By Lindsey Anderson
While many would equate 2016 to stubbing your pinky toe on every corner in your household for 365 days, our pals at Bandcamp didn’t let 2016’s toxic energy get in the way of having a FIRE year.
Bandcamp just released their year in review for 2016 and the numbers literally have be SHOOK. For example:
Digital album sales grew 20%, tracks 23%, and merch 34%. Growth in physical sales was led by vinyl, which was up 48%, and further boosted by CDs (up 14%) and cassettes (up 58%). Every single one of these numbers represents an acceleration over last year’s growth. Hundreds of thousands of artists joined Bandcamp in 2016, more than 2,000 independent labels came on board (like Dischord, Merge, and Dualtone), and the rate of fan signups tripled. Fans have now paid artists nearly $200 million using Bandcamp, and they buy a record every three seconds, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Fam….fans buy a record…every three seconds….24 hours a day…..365 days…A YEAR….
The year in review also drops some important knowledge on streaming services….
As more people subscribe to music rental services, the already paltry rates paid to artists are going down (and no, artists don’t necessarily make it up in volume). But it’s not only artists who are struggling. The companies built solely around subscription music rental continue to struggle as well. Some say the model is simply broken. The success of Netflix is often used as a counterargument, but the music business is not the movie business.
I found some of my favorite artists via Bandcamp and I know how much they truly care about the musical artist.
gonna name drop Sammus & Vagabon because they’re fantastic and I wouldn’t know about them if it wasn’t for bandcamp xoxo
Congrats on a successful 2016 Bandcamp! Tom Tom wishes you all the success in the universe for 2017 and beyond. Thank you for showcasing rad music and for giving artists the compensation they deserve!
Check out Bandcamp’s full piece on their year in review here
And check out the Bandcamp website here
