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Topic: Pick your format, pick your price [moderation: i.e. Bandcamp] (Read 4873 times) previous topic - next topic
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Pick your format, pick your price [moderation: i.e. Bandcamp]

http://bandcamp.com/

Preview any track.

Download mp3 CBR, mp3 VBR, FLAC, AAC, ALAC etc

Pay whatever you like (some artists specify a minimum).

What a great idea!

I wonder if the majors would ever dare embrace this? I guess people might not feel so generous with them!

Cheers,
David.

Pick your format, pick your price [moderation: i.e. Bandcamp]

Reply #1 –
Not to diminish your enthusiasm about discovering bandcamp, but I, and some other regulars, have been shopping there for years. I also made a habit of promoting it in relevant topics in the past. I hope you will (continue to) support this fantastic shop, too.

Only caveat: As a normal (non-artist) user, you cannot create an account, so past purchases are not tracked. This means you will be unable to redownload past purchases. I really hope they add this feature in the future. Though I'm not sure whether their support won't just allow you to download again if you can proof that you purchased it in the past.
It's only audiophile if it's inconvenient.

Pick your format, pick your price [moderation: i.e. Bandcamp]

Reply #2 –
I wasn’t sure it if also depends on the artist choosing to offer particular formats, but perhaps it doesn’t. More importantly, do we think many people upload in lossless; and what happens if they don’t, as regards transcoding?

Pick your format, pick your price [moderation: i.e. Bandcamp]

Reply #3 –
For me, the "future of audio" does not lay in such centralized platforms, but the "swarm intelligence" of netlabels (list of active netlabels) thanks to their role in pre-selecting artists and offering a minimum standard in audio/production quality. Plus they usually specialise in certain genres, making it very comfortable to find new music.

Pick your format, pick your price [moderation: i.e. Bandcamp]

Reply #4 –
Quote from: db1989 on
I wasn’t sure it if also depends on the artist choosing to offer particular formats


Some releases (but not all) are available as 24-bits, so I would guess there is a partly affirmative answer. I have downloaded a couple 24-bits files, and from what I understood from the band in question, they just uploaded the current working version of the recording (they do processing in 24 bits). Only for a CD version after some subsequent mixing did they convert to 44.1/16. ( http://highpriestofsaturn.bandcamp.com/ , unless they have updated the files.)

I would have wanted to see releases available only as lossy though, but still no success finding one.

Pick your format, pick your price [moderation: i.e. Bandcamp]

Reply #5 –
If I'm not mistaken, artists upload their own full-quality files, and bandcamp down-codes them on the fly as needed. The V0s I got from there have always been good.

As some people have begun saying on the internet: the solution to copyright violations is not to keep adding more protection, but to significantly lower the bar to purchasing. This is what bandcamp understands absolutely perfectly. As for the rest, I agree with Kohlrabi's observations.

The combination bandcamp/paypal taking a share may leave some artists with less income than they expected, though.

Pick your format, pick your price [moderation: i.e. Bandcamp]

Reply #6 –
Quote from: dhromed on
The combination bandcamp/paypal taking a share may leave some artists with less income than they expected, though.

Yeah, and I would prefer that a promising service such as this did not collaborate with a questionable one such as PayPal (ref.: Peter’s experience and those of many other users), although I acknowledge that the market-share of the latter probably makes it seem financially risky for Bandcamp to try anything else.
 

Pick your format, pick your price [moderation: i.e. Bandcamp]

Reply #7 –
Quote from: dhromed on
The combination bandcamp/paypal taking a share may leave some artists with less income than they expected, though.

i would think it would leave them with more income. most merchants offer payment via paypal (e.g., beatport, whatpeopleplay, junodownload, traxsource, zero-inch, ...), clickandbuy (e.g., the germany-facing itunes store, musicload, ...), and/or credit card. there is a merchant fee for receiving paypal, clickandbay, and credit card payments. so there's no fundamental difference when you allow paypal as a means of payment on bandcamp. a payment processor will charge a fee in any case (of course, if you go through a retail site, the retailer will pick up that fee but the cost is there in every case).

but, by selling your tracks on bandcamp, you cut out the distributor (which typically gets ~10% of revenues). you might cut out the label (which typically gets ~25% of revenues). and, most importantly, bandcamp only takes a revenue share of 15% compared to a standard of 40% for most online retailers.

EDIT: there is no doubt in my mind that the band/producer makes more money per track (or album) on bandcamp than via other distribution channels. but the problem is: can you get people to visit scattered bandcamp sites? i think not. most people prefer the one-stop shopping experience that itunes, amazon mp3, beatport, and so on provide.

Pick your format, pick your price [moderation: i.e. Bandcamp]

Reply #8 –
Quote from: dumdidum on
most people prefer the one-stop shopping experience that itunes, amazon mp3, beatport, and so on provide.


Considering the amount of bands that are already on bandcamp, it is only one step away of being able to offer a comparable shopping experience.

Pick your format, pick your price [moderation: i.e. Bandcamp]

Reply #9 –
Quote from: db1989 on
do we think many people upload in lossless; and what happens if they don’t, as regards transcoding?

Bandcamp only accepts lossless formats.

Quote from: dhromed on
The combination bandcamp/paypal taking a share may leave some artists with less income than they expected, though.

As was said already, it's still more than the artist gets with most other online shops (iTunes, Amazon..).
The only cheaper shop that I could find (that also sells lossless files) is Indietorrent. They take 10% regardless of how much you sell.
Yes, you could also set up your own website and sell directly. But at least for small volumes, I'm not sure that would be profitable.

So in general I definitely wish more people would use simple shops like that. I personally can't stand shops that force you into their own "ecosystem" by making you install a program, make an account, limit you to certain file formats..