Earlier this week the Co-Founder & CEO of Bandcamp, Ethan Diamond, announced that they would waive all revenue shares in sales today, Friday, 20 March, in order to help support artists affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He gave the following message:
The Covid-19 pandemic is in full force, and artists have been hit especially hard as tours and shows are being canceled for the foreseeable future. With such a major revenue stream drying up almost entirely, finding ways to continue supporting artists in the coming months is now an urgent priority for anyone who cares about music and the artists who create it. The good news is that we’re already seeing many fans going above and beyond to support artists across Bandcamp.
To raise even more awareness around the pandemic’s impact on musicians everywhere, we’re waiving our revenue share on sales today (from midnight to midnight Pacific Time), and rallying the Bandcamp community to put much needed money directly into artists’ pockets.
For many artists, a single day of boosted sales can mean the difference between being able to pay rent or not. Still, we consider this just a starting point. Musicians will continue to feel the effects of lost touring income for many months to come, so we’re also sharing some ideas below on how fans can support the artists they love and how artists can give fans new, creative ways to provide support.
It may sound simple, but the best way to help artists is with your direct financial support, and we hope you’ll join us both today and through the coming months as we work to support artists in this challenging time.
Ethan Diamond
Co-Founder & CEO
Bandcamp
TIP: Make use of Bandcamp genre categories and tags to fine-tune search results. UK Folk releases include the likes of Sam Sweeney, Julie Abbe, Serious Child, Jackie Oates and John Spiers, Rowan:Morrison, Sam Carter, Hamish Napier, Sproatly Smith, James DeLarre, Green Ribbons, Iona Fyfe, Edgelarks and lots more. To view all releases tagged as “Folk” and “UK”, click here.
Other notable releases (which caught our Editor’s eye) include Spine River : The Guitar Music of Wall Matthews, 1967-1981 on Tompkins Square. If you enjoyed the last Lost in Transmission show, all of the music played included links to Bandcamp albums. Click here to view the playlist or to listen again.
You can see a full list of labels and artists offering donations, exclusive merch, discounts and more for today’s fundraiser here.
Also: Please keep an eye on your Facebook and Twitter feeds for those artists you follow as many are offering online gigs, tuition, subscription services and lots more.