The recent Rock Shop panel tackled some questions about what types of techniques work for getting them to open an email from a bands PR or even directly from the band. I’d like to continue this discussion by sharing with all those promoters out there, whether you’re a self-promoting band or a big time PR firm, about my love for Bandcamp.
To be fare, I’m also a big fan of the company that lies behind the scenes – 37 Signals. They are the creators of some really cool productivity tools for businesses and their own business model is one I highly respect. Read more about how they function from this ReadWriteWeb article. After you read this article, which highlights some key take-aways from Jason Fried’s presentation at SXSW in 2008 (Jason is the founder of 37Signals), you should be chomping at the bit to be a part of their experiment at Bandcamp.
I call it an experiment because as of this post Bandcamp is not making any money. You heard me, they make zip on you (yet any way). Some may say that this is a cause for concern because what if they fold the project after discovering it’s not scalable and upon closing up shop you lose all your work. Well, for starters, you should have all your masters and songs locked away in a safe place to begin with and not stored out on the web on a site you have no control over. But nonetheless, you shouldn’t worry about this happening as the company has proven successful with their other product lines for the business world (basecamp, highrise, backpack and campfire), which are all paid services. Plus, this model will eventually change as discussed in this FAQ post on the site. All the more reason to get started now with your page! (UPDATE: Revenue share is now being introduced)
Bandcamp’s account setup process appears very intuitive and simple to follow. I didn’t go through it since I don’t make my own music but I’ve heard from others that it is quite simple. Feel free to leave comments if you’ve gone through it and if it’s as simple as it looks and sounds. The design of all the pages I’ve seen so far are simple and keep the focus squarely on the music at hand and not on some streaming wall of noise from fans or advertisers. One of the best attributes of the pages is the simplicity of sharing the page with friends through the various social media sites that now exist. This is huge in my opinion because ultimately this is the real driver behind a band making it or not – how capable they are at getting the word out about their sound (besides actually making good music).
As for how fans can download the music? It’s up to you. You can choose to let them download the MP3s completely free or you can set a price (remember, 100% of payments currently go directly into your pocket). In the spirit of Radiohead and others, you can also put in a suggested payment option. But always the music is available for streaming. Unlike other sites whose streaming tools have frustrated me to the point of no longer wanting to open them ever again (you know who I’m talking about), I enjoy opening Bandcamp links when they’re shot my way.
In conclusion, as an independent band it’s important that you spread your music around online. Make sure you’re not just relying on your own website or one that happens to be owned by a large media outlet. There are hundreds of startup companies like Bandcamp that I’d recommend you start exploring today. Another is Sound Cloud but we’re going to stop here for today and revisit this important discussion down the road.
