Artists and labels made over £5million from Bandcamp sales last Friday

Bandcamp has revealed that fans spent £5.7million (US$7.1million) on music and merch through the site last Friday (May 1), with 100 per cent of sales going directly to artists and labels.

The music distribution platform waived its revenue share for a full 24 hours on the day, after doing the same for the first time on March 20.

The $7.1million figure is $2.8million more than the amount fans spent on March 20 – itself around 15 times the amount of a normal Friday.

The website waived its cut of sales in support of artists and labels affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Typically, Bandcamp takes a 15 per cent share of digital sales and 10 per cent from merchandise sales.

Many record labels also got on board with the initiative, including the likes of Sub Pop, Jagjaguwar and Polyvinyl, who donated their shares directly to artists on their rosters.

Bandcamp will waive its revenue share again on the first Friday of at least the next two months, with the next taking place on June 5. For a full 24 hours from 8am BST, 100 per cent of sales through the site will go to artists and labels.







“It may sound simple, but the best way to help artists is with your direct financial support, and we hope you’ll join us through the coming months as we work to support artists in this challenging time,” wrote CEO Ethan Diamond in a post on the Bandcamp website.