Bandcamp general manager Dan Melnick has told Music Week that there’s a growth opportunity with more artists and labels signing up to the store.
Launched in 2008, the online record store and community has established itself as a key music discovery service for the independent sector.
Melnick said the Bandcamp business model is based on “artists and labels making enough of a living to continue making their art”.
With a focus on pure sales – digital downloads, physical records and merch – the platform has become a revenue driver for certain kinds of acts. Artists can also host listening parties and communicate with fans via Bandcamp.
Melnick suggested that Bandcamp has become a lifeline for those artists who are not seeing big returns from streaming and find touring increasingly challenging in terms of costs.
“The economics are really tough,” he said of the climate for independent acts. “Bandcamp is part of a community, we’re part of an ecosystem. Helping them and making sure that they can continue doing what they’re doing is good for Bandcamp.”
Self-releasing artists receive an average of 82% of every purchase directly, with $1.6 billion paid out to labels and acts to date.
The deal is even better with Bandcamp Friday, where the platform waives its revenue share and passes the funds directly to artists and labels. The September edition generated more than $3 million.
Ahead of this year’s final edition of Bandcamp Friday (December 5), Melnick describes the initiative – launched during the pandemic – as “huge” for independent artists.
“There’s enthusiasm not just on the artist and label side, in terms of their ability to earn more on those days, but the support from fans is so consistent and substantive; that’s really what makes it work,” he said. “So they continue to be really great – we’re going to keep doing them in 2026.”
Bandcamp is now expanding its range of label partnerships with many big independents already on board, including Beggars Group.
Transgressive-signed The New Eves recently charted in the UK with their debut album, The New Eve Is Rising, which featured on Bandcamp.
“We love Bandcamp,” Tim Dellow, Transgressive co-founder, told Music Week. “It’s a great way to engender community as well as a sense of enthusiasm in an audience to engage with an artist or label commercially, without it feeling icky or desperate. Kind of like an old-fashioned merch stand at a show.”
Dellow also praised the editorial curation on Bandcamp.
“With The New Eves, they had already been working with the platform before we signed them so they had a good following, and we built on this with the likes of listening parties to help the album land with that audience,” he added.
You’re going to keep seeing more and more labels participating in Bandcamp’s ecosystem
Dan Melnick
Bandcamp is even bringing on major sub-labels such as Warner’s Nonesuch.
“It’s going to continue to grow in that way,” said Melnick. “You’re going to keep seeing more and more labels participating in Bandcamp’s ecosystem, because it’s the right thing to do for their artists.”
While Bandcamp has no plans to launch a streaming version of the digital store, it has just rolled out a new music discovery service as a monthly subscription.
Bandcamp Clubs launched with themes covering genres including jazz, electronica and heavy music.
A monthly subscription to Bandcamp Clubs is priced at $13, which includes a digital record to keep forever, a live listening party and an exclusive interview with the artist.
BBC Radio 6 Music presenter Jamz Supernova is curating Dance Around The World for Bandcamp Clubs, which covers a range of international music.
“Bandcamp is my happy place,” she said. “As a music lover, I spend hours digging and reading. It’s my digital portal into music from around the world.”
Jamz Supernova said the platform has helped to support her own label, Future Bounce.
“Human touch is what has kept the art form of radio alive,” she added. “I think we need a little of that analogue flavour in the digital music ecosystem. So many great artists are being lost and unheard because their music doesn’t neatly fit an ever-changing algorithm.”
While the subscribe-to-own model is a novel concept in a music landscape dominated by streaming, Melnick said it is already taking off.
“The economics are great,” he said. “Money’s going to the artist, and a little to the curator.”
Each club’s curator will host the mid-month listening session, giving members a chance to connect with fellow fans, as well as the music experts and sometimes the artists themselves.
“People crave that kind of community around music,” said Melnick. “If you’re passionate in a niche or genre, you want to meet people who are into that. You want to hear more from the artist, you want to be exposed to new music.”
The Bandcamp boss noted the generosity of the community, with 25-30% of transactions going above the minimum price set by an artist.
“It speaks to that ethos of our audience, to the power of the group of fans, and why artists have to be on Bandcamp in 2025,” said Melnick.