Direct-to-fan platform Bandcamp says it has now paid out US $100m (€92m) to artists since launching in 2008.
That means the company itself – which takes 15% of digital sales and 10% of physical – has turned over somewhere in the region of $12.5m (€11.5m) in seven years.
In an update of its numbers, Bandcamp said that fans are now giving artists $3.5m (€3.23m) through its platform every month, and buying more than 16,000 records a day – which works out to around one every five seconds.
Sales on Bandcamp were up 30% in the last 12 months, according to the company, which noted that this trend came in a year when “the rest of the [US] industry is down 11%”.
It said on a blog: “We see this growth as proof that if you give fans easy ways to directly support the artists they love, they’ll take you up on it every time. So a big, big thanks to everyone supporting artists on Bandcamp, and to all the artists and labels posting great music too. We wouldn’t be here without you.”
Late last year, Bandcamp launched a feature that allowed labels to establish accounts that tracked data on their artists, as well as selling merchandise direct to fans – at a cost to the record companies, naturally.
Meanwhile, the store recently introduced a subscription option to artists, allowing acts to set the rates fans would pay to receive music and bonus content.
The move comes swiftly after the online music store began offering subscription services to acts, with the artists themselves setting the rates and bonus content available to fans.
Artists are also permitted to allow fans to pay over the asking price for any release.Music Business Worldwide
