Today is another Bandcamp Friday. Independent music distribution site, Bandcamp, recognised early on in lockdown that musicians were struggling. Anything face to face was off the table, from gigs to teaching, and streaming has impossibly low returns for anyone who isn’t at the very top of the pile. Bandcamp fights against that, providing a platform for brilliant musicians around the globe, most of whom you (and I) have never heard of, to distribute their music. Now it runs ‘Bandcamp Friday’, where artists get the full cut of the sale price, every month.
I assume it is a viable business model as they have been doing this for a while now. It sounds utopian but they are acknowledging that they don’t have anything to sell if musicians can’t afford to do their musicking. Buy something today or, to be honest, buy something at any time during the month. Unlike many of the online music services, which prioritise themselves, the labels and their top-selling artist before us and the majority of creators, Bandcamp is doing things that reduce their short term profit but make their model sustainable for the whole music creating and purchasing eco-system.
My top pick today is Perihelion by Sungazer. I know of the band, which could perhaps be described as ‘Math-Jazz’, through bassist Adam Neely, who publishes brilliant educational content on YouTube (and other platforms). It’s mind-bending stuff and won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I love having my ears stretched by their exploration of rhythmic and harmonic concepts. You could try bassist Steve Lawson’s channel – he has put out a new album for the day but I’m already subscribed to his content (another artist-supporting mechanism from Bandcamp). Or you could pick something I’ve never heard of and might not even particularly enjoy: Bandcamp is not short of choices.
Anyway, it is the first Friday of the month, so seize the opportunity.