could use versus the CD/song you could buy:

1 CD = ~R100
1 song = ~R10
1 stream = ~R0.056

This means you would have to stream 1 song by the artist 179 times to equal its ‘on- CD’ value. To match the equivalent of buying the album you would need to listen ten times as much... For one artist, for one album!... Unfair, right? I hoard music on Spotify myself and I only have 1943 liked songs, some of which need to be removed. So why am I telling you all this? What does this have to do with Bandcamp? What’s the reason you got this far in the mess?

Bandcamp represents a part of the music listening and making community that truly values the musicians and their music. It’s a place where you can purchase digital downloads, physical copies and merchandise, the same way you used to buy music at Musica. You can also choose to put yourself on their mailing list to learn when new music has arrived. It’s a place where you can say, “I really like your music and I want you to make more of the music I enjoy. So here is some money for the songs or albums I really like.”
It’s a place where you can make a bigger impact on the music industry as a listener or as a curator. Where you can hoard and collect music directly on your devices, CD rack or vinyl collection.

It’s also a place where we can all stick it to the man!

It’s a place where the artists don’t mind you returning to iTunes after buying their stuff because convenience is a wonderful thing. We’re all human and I’m sure the artists who feel strongly about these streaming platforms still use them for the music that they love too. No judgement at all.

But when the streaming services change because of punk-lead riots and more faces like Thom Yorke, Taylor Swift and Neil Young working to bring them down, all your likes and playlists will disappear! All that time collecting will mean nothing. So, go on. Go and grab the music directly from their websites or their Bandcamp. Show them that you love them, that the music they make is truly meaningful to you and to the world.