I thought I’d try the Bandcamp ‘share’ widget right here on my New Music Strategies page for a few reasons.
First, I’m doing some advisory work for Bandcamp (Disclaimer!), and I feel like I need to push this thing to its limits – and tell you all how insanely great it really is (and I’d genuinely say that even if I wasn’t helping them out).
Second, I really love the new Sola Rosa record and thought you might like to hear it.
And third, I wanted to actually get a bit of music onto New Music Strategies for a change. Hope that’s not too competitive or too much of a change of gear for you. I figured you probably like music just as much as I do.
Enjoy. And go get your own music up on Bandcamp too.
By the way – let me know how you get on listening to a whole album from within a blog page. Does it work for you?
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19 Comments
Functionally, Bandcamp appears to be quite versatile & has a very competitive edge against similar services (and is already miles ahead of some of them). It’s clear that a lot of thought has gone into the development from all points of view (fan, artist & company), which gives a very friendly and personal feel to the service. I think the only non-positive thing I can find is the fact it’s actually called ‘Bandcamp’. I expect however that I shall soon be signing up regardless.
I’m not too keen on the embedded player though. The share & download links are just static links to the band page, but more irritatingly, there’s no volume control.
As for listening to whole albums on a blog page… write longer articles :) Good album from the tracks I heard though.
Excellent widget, though it would help a lot if I knew how many tracks are on the album, or the track number when I’m scrolling through. How do you know you are on the last track.
Looks good but fails the usability test.
Man, I just realized today that bandcamp has added redeemable download codes! They give you up to a thousand unique and free codes, which you can then add to merch, or create download cards, or add to vinyl, etc.
All you have to do is print them out (ie. sticky labels or whatever), or just email them to loyal fans.
Seriously, bandcamp has just been getting better and better and better.
A great new feature!
-Mark (www.theenrighthouse.com)
Bandcamp rocks! I love how you can totally integrate it into your website: http://music.jimofferman.net
Sola Rosa sounds great as well!
Hey Andrew,
Thank you for giving me the bandcamp.com tip. It looks excellent on my blog and the player is fantastic.
-Hakim
This is very close to something I would use. As Mono said, the “Download/share” links just go to the band page, which I find rather annoying. Barring that, I think this is a great concept that could work out well.
Doh. Also, the “let fans set price” minimum is $.50. Should be $0!
yes, Bandcamp is great. and yes, I like this groovy track.
greetings from Holland,
Marco Raaphorst
My band is already there:
http://snakesuspenderz.bandcamp.mu
But I had no idea about the download codes.
Thanks Andrew & Mark!
This site is phenomenal. The more I play around with it, the better it is. There are things I really need to see, like a multi-artist function, since I manage a number of different artists. Using a separate account for each would be incredibly obnoxious. I’d also like to see the widget a little more seemlessly integrated with my own site. But, that’s a minor point. Really, Bandcamp “gets it”. Seriously. Major thumbs up.
Looks like i’ll soon be signing up!
Yes this is great. Thanks! I signed up. However, I wasn’t able to upload Applelossless file with Mac Tiger FireFox 3. All the files were grayed out. So I uploaded it with Windows XP Firefox 3.
Bandcamp is awesome. We have made a heap of sales with the new album and its all so user friendly. Also the Bandcamp support team are super responsive if there’s ever any concerns. Love it!
Thanks Andrew
PS.. Thank you all for the kind words on the new album.
I’ve been uploading my band’s songs and it does look like an excellent platform, however I do feel it lacks the social component its competitors have. As you’ve said on your newer post, fans want to “take part” of the band’s activities, they like to see themselves on the website somehow, and on Bandcamp the only thing they can do (apart from listening to music) is buy the songs.
In any case, there’s plenty of space for improvement; first thing that comes to my mind is the possibility of adding rss feeds one the band’s bandcamp homepage: tour dates, news, twitter feeds, etc
On another order of things… if they don’t take any % on the band’s sales… where’s the money going to come from?
I have been using Bandcamp for about a month or so and I think it is amazing.
I love how it can be as dynamic as my productions are.
I have an album set up with all of my individual releases with various links to where the tracks can be purchased or downloaded (http://pretension.bandcamp.com/album/new-for-2009). The record label often varies from track to track so it is very helpful to have this central catalogue.
Then I have an album with unfinished tracks (http://pretension.bandcamp.com/album/work-in-progress). I load up anything that is a work in progress and link to it from any blogs or forums that I frequent.
The Stats are also amazing. How many web music platforms allow you to track where your traffic is coming from? A great way to find out who is talking about you where.
For a free service, it is the closest thing you will get to an official website without having an official website.
Has anyone noticed that Bandcamp have added the old 80′s arcade video game Defender to the stats window? You can now blow things up while checking your stats – I love the little touches – class!
thanks for the tip dubber. this spot is making us look like experts! i love what’s brewing there, only im concerned it’s elegance and simplicity is going to ‘develop’ into something dissipated like whitman’s reworking of ‘leaves of grass’. also, what about bandwidth if an avalanche of fans hits a band’s site? are their servers prepared for a large-scale release?
Thanks for sharing Sola Rosa. I’m really liking this album.
BTW, I didn’t realize it was going to play the whole album. Awesome!
Hey Wadicad.
Yes – Bandcamp rules!