Bandcamp announces revenue-waived Fridays will continue until the end of 2020
Bandcamp has announced that Bandcamp Fridays, the days on which the website directs 100 percent of sales towards artists for a 24 hour period, will continue until the end of 2020.
The announcement follows the incredible success of the first four such revenue-waived Fridays, raising over $20million for artists and labels. The scheme was first introduced in March, as a means to support independent artists and labels amid the coronavirus pandemic. Acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic is “far from over”, the website announced that Bandcamp Fridays will continue being held on the first Friday of every month for the rest of the year.
With a few exceptions, gigs, tours and festivals are cancelled across the globe. Locked-down artists are focusing instead on live streams and digital sales. In the Bandcamp’s latest blog post, it reported over $75million in direct-to-artist sales since March, adding that “to date, fans have paid artists over half a billion dollars on Bandcamp”.
Artists and labels have also found ways to take advantage of Bandcamp Fridays in charitable ways. Last month (3 June), the website published a list of artists and labels that were using Bandcamp Fridays as a way to direct funds towards social justice organisations amid the George Floyd protests.
This was followed up by Bandcamp’s own Juneteenth event, where the website’s share of music and merch sales was also directed towards the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
In a statement, CEO and Co-Founder Ethan Diamond wrote that “Bandcamp Fridays are really an extension of what Bandcamp is about every day. Thank you to all the artists and labels who shared their music with us, and the fans who spent their hard-earned coins to support the artists they love.”
The next Bandcamp Friday will take place on 7 August, 2020. The company has also set up the microsite Is It Bandcamp Friday? for “timezone demystification”.
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