Bandcamp Fridays are back, so if you’re looking for the best way to directly support your favorite musicians, this is it! Starting February 4th, Bandcamp will be waiving their revenue shares on the first Friday of each month. This means that anything you purchase through the site on those days will benefit the artists more than usual.
To track Bandcamp Friday, you can head over to isitbandcampfriday.com for updates. Currently, Bandcamp Fridays are slated for February 4th, March 4th, April 1st, and May 6th.
The idea behind Bandcamp Friday is to support musicians who are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns mean no concerts, and the majority of musicians earn most of their money through touring.
The tradition began in March 2020. According to Bandcamp, fans spent $4.3 million on merch and music that first Bandcamp Friday. The site initially planned to end the practice after 2020. But, even as pandemic restrictions were relaxed in many places, most venues that were open weren’t operating at full capacity. And so, Bandcamp brought Bandcamp Fridays back throughout 2021.
Unfortunately, COVID cases are still surging and touring full-time still isn’t an option for many bands. As Bandcamp states on their site, “it will likely be several months before live performance revenue returns in full,” so they’ve decided to continue Bandcamp Fridays into 2022.
According to Bandcamp, an average of 93% of the money spent reaches the artist/label directly on Bandcamp Fridays (after processing fees, that is). Comparatively, an average of 82% reaches the artist/label on any other day.
We’re also going to take this moment to plug the live sessions we’ve done. You can listen and purchase them via our Bandcamp. Our model is to split the proceeds from session sales 50/50 between Left of the Dial and the artists. More money will come to us and the artists if you purchase on a Bandcamp Friday, so please consider supporting us and these wonderful musicians. <3
In the past, we’ve also thrown out Bandcamp Friday recommendations. You can check out some of Kitzy’s recommendations from last year, and we’ve got a few recommendations from the past month, too.
Keep on supporting musicians! They need our help now more than ever.