The demise of free

[MoreSpaceEcho]

btw this jrjames stuff is lovely. the bass just came in on 'jerusalem', sounds awesome even on my laptop, which i know isn't doing it any kind of justice.

so if there's no ads, how does bandcamp make money? do they think they can exist on just their percentage from sales of downloads? i know that sounds snarky but i'm asking sincerely.

[Rufer]

so if there's no ads, how does bandcamp make money? do they think they can exist on just their percentage from sales of downloads? i know that sounds snarky but i'm asking sincerely.

According to the site's FAQ:

How much does Bandcamp cost?
It's free.

Free!? Then how are you going to stay in business? In your answer, please use the non-word "monetization" at least twice.
Our monetization strategy boils down to the simple belief that we should only make money if you make money. So, for example, we might take a cut of download and merchandise revenue, but only from artists selling over a certain amount per month (right now we take nothing over Paypal's transaction fees). We don't know yet what that threshold will be, nor do we know what percentage cut we'll take. The point is, we think it's silly to build a business model in a vacuum, and would rather get the product out, get feedback from all of you, and sort it out that way. In the meantime, we've got plenty of cash in the bank (we're modestly venture funded by the fine folks at True), a low burn rate (we're all engineers and designers -- no HR VPs just yet), and a proud history of succeeding in the midst of a recession. (Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Monetization strategy subject to metamorphosis. Teamocil may cause numbness of the extremities.)

There's a really cool intro video on the site's home page too.

Neat stuff. I'm impressed.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

yeah that is refreshingly straightforward and honest.

[sound for sandwiches]

I usually just inwardly sigh and shake my head at these "how will we keep making money?" threads, but I would like to weigh in on bandcamp. I am in a band that has had a myspace page for several years, and we always saw it as a necesaary evil since, in our scene at least, being on myspace was the only way to get gigs and tell people about them. The former is still pretty true- we get people we never met asking us to play by sending us messages through myspace- but the latter is definitely not true anymore. I guess people just text each other 5 minutes before the show to see if their friends will be there.

(As an aside, does anyone share my pet peeve of being in the middle of load in/sound check or whatever, and getting a text message asking when you'll be onstage from acquaintances who feel the need to micromanage their nights on the town? Whatever happened to going to a bar whenever you manage to drag yourself out the door, and let yourself be entertained by whatever happens to be happening onstage when you get there... How about "discovering" a band by seeing them live instead of listening to crappy mp3's online?)

Back to bandcamp- I REALLY like that it isn't a social networking site, at all. There's no real way to browse it for bands, except for by most recently joined. You can't send messages or leave comments or have "friends". If everyone we needed to interact with could be convinced to just email us, instead of using Myspace, I would delete the account and just create a blog site for pictures, show announcements, comments, etc, Bandcamp for streaming and downloads, and email for booking.

whew that felt good. maybe we'll just do it and see what happens. No one's looking at Myspace anyway.

Oh and if you care...

daylightrobbery.bandcamp.com

[JGriffin]

Whatever happened to going to a bar whenever you manage to drag yourself out the door, and let yourself be entertained by whatever happens to be happening onstage when you get there... How about "discovering" a band by seeing them live instead of listening to crappy mp3's online?

I notice you're in Chicago. I don't think people have taken that approach to finding new bands in Chicago for at least fifteen years...every time I'm at a bar -to play a gig or see a band- any given band's friends show up right before they play, and leave right when they're done. That's the way we "support local music" here in the Windy City.

[sound for sandwiches]

I notice you're in Chicago. I don't think people have taken that approach to finding new bands in Chicago for at least fifteen years...every time I'm at a bar -to play a gig or see a band- any given band's friends show up right before they play, and leave right when they're done. That's the way we "support local music" here in the Windy City.

yeah I totally agree. I don't make it out to as many bars to see bands as I used to, and try to stick to places that seem to take pride in booking quality shows where you actually want to see all (or most of) the bands on a bill- Empty bottle, hideout, etc. I will say that if I play a show, I watch all the bands. and Usually I do if I am just in the audience. I think this comes at the "expense" of me going out to fewer shows.

I don't expect people to go to shows where they don't know a single band, just to see what's going on. That has definitely gone the way of the dodo bird ever since the internet became everyone's primary way of getting information. What bugs me is people who seem averse to encountering by accident, anything they don't already know. I know, cry me a river huh....

[Jeff White]

btw this jrjames stuff is lovely. the bass just came in on 'jerusalem', sounds awesome even on my laptop, which i know isn't doing it any kind of justice.

Thanks. This was my first paid mastering gig, and to be honest, the stuff needed a lot of work. Especially the live record. I wanted to get stuff to gel, and although I definitely feel that I have a long way to go as a mastering engineer (and an engineer in general), the client was really stoked with the results. I am really glad that they are as happy with the job that I did and to hear your compliment just made my day. So thanks again for listening and for the positive feedback.

Every band that I have been working with is going to end up releasing on Bandcamp in 2010. The way things are going right now with some of the projects, folks are talking about doing vinyl-only and Bandcamp for MP3s/AACs/FLAC. They can charge a minimal fee for the download because they are not paying to print up CDs (most of these folks home record and have paid off their studios). And they can sell vinyl at shows or upon request and do limited printing.

Obviously if a band wants to recoup their studio expense and make money AND they do not tour, then it's a crap shoot these days. But I think that a good way to approach things these days for those of us who are self-releasing is to market and believe in your music as much as possible. Get it out there. Post a link to Bandcamp on your MySpace and Facebook page. Have a mailing list and send folks to your BandCamp page. Print the download cards that BandCamp offers. Cross pollinate between every social networking site out there because you owe it to yourself and your music.

Jeff