And now some genuinely great news in an otherwise unremarkable week: every aspect of Bandcamp’s business was up in 2016. Digital album sales grew 20%, tracks 23%, and merch 34%. Growth in physical sales was led by vinyl, which was up 48%, and further boosted by CDs (up 14%) and cassettes (up 58%). Every single one of these numbers represents an acceleration over last year’s growth. Hundreds of thousands of artists joined Bandcamp in 2016, more than 2,000 independent labels came on board (like Dischord, Merge, and Dualtone), and the rate of fan signups tripled. Fans have now paid artists nearly $200 million using Bandcamp, and they buy a record every three seconds, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The record business overall did not fare as well. According to Nielsen, it grew 3% in the U.S. in 2016, while sales of digital albums fell 20%, tracks were down 25%, and physical albums dropped 14%. These declines are not at all surprising given the industry-wide push toward subscription music rental offerings, and indeed as the year came to a close, those services reached a combined 100 million paying subscribers. This milestone is being celebrated by some, but it is not good news for the vast majority of artists, and poses some serious problems for fans, labels, and music as an art form.
As more people subscribe to music rental services, the already paltry rates paid to artists are going down (and no, artists don’t necessarily make it up in volume). But it’s not only artists who are struggling. The companies built solely around subscription music rental continue to struggle as well. Some say the model is simply broken. The success of Netflix is often used as a counterargument, but the music business is not the movie business.
Longer term, if subscription music rental can’t work as a standalone business, then it will only exist as a service offered by corporate behemoths to draw customers into the parts of their businesses where they do make money, like selling phones, service plans, or merchandise. And when the distribution of an entire art form is controlled by just two or three nation-state-sized companies, artists and labels will have even less leverage than they do now to set fair rates, the music promoted to fans will be controlled by a small handful of gatekeepers, and more and more artists will be hit with the one-two punch of lower rates and less exposure. The net effect for music as a whole is worrisome.
Bandcamp provides an alternative to all of this because we feel strongly that an alternative needs to exist. The fact that we continue to grow, and that that growth is accelerating, tells us that many of you agree. We’ll therefore continue to build on a model that compensates artists fairly and puts them in control of their data, gives fans all the convenience of streaming plus the benefits of ownership and still allows them to directly support the artists they love, and works as a standalone business that’s 100% focused on music (we just had our 17th straight profitable quarter, while also increasing our staff by 43% last year). Impending thermonuclear apocalypse notwithstanding, we are incredibly enthusiastic about 2017. At least two of the half dozen things we’ll launch this year will astound you, and one may even cause you to make an unexpected vacation detour. We can’t wait. Thank you for being a part of it!
-Ethan Diamond
P.S. Don’t miss Bandcamp Daily’s Best of 2016.
Keep it up guys and thanks for sticking around <3
To quote a bloke above – “Bandcamp is almost perfect”
The one thing I’d like to tweak is that when you take advantage of an artists generous free download, that also appears in your collection. Fans collections are amongst my methods of discovering stuff I don’t know about, and this would give free offerings another chance to at least make it on to peoples radars.
Discovering Bandcamp was truly a “Eureka!” moment. As a music fan of over 35 years, it constantly astounds me just how much amazing music there is out there – and how much I simply wasn’t aware of. Bandcamp has made the music I like accessible, helping me find artists and music that I would never have found otherwise. Thank you. Please, keep up the excellent work.
I really admire your work, guys! Bandcamp is arguably the best website on the internet.
So great to read the report and even better to read that SO many other people using Bandcamp feel the same about it as me: THE best music site that I’ve come across.
I gave up with other sites years ago: the choice of download quality is the best and I feel that I am supporting artists directly (though I’m not sure how it works with labels).
I listen to the Bandcamp Weekly (thanks Andrew for a really good show) each week. I’m always finding new music through listening and searching.
I regularly tell friends and others about Bandcamp. I am almost evangelical about it!
I avoid other streaming services like the plague.
Minor gripes are
1) a trend that some labels are allowing only a few album tracks to be heard before buying rather than the entire album — why?
2) I wanted to congratulate Andrew Jervis on his show and interviews and could NOT find a way to do that despite searching for ages
3) The animated graphic that sometimes appears when I’ve listened twice to an album, asking me to open my wallet — I regularly open my wallet. That graphic is so tacky.
🙂
Other than that, I see Bandcamp as a model for how the internet could be / was until huge corporations monopolised it
Very nice. Love BandCamp.
Italo-Disco Forever!!!!!!!
Good work, Bandcamp! I released my first album here, finally. After six years…
I have found really interesting stuff here.
The philosophy behind Bandcamp is its major strength. Bandcamp helps me support artists and labels I want to support.
However, there is still a ginormous around of potential left in terms of user friendliness:
– better integration with other social media
– the ability to buy an entire catalogue without all the stuff you already bought (yes, even if there is no discount, this should be made possible)
– better warning system against artists/labels that do not offer full digital versions of their music (for me the major way of playing music)
– the ability to make (private) playlists of the music that you bought
– the ability to remove select songs from an album you bought
Great platform for our music, thanks.
Paul
Get Go Getter
Thanks and a huge thanks to Bandcamp i wouldn’t have found any of the awesome bands/artists that are out there today. Many bands including musicians like my self are proud to be part of a movement that doesn’t involve big companys that are all about money.
So just keep going Bandcamp.
Bandcamp has been and always be a fantastic way of getting all forms of music heard no matter what style of music it is.
Great work bandcamp! I would love to see the “free download’ titles appear in my collection too because they’re just as important as everything else. It’s a credit to the generosity of the artists who offer songs to the fans for free and they’re just as special to me! Thank you bandcamp xo
Congratulations Bandcamp ….All The best for 2017
Bandcamp is the best music invention in whole history.
Congratulations BANDCAMP!!!!!!!!! Just joined the BANDCAMP family late last year releasing my debut EP MAMA’s SOUL KITCHEN at the ripe old age of 39, which was set funded under an independent label down under in Sydney calle STUDIO 57!!!!!!!! All locally session musicians and a local Producer Marc Scully aka DJ OMEGAMAN. I am so amazed at what you do.
Thank you so much and keep up the good work.
I will continue the shout your praises from the rooftops!
I spend a lot of time educating fellow creatives as well as mentoring emerging Artists so I am always informing them of how to be their own best friend with this Artistic journey of discover.
Chookas in 2017with your further expansion and success of all who choose BANDCAMP!
Much Aloha and Mahalo
Katherine Vavahea
Bandcamp is the best thing that appears on the internet at least in the last 15 years… Amazing!
You’re the best, without the shadow of a doubt.
Please keep it up!
Congrats, Bandcamp! Once again, proving to be one of the best music platforms for independent labels and artists. <3
I love bandcamp and try to purchase all my music via you whenever I can. I’ve also converted multiple bands to using you 🙂
Features I would love to be added btw:
1. Ability to make & share personal playlists made up from bandcamp tracks that bands have allowed to be accessed in that way. Basically, all the social features that other streaming services offer.
2. A way to scrobble to Last.fm now that http://userscripts-mirror.org/scripts/show/95710 is dead (and no other ones work either).
With these two features I’d start to be able to replace much of other streaming music with bandcamp, like I have my actual music purchasing.
Appreciate everything you all do for independent artist and labels. A better alternative is always needed. Thank you!
Don’t ever change, Bandcamp 🙂
Pretty sure only Bandcamp can prevent a thermonuclear apocalypse…
Huge congrats and thank you for doing amazing job!
These numbers look very promising. ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ
Bandcamp is a great service for artists and fans alike and is definitely my go to when buying an album. Keep up the great work that you do and keep shining that light on the music industry
Best music site in existence. I preach the sermon of Bandcamp to every music lover I know!
Bandcamp rocks! And rolls, and hips and hops, and strums and beats through all the weeks. Keep it up. I’m glad your vision is reaching out further and further.
you are doing great job! congrats to all the artists for sharin their soul here!
Excellent news!
Bandcamp, you are the best. As musicians, you respect us and treat us fairly. The services you offer are well thought out and useful. T.ice and IO from Brooklyn, NY
Love what you guys are doing. Streaming services are great for us, but bad news for labels and artists. BC is the happy medium that we need
You guys have been doing it right since the start: staying lean, putting no barriers between people and discovering music, providing any format desired (seems like only 24-bit wav could use some love), taking care of artists directly and on the individual level, and not being greedy. Great work, it’s why you’re winning.
Wow! Love to read this post related to our Music World we’re all living in and interact with. It’s a great alternative and Bandcamp is on the way to bring equity to human beings that create VIBES… Bandcamp deserve to be in the 1st place of Music industry in the near future. We support. We believe. Let’s ROCK !!
bandcamp rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
well done !
You are doing it great, keep going!
So proud of younz! Keep it up!
This place rocks ! I just love Bandcamp and would struggle without it to be honest .Will always support the Artists I like and this site is the best way there is to do such a thing.Keep it up and don’t change a thing ! Well done . :))))
Thanks for all you do Bandcamp!
top my list
BandCamp is one of the tools helping keep Heavy metal alive! \m/
Dope!!!!!
Good show, Jolly god show
Thanks for providing a solid service and affordable service. One thing I ask in the new year (and I’m sure there are plans for this) is simply more data/ statistics/ metrics availability. Indie labels have lots of things to do and few resources, and data helps making educated decisions. Things like facebook pixel could allow us to retarget, an open API would increase 3rd party developers (I actually emailed about getting on the private one over a month ago to build a dashboard and conversions from ads tracker).
Thanks again.
The fact that you continue to grow, and that that growth is accelerating, tells you that many of us agree :
And you’re right ! I’m one of those there ! I support you ! Bancamp is great ! I love Bancamp !
Glad to have joined as both a fan and an artist last year, Bandcamp is a truly amazing music service.
Bandcamp has grew in the best way possible. From a listener perspective, every new feature added was still completely in harmony with the spirit of the site ! By spirit I mean what it represented to me as a musician / listener / customer (pick one) when I discovered it.
Still one big problem : too much people making great music ^^
Keep it up !
Who on earth is buying cassettes? And why?!
bandcamp is one of my importent music tool… with this web i can reveal new musicans from my contry and support them… i can listen and buy and download music anytime becouse i own it when i buy it and offcours there is the merch and more… this is one website that i hope that will survive for many years.. Thank you bandcamp!
It’s so exciting that Bandcamp is bucking the prevailing trend in music. Streaming is a great technology but the way it’s compensated is an insult to everyone who produces music. Those who listen the least, pay the most per song. Those who listen the most, pay the least per song. It makes no sense for those who use music the most to compensate musicians the least. Oh, and then there’s the sound quality. Keep up the good work!
For the last 6 months, I’ve mostly used Bandcamp to discover and purchase new music. I can truly say this is the best music store/streaming service out there.
I can only see one flaw. When you purchase the entire discography of an artist, Bandcamp doesn’t check if you already have albums from that artist in your collection and make you pay for them a second time.
Otherwise, this music store is the best all around the world wide web!
Thank you for being amazing!!!
So exciting to hear that Bandcamp is deservedly thriving. Thank you for being there!!